So you have put your time in, ready to retire or already have, but miss the social interactions that come with work and wouldn’t mind have some extra money coming in. The below list jobs are low-stress jobs for retirees, having a great time, but focusing on a few distinct connections (ability/personality).
A recent study[1] published that, around 55 per cent people choose to work after retirement, 41 per cent people work for part-time, and 14 per cent people like to work full time.
After working with several retiring executives, I could normally place their second career preferences into a handful of categories:
Retirees that prefer working at home (technical, solo)
Retirees that want to travel (adventurous, solo/social)
Retirees that want to work outdoors (solo, technical)
Retirees who want to interact with others (social)
Retirees that want to teach (technical, social)
The article that follows provides great jobs for retirees for each of those personality/preferences.
Read through and find those that interest you and create the connection you’re craving.
Retirees that prefer working at home (technical, solo)
Write freelance articles for newspapers and magazines
Salary: $20 per hour
It has definitely become easier to find available jobs as a freelance writer. Sites such as fiverr.com and upwork.com have become aggregators of job requests.
You would simply establish a profile, your job type preference, and your hourly/job rate.
People will post jobs and you can apply, or they will seek your expertise out to see if there is a match.
You will be competing with talent all across the world but often career professionals from the United States are preferred as their written style connects better with the American consumer or there is the technical depth that is required to write a complete article.
This is a great work from home jobs for retirees.
Home Inspector
Salary: $58,000 per year
Home inspecting isn’t exactly a work from home job but a lot of the work will be done alone.
There is some training that is required to become proficient and this profession requires attention to detail.
You can take this great jobs as your schedule permits, and you can complete the inspections while on-site at your own pace.
This is a job that you can easily scale up or scale down the volume so stress should not be a problem.
Computer repair business
Salary: $27,348 per year
Computers are more expensive and more technical.
A lot of the time the care packages that accompany the hardware are short in duration or lack completeness.
Having the ability to quickly assess and cheaply repair computers will be a skill set with increasing demand.
Tax Preparer
Salary: $3600 per year
If you like numbers, really software, and following rules, this may be the profession for you.
The off-set on this is that there is a peak season, and the intensity can climb if you don’t manage your workload diligently.
There will also be a quiet period after tax season, which may be the right time to enjoy the fruits of Retirement.
This will give you the ability to pick up the energy needed to get through the next tax season.
Driver jobs for retirees
Salary: $21 per hour
Again, driving isn’t technically a work from home job, but the social interactions are usually not meaningful.
People need to get from A to B, you have a car, the time, and a good enough personality to get a 5 STAR review as needed.
Again this a great area where you are truly in charge of the amount of work and the time of the day you want to work. The choices to start with are UBER and LYFT.
Baby-sitting
Salary: $13 per hour
If you like spending time with children, and nurturing development there will always be a need for child care.
Often retired people are sought after in this space since they are an established presence in a community, have plenty of experience to keep things in perspective and connect well with parents.
Retirees that want to travel (adventurous, solo/social)
Home Sitter
Salary:$11.98 per hour
Again this is an area where retired people have an advantage.
An absentee home-owner is depending on a sitter to act responsibly and to take care of the home as their own.
Retirees are always given the edge here. There is also a responsibility factor at play when specific routines must be followed daily.
A good place to start your search for jobs is at HouseSitter.com.
CareTaker
Salary: $11.98 per hour
Caretaking of the house or house sitting is the best option to travel without any expenses. If you are a couple, you can both apply for the job and get hired. You can get short and long term contracts as well.
If you have a flexible time, you can easily work as a caretaker to see the world.
Cruise ship work
Although these jobs for retired people are typically full-time while you are on a ship, you can normally select how many cruises you want to support.
This is probably the best, relatively low-stress way to see the world. The cruise options continue to grow so almost all corners of the world will be covered.
Guest Speaker/Public Speaker
Salary: $500–$2,500 for a talk
This is a great opportunity to pass along the knowledge that you have accumulated over your career.
There is definitely work in the beginning developing the content required to connect with your audience.
There is also work to be done on the presentation style and required confidence to ensure your message is heard and acted on.
Here you will have to be a little creative in finding opportunities.
My recommendation is to start on Linkedin.com and both search for opportunities and work through your business connections to find those not listed.
Event Staff
Salary: $13 per hour
If you are a fan of arts, music, or theatre, you can get paid to work with event agencies. You will get to watch the shows while you work and may get discounts and coupons to many other events. This is a great fun part-time job for retirees.
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Retirees that want to work outdoors (solo, technical)
PET SITTER
Again, not always an outdoor activity, the full care of a pet will take you there.
As couples travel more often, and pet ownership continues to climb this will be a growing field for a long period of time.
The characteristics of traditional Retirees again gives an edge in landing these jobs.
A good place to start here is petsitter.com which currently has over 40k jobs posted.
Resort Job for Retirees
Salary: $50,165 per hour
Do you like to spend your time in leisure? Then you can choose to work at a resort. You can work as a manager at either the hotel or spa side.
You can either work full time, or you can choose to find part-time jobs for retirees.
You can also get benefits like free stays at the hotel.
Ranger/Ambassador at a local Golf Course
Salary: 23,760 per year
If you love golf, this will be the job for you. The duties will vary as the demands of the course or golfers change daily.
Your best bet here in finding opportunities is to call all local golf courses and inquire about all open, paid positions.
If none are available, start by working for free. If you are persistent and do good work, a paid opening will come quickly.
Be a seasonal or part-time Park Service worker
Salary: $15 per hour
These opportunities will be location dependent or may require you to relocate for at least a period of the year.
Again, the best approach here is to make a list of the parks you most want to support and work your way down the list by calling and asking about paid openings.
If none, same game plan as above.
Become a tour leader (hiking, cycling, fishing, climbing, hunting)
Salary: $48,971 per year
This is a good combination of skills. You can teach, socialize, and get plenty of sunshine outdoors.
This selection works well if it is a true passion, and your knowledge base in the area can add value to the money-paying.
Landscaping or yard work
Salary: $16000 – $24000 per year
This is an area with increasing demand.
The busy lives of the American family often has yard care being converted into an outsourced function.
For some, gone are the days when Dad spends 8 hours sprucing up the outside; instead, he is bouncing between kid’s games/practices or travelling.
Gardening
Salary: $23.45 per hour
Similar to yard care but with a little more expertise required.
When you are building your own garden you will need to ensure you are more than covering your costs when you go to sell the “fruits”/ vegetables of your labour.
This can get pretty scientific with soil type, fertilizing techniques, types of seeds to plant, when to plant, etc, which makes it a good fit for Retirees with a technical bent.
Retirees who want to interact with others (social)
Solve a company’s current technical or manufacturing problem
Salary: $74,400 per year
You spent most of your life building expertise in a field or two.
When you retire, it would be nice to continue to get paid for that accumulated knowledge but at your own pace and schedule.
When acute problems arise at a company there is often no amount of money too great to throw at a solution. You can be that solution!
This is best accomplished
by letting your old employer or peers in the field know that you are available
and willing as opportunities present themselves.
Retail Job
Salary: $12.67 per hour
You can find retail jobs now and then around the holiday season. Consider working at a seasonal retail job if you don’t like to stay around in one place for a long time.
You get the liberty to schedule your hours based on your availability.
Fitness advisor Job For Retirees
Salary: $12 per hour
There is a growing demand for fitness advisors and there is the demographic shift in who is seeking help in this area.
A lot of older Americans are looking to retain lean muscle mass and work-off the extra flab.
They will often prefer to train with/for someone they can connect with and often that means people of the same generation.
Be a real estate agent
Salary: $45,610 per year
Home-ownership is again on the climb.
Listening to buyers and being able to quickly translate those needs until available homes on the market can be a lucrative and rewarding second career.
The long-term prospects of being a real estate agent don’t seem that good to me but there will always be a need in high-end homes.
Movie Theatre
Salary: $13.28 per hour
If you like movies and don’t mind correcting sugared-up kids this can be a good spot for you. Often employees are allowed to watch movies for free and sometimes can get a sneak preview.
Nursing
Salary: $75,510 per year
If you were a nurse, or don’t mind going back to school to get credentials, this a field in very high demand.
Patience is a virtue in this field, and that often sets Retirees apart.
If you retired from the Nursing community previously, many hospitals and doctor offices are looking for people to help cover gaps in the schedule.
If you are flexible and retain a right of refusal, this can be a nice way to keep the cash rolling in.
Sales Jobs
If you got the gift of gab, and are willing to study and learn a product in-depth, Sales can be a great way to stay in control of your schedule but still get paid well.
It is best if you can find an opportunity aligned to the field that you retired from. Job boards are your best bet in discovering opportunities or working your old network.
Bartending
Salary: $19,530 per year
If you don’t mind working after-hours, and you truly want to connect with humanity, this will be the right vocation for you.
The pay can be quite good, and a lot of this work is done on a cash basis.
You don’t need to be tied into one location or company, feel free to explore and figure what environment you like the most and what’s the best return on time spent.
Retirees that want to teach (technical, social)
Become a substitute teacher in nearby school districts
Salary: $25,000 to $40,000 per year
Schools will always need assistance, and this is a good way to stay connected to your community.
There will be a commitment in getting the credentials but if you are willing to travel to cover several school districts the work will be consistent.
Typically, the high schools have very good protocol on allowing teachers to opt-in and opt-out as available resources.
Develop short courses in your field of expertise (teaching jobs for retirees)
Again leverage the experience that you have accumulated. There are a few good avenues for online courses.
Udemy.com is one that has a good breadth of topics and has built a considerable audience.
College instructor jobs
Salary: $40,000 to $50k per year
Retirees with advanced degrees and a career full of experience with practical applications are in strong demand.
There are several different paths you can take and they all have associated levels of commitment.
Your best bet is to reach out to the institutions you’d like to work for and explore opportunities and requirements directly with them.
Financial services jobs for seniors
Converting people and financial management experience into this direct sales job can be very lucrative.
From discovering the best banks for senior citizens to suggesting the latest investment trends, you can use your work experience to earn after retirement.
If you have a strong network of old work peers or are socially active in your community you can build a nice book of business without much effort.
The large brokerages are the ones that are most aggressively hiring.
They will be interested in your experience (sales and financial) and will be most interested in your ability to grow your book quickly.
Depending on the environment, the stress levels can vary. Make sure you are comfortable with the environment before choosing the company to partner with.
Using your experience as a management consultant
Salary: $83,500 per year
This is another opportunity to leverage your career experience. Consultants typically develop frameworks to solve or structure a solution to a business problem.
They will also use software to do the modelling. So if you have the ability to apply models and are adept at learning software applications, you will be a strong Consultant candidate.
This field is expected to grow by 20% over the next 7 years.
Conclusion
This is your next chance at creating a connection with a profession the genuinely excites you.
As you took a look at my quick descriptions, I hope they have inspired you to take the next step and evaluate the many opportunities that surround you.
We continue to live longer and need to stay engaged.
If you feel there are other categories that I’m missing or if you know of other jobs for retirees that I missed, please join the conversation below in the comments.
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