How much money to retire?

A good question, and one that all of us will have to answer eventually. But How Much is Enough to retire successfully?

There are four financial possibilities after you retire:

1.  You have enough money to retire comfortably and take care of all living expenses for the rest of your life.

2.  You do not have enough money to retire on and you are not able to do anything in retirement.

3.  You run out of money due to some catastrophic event and have to go back to work.  I have known several people who had this happen.  In most cases, medical expenses ate up their savings.

4.  You could just live too long and run out of money.  In this case, you may have to do some major downsizing.  Maybe social security and medicare will take care of you, but your standard of living could go way down.

The last three are not acceptable and many of us will continue to look for ways to make extra money to supplement our retirement income.

Ways to make extra money after retiring

There are many possibilities for earning extra money all around us, from getting a job at a fast food restaurant, to becoming a consultant or working part time or freelancing in your profession.  The best jobs are those work from home jobs you can do at your own pace.  Here are some other ideas:

Freelance Work

Freelancing, or contract work has become my most success way to earn extra money.  I work with two consulting companies on a contract or project basis and have contacts with two others.  It seems that a lot of companies are looking at contract and freelance workers as an alternative to hiring full-time employees. Using independent contractors makes sense companies because they pay only for the work they need have done.  they get lower overhead expenses like benefits and equipment they would have to have for each employee.

If you have a marketable skill in the profession you had before you retired, there is a good possibility you can take advantage of those employers’ cost cutting and find work as a temporary or contract worker.

The big advantage to freelance work is that the pay tends to be higher than for salaried positions.  The biggest disadvantage is that you have gaps between assignments.  To get started, research online markets to determine the going rate for the type of work you want to do.  Join some networking websites and write a good profile.  Most of my contacts come from networking sites. 

There are many web sites where you can post your resume and search listings for jobs you can do from home, including elance.com, ratracerebellion.com and flexjobs.com.  Some sites charge a commission and others are completely free.  Make sure you know what the cost is before you connect with a prospective employer.

Sell Things Online

Bargain-hunt at yard sales and thrift stores.  If you have a some knowledge in a particular area or even a good eye for quality merchandise you can resell stuff on e-bay or other online auction sites.  If you want to try this, it is necessary to visit yard sales early and often to find unexpected deals that you can resell.  Another place you might look for items to resell are police auctions.  There are several that have online sales and sometimes you can find incredible deals.  You might be able to resell a car or find some spectacularly cheap jewelry that someone else would be happy to buy from you.

Make Money From Your Hobbies

Sometimes hobbies can be real money makers.  If you like woodworking, you might try Refinishing ratty furniture and reselling it at flea markets or yard sales.  I  see refinished furniture being sold in the same yard sale in a nearby town week after week during the spring and summer.  If you have some craft sense and know how to use lacquer, thinner, sandpaper and stain, you could buy used furniture and fix it up for a great resale price.

You might try rescuing battered wood  and reselling it as is or turn it into beautiful rustic furniture.  Be sure to advertise that the wood as “reclaimed.”  sometimes people are willing to pay a premium price for reclaimed wood products.

Take & Sell Digital Photos

I have bought and downloaded many stock photos, some can be seen on this website.  If you have a decent camera and a good sense of light, color, and composition, you can take and sell stock photos with very little effort.  That is, nondescript images that can lend themselves to many applications and are commonly used to illustrate articles or products that are sold online.  

Locations, such as walls, trees, houses or streets, are easier to find and take, but stock photos involving people usually sell for more.  They may have more uses and many times have restrictions on their use.   People and buildings sometimes require a model release before the images can be sold.  You can get some examples by doing an internet search for stock photos. 

If you do this, find a reputable stock photo dealer or database that will pay you fairly before signing on with anyone.  You want to get the best deal you can and retain control of your photos if possible.

There, you have four more possibilities that can help you make some extra money to supplement your income from your home on your schedule.  The hardest part is picking something you want to do and sticking with it long enough to learn how to make money with it.