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6 Unusual Ways to Make Money in Retirement

By Margaret Manning February 12, 2013 Managing Money

We are a lucky generation. We just happen to be living at a time when longevity has created a new life stage that cultural anthropologist Mary Catherine Bateson calls the Age of Active Wisdom, or Adulthood II.

It’s an opportunity at the end of our working lives to do something meaningful that combines active engagement with wisdom from a lifetime of experience.

There’s only one problem. While our dreams and passions have continued to grow over the decades, our bank accounts haven’t necessarily kept up. Fortunately, there are still things that we can do to make money in retirement. We just need to be willing to think outside the box.

We’ve unearthed six unusual jobs for you to explore in this new life stage. Now let’s go have some fun! Here are 6 fun ways to make money in retirement:

Make Money in Retirement with Vayable

You may have lived in one place most of your life and know it intimately. Consequently, you are an expert on the “best of” in your community. Now you can turn that wisdom into income on Vayable.com, a platform for you to share creative and exciting tours that you design and price.

Vayable does all the back office work for you including billing. This is a true opportunity to become the artist of your own life and be part of changing the way people see the world.

Turn Your Love of Animals Into Extra Cash

Maybe you’re one of those women who dream of faraway places that you have convinced yourself you’ll never see. International house and pet sitting can plop you down in the middle of the exotic elsewhere of your dreams; there is an entire underground movement of people doing just that. You may not get rich, but oh, the places you’ll see.

Don’t stop there, volunteer in the local community where you housesit and really get to know it. Break Free: The Ultimate Guide to Housesitting will show you everything you need to get started.

 

Join Rent a Grandma

Rent a Grandma is an opportunity for wise women to share a part of themselves with the youngest generation. Families are desperately looking for someone they can trust to lovingly care for and guide their children, and who better than Grandma?

Create a profile on their platform and negotiate directly with families on the terms of each job. If you have the desire and available funds, you can take it a step further and start a Rent a Grandma franchise in your community.

Make Some Extra Money While Enjoying the Great Outdoors

If the great outdoors is more your speed, try out a seasonal job with Older and Bolder. Work in a family-owned store in Yellowstone Park, lead trail rides through the Grand Canyon, become an interpretive guide in Alaska or a sous chef in Sequoia National Park, or manage an RV park near Lake Powel. How about owning your own business via a concessions contract within the Mojave National Preserve?

There are so many possibilities here; you’ll have a hard time choosing what you want to do. Be part of helping people connect with and honor the earth, while you relax and rejuvenate in nature’s splendor.

Enrich Yourself and the World with Encore Fellowships

Encore Fellowships are designed to tap into the wisdom and skills you’ve accumulated throughout your work-life, and apply them to social-purpose organizations in need of your expertise. Paid contracts with host organizations are typically between six months and a year, and can be either full or half time positions.

Although Encore Fellowships has expanded across the US, their first international program, Encore Futures, just started in London in January 2013. This is a great way for successful businesswomen to stay involved in shaping the future of human society.

Free the Outdoorsy Adventurer in You

Bold Earth offers teens engaging summer adventure trips across the globe that demonstrate a core value of community service. Although all first year trip leaders are assigned to US trips, you may soon be leading a bike tour from Amsterdam to Paris, skiing in the Swiss Alps, or organic farming in Ecuador.

Most guides are young adults, but there are a few sage trip leaders already on board. They proudly state they are Equal Opportunity Employers. Help develop the aspiring leaders of a generation upon whose shoulders rest the most complex problems ever facing humanity.

If one of these fabulous opportunities didn’t give you butterflies, maybe a Vocation Vacation is in your future where you can choose your dream job and take it for a test-drive. Whatever you choose to do with Adulthood II, fall in love with it.

LEARN MORE

What’s your take on this? Have you found any interesting ways to make money in retirement while using the experience that you have built over your lifetime? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

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Gurdip Singh chawla

Looking forward for multifaceted activities having fun enjoy and money for self and again contributing in the like activities to make life easier for needy, self responsible and growing kids.

The Author

Margaret Manning is the founder of Sixty and Me. She is an entrepreneur, author and speaker. Margaret is passionate about building dynamic and engaged communities that improve lives and change perceptions. Margaret can be contacted at margaret@sixtyandme.com

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