Educational & Rewarding Hobbies For Retired People
Retirement can be a great opportunity to enrich yourself and expand your mind. Below are some of the best educational hobbies to explore in retirement.
- Be a Mentor:Want to impart your wisdom to others? There are many mentor programs out there that are always looking for people willing to help.
- Take Classes:There are plenty of free classes available for you to learn a new skill or explore a topic in further detail.
- Read:Just like with exercise, everyone wishes they could read more. Perhaps there are books you always wished you could read. Or you could just do a search online for the best novels of the past 25 years and start there. Either way, reading is a fun and rewarding hobby that will also help keep you mentally fit.
- Learn a Second Language:Even if you dont travel the world in retirement, learning a second language is a popular hobby among retirees and can even help stave off mental decline.
- Volunteer:Perhaps youre not ready for a part-time job just yet. Volunteering can be a rewarding hobby, as well. Find a cause/non-profit that means a lot to you and see if they accept volunteers.
What To Do After Retirement Become A Teacher
Some brand new teachers enter the arena as a second career. Is this something youd like to consider? If you want to teach in a traditional setting, whether public or private schools or colleges, youll probably need additional education. Learn more about certification, salaries and more here. And, if you really want to make a difference, the U.S. Department of Education publishes a list of which areas of the country have teacher shortages.
But the traditional classroom is not the only way to earn a living as a teacher:
Lease Your Real Estate
Having your property, whether residential or commercial, can help you raise more money by leasing. In addition to ensuring profitability, real estate investments give you complete freedom in the investment tenor.
To make most of your real estate investment, you must ensure that its located in an area that has potential for greater growth. Then, put your property on rent for 10 years or sell it in 5 years if you feel the market conditions are right.
With complete control over your investment, you can make the most of it, whether through monthly returns or a lump sum amount via the sale of the property. It also serves as collateral if you want to avail a loan or any other form of secured debt.
To ensure a steady re-investment of rental income, you can create multiple FDs at periodic intervals. This strategy is known as Laddering and it will provide you keep getting a matured FD at fixed intervals.
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Your Social Security Benefits
It’s possible to start collecting Social Security benefits before you retire or retire first and collect Social Security benefits later. If you’re retired but not yet collecting Social Security, you’ll need to decide when you want your benefits to begin.
While you can start collecting as early as age 62, if you do, your monthly benefits will be permanently reduced. Conversely, if you delay collecting, your monthly benefits will be increased. At age 70, however, your benefits max out, so there’s no further incentive to delay and you might as well sign up.
When you should activate Social Security largely depends on how much you need the money. If you can get along fine without payments until age 70, and expect to still have many years of life ahead of you, you might want to wait. If you need them sooner than that, you might plan to collect some time between age 62 and 70. If you can, try to wait until you reach full or “normal” retirement age, as Social Security defines it. Another issue: whether you have a spouse who will be collecting spousal Social Security benefits based on your earnings record. Your spouse can’t collect until you do and it pays for them to wait until their full retirement age to be paid the full 50% of your full retirement age benefit.
Become A Craigslist Reseller
Do you pride yourself on always being able to find a good deal? Shopping and bargaining for deals on Craigslist, then reselling them a few hours later at a profit can be a great side-hustle.
Find a niche of products that you know a lot about and buy/sell your way up to the big ticket items of your category. Note: Safety first always meet buyers and sellers in public places.
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Rent Out Your House Or Apartment On Airbnb
If youre retired and looking for something to fill your time with, Airbnb might be the perfect way to do so. You can enjoy your home while making money at the same time! Its a win-win situation.
Airbnb is one of the best ways to earn extra income in retirement because it only takes a few minutes to create an account and start renting out your property. You get to choose who visits your home and get paid straight away. And if you dont want to stay at home while guests come and go, there are plenty of other things for you to do like going on holiday or traveling around the world.
If You Can Typeyou Can Travel
Transcribing is relatively simple: listen to an audio file through headphonesin this case, it was voice memos recorded by a lawyerand type them out.
As a transcriber, your pay is directly related to how fast you type. Transcription jobs are paid by the audio hour , rather than by the hour worked. The time spent on a transcript is influenced by the audio quality, background noise, the accent of the speaker, and the speed at which people speak.
The average transcriber will complete one audio hour in four hours worked.
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Creative Ways To Make Money In Retirement
Last year, I asked the women in our community how they make money in retirement. Their answers were amazing and showed just how creative our generation has become when it comes to supplementing our income in the best years of our lives.
So, today, Id like to share 60 creative ways that we have found to make money in retirement. I hope that you find them useful.
Ok, now, here are the original 60 ideas
Start A Food Truck Business
©lisegagne
Food trucks have exploded in popularity both in the United States and Canada. And the concept has found some traction in other parts of the world. The buzz is starting to grow among locals and expats alike thanks to pioneering food truck owners in countries like Costa Rica.
Even skeptical local officials are starting to see merit in this business model and regulations that restrict the movement of food trucks are starting to change. Its the perfect recipe for a rising trend. And theres still plenty of room for newcomers to this industry.
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Join A Virtual Call Center
Great phone skills and a passion for people combine to bring in a little extra cash through LiveOps. Once you become an agent with the LiveOps virtual call center, you are an independent contractor. Consequently, you can work it as a side-hustle a few hours a week or scale it up into your own dynamic business.
Invest In A Variable Annuity With A Guaranteed Income Rider
A variable annuity with a guaranteed income rider is another investment option for retirees looking for both income and growth. Also known as a guaranteed minimum income benefit, these types of annuities offer the potential for market growth but still guarantee that investors will receive at least a minimum amount of income. This type of hybrid investment can make sense for retirement-age investors who cant risk their entire portfolios in the equity market.
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Big Ideas For What To Do In Retirement
Kathleen Coxwell
Youve probably spent at least a little time thinking about what to do in retirement. How will you fill your days? Where will you go? What will you do? With whom will you spend time?
In retirement, you likely have more options for how to spend your time than ever before. And, you certainly dont have to settle on only one goal, hobby or pursuit.Maybe youll pursue painting. Or perhaps skydiving is more up your alley. Think thats crazy? Geraldine Watson did her first skydive at the age of 85, and loved it! Did she want to do it again? No. She had other dreams to pursue.
Whether it is dare devil parachuting, travel, spending time with grandchildren or something else, however you choose to spend your golden years is bound to be excitingRetirees dont live a static life. Things change, and interests may evolve. Retirement is a time when you get to make the rules and adapt to them as you see fit. What you dream about today might be radically different from what you want a few years into retirement. And, with Americans living longer now than ever before, its time to start dreaming bigger.
Here are 25 relaxing, exciting, rewarding, simple and challenging ways you could find a perfect retirement life balance. And if you are overwhelmed by your choices, skip to the bottom of this article for tips to help you figure out what to do after retirement.
Continue To Regularly Invest
Just because youre retired doesnt mean that you should stop investing. For one thing, retirement might last a lot longer than you imagine. As of 2018, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates life expectancy at 78.6 years old. If you were to retire at the early retirement age of 62, the estimated life expectancy leaves you with over 15 years of expenses without regular work. Thats a long time to stretch out your money, and it could be even longer. Keeping your funds invested and contributing more can help ensure that you wont outlive your money.
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Include Taxes In Your Plan Too
One thing that makes retirement complicated financially is the fact that that one type of withdrawal is not the same as another when it comes to income tax. Be sure to consult with your financial advisor when it comes to which account youre going to pull from when. Choosing wisely can go a long way toward preserving your resources.
Health And Wellness Skills Pay Overseas
Wellnessfitnessnatural healthcarethey have a following all over the world. Youll find a market for yoga classes in Italy, clients for massage therapy in Ecuador, and regulars at gyms from Asia to Mexico.
If you have experience in wellness and fitness, even just as a longtime participant, its not a huge leap to become a teacher, trainer, or therapist overseas.
There are all sorts of ways to run your business. You could rent a small room for treatments or buy or lease a locationand invest in equipmentfor a gym. You can organize yoga retreats anywhere in the world you choose or you can be the person who makes your studio available to visiting retreat groups.
In any case, youre likely to find it less expensive to set up the business overseas. Sidelines in nutrition, aromatherapy, or consulting can generate additional income.
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Grow Your Retirement Corpus
After leaving all the heavy-lifting behind, retirement is the time to ensure that all the money youve saved up lasts long enough. Hence when you retire, finances take precedence over other matters. If youre looking to boost your savings, investment planning is a prerequisite. Retirement is a time to reap the returns of your investments and re-invest the new income to keep a sustainable source of money to support your long life. Retirement planning should be consistent with the safety of capital and flexibility to withdraw cash in case of emergencies. At the same time, there should be enough investments to cater to your hobbies and leisure expenditure as well. You should plan your investment asset allocation based on your ability to take risks. If you have enough sources of income, then you should look at an aggressive investment profile otherwise, it’s best to start with a conservative approach.
There are different strategic asset allocation practices for conservative and aggressive investors. Heres a look at the asset allocation practices in both cases:
- Most individuals prefer a conservative approach at this stage of life, but it can vary from person to person. You can explore the best investment avenues to see which ones you can tap to boost your income.
- From investing your EPF to considering a part-time career, there are many options that you can use to your advantage.
Get Paid For Online Surveys
Cash Crate is a great paid surveys site. Trying new free products and services, taking consumer research surveys, and referring others can pay you. You can also earn money back on your own online purchases and win prizes for socializing and playing games.
But thats not why we love it. We love it because of the community and transparency. Cash Crate has an active forum where their two million members exchange tips and ideas.
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Turn Your Interests Into A Podcast That Pays
Podcasting doesnt have to be complicated. A simple microphone, a laptop, and free recording software, plus some low-cost hosting, will get you up and running. Assuming you have a laptop, your biggest start-up cost is a good microphone.
Podcast shows dont need to run every day, and they typically work better when theyre kept relatively short. One episode a week usually works best. And because its not broadcast live, all the episodes for the month can be recorded in one afternoon. You should create something a listener can easily consume while commuting to and from work.
There are a number of ways to make money from your podcast. The most obvious is through commercial sponsorship, but you can also use it as a platform to advertise your own products or services.
Consider Working A Little Longer
If your plan isnt coming together the way youd like, working a few extra years before you retire can make a significant difference. At the very least, work long enough to maximize your social security benefits. If that isnt enough, you might want to stay in the workforce a bit longer.
If retirement is still some time away, you can change your retirement picture by pushing for promotions at work or starting a side gig to earn some extra income. At least one projection expects gig workers to make up almost 51% of the U.S. workforce by the year 2028.
Under the current social security rules, once you reach full retirement age, your social security benefits wont be reduced by your current income. So go ahead, start that online store and keep it going right into retirement.
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Make Things And Sell Them On Etsy
Are you good at knitting, jewelry-making, scrapbooking, crafts, or baking? If so, Etsy might be your chance to monetize that hobby youve spent the past few years or even decades perfecting.
Its is a marketplace similar to eBay except it focuses on vintage and hand-crafted goods. On Etsy, your goods will be shown to over 34 million buyers who spend more than $2.8 billion per year on the platform.
Become An Expert At Anything
Youve probably had a lot of life experiences and dreamed about others that never happened. Did you ever think about becoming a brilliant chef but didnt have the time to go after it? Or did you once think about developing your mechanic skills but couldnt follow through?
Retirement is the perfect time to turn an interest into something that you master. You could create the next great thing in pottery, or fine-tune your woodworking skills. Whatever you pursue, plan to become an expert. And then pass that knowledge on.
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Use Your Skills To Make Money
Now this is where it gets really interesting. By now you will have all sorts of skills, although you might not immediately recognise them as skills.
Childcare
For example, you may be a mother, and even grandmother now, so you have a lot of child-caring skills which could be monetised in a childminding business, or nannying or being a doula .
All of these occupations can be operated through agencies or as an independent. Job ads from private individuals and agencies are available in The Lady magazine, on Gumtree and at NurseryWorld.co.uk.
Baking
Or maybe youre a great cook and can bake cakes to sell at car boot sales, local shops and farmers markets. Same with jams, sweets and biscuits. Or you youre good enough to be hired as a chef for dinner parties .
Teaching
If you speak a language, play an instrument well or have other artistic or educational skills you could teach them.
For musical instruments and other artistic endeavours you can advertise your lessons either single or group around your neighbourhood.
Stick some flyers through doors and use word-of-mouth to get the message out. For academic subjects you could work through a tutoring agency, either face-to-face or online.
There is a comprehensive list of tutors in the Good Schools Guide website.
