Work At Home Jobs For Seniors

When working, we dream of being retired and having the time to do all the things we so enjoy, but then when retirement finally arrives, we may find we actually miss our work.

Many people are now choosing not to retire, either out of financial necessity or just to keep active. According to a report from Aegon Center for Longevity and Retirement:

Globally, workers expect they will need 68 percent of their current annual income in retirement. Alarmingly, only a quarter (25 percent) think they will achieve this retirement income.

What will the other 75% do?

Many employers don’t offer the chance for workers to stay on part-time and phase into retirement gradually, which means most will be left to find their own employment.

Jobs working from home can be rewarding in several ways – they can help you to be financially independent, be rewarding personally, keeping you physically fit and mentally alert, and perhaps provide you with social connections.

If you are looking for a change, a new challenge, and less stress, a home job could be ideal.

Can you rely on your pension and your savings?

Unfortunately, many can no longer count on their Social Security benefits to provide them with enough to live on.

The stock market crash in 2008 meant that many people lost a good part of their savings, and the value of properties has also diminished. To make matters worse, the cost of health care is increasing faster than the rate of our retirement benefits.

What is perhaps even more worrying is how long the governments will be able to pay the pensions and what rules will they introduce next to save expenditure and reduce pensions.

What type of work-at-home job would you like?

When looking for work in retirement today you will find many options. You can find part-time work, temporary jobs, or contract work that could enable you to work for a few months and then take a few months off.

Although some employers may look for younger workers, as an older worker, you still have lots to offer. There are sites that help companies find older experienced workers.

These sites share stories of others who have been in your position and have been successful in finding employment. They also have useful resources and ideas of how you can find a new opportunity in your later life.

A few of the websites you could try are:

• Retiredbrains.com
• Retirementjobs.com
• Workforce50.com

Obviously, if possible, you want to find a job you will enjoy, and that will provide you with the income you require. So before starting your search, it’s a good idea to ask yourself a few questions:

• What do I enjoy doing? Hobbies, pastimes, or interests…
• What skills do I possess?
• How many hours a week do I want to work?
• Why do I want to work? For the money, to keep active, for social relations…
• What do I already own that can be used for a job or to start a business?
• Will I need training to do the job I want?
• Can I afford to invest some money in training?

Depending on the job or business you choose, you will need patience and should plan carefully, especially the financial aspects. You may find you need to acquire new skills and knowledge to make your dream work-from-home job a reality. Rest assured, there are many online courses that can help you.

For example, before starting this site, I had no idea how to use WordPress or how to start an affiliate marketing business. After following some excellent step-by-step training, I have learned how to do both and am now earning money every month.

My top jobs for seniors

This first set of jobs are my preference, you will be creating your own business and working when you like. But you need to possess and be able to use a computer. Also, you will need an internet connection.

You will need certain skills, but not to worry if you don’t have the necessary competence yet; there are online courses that can help.

• Create your own affiliate marketing business

This is my first choice. If you have a hobby or pastime that you like writing about, knowledge or a skill that you could teach others, then building your own affiliate marketing website could be just what you are looking for. Building a website these days is quite easy, and there are site builders that make the whole process very rapid.

Your work will mainly be writing articles for your website that people will find useful and entertaining. The website will be monetized by adding affiliate links, then when people click on these links and carry through to make a purchase, you will earn a commission.

If you need money fast, then this probably isn’t for you. It takes a while and a lot of work before you start earning a regular income.

One of the great advantages of affiliate marketing is that you don’t have to handle, stock, or ship the products you’re promoting. The merchant takes care of all of these as well as customer service.

If you don’t have all the necessary knowledge, I recommend the step-by-step training at the same platform I used. I know this training works!

• Create websites, carry out search engine optimization, and/or maintain websites for local businesses

Many businesses in your area probably need:

• A website
• SEO work
• To create a social media presence
• Help in maintaining their sites.

Small business owners are usually very busy people and don’t have the time to do these tasks themselves. If you have these skills, you can offer these services.

We used to use the yellow pages to search for businesses, but now most people use the internet. If a business has no site, a site that is not good, or a website that no one can find, they are missing an opportunity.

• Graphic design

If you have training as a graphic designer or you have a good eye for design, and you’re ready to go through books and courses to learn everything you need to know, then this could be what you’re looking for. You can find self-study courses online at sites like Lynda.com, Treehouse.com, or Udemy.

Your clients’ principal concern will be your portfolio, this will clinch or lose jobs for you, so put together a great portfolio of work you have done.

• Create an online store and sell your own products

If your hobby is making your own craft products, you could earn some money selling these. Another alternative would be buying goods to resell at a profit. Whatever you want to sell, do your research to make sure there’s a demand and that the market’s not already saturated. Remember, if you target the wrong products, you will be left with the stock and lose your money. This makes this business perhaps the riskiest in this list.

The great advantage of all these jobs or businesses is that if you have a computer, the initial costs are very little or nothing. The main cost could well be paying for some training courses, but in my opinion, a good training course is well worth the money.

With some of the businesses mentioned above, you will not earn money overnight, it will probably take a few months. However, if you work hard, are determined, and never give up, you will make money.

Other legitimate jobs

These jobs also require a computer and internet connection, but you will be working for others so you won’t have so much freedom. Many of these jobs could be telecommuting positions, you work from your own home, so you don’t have the stress and the inconvenience of commuting. You can work part-time and often set your own schedule.

• Freelance writing or editing – companies are always looking for people to write for them; this could be one-off articles, a series of articles, part-time or even full-time work. If you enjoy writing and want to work from home, this could be ideal for you. Many sites offer writing, proofreading, or editing jobs, such as Flexjobs, Upwork, Freelance Writing, or Pro Blogger.
• Call center work – a virtual call center from your own home is possible; you can even decide when and how long you work
• Sales and customer service – several companies allow you to carry out this work from your own home
• Administrative support – remote administrative jobs might involve answering phone calls, replying to emails, making appointments or travel arrangements, carrying out research…
• Social media marketing
• Personal or virtual assistant – duties range from diary management, handling emails, and arranging travel and hotel reservations
• Online Tutoring or teaching jobs – many platforms require that you have a degree, but it’s not absolutely necessary
• Testing websites – some sites pay you for testing websites to make sure they are user-friendly
• Transcription – if you have a good knowledge of English and are a fast typer, this could be ideal
• Scoping – if you are prepared to follow/invest in a training course, and you have a good knowledge of English grammar and punctuation… this could be for you. There is good money to be made!

These are just a few of the types of opportunities that might be available. For more, it’s worth consulting FlexJobs who are one of the leading companies in the telecommuting movement. They do have a small monthly fee, but if you’re serious about telecommuting work, it could be worth your while.

There are also other ways of earning money online with things like data entry or surveys, but these are so boring, and they pay so little that I wouldn’t consider them.

If you’re not tech-savvy, there are some other jobs you could consider, you may not be working from your own home with all of these jobs.

• Babysitting
• Cooking or catering
• Gardening or even selling your own produce
• Pet sitting or walking
• Tutoring – you could find a job with real contact with your students
• Car repairs
• Driver – a clean driving license is essential. Possible jobs could be a school bus driver, a shuttle service driver, or even an occasional chauffeur.
• Tour guide – often seasonal work, museums, historical sites, or towns can offer this type of work.
• Bookkeeping, tax preparation, or working as a temp in an office
• Work for your former employer part-time
• If you have a special skill or knowledge of a specific industry, you could work as a consultant.
• Interpreter or translator – if you’re fluent in more than one language, you can interpret over the phone and translate documents or audio files.

There are a large number of jobs that a senior could do; these are just a few ideas. Some of these may not pay too much but make sure you do something you enjoy.

Here is an extensive list of ways to make extra money on the side to give you more ideas.

Watch out for scams

Unfortunately, many companies are ready to cheat you with offers that may sound very enticing but are actually completely false. According to the results of a survey by the Investor Protection Trust, published in March 2016, 17 percent of Americans aged 65 or older have been victims of some sort of financial fraud.

At least, there is one piece of encouraging news, this figure is down from nearly 20 percent in 2010. Little by little, perhaps we are becoming a little more cautious before we sign up for these online programs, which is excellent news. You must always carefully research any business offer and treat every money-making scheme with caution.

In general, you shouldn’t pay to find work or to start a job, and don’t give your bank account or credit card numbers.

Final Thoughts

Work-at-home jobs after retirement can provide a great opportunity to work on your own conditions. Older workers may be appreciated by many companies, you have the experience that they are often looking for. This can lead to flexible, rewarding jobs.

You may be able to leverage one of your passions into a post-retirement career or business. You’re never too old to learn new skills, your retirement can give you the chance to train for something you’ve always wanted to do.

When looking for a legitimate work-from-home job, you have two main choices:

• Create your own business, have the freedom to choose when you work, and learn everything you need from an online course
• Work for someone else, work when they need you, and abide by any other restrictions or requirements they may have, for example, your experience or training

Whatever you decide to do – work from home for your old employer, do some telecommuting work or find another type of job – you will probably earn an average income like most people. This isn’t so bad if you enjoy your work, but perhaps you could be more adventurous. Try building your own business and have the privilege of working when you like.

If you have any other suggestions for work-at-home jobs for seniors or any questions or comments, please let me know below.

Thanks,
Peter