Unreal Jobs for Retirement

and Dream Retirement Careers  

 The New Retirement Means Having a Retirement Job

It used to be that retirement meant leaving the workforce completely. In a recent survey, individuals very close to retirement (age 55 to 61) were asked what their retirement plans were. Their responses were surprising: 95 percent of individuals close to retirement age expect to work in a retirement career or job when they are retired.

Note that these individuals don't intend to work full-time throughout their retirement, A retirement job is clearly an important part of their retirement plans, however. Jobs during retirement are also a significant part of life for people who are already retired as well.

Almost a fifth (19 percent) report being employed either full-time, part-time, or self-employed. And two fifths (40 percent) of retirees have had at least one retirement job since retiring.

"It [retirement] was absolutely boring. You can't go and say, 'I'm retired now. That's it!' It won't take long and you're really gone for good and someone  throws the last shovel of dirt on a coffin with your name on it.  That's the moment you're really retiring - when you die."
- Ozzy Osbourne

Clearly retirement jobs are integral to the new retirement. Retirement work life is very different from the typical corporate grind, however. Most retirees shun responsibility and stress. Instead, they are looking for flexibility and freedom in their jobs during retirement. This is why a self-employed retirement may be attractive to certain retirees. 

Eighty-six percent of those working in retirement work just enough to keep themselves busy, challenged and engaged, but not so much that it infringes on their leisure time. In other words they are looking for fun retirement jobs and the best retirement careers they can find. Of course retirement businesses are another option.

This is how I intend to work in retirement and I will be doing what I am doing now, writing and self-publishing best-selling books such as The Joy of Not Working and How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free.

 

Many baby boomers, unfortunately, may find they have to work in retirement because they did not plan and save properly. But retirees don’t work just for money. They also work to create social connections, enhance learning, and elevate their self-image. Interestingly, half of all those surveyed say they would have a fun retirement job even if they were paid very little or nothing at all.

Other surveys show that nowadays many individuals plan to continue working in some capacity after they retire. They want to work fewer hours, be their own boss, or switch to a career they find more personally rewarding, even if it pays less. Indeed, choice retiree jobs have become desirable and hard to get in some cases due to the recession.

The reasons that many retirees keep on working at least part-time in a retirement job are numerous including this one given by Timothy Ferris.

One week into retirement, you'll be so damned bored that you'll want to stick bicycle spokes into your eyes. You'll probably opt to look for another job or start another company. Kinda defeats the purpose of waiting [for retirement], doesn't it. 
- Timothy Ferris in The 4-Hour Workweek

Jobs for older workers are expected to increase in certain occupations in the future as employers hire seniors, baby boomers and retirees who come with experience and intellectual capital - but often without a need for expensive benefits - for temporary jobs and project work.

If this trend develops, you may be able to create your unreal retirement job or dream career for retirement.

Almost three out of five new middle-class retirees will outlive their financial assets if they attempt to maintain their pre-retirement standard of living, according to a new study conducted by Ernst & Young LLP on behalf of Americans for Secure Retirement.

If you are a baby boomer quickly approaching retirement, you may be concerned whether you are saving enough for retirement. If you feel that you will be financially embarrassed in retirement, then starting a fun retirement business or creating your own dream retirement job is the way to go.

It's better to be out of money than out of new creative ideas on how to make money.
- Spiritual Rule of Money

To be successful at a retirement business, you must spot and capitalize on the many opportunities that the world has to offer. Paying attention to the world around you - looking at commonplace things and seeing the miraculous - will lead you to opportunities that others don't see.

Of course, the critics and negative people - which constitute the majority in Canadian and American society - will not spot the opportunities around them. Even if they do, they will not do anything with them.

I received this e-mail from Nicola in Australia (she did not want me to post her last name or e-mail);

Also just because there is presently an economic downturn happening does not mean that there is no opportunity to create a new retirement career or capitalize on a self-employed retirement. What do Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, and Disney have in common? They all started during economic downturns, as did more than half of the 30 companies that comprise the Dow Jones Industrial Average. An recession is a great time to create your own dream retirement job or start one of many retirement businesses to help the economy.

Keep in mind that you don't have to go halfway around the world and spend a ton of money to spot opportunities for retirement jobs and retirement businesses and take advantage of them. Opportunities for creating new sources of income are all around us, including our backyards.

Robert G. Allen and Mark Victor Hansen, co-authors of The One Minute Millionaire (Harmony, 2002), claim that they will be able to spot at least fifteen money-making opportunities in your living room alone.

Indeed, opportunities for creating your own great retirement jobs and retirement businesses are all around you. I discuss this at length in Career Success Without a Real Job.

 
Don't Rush into a Retirement Business -
 Starting One Is a Lot Harder than It Sounds

Retirement Job Hunting Over 50 Resources

Approaching retirement and not sure if you want to quit working? Check out these retirement job resources that list  best post retirement jobs and fun jobs for retirees loaded with opportunities perfect for the skills and maturity you can provide!

• Jobs During Retirement on the Real Success Resource Center: Besides the traditional Top Ten Retirement Jobs and the Top Ten Cool Retirement Jobs listed, perhaps a job of the future is your best bet at a second career after your official retirement from your main career. 
• Best Retirement Jobs on The Retirement Cafe: Retirement jobs and retirement businesses for retirees too broke or too bored with being retired. Reasons why retirees have a retirement Job or create a retirement business.
• Dream Retirement Jobs on Squidoo: Looking for interesting and rewarding work opportunities after retirement but aren't sure what to look for? This webpage provides some retirement job resources that can help.
  Free Online Employment Networks for Retirement Jobs and Retirement Businesses
• Retired Brains
• Work Force 50
• Retiree Work Force 

   
  Author of the World's Best Retirement Book