*Guest post by Tina Martin
It’s not uncommon for seniors to decide to return to the workforce part-time after retirement. There are many benefits to taking this route. For one thing, research shows that individuals tend to be happier in retirement if they keep busy and maintain a sense of purpose. A fulfilling part-time job can help towards this end.
Money is another obvious motivator for those who choose to get a job after retiring. Many seniors worry about running out of money without a steady income. According to the Journal of Accountancy, it’s actually the number one fear among retirees.
Not sure what job to pursue? Get inspired with the below ideas.
Sell insurance
Many people need to purchase insurance, so working in the insurance industry can be an excellent option for seniors, especially if you have a background in sales. For example, you could sell life insurance to other seniors, and you may be able to take on friends and family as your first clients. Before you look into selling insurance, research the best options for retirees.
Teach English as a second language
One key to figuring out what career path to take after retirement is to consider your transferable skills. Whatever you were doing before retirement may still serve you afterwards. If you worked in education, for instance, you might consider teaching English as a second language, either for kids or adults.
If you want to go this route, you should get an ESL teacher certification. With this under your belt, you can apply to area language schools for part-time gigs or work on a freelance basis for yourself. The latter option gives you great flexibility in terms of timing, as you can decide when and where to work, and decide how many students to take on based on your availability and interest.
Become a tour guide
A tour guide job is a wonderful way to keep your mind active. You will have to memorize facts and statistics, and continually brush up your knowledge. This kind of brain activity will keep you sharp and stave off mental decline. Research even shows that such brain challenges can help prevent Alzheimer’s disease. You’ll also benefit from physical activity, as the job requires you to be on your feet and continuously moving.
There are tour guide jobs available to suit all types of tastes. If you are interested in art, history, and architecture, you can check out a gig at a museum. If you would prefer to spend time outside, take a look at the platform ToursByLocals, which allows you to present tours around your hometown to interested visitors. This is also a fun way to meet and interact with diverse people from different places, cultures, and countries.
Consider seasonal work to get started
Reentering the working world if you’ve been retired for a few years may be daunting at first. Get your toes wet by starting off with a seasonal job. There are various senior-friendly options available, such as wrapping gifts for stores. There are also non-holiday related seasonal jobs available. This AARP list suggests options like tax preparer, tutor, and National Park Service employee.
Explore the above options and you are sure to find a post-retirement gig that interests you, even if that involves launching your very own home-based business. As you reenter the workforce, you will also benefit from the increased contact with other people, which combats the isolation that sometimes comes with age. A part-time job will thus pave the way to a happier and healthier retirement. Remember “thisisyourbestyear”.
*Tina stays busy as a life coach and works hard to help herself and her clients achieve a healthy work-life balance.
It is amusing that people try to dictate when people should revert to rocking in the good old rocking chair. Don’t get me wrong, I love rocking chairs. There is something about rocking in a chair that reminds me of the comfort of home. But saying that I was recently asked by someone who I considered to be a good friend when I was gonna sit down.
talk about age. You know the person that loves to tell you how old they are, and the things they can’t do anymore. Why is it that we are constantly telling others and most importantly ourselves what we can’t do anymore? Most children think they can do just about anything, it is only as we age that we embrace what we can’t do. My grandson recently attempted a gymnastics routine as I call it where you slide down the slide, propel yourself up and catch the monkey bars. He did catch the monkey bars, but as the broken arm will attest he let go.
Even with the broken arm, he has decided that he is not to young/old to attempt this feat. He goes go school, tutoring, plays sports, participates in worship at church, has play dates, studies, and so much more. He knows exactly what has to be done, and those that he and his parents consider to be of less importance.
down for a rest. But guess what, when he regains his strength, he is on the go again. I know, I know you will probably say that he is all of nine years of age. But it should be the same for any age.
As we grow up, things that happen to us can make us go hmmm and scratch our heads at these new symptoms. Some call it the aging process, others say it’s just Father Time catching up, and most of us just say it’s life.
but not hurt. This means that you need a root canal to stop this awful feeling.
as we go through life, but I have a sorority sister who always finds the silver lining in things. The one silver lining I see from being lactose intolerant (and I hardly ever ate ice cream anyway), cutting out most sugar, most breads and caffeine is that I am able to control my weight and I can still have wine.
Well about 7 years ago our youngest fresh out of the Coast Guard was on her way to work when she informed me there was water in the kitchen on the floor. I immediately thought my loving husband had spilled a little something. Before I made it into the kitchen I walked in a river of water that had engulfed part of the den and office. The river was running wild in the sunroom, dining room, kitchen and laundry area–probably in the garage (but I didn’t care about the garage). I finally woke my husband out of a deep sleep, started to push water out, called the insurance company and waited on those that could help us dry out. Our house had taken on flood water, but being the worrier that I was, yes I had taken out flood 
insurance a couple of years before. While my husband continued to push out water, I got dressed and went to work. Now back in my younger days I would have had a crying, pity party, but I had matured–nature had run its course, and I had tried to be prepared for it. I did worry that the insurance would not pay off, but it did.
the home warranty plan. The man came out looked at the wall, then at my newly laid kitchen floor and informed me I had a slab leak, and he would be back the next morning to let me know where it was located. Yes, it was under my newly laid floor, but again the contractor and I had planned, we had purchased more flooring than we needed. As the plumber jackhammered my floor on a Saturday which meant that we would have this gigantic hole in the floor over the weekend–I didn’t worry. If you came to my house doing that time, you would just have to walk around the hole in the floor.
And now my refrigerator all of 7 years old is on the blink. I can remember the one my grandmother had. I don’t ever remember it getting repaired, and I don’t remember her buying a new one. I could worry about the food that will spoil in the hot refrigerator and freezer, but I will do the best I can to save what I can. Then I will fill out the lost food form and hope for the best.
Fort Worth native, Amara Russell is the author of the much talked about novel “A Rare Diamond”. Even though this is her first novel to be published she is no stranger to writing. Her love for writing has been evident to those around her since elementary school when her first article was published in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. It was our honor to have a great conversation with her.
Was “A Rare Diamond” the first manuscript that you finished?
around me. I would visit coffee shops, relatives houses and observe activities that I added to the story.
Celeste is witty, smart and beautiful. She is courageous, and she doesn’t bite her tongue about anything, but she says what she means in a subtle way. She takes her characteristics from her mother who was filled with integrity. Her mother could walk into a room and capture everyone’s attention. Celeste picked up a lot of those qualities.
the very end. So if we were going to the bookstore what two sections would we find “A Rare Diamond”?
kill her off at the beginning so I was kind of going back and forth, but Angela Bassett always came to mind when I was writing the story.
