If these “clever” retirement jobs are just fantasy, can you realistically find something that in your heart of hearts is what you always wanted to do?

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Rayne Bradshaw, Windhoek, Namibia, 2016
Rayne Bradshaw, Windhoek, Namibia, 2016

Marketers who have got hold of your email address send you information about clever “retirement jobs”. But when you get to see these lists of jobs you wonder how realistic they are in the real world. How can these so-called “retirement” jobs be applicable to your individual circumstances? Do they really get your heart beating faster?

Take this list of jobs that is supposed to be some of the top retirement jobs:

– Consultant or freelancer
– Teacher or Professor
– Customer greeter
– Tour guide
– Retail sales clerk

Then there are other lists that claim to have “clever” retirement jobs such as:

– do your same job but work less hours at it
– carry out research for businesses or universities
– become a home handyman
– be an owner or manager of a bed and breakfast
– become a real estate agent
– run or own a small business

The problem is that you can’t just grab a job or business off the shelf. It’s like trying to put on an undersized or oversized pair of jeans. It just doesn’t fit. And here we are talking about jobs. If you want a job, fine. But that does not to provide you with an income-generating asset. As soon as you stop working even a part-time job, you don’t realise any income.

How do you find an income-producing asset for yourself whether it’s consulting, freelancing, owning property and letting it out or owning and running a bed and breakfast or any other small business?

The answer is that you’ve got to find something unique or custom made to your set of internal drivers or motivations. People have got to be happy in what they are doing and this applies whether you are 21 years old or 61 years old. For some people owning and running a small business whether it is a bed and breakfast, computer shop, surfers’ backpackers or a small confectionery manufacturing business is usually rewarding. Research shows that the most satisfied people who have retired of those who are running or owning their own small business.

Here are some examples of people who found a way to make an income outside of traditional stereotypes and are quite happy doing so:

– a former engineer teachers the clarinet, bassoon and saxophone to children and adults
– a pencil artist creates Western-style glasses and purses
– several people have turned a skill or hobby – plumbing, baking, cake decorating – into an online course where they are well rewarded
– some people rent out rooms in their house or outside cottages for income – one person came up with a national network for pet sitters which is more affordable than placing pets in kennels when owners are away on holiday
– some couples even live in show homes which are staged for sales by having real, live tenants stay in them while the houses are on sale (these home sitters stay on average for up to 5 months in a home)

The secret of clever “retirement” jobs is for you to find your own idea that fits perfectly with your level of energy, ambition, experience and skills. You need to make sure that you don’t use any of your retirement funds because you are going to need them in the longer term.

Find something first as a stepping stone that involves tiny seed capital that you can risk and it won’t really matter.

If you are serious about finding and developing ideas that could become an income-producing asset such as a rental from property, hiring out certain equipment or owning and running a small venture of your own, then do what many others have already done.

Getting yourself a copy of “Breakthrough Ideas” published by Bell&Cray Media.

Do it now while you have the luxury of time and income before you are forced into to doing something you hate rather than something that in your heart of hearts is really what you want to do.

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