Jasmine Birtles
Your money-making expert. Financial journalist, TV and radio personality.
Over 60s make money in ways you wouldn’t believe!
Chiara Cavaglieri
29th Aug 2020
Over 60s make money in all sorts of ways now.
Loads are doing it too. For a start, according to Aldermore, an increasing number of new businesses are being started by the over 50s (and many of those are well over 60).
With returns from savings low and cost of living rising, finding ways to supplement income elsewhere has become a necessity for many who have already retired.
For a start, over half generate an extra income from selling on websites. The extra cash generated is used to pay bills, go on holiday or reinvested into savings accounts for day-to-day living.
We’ve put together a list of the best money-making ideas for the over 60s, so take a look and see what suits you.
- Use your life experience to your advantage
- Make up to £20 an hour by joining a focus group
- House sit with your partner and make money together
- Cash in on your hobby
- How over 60s make money quickly
Use your life experience
Be a doula
Sorry men, this one tends to be for women only. Basically, this involves using your experience as a mother (or grandmother) to help families with a new baby.
You support the mum-to-be during her pregnancy (and often after the birth too). First, you sign up to an agency that will train you and place you with families. On average, Doulas in Britain make about £10–12 per hour for post-birth work and £200–400 for a birth.
See if being a doula’s for you by reading more about it here.
Tutoring
Do you play a musical instrument?
Or speak another language?
Perhaps your talent lies in writing or pottery?
Whatever your skill is you can make money from it by tutoring people or groups and charging by the hour.
In fact, if you read our article you’ll find out how to make as much as £80 an hour tutoring.
run an Ironing service
If you can iron a basket of crumpled shirts, with your eyes closed (don’t try it!), then providing an ironing service could be the answer to your cash-flow problems.
Best of all, you can do it all from your own home and the set-up costs are minimal.
Find out how to get started here.
consulting
If you have been in business for a number of years, consulting is a good way to make money from your experience.
There are various ways you can do it: you could contact former employers offering your services on a project basis or for a few hours a month, or you could set yourself up formally as a consultant, go to networking events with your business cards, get in touch with prospective clients through LinkedIn and other online networking platforms and build up your business like that.
Companies need consultants in many different areas from HR to sales (that’s a big one, as everyone needs help with sales), financial management, business strategy, communications and more.
Consultancy is vital across numerous sectors too. For example, if you used to run a hairdressing salon you could consult for other salons. Likewise, if you used to run a cleaning franchise you could consult for other franchise businesses and so on.
Consider writing a business book, getting into corporate speaking to impart your knowledge and being on panels, where your expertise is truly needed. You might be surprised at how much you could make.
Make up to £20 an hour in your own time
market research
Market research companies are always looking for people to join focus groups. There are plenty of opportunities, if you look around.
Most will only be asking you to work for an hour and the pay won’t be much (probably £10–20), however it may be quite interesting and could lead to more work.
Here are some market research companies you may want to contact. Simply call them up, or send them an email, explaining that you would like to attend any focus groups they have in the future:
Another very useful site is Gumtree, where you can do a job search for ‘focus groups’ or ‘market research’ to get a list of most recent work opportunities in your area.
Have a scan through to see what sounds right for you. Certain lifestyle conditions may be necessary, however if you aren’t suitable for one particular job, try to get the contact details of the company anyway and let them know you’re interested in some part-time focus group work.
Now read our full article on making money doing market research.
House sitting
One of the best things about house sitting is that over 60s are usually much more in demand as house sitters than younger people. This is because they tend to have more experience running a home, plus the flexibility to sit during holidays and weekends.
House sitting is a job that you can do as a couple, so it’s a fantastic way to spend some time together and make a little extra money.
You can start by joining an agency like Trustedhousesitters, who’ll match you with suitable clients. Working with an agency may be the best option if you’re a little nervous about house sitting for a stranger.
They will often arrange a meeting between client and sitter to make sure you know exactly what’s expected of you. Some agencies also have insurance to cover you should anything go wrong. Click here to apply to Trustedhousesitters.
The other option is to advertise yourself as a house sitter. Post an ad on Gumtree – place it in the ‘work wanted’ section explaining how much you charge and where you want to house sit.
Now, check out our full article on house sitting.
Cash in on your hobby
If you’ve got green fingers, or love to bake, then there are plenty of ways to make money with your talent. For instance, why not sell your baked goods at a car boot sale or even a local shop?
If you’re no longer working, you can use your free time to offer your gardening services during the week when other part-time gardeners may be unable to work. You can do anything from basic upkeep of gardens to pruning and planting flowers.
Likewise, you could grow your own fruit or vegetables and sell them for a profit. You can also make good money by propagating seedlings and selling the plants at car boot sales as you can see here.
Start by gardening for friends and neighbours. If they spread the word, you could end up with more paid work.
You don’t have to be an expert either; if you don’t know where to start there’s loads of help about:
- Buy a good gardening book like the one by Alan Titchmarsh, or the RHS Gardening Month by Month guide
- Get some advice from a local garden centre helpdesk
- Check out the Royal Horticultural Society and Garden Advice websites.
Don’t forget, you can also make your own compost and sell it. Some local councils will even provide a discounted compost bin. Simply, enter your postcode into the search box to see where you can get one from and how much it’ll cost.
Find out 13 ways to make money from your garden here.
Now take a look at these articles:
How over 60s make money quickly
Dog walking
If you love the companionship of dogs, but don’t want the responsibility of owning and looking after one full time, dog walking could be the perfect way for you to earn some extra money. First, you need to read our essential article on how to make £60 an hour by dog walking.
Then, register yourself with a dog-walking company such as Narps, or keep it simple and look after the pets of people you already know. Expect to make around £6–10 per walk.
You could also take it a step further and actually look after an animal in your own home, while their owners are away. To do this, join a company, such as Barking Mad, and register as a ‘host family’.
Cash in on your Gadgets
We’ve all got a loft full of old gadgets we don’t use, or an old computer you don’t use anymore.
That is where Cash In Your Gadgets come in handy. Cash In Your Gadget buy your unwanted tech, tablets and computers and get the money back to you in 2 days time. Perfect for getting some quick cash for the stuff you don’t use!
Rent out your…
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Garage/parking area
If you live near a sporting or music venue, university, or hospital there’s a very good chance you could make money renting out your driveway or garage.
Garages can also be rented out for storing equipment. This is particularly useful in big cities where storage is an issue for many people. Also, if you live in a tourist or coastal area you may be able to rent out your parking space during the holiday season.
Register with JustPark and Park Let to let thousands of people know about your spare space. Find out how much you could make renting out your garage.
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Spare room
If you’ve got a spare room that you don’t need, then turn it into a moneyspinner by renting it out. You choose who stays and for how long, so it really is a good way to make money with little hassle.
Before you advertise your room for free on Roomgo or Gumtree, go and read our full article on renting out your room here.
You should also consider taking in foreign students on a short-term basis. Depending on where you live and how nice your place is, you can make between £35 and £150 a week. Read this article on hosting foreign students to find out more.
For a long-term money-making scheme, running a B&B is another option. You could make anything from a few hundred quid a month to a few thousand a month, depending on where you live and how many rooms you have. However, it can be hard work and it’ll take a lot of effort initially to get things going, so do consider it fully before you make any decisions.
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Garden
For those who are 60 and over, a big garden can eventually become a bit too much to look after. If this sounds familiar, then you could divide up your garden and offer people your unwanted space to grow vegetables.
Allotment patches are booked up for years in some areas so you can really cash in by offering someone a patch in your garden for them to use.
Spareground is a useful site where you can register and advertise your garden space (or anything else) for free. Again, you should also post a free ad on Gumtree.
Other options
If taking it easy isn’t really your style and you’re full of good ideas, why not set up your own business?
It doesn’t have to be as scary as it sounds.
You’re older and probably much wiser than you were 10 years ago, and if you’ve paid off the mortgage already, now could be the perfect time to venture into something new.
We have a whole section for over 50s and loads of helpful articles so take a look at these to get you started:
If you’ve discovered any money-making ideas we haven’t covered here, then get in touch by commenting below!
Some good tips for money making for the over 60’s.
The 60+ community are currently more Internet savvy than at any time in previous history, with many regularly using the Internet to make an income.
Enjoy!
Some really good ideas here! My parents have been looking for some alternative income ideas for when they retire as they have plans to travel and need a way for it to be funded! I’ve been helping them out a bit and came across this serviced apartments investment thing that some retirees are doing, and just wanted to see if it is a good way of bringing in income? It’s something like you invest in a place in an apartment block, then the developer rents it back off you. Apparently it is better than buy-to-let because there are new restrictions… Read more »
Hmm, I really don’t trust those sort of schemes at all. I would suggest your parents ignore it or – better – take the details to a proper financial advisor who will give them good advice. Try this site https://www.vouchedfor.co.uk//?utm_source=moneymagpie&utm_medium=&utm_campaign=site&utm_content=find_an_adviser&utm_term=link for free, independent financial advisors.
Nice article 🙂
I was looking for a way to make money from home.
And I found the perfect site for it!
I selling my knowledge( hobbies skills etc ) at koocam .
This is a great way to make money online. (Not scam )
Highly recommended for those who want to work from home and increase income .
One problem for over 65’s is the Poverty Trap. In the UK in 2012 the State Pension (AKA the Old Age Pension) is about £112 per week. Means-tested Pension Credits will top this up to about £140 per week. As this is still officially the poverty line one also becomes entitled to Council Tax Benefit which for a small property is worth about £20 per week. Nett “income” £160 per week. Would a NMW job match this? Even 40 hours at £6 per hour would only gross £240. Less stoppages (tax and National Insurance) what would one actually get? Needless… Read more »
Can anyone tell me, please, how to get a job teaching/talking on a cruise ship – are the agencies genuine or just a money making ‘scam’
Thank you
Hi Andrea, I used to work on cruise ships (many years ago!). It depends really on what you want to talk about or teach. Most positions on board are recruited via agencies or third parties, only engineering staff, officers and purser staff are usually hired direct by the cruise liners. You could contact the cruise lines direct and ask who they use as their providers of Guest Lecturers or Port & Cruise Consultants. I have some info regarding onboard Guest Lecturers and Port & Cruise Consultants recruiters but my info may be a little out of date due to the… Read more »