Are you bored with your retirement life and want to continue working? Well, you’re not alone, because a lot of people choose to work in their 60s, 70s, and even 80s. According to Bloomberg, for example, almost 19 percent of people aged 65 and older were working at least part-time in the second quarter of 2017, which was the highest employment rate in 55 years.
The reasons why retirees continue to work when they don’t have to are numerous. Some would like to continue to pursue their life’s passion, support worthy causes, earn money, or just stay socially active.
The idea is pretty great, and movies have also touched upon it. For example, a recent Nancy Meyers’s The Intern portrays a 70-year-old man Ben Whittaker (played by Robert De Niro) who is a tireless, goal-driven, and dynamic workaholic who applies for a senior intern program just because he is extremely bored with his life (by the way, a senior internship program is a real thing).
By the end of the movie, he became a highly valuable employee and a close personal friend of the owner of the company Jules Ostin (portrayed by Ann Hathaway) and proved once again that experience never gets old.
Do you think so, too? If you’re still reading this, chances are you a retiree who wants to go back to work. In this article, we’re going to give you the knowledge you need to become an independent worker and earn good money from home, which is super popular now.
Here are some of the best options.
Freelancer
Freelancers are independent workers who complete projects from home or any other place where they have access to a reliable Internet connection. There are a lot of freelancers – web designers, architects, content writers, marketers, photographers, accountants, you name it – and they mostly find their clients online on sites like People per Hour and Upwork.
According to the recent Freelancing in America study, more than 1 in 3 Americans freelanced this year, and the number of people who choose to freelance increased by 3.7 million over the last five years.
While there are hundreds of jobs that you can work as a freelancer, let’s talk a little bit about some of the most popular ones right now.
Freelance Tutor or Educator
If you dedicated your professional life to educating people, you have an excellent opportunity to continue pursuing your passion. There are lots of freelance opportunities for educators on freelance work sites like the ones mentioned above, so feel free to register there (it’s totally free) and check them out.
Pay: $20 – $80 hourly
Freelance Accountant
If you’re a skilled accountant, you should also consider becoming a freelancer and doing some seasonal work because there are many people looking to get help with their returns.
Pay: $10 – $60 hourly
Freelance Writer
Online blogs, businesses, and individuals are on a constant hunt for good writers to complete such as projects as book writing, blog writing, copywriting, technical writing, and others.
Pay: $10 – $50 hourly
Freelancer Web Designer/Developer
The freelance web development/design industry is booming, so if you have some experience in this area, you should definitely consider becoming an independent worker.
Pay: $10 – $100 hourly
Translator
If you’re fluent in a language besides English, why not put this knowledge to good use? You can help people with their translation needs by offering your services. General translation, legal translation, medical translation – these are just some of the translation areas currently in high demand.
You can find translation projects on the aforementioned freelance platforms, but feel free to check out classifieds websites as well.
Pay: $10 – $60 hourly
Virtual Assistant
Today, the Internet has made it possible to help an executive without even meeting him or her in person, so if you have some experience working as an assistant, this could be a great idea for you. You’ll be doing the usual things like writing and managing correspondence, making travel arrangements, and managing a calendar (only this time you’ll be doing it remotely).
This job doesn’t require you to have a degree but you still need to be able to do the above tasks and work well with office programs like MS Word and Excel. Attention to details, ability to work within tight deadlines, and personal organization are also great qualities that will help you to be highly successful in this area.
Pay: $20 – $60 hourly
Blogger
The number of bloggers in the U.S. and all over the world has been increasing in recent years for a good reason. This is the ultimate work-from-home job that can bring you a decent income while eliminating such requirements as a degree.
Older adults are also proficient and talented bloggers! There are a lot of successful bloggers over 50 years of age followed by tens of thousands of people looking to get tips on common issues faced by seniors. In fact, senior bloggers write about a wide variety of fascinating topics, including beauty, travel, lifestyle, health, and fitness.
They earn income by advertising products on their blogs, including affiliate links in their content, selling private ads, and placing ads on their website. You can earn this way, too, just need to consider a few things:
- Decide on a topic that you would like to write about (lifestyle, fashion, health, online business, cooking, self-defense, personal development etc.). Choosing one that you’re passionate about really helps with motivation and content creation
- Come up with a catchy, short, and sweet name for a blog (OverSixty Sixty and Me, and The Senior Nomads are some of the titles of currently popular blogs)
- Create a blog using WordPress. This is an easy-to-use and free platform that allows starting blogging within minutes
- Come up with a target audience. Your writing should be interesting for a specific group of people
- Write your awesome content.
Pay: $15 per hour on average
Time to Get Back in Action!
As you can see, there are ways that you can use to get back in action. The jobs described above can help you to earn some serious money and even build a successful career as a work-from-home employee.
“I read once, musicians don’t retire. They stop when there’s no more music in them. Well, I still have music in me, absolutely positive about that,” said Whittaker during his video interview in the Intern.
If you feel like you could say the same, then consider becoming an independent worker. Hope this experience brings you new and exciting challenges and a decent income!
Kristin Savage nourishes, sparks and empowers using the magic of a word. She is practicing regularly while reviewing new translation services at Pick Writers and constantly contributing to other educational platforms. You can find her on Facebook and Medium