Finding the Best Post-Career Job
By Cheryl Harbour

There are two kinds of people who may be looking for a post-career job: Those who can’t afford to stop working and those who can. People who’ve had a demanding career often look at “other” kinds of work because they were too busy pursuing their main career to experiment with anything else.

When baby boomers were surveyed, 65% said they plan to work past age 65. The reasons they stated were concerns about Social Security and Medicare, the financial support they still provide for their adult children, and the desire to stay engaged in the world. As a result, the number of people 65 and over who are still working has more than doubled over the past two decades.

One very popular choice is to stay in your career field and become a consultant or a teacher in that field. Another favorite is to start a business. It’s surprising to learn that baby boomers are twice as likely as millennials to start a new business. According to a study by the Kauffman Foundation, “Entrepreneurs between 55 and 64 accounted for about 26% of all new businesses launched in 2015 – nearly double the percentage from 20 years earlier in 1996 when that group made up only 14.3% of the start-up businesses.”

If you’re looking for something totally different, here are five ideas for turning a passion into a job.

Love dogs or children? You can fill one of society’s needs and become a pet sitter, a dog walker, or a child sitter. In some areas, dog walkers earn upward from $20 for a half hour walk. Nanny rates run anywhere from $15 to $45 an hour.

Do you enjoy wine and would like to learn more about it? Connect with a winery and become one of those people who conducts wine-tastings for them. Some wineries offer their own training.

Are you a fix-it type? Working in a hardware store is a natural for people who like being asked questions and helping to solve problems.

If you love to travel, check with cruise lines to see if they have openings for people who will socialize -- and in some cases, dance -- with their passengers.

Are you a golfer at heart? Maybe you’d like to be a starter or a ranger at a golf course. Lots of fresh air and maybe free rounds of golf as a perk. 

You get the idea, after you’ve wrapped up your career, it may be time to find something that makes going to work a pleasure.

Here are more ideas for you to explore:

NewRetirement

AARP

Southern Living

Bankrate

 

Photo Credit: Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities (CC BY 2.0)




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