Looking for Great Part Time Retiree Jobs

With the economic crisis of 2008 significantly reducing our portfolio of savings, I've been looking at part time job opportunities to earn wage income that will reduce our withdrawal rate from our retirement investments. Currently, I'm targeting to earn 20% of our annual expenses, and have achieved about 10%.

After looking for and working a few part time jobs over the past two years, I've developed a set of criteria for the part time jobs that I like best as a retiree:

1. Flexible hours that I can choose. I'm no longer interested in a regularly scheduled job for certain days each week, even if it is only part time. I like to choose which hours and which days to work.



2. Seasonal or short term. Even though I like my part time jobs, I grow tired of them after about three months, and look forward to them ending. Often, by the following year, I look forward to starting them again.



3. Free training, product or service use. Since the pay is not very much, I like the employers who have policies that provide free/low cost training or give limited free use of products or services to employees.



4. Enjoyable, most of the time. Now that I'm retired, I want to enjoy the work and the people with whom I work. If I don't enjoy either, it's time to change.

So far I have found four jobs that meet all the criteria for me and match my skills and interests. Here they are:

1. Part time teaching. This can include substitute teaching, tutoring, or special activities. While the class time is usually determined, I have flexibility to accept or decline. Generally, the assignment is short term. For special activities, I can sometimes have my daughter take the class for free. Finally, I enjoy helping young children learn about science and math topics.



2. Tax preparation. There are a number of tax preparation companies that hire people for each tax season of January 1 to April 15. The hours are flexible, the work is seasonal and employees can prepare and file their own taxes for free. Generally, I enjoy working with numbers and figuring how to achieve the lowest tax liability.



3. Seasonal park staff. Our local parks have seasonal jobs with flexible hours during the busy months of the year. A employee benefit is use of many services (e.g. boat rental , golf greens fees) for free. In addition, I enjoy outdoor work.



4. Special events. In our area, there are several sports tournaments and theme shows that last from one or two weeks. Although the hours can be long, there is flexibility to choose shifts and days to meet one's schedule. A nice benefit is being able to attend the event during outside of one's shift.

For now, I will focus on finding part time jobs in these four areas. Most of the jobs pay about $8/hour. Part time teaching can range from $9 to $15/hour, after factoring in preparation time. However, because of the flexiblity and perks, I consider these part time jobs better options than ones that may pay more. .

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This is not financial or work advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

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