You could live to be 75 or even 100. You never know how many years you may live after retiring from your full-time job, which means extending your retirement savings is critically important for your quality of life. But, you can earn more income in retirement.
If you’re concerned about whether your current savings will last, here are some exciting and useful ways to generate more income during retirement.
Earn More Income
Contribute to Your IRA or 401(k)
Did you know that you can still contribute to retirement plans even after you retire? Doing so offers many financial advantages, such as growing your nest egg, prolonging your retirement savings, and potentially limiting your tax burden each year.
You can even continue making contributions to your 401(k) after retiring, or you might choose to roll over your 401(k) into a retirement fund managed by a robo-advisor to maximize the earning potential for your investments. While it might seem counterintuitive to put money into a retirement savings account when you’re already retired, this is a fantastic way to stretch your savings and earn more income that sadly, too few people are aware of.
If you’re looking for places to start investing and to earn more income, you might want to check out investing with M1 Finance, Betterment, or Stash Invest.
Make Money from Investment Dividends
Dividends are a great way to replace your retirement income. When you buy dividend-paying stocks prior to retirement, you’ll be able to boost your monthly or quarterly income with dividends paid to shareholders by those companies you invest in.
While this could be risky to rely on if the stock market turns south, dividends are still highly valuable forms of ongoing investments that can supplement your retirement income for years to come.
If you’re looking for places to keep your investment accounts, you might want to check out investing with Betterment or Stash Invest. Both are easy ways to help you invest easily.
Withdraw Money from Permanent Life Insurance
Life insurance isn’t just for beneficiaries upon your demise. The cash-value portion of your permanent life insurance policy is a tax-advantaged savings account based on a portion of your premiums paid over time.
While your death benefit will reduce as you withdraw from your insurance fund, it’s still an incredibly useful way to cushion your retirement savings. And, if you don’t pay it all back, then the amount you borrowed will simply be deducted from your overall death benefit when you pass away.
Host Guests with Airbnb
Airbnb is the most well-known home hosting and short-term housing rental service in the world. Airbnb is particularly popular among homeowners who want to generate additional income to help them cover monthly expenses like insurance or mortgage payments, which makes it an ideal option for retirees who own their own homes.
If you don’t want to deal with guests, Airbnb even offers the option to have an “experienced host” essentially manage your Airbnb listing(s). Plus, you can add a cleaning fee to save money on any messes your guests might incur.
Some retirees are even using Airbnb to save on vacation expenses, so it’s truly a valuable platform for generating and saving money during your retirement years.
Rent Out Your RV
Do you own a travel trailer or RV? If so, then you could make decent money renting it out while you’re not using it with platforms like Outdoorsy. Described as the “Airbnb for RV owners,” Outdoorsy lets you rent out your motorhome or travel trailer to folks in your area for $50-140 per night, on average.
Since most of us don’t live in our motorhomes full-time, why let it gather dust on your driveway? Instead, you can generate income by renting it to other travelers.
Find a Fun, Flexible, Part-Time Job
You may be retired from your full-time career, but that doesn’t mean you should avoid working altogether. There are plenty of fun ways to make money on the side with platforms like Fiverr or FlexJobs.
You can find side jobs based on your current skill set and make money doing things you already enjoy. Things like writing, transcribing audio/video, translating, editing, designing, and so much more!
Make Money with Animals
If you’re an animal lover, there are plenty of ways you can enjoy time and make money with animals during your retirement. You can volunteer at the local animal shelter, and if you want to make money working with pets, you might want to offer services on platforms such as Wag or Rover to earn more income.
You can walk other people’s dogs, pet-sit overnight, take photos of people’s pets, or design bandanas or leashes. The sky’s the limit when it comes to opportunities to get paid to work with animals.
Heading out of town? Book 5-star care that comes to you with Rover. It’s easy to book a pet sitter / house sitter to take care of your dog and your home. House sitting is great for dogs who prefer to stay on their home turf, cats, caged pets, horses, pet parents on a tight schedule, or even someone to just keep an eye on your home while you’re away. Book a 5 Star Pet and House Sitter Today
We should always strive to overestimate how much money we’ll need to live on during retirement. Many folks retire with what they think is “enough” money to live on. They quickly realize several years in that their funds are running out.
To avoid this scenario, the above-mentioned strategies for generating income in retirement can help you extend your savings and give you new opportunities to socialize with and help other people along the way. It’s truly a win-win situation!