You are looking for a way to make some additional income now that you are retired and could use some extra cash? Or maybe you are trying to find something profitable to do now that you have so much time in your hands? Or even maybe you are just finding something interesting to do, that could change your life a bit, and it wouldn’t hurt if that something made you extra cash while you’re doing it?
These are 10 ways for retirees to make extra money with basic tech:
- Take Online Surveys
- Drive for Lyft or Uber
- Rent out your extra room on Airbnb
- Offer to Babysit
- Offer to House Sit
- Offer to Pet Sitting
- Be an English teacher, Instructor, translator or interpreter
- Register for Clinical Trials
- Write a Book
- Create a Blog
It doesn’t matter what your reasons are, the good news is that you’ve got a lot of simple options that don’t involve dealing with a fixed schedule or to commute every day. And you don’t need fancy skills, such as being any kind of tech savvy, in most cases, you just need a basic computer (tablet or even smart phone) and a regular internet connection.
There are options for everyone, just go ahead and take a look at the list below, with 10 Easy ways for retirees to make extra money, to choose something that fits you best.
10 Easy ways for Retirees to Make Extra Money with Basic Tech
1. Take Online Surveys
Paid surveys have been around for time, and they are still a good way of earning some extra money. Of course, you’re not going to make a lot doing this, but you can make a little bit of extra cash.
- Bonus: It’s a fun way to pass some time and it’s kind of interesting knowing that your answers may influence products of the future.
- Tips: Be sure to go to a reputable site to sign up.
- Simple as this: You can do it from the comfort of your own home and the only things you need is a device (computer, tablet OR smartphone) and internet connection.
2. Drive for Lyft or Uber
If you want to make more substantial money on your own time, consider signing up to drive people around with Lyft or Uber. The popularity of this extra income activity among seniors is notorious, according to a 2015 Uber survey, 23% of people who drive an Uber are 50 or older.
- Bonus: It’s a great way to meet new characters.
- Tips: If you’re like my mom, who can’t see anything, try running the apps on your iPad or tablet. I’ve seen several people do this and say it makes navigation much easier.
- Simple as this: You just need an available car, a device (tablet OR smartphone) and internet connection.
3. Rent out your extra room on Airbnb
If you haven’t made the decision to downsize in retirement, chances are you have a spare room or some kind of unused space that can be used as a room. You’ll be able to make a decent amount of money by subscribing to Airbnb. Actually Airbnb is also growing in popularity for the population over 60: in 2017, seniors globally earned over $2 billion hosting on Airbnb, welcoming 13.5 million guest arrivals from over 150 countries.
- Bonus: It’s a great way to meet new characters that can be interesting and pleasant guests in your place.
- Tips: Just keep in mind that hosting laws vary from city to city. Please understand the rules and regulations applicable to your city and listing.
- Simple as this: You just need to have an extra space available in your house or apartment that can be converted as a room and a device (tablet OR smartphone) with internet connection.
4. Offer to Babysit
It’s mostly like that you’ve got some experience with kids and if you can tolerate other people’s children (or preferably like them), you can offer to babysit. Offer not only to babysit for your friends, family or neighbors but also sign up with a reputable site offering this service, which makes the whole process a lot easier. Usually in this kind of site, you’ll create a profile, and negotiate directly with the parents for terms on each job.
- Bonus: If you like kids, there is nothing more pleasant than spending time with a little one.
- Tips: There are different websites that can offer this kind of service, just make sure to find one that works in your area.
- Simple as this: You just a device(computer, tablet OR smartphone) with internet connection.
5. Offer to House Sit
If kids aren’t your thing, you could always just watch houses. You will get to spend time in the property temporarily, in exchange for assuming any combination of responsibilities. These can include taking care of the home-owner’s pets, performing general maintenance (including pools, lawns, etc.), keeping trespassers off the property, readdressing the mail, and in general, making sure that everything runs smoothly, just as if the owner was at home.
- Bonus: You can experience living in another place and enjoy a temporary new environment.
- Tips: There are different websites that can offer this kind of service, just make sure to find one that works in your area.
- Simple as this: You just a device(computer, tablet OR smartphone) with internet connection.
6. Offer to Pet Sitting
If you get on with animals, then people are always looking for pet sitters who can help out. There are different types of pet sitting jobs, so you can pick the one that works out with your schedule.
You can either pet sit daily while the family is at work/school or look after pets while the family is on vacation, and this might include two visits a day.
- Bonus: You get to spend time with different cute animals.
- Tips: There are different websites that can offer this kind of service, just make sure to find one that works in your area.
- Simple as this: You just a device(computer, tablet OR smartphone) with internet connection.
7. Be an English teacher, Instructor, translator or interpreter
Those people good at English and fluent in more than one language could earn good money putting this skill to use. This opens a lot of possibilities for work-from-home jobs to get some extra money such as bilingual call centers, translation jobs, interpretation, localization, online teaching, and more.
- Bonus: You will get to practice other languages.
- Tips: Ask others who do such work, and those who hire them, to discover the pros and cons, and requirements. You may even find someone willing to train you.
- Simple as this: You need to be fluent in English (more than one language is a plus). Apart from this, you just a device(computer, tablet OR smartphone) with internet connection.
8. Register for Clinical Trials
This income opportunity isn’t for everyone, but somebody has to do it.
You can find out about interesting trials being done in your area if look for clinical trials in hospitals or government sites. Clinical trials are generally well monitored, assuring you of good medical attention while they are in progress.
- Bonus: You may actually find that you are the first to use a fantastic new drug that cures some issue you have.
- Tips: Just be clear what you’re signing up for, and discuss with your doctor if necessary what the risks may be.
- Simple as this: You just a device(computer, tablet OR smartphone) with internet connection.
9. Write a Book
It is said that everyone has at least one book in them, so it should be easy to get inspired to write a book yourself and sell it online.
It has never been easier to sell electronic books, or e-books, online. You simply decide to do it, then do it. There is no need to write to publishers or anyone else, you can simply go to Amazon Kindle, login, and upload your manuscript. For this, the only thing you need is to follow their guidelines and provide a cover design.
- Bonus: You will be able to call yourself an author after this.
- Tips: Some people pay for professional cover designs and for editing of their books, but the truth is your book can be listed for sale on Kindle with no outlay at all.
- Simple as this: All you need is a good idea, some inspiration, and a device(computer, tablet OR smartphone) with internet connection.
10. Create a Blog
If you don’t think you can write a book in one go, then try your hand at blogging. Blogging is simply writing short pieces every day or two, and uploading them to a website.
You can either do it for pleasure with no money involved, just to get your message out there, or you can get paid by putting links in your blogs, or selling advertising space alongside them.
- Bonus: Spread your message out there.
- Tips: Although a lot of people make money writing blogs, most of the bloggers do it for pleasure.
- Simple as this: All you need is a good idea to start with, some inspiration, and a device(computer, tablet OR smartphone) with internet connection.
The Bottom Line
Now as never before the technology and new gadgets give elderly great opportunity to make an extra income. You can do it from the comfort of your home, driving your car or just doing some surveys online. I hope the options I brought here will be useful for you and will help you to be more financial independent.
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Comments
Its like you read my mind! You seem to know a lot about this, like you wrote the
book in it or something. I think that you can do with a
few pics to drive the message home a little bit,
but instead of that, this is wonderful blog.
A fantastic read. I will certainly be back.
Hi Thad! Thanks for your input! I love to hear what my readers think about the website and I am constantly trying to make it better for them (for you) and basically, more user-friendly. About the pictures, the tricky thing about it is that it can make the website very heavy to load and Google can actually punish me for it. But I am still learning how to make it the right way so maybe in the near future, you will be seeing much more pictures everywhere. Thanks again for your suggestion. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you think about some other idea. Have a great day!