Digital Side Hustles for Cash-Strapped Retirees

Digital Side Hustles for Cash-Strapped Retirees
Digital Side Hustles for Cash-Strapped Retirees

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

It’s not easy these days for retirees living on a fixed income. Even for young retirees, unforeseen medical expenses, spiking gas and energy prices, and the soaring cost of essential foods like chicken and beef make it harder to keep your head above the financial tide. 

But short of returning to work, you can always look for a part-time gig outside the house. But before you do anything, you will want to look into a reverse mortgage. Says the financial professionals at All Reverse Mortgage, if you’re 62 or older, have owned your home for decades, and have been paying on the monthly mortgage religiously, you could qualify for a reverse mortgage.

Said, this variety of home loan taps into your home equity and could potentially net you hundreds of thousands of dollars. You can receive your proceeds in one lump-sum payment, or you can elect to receive monthly disbursements.

No matter what you decide, you are only expected to repay the loan once you sell the home or die. 

But suppose you live in an apartment or have already relocated to a new home in a new area or even a new country and find yourself needing help getting by on the money coming in (or the lack of it). In that case, you can look for a side hustle that you can perform right from your kitchen table via the internet. 

According to a recent report by SFGATE, now that you’ve exited the 9-to-5 career workplace, you’re looking forward to enjoying your retirement years. But what if your fixed income isn’t making ends meet? 

You could get a part-time job outside the house, but that defeats the purpose of enjoying your golden years. However, in the 2020s, there’s a far better alternative than rejoining the rat race, even part-time. You can make money online. 

Here’s how. 

Freelance Writer

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If you have a gift for putting words and sentences together, freelance writing is said to be one of the top side hustles for retirees to earn much-needed additional income. With the right skills and experience, earning up to $60 per hour or more is possible.  

One of the simplest ways to begin your freelance writing career is to set up an account on Freelancer or Upwork. Both are popular freelance marketplaces where available jobs are posted for which you can easily apply. You can also use your blog or website to attract new clients. Here are just a few freelance writing jobs you might want to consider: 

  • Writing articles for blogs or websites and online magazines
  • Editing and proofreading 
  • Editing audio files, videos, and photos 
  • Writing fiction stories, novellas, and books for Kindle Direct Publishing 

If you can combine all the above, you can achieve quite a bit of success. Keep in mind that if you work under deadlines, it’s a best practice to have an IT professional at the ready just in case your computer crashes or gets infected with a virus. 

Start a YouTube Channel

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Said to be the second-largest search engine on the planet, YouTube has grown by leaps and bounds over the past decade. You can use YouTube to create a channel featuring your particular brand. You can create as many videos as you want using only your computer’s camera and built-in mic.

Or you can purchase online video editing software and hardware to make professional quality videos on any subject you wish, from the writer’s life to Bitcoin news. 

You don’t have to make money directly from YouTube to benefit from the platform since you can receive accessible goods and services by honestly reviewing them. Companies may be willing to pay you for advertising or influencing if you have a large enough audience on YouTube.

If a particular video has received a massive amount of clicks and watch-throughs, it means it went viral.  

Affiliate Marketing Professional

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Says SFGATE, becoming an affiliate marketing professional is a business model in which you earn money by promoting other companies, products, or services.

You can quickly start affiliate marketing from the comfort of your home by creating an account on Clicksense, ShareASale, Amazon Associates, and more.

These platforms are said to have payment processors that will pay you a percentage of each sale directly from your referrals.  

You don’t need much expertise or experience to begin this digital side hustle. All that’s required is an internet connection and some basic know-how regarding social media sites like Instagram, TicTok, and Facebook (Meta).

The learning curve is low since all that’s required is promoting other companies’ products via your website and social media accounts. That’s it.  

Creating a digital side hustle from home is not only a great way to make money, but it can be a vastly rewarding experience that will keep you feeling young and relevant.

Just make sure to have dependable Wi-Fi and internet service. Also, you will need access to a reputable IT service when something goes wrong with your computer. 

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About Annabel Johnson

Part time gamer, reviewer and blogger. Full time geek and tech expert!

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