Do you want to create your own work from home job after retirement? If the thought of working for someone else again makes you shudder, then keep reading.
Consider creating your own work from home job after retirement instead.
How? Let me show you five different ways.
Working from home has become way more common during the pandemic. Many people like it so much that they’re reluctant to go back to the office. This trend even has a name: The Great Resignation.
It seems likely that working remotely, at least part of the time, will become the norm in the future. But what about after retirement?
More and more of us need an income to supplement our pensions in our retirement years. Around 60% of those who work in retirement also do it because they enjoy it and it gives them a sense of purpose.
By the time we retire, many of us need a change of pace and don’t always want to continue working for someone else.
We want to be location-independent.
It certainly helps to be your own boss if you want the freedom to work from anywhere.
As we get older it’s wonderful to be able to get up when you like and work (or not) whenever you choose. I’ve been working from home for the last ten years.
I didn’t have a choice initially. I was forced to quit my job due to chronic illness, so it was either find something to do at home, or survive on welfare payments.
What felt like a misfortune back then turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Now, in semi-retirement, I have a “job” that I can do from anywhere, a “job” that brings in passive income even if I don’t feel like working for a while.
I love the freedom it has given me, and I’ve learned a lot in the process. Keeping your mind occupied and challenged with new things is the best way to prevent boredom in retirement.
If you’ve ever asked yourself if it’s really possible to create your own work from home job in retirement, keep reading to discover how I did it and my five favorite ways.
Over the years I tried out a few different work-from-home “jobs.” I hope my experiences will give you some ideas for making your income more passive as time goes by and you want/need to work less.
5 Ways to Create Your Own Work From Home Job After Retirement
Writer/Editor/Proofreader
I’ve done quite a bit of freelance writing over the years. As an avid traveler, I was obsessed with Bali for many years and had travelled widely there.
This experience helped me get a few travel writing gigs via a Facebook group about Bali.
It was a joy to share my passion about the country with the readers of the magazine that employed me.
You can get freelance writing jobs on virtually any topic on the planet these days by going to some of the freelance job sites such as Fiverr or Upwork.
Now, I’m more likely to be employing freelance writers than doing that sort of work myself. (There are exceptions, such as the blog post you’re reading right now!)
So how did I get to the point where I’m employing writers myself? Well, I was lucky enough to discover “content marketing” while I was searching around for “jobs” to do from home. I began building websites around my hobbies and passions. You can read more about how to create an affiliate marketing website for retirement income here.
My point is, why write articles for someone else and get paid once, when you can write for yourself and build an online passive income that lasts for years?
Writing for others is a good way to get started and generate some income while you also build up your own website. I still do it from time to time because I enjoy it and I love sharing my experiences in the hope it will inspire others.
Read more about the pros and cons of freelancing vs entrepreneurship.
Create Your Own Work From Home Job After Retirement As A Teacher/Mentor/Consultant
When I was much younger I taught English as a foreign language for a while. I did a one month TEFL course in Barcelona and then taught at various language schools. These days, you can teach online and your students can be anywhere in the world. (Oh, how I wish I’d bought shares in Zoom a few years ago!)
Whatever your area of expertise, you can teach online or become a mentor or consultant in your chosen field.
Why not then develop it into a long-term passive income by publishing your lessons or courses online? If you spend some time publishing them in eBook format, or recording your sessions on video, you can sell them for years to come.
Elizabeth O’Brien from english-grammar-revolution.com has done just that.
Selling Stuff Online
When I first started working from home I did a lot of selling on a popular online auction site. I was into vintage and antiques.
You could also sell your own creations if you’re into crafts or making jewelry. I had an online store on Shopify for a while too.
This is where content marketing comes in. I started a website where I wrote articles all about vintage stuff from the 1920s and 30s. This content attracted readers interested in the things I was selling. I could then redirect them to my store.
The folks at Solo Build It! call this the Content → Traffic → PREsell → Monetize process.
Eventually, I found all the packaging and shipping too much work and started monetizing my website with more passive forms of income such as affiliate marketing.
Create Your Own Work From Home Job After Retirement With Artwork, Photography, Graphic Design
If you’re creative, there are lots of ways of making money from your creations. Don’t just sell each artwork once. Make prints and sell multiple copies.
Put your designs on products on a marketplace like Zazzle. You upload your artwork or photographs onto a huge range of different items, such as cards, posters, calendars, mugs, aprons, hats, jigsaws, candles, throws, etc.
Zazzle then prints them out and ships them. You get a royalty, and/or a referral fee if you’ve sent them the traffic from your own website or social media platform.
Once you’ve set it up, this is one of the top three passive income business ideas. You can earn over and over again from the same photo or design for years.
You don’t have to be a professional or an expert. I have a range of greeting cards I made from photos I’d taken on holiday. The more designs you put up, the more you can make. You can build up an income over time.
You can also sell your photographs on stock photo sites such as Shutterstock or IStock or to magazines and websites.
Another way to create a long-term passive income from your creativity is to video yourself doing your artwork and make it into an online course.
Make a blog about how to do your type of photography or design work and then market related products or prints of your own work.
Here’s an article outlining the best way to start a photography business.
Blogging, Social Media, Podcasts
If you build up a following online via any of the many formats we have available to us these days, you can make a living by marketing related products to your audience.
Are you good at writing or journaling? Are you better on video or podcasts? Maybe you’re great at creative social media posts on Facebook or Twitter.
Think about what you want to say to the world and how you’re best at saying it. I’m better at writing, so my format is a content-based website. That’s my favorite way of creating traffic.
I’m about to hit sixty, and now have two websites. I make most of my income from affiliate marketing, selling eBooks via Amazon, and some products on Zazzle.
Gradually, I’ve reduced the most labor-intensive parts of the “job” such as shipping and customer service. I’ve also been able to outsource some tasks, such as building pages and posting on social media.
Create Your Own Work From Home Job After Retirement: Final Words
One of the best things about creating your own work from home job after retirement rather than looking for a conventional one is that you can base it around your own interests and passions.
So it won’t seem like a job. It will enhance your retirement years and bring you enormous satisfaction as well as a supplementary income.
If there’s just one thing you take away from this article, it should be this: Don’t wait!
Start working on your retirement job from home as early as possible, so that — when you’re over 60 — you’ve built up that passive income and can relax. After all, that’s what retirement is supposed to be about!
To help you get started, we’re offering a free Retirement Business Mini Course.
Latest posts by Lesley Postle (see all)
- Pros and Cons of Using Zazzle: How to Make It Work for You - October 5, 2022
- Working From Home With Chronic Illness: 10 Proven Tips - August 25, 2022
- How I Thrived When Forced to Quit My Job Due to Chronic Illness - August 4, 2022
Try it. Simply follow the Video Action Guide. 
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