Convert Your Career

by Larry Steward, Work In Retirement Coach

You can also consider the many possibilities of converting your career into another similar type of work,

If you were a teacher, you can become a tutor.
➔ Parents pay tutors between $15 and $75 per hour to help their high school, middle school and sometimes, an elementary school student.

If you were a truck, bus or cab driver, you can become a courier.
➔ Law firms, retail stores, and doctors often hire local couriers to transport urgent and valuable shipments.

If you were an accountant, you can become a personal home finance assistant.
➔ Pay bills and keep personal financial records for people — young and very busy professionals or your retired neighbors who just can’t keep up with paying bills and filing receipts.

Convert your hobby

Do you enjoy gardening?
➔ Provide light home landscaping services in your neighborhood.

Do you have a flair with fabrics?
➔ Offer your services as an interior designer.

Often, all you have to do is print a business card, circulate a brochure and you can be up and running. Your home is your office and usually, you do not even need to create a legal business. Congratulations, you’re self- employed!

Keep in mind however, it also means you have full responsibility for finding customers, getting the work done, collecting payment and doing all the record-keeping.

It’s not for everyone but more than 15% of active retirees and workers over 50 indicate they want to be self-employed or start their own business.

Consulting

If you were most any sort of professional, you can offer your expertise to organizations large and small. And you’ll often earn more per hour than you used to. Start by approaching former employers, other businesses in your industry or nonprofits and even government agencies that might need your specialized skills. You will usually get paid for the “hours” you work — so keep track of your time! Or you may get paid a “retainer” — or lump sum - each month so that a company can have regular access to your expertise.

Independent Service Contractor

This is essentially being self-employed. Increasingly, employers do not want to hire employees so they contract with individuals to perform specific tasks for specific periods of time. You are basically self-employed but you commit the bulk of your time to one client. A good example is a cab driver. You are paid a percent of your fares and you are on your own for all expenses including leasing the cab from the cab company on a daily basis.

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