How can I increase my income if I'm already retired? (diabetes, friends)

[mapleguy]

Many car dealerships have senior drivers who move cars to and from the local car auctions, and some have customer shuttle vans that are driven by friendly careful senior drivers.


Rental car agencies also need cars moved, especially from downtown drop off locations, to the airport.


Some long distance car moving companies have jobs that involve driving private cars from the northern States to Florida or Arizona. The owner wants to have their car down south but does not want to drive it all that way. The usual deal is paid per mile, and fuel is paid for. A per diem for food and motel. Return by air to original starting point.

[ncguy50]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

OP mentioned EXTRA money, not necessities.

I have found quite a few expensive hobbies / habits in retirement, that make it handy to have a few sources of extra cash flow.

I always had OT / PT jobs to fund my bad habits BEFORE retirement, so would be expected I might do the same during 40+ yrs of retirement (as able )

My jobs have usually been very fun, engaging, adventurous so... when possible... pick up some extra bucks for the next personal adventure.

Tho I do enjoy retirement gigs that pay me to travel internationally.

At some point it will be 'traveled-out', so will probably drive an airport bus so I can hear about the travels of others. (not cuz I need the dough, just something to do at night (I don't have / don't want a TV)).

Can you give me an example of a gig that pays for your international travel? Very curious. Thanks.

[TheShadow]

Well, aside from working at any typical retail job, or Walmart greeter....

You could drive for Uber or Lyft.

If you're still hale and hardy, you can do the stuff that not-so-hale-anymore seniors can't do for themselves...clean the rain gutters, power wash the siding, mow the lawn and trim hedges, etc

Do food sampling at grocery stores. These folks make a bit more than minimum wage, but hey, it's money.

Use any secret skills you have to assist others for pay. Could be almost anything from doing sewing and alterations to minor auto repairs, even cooking/catering. Advertise in your local neighborhood website or craig's list. We have people here who make things like pies and granola for sale, and even some who do interior paintwork such as murals and faux painting. It can be something as unique as cake decorating, whatever you do well. Once you have a few customers, word of mouth will do the rest.

[HappyDogToday]

Originally Posted by retiredletsgo

Hi
Problem!
I'm retired and need more money to do the extra ordinary in life!
Any ideas?
Thanks in anticipation.

Get a job or become self-employed. There are a million ways to do it.

I deliver flowers a few days a week for a local florist and sell on Craigslist and Ebay. Just a few things here and there. Was going to drive for Lyft but decided against it. Did not feel safe about that.

I would rather deliver flowers and maybe pizza and food (Grubhub, Doordash). Always something that needs to be delivered and you basically set your own availability.

[TheEmissary]

Pole dancing on Friday night at the nursing home under the name "Wrinkles Galor"

[engineman]

There used to be a 92 year lod lady down the street that gave dancing lessons.

[Hefe]

One can also economize around the margins by being a bit more frugal than before retirement. Some examples that I have done that have added extra coins per month to my pocket:

-replace light bulbs with LED bulbs as they burn out
-replace cable TV/"triple play" bills with internet only streaming services. My $150/mo bill is now around $65/mo. 2 library systems have free movie/TV apps + several others are free with ads. If one has close family members they might share cable channels also can be streamed free, (Netflix & HBO officially consider this a given)
- only keep a cell phone, drop the land line & shop for cheapest suitable plan, most "no name" plans lease the same network infrastructure as the Big 3 most folks pay for, just read the fine print
- consider a Medicare Supplement/Advantage plan with Silver Sneakers to pay for any gym membership
-use only credit cards that refund a percentage cash-back to you or add a generous bonus for air points, say 60k, if you want to travel. Then use the cc for every single purchase & bill & set up an online payment schedule in full for each month so you never carry a charge
- then use the FF points accrued after a year to take a trip using AirBnB or Priceline auction for housing
-use an online bank to hold the bulk of your funds in a interest paying savings account, I use Ally Bank which pays 2% daily now (I believe there are 1-2 that may pay a tad more now)
- Dollar stores can have some decent buys for sundries
- sell your unused "nice things" online once you figure out how, I had some really good photographic & hifi pieces that I hadn't used in years that brought in $$; a one time "yard sale" cleared out a lot too
- obviously any senior discounts at grocery & other retail/transportation venues

None of this has made me rich but has freed up enough extra change each month to keep me in beer & skittles so I'm happy enough. Learning to cook well what is on sale at the grocery that week helps too, I'm lucky that I love rice & bean recipes... all pretty much common sense but sometimes common sense isn't too common.

[kbrkr]

Originally Posted by mathjak107

yep , we too have lots of hobbies that take a considerable amount of money ..

our photography and my drumming consume the most . so i work a day a week to support this stuff . this way my wife can't really complain about what my studio time runs a month

I had to abandon Photography as it's just getting out of control expensive. I went from all Nikon 810 + Lenses to Sony A7R2 and two lenses. Each lens is like $1-2k. Who can be competitive with those numbers. It's a very expensive hobby!

[BBCjunkie]

Something to keep in mind for anyone considering doing any kind of on-their-own service work (pet sitting, handyman, etc) is the risk of potential liability. You need to make sure you are covered in case of a real or accused accident or incident.

For example, suppose "Mary" is pet sitting for someone over the weekend and on Monday afternoon one of the homeowners claims that something in the house that's worth several hundred dollars is now missing, claims it "had to" have been she who took it, and demands compensation. Maybe they even called the police to report it. How's Mary going to handle that false accusation? Will her homeowners policy liability coverage pay for something that was part of a business transaction? (quite possibly not) Suppose the hypothetical item is something broken rather than missing?

Handyman work presents the risk of injury while on the job. If "Joe" is up on a stepladder at the Smith's house and accidentally falls and breaks his hip, who ends up absorbing most of the resulting medical bills if his own insurance doesn't cover 100%?

Ditto for auto accidents that may occur when driving one's own car or someone else's. You need to make sure that whatever you're doing doesn't fall under the "livery or for hire" coverage exclusion which is in all personal auto policies.

We live in a very litigious society and sometimes people don't think about adequately protecting themselves from liability when they are self-employed even on a relatively small scale.

[davebarnes]

Figure out how to increase the return on your investments.
Find your own Bernie Madoff. Just make sure to get out before the police arrive.