Author: Mary Ann

  • Base Your Work on Your Interests or Hobbies

    Many interests and hobbies can be turned into part-time jobs, profitable side hustles, or small businesses.  If the full-time position that you are retiring from didn’t align with your interests, now might be the time to discover how identifying your interests can enhance your life.

    When your work is aligned with your interests, you:

    • feel more fulfilled and experience job satisfaction.
    • are generally more motivated to excel in your work
    • engage in work that encourages continuous learning and skill enhancement
    • increase your emotional well-being, reducing stress and increasing happiness

    Common interests that lead to successful retirement work often align with personal passions and strengths, such as artistic creativity, analytical thinking, or social engagement. Identifying these interests early can significantly enhance your work satisfaction and success.  Some examples of these alignments include:

    Creative and Digital Hobbies

    • Writing: Transform blogging or creative writing into freelance copywriting, technical writing, or self-published books.
    • Photography & Videography: Shoot portraits, weddings, or commercial promotional content using platforms like Upwork or Fiverr to find clients.
    • Graphic Design & Coding: Build digital assets, logos, or custom websites for small businesses.

    Crafting and Making Goods

    • Woodworking & Pottery: Craft handmade decor, custom furniture, or ceramics to sell on online storefronts like Etsy.
    • Baking & Cooking: Specialize in custom cakes, artisan sourdough, or catering local events.
    • Soap & Candle Making: Produce small-batch consumable goods that encourage repeat customer purchases.

    Wellness and Lifestyle

    • Fitness: Become a certified personal trainer, yoga instructor, or digital coach using platforms like Trainerize.
    • Pet Care: Offer dog walking or pet sitting through apps like Rover or Care.com.

    Your interests might also be in science and healthcare, education and counseling, leadership and management.   Exploring your hobbies and interests as well as your past work experience will help you choose the work you will find fulfilling in your life’s next chapter.

  • High Paying Remote Jobs

    If you like the work that you have been doing and have the experience, training, licenses, or certifications needed to continue in this work or similar work, but part-time and from home, this list may help you out or give you some ideas on what positions may be available.

    For more information and ideas go to; https://www.onetonline.org and enter the job title in which you are interested into Occupation keyword search.

    1.  Web designer

    This isn’t the easiest field to get into without some previous experience, but the jobs typically do not require a degree. If you’re looking to make a career switch, this is a profession where the job opportunities will grow for years, according to the BLS. Some coding boot camps cater to older adults, and there are also free and affordable online courses available through AARP Skills Builder for Work and other sites.  Before beginning your job search you may want to compile a portfolio of websites you’ve built, showcasing your HTML and programming skills along with any measurable results.   Average salary: $45.85 per hour

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  • Work from Home  –  Online Jobs for Seniors

    For people who want to earn money from the comfort of home, there are many online jobs that require varying degrees of experience. Pay, hours, and qualifications vary by role, and some jobs may require prior experience, certifications, or specific software skills. If a listing asks for an upfront payment, it’s probably a scam.  Legitimate work-from-home jobs typically do not require upfront payments.

    The pay scale for remote work for retirees can vary tremendously. The following list describes 10 jobs that pay around $20 – $25 an hour. Opportunities that require specialized qualifications can pay significantly more, and they will be in a future blog.

    1. Customer Service

    You’d be surprised how many jobs there are for customer service representatives who want to work from home. You might be hired to help customers via phone, social media, or chat. You could be working with products or services, from selling kitchenware to answering questions about healthcare services. Or if you have management experience, you might manage a team of home-based customer service representatives. This is a job that requires patience and a love of working with people.

    2. Virtual Assistant

    Virtual assistants tackle jobs that companies don’t have the money or inclination to hire full-time employees for. This might include anything from handling social media to managing customer emails or handling the CEO’s schedule. Often, they work for small companies, but they may be called in to help large ones as well. Some virtual assistants make very good money — six figures, even. The key is to create a niche, an area where you already have expertise to set yourself apart from the competition.

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  • What Is the Best Side Hustle for Retirees?

    The best side hustle for you will depend on your skills, interests, financial needs, physical health and energy, and available time and equipment. For instance, if you have a chunk of free time and a car at your disposal, you might drive a rideshare, such as Uber. If you have deep knowledge on a certain topic, you might become a consultant.

    Before you jump into the first side hustle opportunity that comes your way, consider your goals and skill set.  What you want from your new part-time job.  Knowing your goal—whether it’s increasing your retirement income, staying active, or pursuing a passion—will help inform your choice.

    If your primary objective is to earn additional income to keep up with your living expenses, look for the most lucrative side hustle, leveraging any high-demand skills or assets you may have. On the other hand, if you want to stay active and fill your spare time, find jobs that interest you and the extra cash will be a bonus.

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  • New Look and Focus

    Halfpreneur has a new look and a new focus:  working during retirement.

    In recent memory, retirement was a one-day event when you ended your full-time job and no longer worked.  Often retirement at 65 was mandatory, but you had a pension and social security along with savings to fall back on.

    Today a mandatory retirement age is rare, and retirement is viewed as the transition from ending your full-time career or job to no longer working for an income. Perhaps retirement needs a new name as an increasing number of individuals for various reasons are deciding to work during retirement years.  We now live longer, healthier lives, but pensions have become rare and many of us have not saved enough for full retirement.  Among Americans ages 65 and older, 40% rely on Social Security for half or more of their income, and it appears that Social Security faces insolvency in 2032, at which point beneficiaries will see a 22% cut in benefits.   Continuing to work during retirement allows for more time to put money aside for later retirement, since we may be spending 30 or more years in our post full-time career life.

    But during ages 55 to 70 plus, it may be time to enjoy the work that we do.   So, with my background as a resume writer, career coach, more than 20 years teaching Self-assessment and Career Planning at a community college, and a recent certification as a Retirement Coach, I decided to refocus this blog on part-time work for those old enough to retire and offer Retirement Career Coaching.

    What does a Retirement Career Coach do? 

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  • What Motivates You to Work?

    Although some individuals do volunteer work, for most people money is a universal motivator. However, besides money, there are many additional motivators or reasons why we work and we may not even be completely aware of what motivates us.  If you are seeking to develop an encore career, start a small business, begin a senior side hustle, accessing your motivators may help in your decision making and success.

    The first time you read this list of motivators and the examples of behaviors common to this motivator, you will probably select five to ten of these 30 motivators as describing you.  Reviewing your list again, perhaps reviewing it several times and reviewing your work history and your ideas or dreams for your next potential opportunity, reduce your list to your top five motivators that will be essential in your next endeavor.  If you discover that identifying your top five motivators is difficult or confusing, you may want to discuss this exercise with someone who knows you well.

    This following list of motivators are not ranked by importance or popularity; they are listed in alphabetical order.  

    1             Accomplishments   

    • Do you feel proud when you use your education, technical training, experience, or special skills in your work?
    • Do you feel a sense of completion when you finish a work-related task or project?
    • Do you like undertaking expert tasks or special projects?

    #2          Action  

    • Do you like work assignments that are high risk or give you an adrenaline rush?
    • Do you enjoy being constantly on the go, living with tight deadlines?
    • Do you like the buzz of a busy environment?
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  • Is a Side Hustle a Business?   Or Welcome to Tax Season 2026!

    A side hustle can be a business.  You may not see your side hustle as a business, but according to the IRS your side hustle becomes a business once you’re consistently earning income with the intent to make a profit.   The IRS doesn’t care if you call it a hustle, a gig or a hobby—they care if you’re making money and reporting it properly.  If your side hustle just supplements your main income, it is not a business, but you may owe income taxes.

    The Freelance, Gig-based Side Hustle

    Side hustles typically are freelance, gig-based, flexible, easily started and stopped.  You directly trade your time for money (e.g. driving for a rideshare, pet sitting gigs supplied by Rover) to supplement your main income.  Your side hustle is not based on making a profit, it’s basically a temporary “job”.  You do need to state this income on your Form 1040.  If you worked for an agency or business, you and IRS will most likely receive some type of 1099 form stating your income.

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  • Side Hustles You Can Start from HOME with Limited Money – Part One     

    Why start a side hustle?  The obvious answer is to earn extra money and that may be the only reason that you want to take on extra work.  The end of unemployment compensation, wanting to purchase a house, concern about retirement savings, the current state of the economy could be your motivation.  But if you have a job and family responsibilities, you want to pick a side hustle that you can do from home on your computer.

    And there can be more to it than a need for income.  You may have developed a skill or talent that you want to share and get paid for; you are wondering if you would find another industry more fulfilling, but you are not ready to leave your current career at this time; you already own a small business and your income is unpredictable.  Flexibility and low entry cost is what you are seeking.  

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  • The Halfpreneur Returns Again!

    Since I wrote What is a Halfpreneur almost 13 years ago, what besides my age and the world have changed?  Well, the word “side hustle” is the term that most people now use to encompass the many ways of earning money from participation in anything from the gig economy to starting a business.  However, Professionals often use the term “gig”, which supposedly sounds more professional.  Seniors may not use the word hustle but simply call their work part-time or per diem jobs.  Technology and social media have brought into being some new hustles and research indicates that having two or more side hustles has become increasingly common and that this trend will likely continue to increase across the working life span. 

    Demographics

    As might be expected, the younger generations are more likely to have side hustles, including more than half (53 percent) of Generation Z (ages 18 to 26) and 50 percent of millennials (ages 27 to 42), compared to 40 percent of Gen X (ages 43 to 58) and 24 percent of Boomers (ages 59 to 79).   However, side hustles can lead to starting a small business and the 45 to 55 age group is biggest age group starting businesses in the U.S. today, at 39 percent, with the 55 to 65 age group following closely behind at 38 percent.

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  • How To Make Money From Home: 80 Ideas

    This information comes from Robert Farrington / the college investor at: https://thecollegeinvestor.com/22720/make-money-from-home/

    Clicking on any of the ideas will bring up the information on all of them.  I have doubts about some of the income potentials that he lists, and I suggest you do additional research before starting any of them.   A couple of paragraphs is not enough to adequately describe how to earn money on these endeavors or the problem you may face.   For instance, blogs need to have advertisers or merchandise for sale, zoning laws may prevent you from having yoga classes in your garage or doggy daycare on your property. Anyone can call themselves a coach, using Udemy a 10-hour course may provide you with a certification, but all you have is information and handouts.  Little or nothing is said about the listening skills and powerful questions that credentialed coaches use.

    If you are looking to make some money though, you can certainly use this list to jump start your own creativity.

    80 Ways To Make Money From Home

    1. Take Online Surveys And Share Your Opinion

    2. Start A Blog

    3. Get Paid To Complete Online Tasks

    4. Become A Website Tester

    5. Become A Product Tester

    6. Create Video Reviews

    7. Freelance Writing

    8. Virtual Assistant

    9. Graphic Design

    10. Social Media And Paid Advertising Management

    11. Website Management

    12. Online Proofreading

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