How to Get Cash During Your Retirement Years

by Contributing Author

It’s no secret that saving for retirement is a tough thing to do. Even in the best of circumstances, unforeseen situations can come up in both your world and the world at large that can eat into your retirement funds. And even if you do everything right, you may just want an extra bit of money to play around with! Luckily, older adults have plenty of ways to make a bit of cash during their retirement years. Whether you want to take a big trip around the world or just need a bit more spending money, here are some ways you can generate some income as a senior.

Sell Some of Your Old Things

Most people could use a good bit of spring cleaning, and that may be even more true for older folks. Let’s face it: over a lifetime, you accumulate a lot of things that you ultimately don’t need. Some of these things have significant sentimental value, and you should hang onto them. But are you really that attached to everything in your garage?

People tend to hold onto things that they once wanted to do, like picking up surfing or sewing. However, if you’re past the point where you really want to do those things, then you should bite the bullet and pare things down a bit. This is an especially good idea if you rent out a storage unit or something similar. The monthly savings that you get will sneak up on you! Having a yard sale or even firing up eBay and listing some of your things is a great way to free up some space in your home and make a little bit of money while doing it.

Try Out Some Small Freelance Tasks Online

One of the great things about the Internet is that there is always someone looking for someone else to do little things for them. Whether this means small data entry tasks, taking surveys, or using your expertise in a consultancy fashion, it isn’t hard to find places online where you can get temporary work. You can get paid to help with studies, help online sites analyze their marketing, and even watch videos! People need others to do a lot of small tasks throughout the day, so if you log in and check them, you’ll find something to do every time. They don’t pay much individually, but those little payments add up.

If you’re looking for something a little bit more substantial, there are also tons of freelancing sites out there that are always looking for new people to do short-term work. You’ve most likely worked your whole adult life, and that work was probably confined to a specialty. The great thing about these freelancing sites is that you have a choice here; you can either leverage your experience to do what you know and get a great rate for it, or you can use this opportunity to work on new skills! No matter what, you’ll always have something interesting and engaging to do, and it’ll make you some money to boot.

Leverage Your Home

One of your biggest assets as an older person is your home. The rising cost of living is hitting people all over the world, which is bad news for renters. For homeowners, though, it means you have more leverage than ever. Especially if you and your family live in a home that is too large for your needs, there are tons of ways to get equity out of your home. For example, if your house has an extra room, you could rent it out to someone and get a stable source of income as a landlord. However, if being a landlord sounds like a lot of work to you (which it can be), then you can simply go down to the bank!

Refinancing is always an option, though you’ll want to check the current interest rates before pulling the trigger on that. You could get a reverse mortgage to get the maximum equity out of your home. You could even consider selling your home and downsizing if you need to! Homes have a ton of value and getting some of that value out can be a huge financial help for older folks.

Reach Out to Your Community

Do you have friends around the neighborhood? Or are your kids’ friends with other adults? Chances are they could use your help with something from time to time. Whether that’s teaching someone a skill, providing childcare, or even just going to get groceries for them, it’s very likely that there will be someone in your area who needs some help in their day-to-day life. Even if it’s just once a week or even once a month, these services can be super valuable for the adults in your community, and they can strengthen your ties to the folks around you, too!

Life as an adult can be chaotic and incredibly busy. Therefore, many people find it difficult to adjust to retirement; they go from being busy most of the time to having long stretches of free time with nothing immediate to fill it with. If you use that time to help others, they will certainly be grateful to you.

Conclusion

Money definitely isn’t everything; in fact, according to some studies, the pursuit of money can get in the way of what really matters. However, there’s nothing worse than being in your twilight years and not being able to afford the lifestyle that you worked so hard for. When people retire, they often find themselves wishing they had just a little bit of extra cash to make the bills go by a little bit easier. The great news is that there are plenty of ways to make that cash! Whether you decide to downsize and sell off some of your unnecessary items, do a bit of freelance and task-based work, refinance your home, or even do small, odd jobs around the neighborhood, older folks don’t need to be left out high and dry. With these strategies, you can have fun while shoring up your retirement account as much as you need to live the twilight of your life the way you want to.

photo: Pexels by Andrea Piacquadio