15 Best Low Stress Jobs After Retirement (Fun & Easy Jobs To Try!)
As a retiree, you probably have a lot of skills that you can put to work.
And, if you want to increase your post-retirement income or just keep yourself busy, picking up work or starting a side hustle isn't a bad idea.
However, you don't have to commit to working a hectic, 40 hour work week to make money again once you retire.
In fact, some of the best low stress jobs after retirement don’t even require any special background or degree. No matter what your qualifications are, you’ll be sure to find a job that’s right for you in this list!
The Best Low Stress Jobs After Retirement
Some of the best jobs after retirement involve making money online right from the comfort of your own home.
In contrast, some great jobs for retirees involve picking up part-time work or various side jobs to keep themselves busy.
Whatever the case, these 15 jobs are excellent choices for post-retirement.
1. Food Delivery Driver
The gig economy is one of the easiest ways to get started in some low stress work, and this holds true even if you're a retiree.
The main reason people like gig jobs is that you can usually set your own hours and work as much or as little as you like, so it's extremely flexible and low-stress.
Plus, lots of driving gigs pay around minimum wage or more and just involve delivering food or groceries to people in your city.
For example, you can try becoming a DoorDash driver and deliver fast food and restaurant orders to people in your neighborhood. Similarly, you can become an Instacart Shopper and make money by shopping for groceries and delivering them to people's houses.
Instacart pays a similar wage to DoorDash on average, but if you deliver during peak Instacart hours and also get good tips, you can make more.
Gigs like Uber Eats or Shipt are also worth considering, especially if you don't mind driving.
Overall, food delivery gigs are some of the best low stress jobs for retirees, and you're basically getting paid to work out if you deliver on a bike or do a lot of a walking around with jobs like Instacart.
Keep in mind the application process for different gig jobs can take a week or two, and you need to pass a background check and have a phone with data!
Get started with DoorDash and Instacart!
Extra Reading – How To DoorDash For The First Time.
2. Pet Sitter
One of the most fun jobs for retired people is to pick up pet sitting, dog walking, or pet boarding (provided you like dogs and other animals.)
To get started with this side hustle, you can offer your services to people in your neighborhood, friends, or post online.
You can also utilize apps like Rover to take out most of the hard work for you.
Rover connects dog walkers and pet sitters with people who need someone to help with their pet, so it's a great marketplace to find your first clients.
Rover let’s you set your own hours, price, and availability all within the app.
The average part-time salary for Rover workers is around $10,000 per year.
It’s not much, but it could be more than enough if you’re looking for something small and fun for your retiree job.
Plus, you’ll get in a bit of exercise while walking the pets and you get to spend time with animals, which might be a plus for you!
3. Blogger
Being a blogger is one of the best low stress jobs after retirement because it’s remote, has passive income potential, and fits any passion!
Blogging is essentially writing about any topic you specialize in for readers to learn from and enjoy.
And, when you grow a blog, you can start to monetize it with several strategies like:
- Advertisements with companies like Google Adsense, Monumetric, and Mediavine
- Affiliate income
- Offering coaching
- Selling your own products or services
- Sponsored posts and brand deals
One of the downsides about this is that blogging takes quite a while to get off the ground.
Some bloggers only reach their first few hundred after 3 years, and many bloggers never make money at all.
But if you learn the basics of search engine optimization (SEO) and consistently produce great content, you can grow your website traffic over time and start making money!
WebMonkey made $22,000 in 2020, and plenty of bloggers make a lot more than that!
Plus, blogging is also a great job for retirees since it keeps you engaged, teaches you new skills, and can even scale into a full-on business!
4. Etsy Seller
Etsy is very popular for selling handmade items, antiques, and unique gifts.
So, if you have experience hand crafting anything of value, you could sell your products on Etsy as a low stress retirement job.
Starting your own Etsy shop is free, and Etsy just charges $0.20 per item you list, a 5% transaction fee on sales, and some payment processing fees.
There are also lots of things you can sell on Etsy, with popular niches including:
- Accessories
- Apparel
- Artwork
- Craft supplies
- Home goods
- Jewelry
- Stickers
- Toys
The main reason selling on Etsy is a low stress job for retirees is that Etsy handles all of the tech and tricky stuff for you, so you just worry about manufacturing and shipping whatever you're selling and communicating with customers.
Etsy also lets you sell digital products, so if you want to sell digital stickers, printables, or ebooks, you can also use Etsy as a sales channel!
Extra Reading – How To Start An Etsy Print On Demand Store.
5. Walmart Greeter
One of the most classic and easy jobs for retired people is to be a greeter at Walmart.
This job is also incredibly simple: be friendly and greet shoppers as they enter Walmart and help people with any questions they have.
Some greeters hand out coupons and assist with directions around the store, but most Walmarts are looking for a friendly face to say hello.
Walmart greeters earn minimum wage, which varies depending on which state you live in.
You can usually request reasonable hours too so you’re not on your feet all day. The average shift is around 3-5 hours anyway.
Plus, as a Walmart employee, you can still earn some of the benefits that a full-time employee gets.
Insurance plans, a 401k, and paid vacations days sounds pretty sweet for a low stress post-retirement job.
6. Tutor
If your previous job was in a specialized field that could help out high school or college students, consider becoming a private tutor.
This is an especially good job for retired teachers!
You can offer your services through word of mouth or check out some online tutoring options to get your name out there.
Schedules are pretty flexible and most people pay in cash. Hourly rates for private tutors are around $20-$30 per hour depending on your level of expertise.
Online tutoring pays a bit less, but it’s a lot more flexible and you practically get to work from home.
Plus, you can find work with ESL tutoring companies like QKids or general private tutoring companies like Preply.
The only downside about this job is finding enough clients to turn it into consistent work. Aside from that, it’s a massive win!
7. Answer Online Surveys
If you just want to make a bit of pocket money for your low stress retiree job, you can always try using paid survey websites to earn some cash.
There are lots of get-paid-to websites out there that let you earn PayPal cash and free gift cards for sharing your opinion and completing various micro tasks.
Some of the most popular survey sites include:
- Survey Junkie – Lets you earn free gift cards or PayPal cash and you cash out at just $5!
- Pinecone Research – An invite-only survey site that pays $3 for every survey you complete.
- Swagbucks – Lets you earn rewards for answering surveys, shopping online, playing games, and watching ads.
- Prolific – Take part in research studies and answer surveys to earn PayPal money.
Again, these sites will only rake in a few dollars a day, so don’t rely on this gig to make you rich by any means.
With that being said, you can use multiple survey sites at once to maximize your earning potential.
When I used to make money with survey sites, I was cashing out around $200 per month at my peak.
Overall, if you want to find low stress jobs after retirement but only need to make some pocket change, survey sites are a viable option.
Extra Reading – How To Make $50 Per Day.
8. Babysitter & Nanny
Believe it or not, becoming a babysitter is one of the best low stress jobs after retirement.
And, if you have had kids of your own or had a previous job that dealt with childcare, you're also a perfect candidate for being a babysitter or nanny.
Being a babysitter is a more common job for teens, but you can still find work as a retiree or look for work as a nanny instead.
Many people start out with word of mouth and usually make a bit more money this way, but you need to know people who have kids who need looking after.
You can also use sites like Care.com to find families who need babysitters or nannies in your city.
The pay is a bit less (around $15 per hour), but you might find more consistent work.
9. Website Tester
An easy way to make money at home as a retiree is by testing out websites, apps, and platforms for brands.
You essentially record your screen and voice while going through certain tasks on a website. You’ll be asked to share your opinion often and speak your thoughts out loud.
There are also lots of companies that pay you to test websites, with popular options including:
Most of these websites pay you $10 to $20 for completing a user testing gig, and gigs take 10 to 20 minutes
This is actually a high hourly rate, and testing gigs are a more fun job for retirees since you get to test something new every time!
Just know that many testers sign up for multiple testing companies since it's hard to find steady work, so this is more of a side hustle and not a full-time income source.
That said, when I used to make money with website testing, I would make around $350 per month after getting the hang of things.
It’s not crazy money, but it’s quite fun and doesn’t take up too much of your time.
10. Airbnb Host
Have an empty room or entire place that’s not being used? You can list it on Airbnb and make some serious cash!
Becoming an Airbnb host is one of the best low stress jobs for retirees since all you have to do is manage your own home, communicate with guests, and clean up after they're gone.
You also have the flexibility to just rent out a spare room or your entire house (which is possible if you manage a rental property or get into that sort of thing.)
With a few bookings per month, you can easily pocket a few hundred dollars in additional income.
Just remember to take good pictures of your place, list an accurate description, and to communicate with potential guests in a timely manner.
Also, it's worth noting that your home is just one example of things you can rent out for money.
For example, if you have spare storage space, you can rent it out with Neighbor Storage, which is basically the Airbnb of storage space!
11. Waiter Or Waitress
Another classic low stress job for retired people is to be a waiter or waitress.
Working at a restaurant as a waiter or waitress can be a fun way to chat with customers, put on a friendly face, and stay active.
Plus, jobs like these are extremely beneficial because of tips.
So, even with minimum wage, you’ll still be making more money every paycheck.
If you’ve been a waiter before, you’ll know that it’s also a great way to kill time. If that’s something you’re looking for, then waiting tables is 100% for you!
12. Librarian
If you’re a book fanatic and already know your way around a library, see if your local one has an open position.
Your daily responsibilities include giving others book advice, helping people check out books, and sometimes budgeting money for new reading material.
The average librarian can make over $55,000 per year according to Indeed.
A lot of librarians are retired employees as well, so you’ll find other retirees at your place of work.
Plus, when you have no duties during the day, you can use that extra time to read in a quiet environment.
13. Editor & Proofreader
Becoming an editor or proofreader for articles, textbooks, or other publications is a very low stress job for retirees.
If you have sharp grammar skills and can catch common writing mistakes, editing will feel like a breeze for you.
Having SEO (search engine optimization) knowledge is a valuable asset to landing more jobs as well.
This is essentially the reason certain articles rank on the top page of search engines such as Google.
If you work as a proofreader for a company, you can expect to make around $61,000 per year. Some of the top proofreaders make over $95,000!
You don’t really need any qualifications for this job, although some sort of background/degree in English, literature, or technical writing could come in handy.
14. Sports Coach/Trainer
For those sports heads who know every little thing there is to know about basketball, baseball, football, or other popular sports, you can always consider becoming a coach!
Coaching is definitely a fun job for retired people if you love the game you're coaching and have a passion for helping players develop into better athletes.
Most child and young adult leagues don’t require any type of serious qualifications. Plus, it can be fun to get involved in the sports you love most.
High school or college positions are more serious of course, and overall, how much you make as a sports coach depends on the league and age you're coaching.
But, there's a chance your local sports league pays coachers or even referees a decent amount of cash per season.
Plus, if you’ve had experience in some sort of fitness specialty, you could look into becoming a trainer at your local gym or offering one-on-one coaching sessions with athletes.
Tips For Finding A Low Stress Job For Retirees
There are lots of advantages to continuing to work once you retire.
For starters and most obviously, an after-retirement job helps you earn consistent income. It also gets you out into the community and can help you stick to a schedule.
However, it can be difficult to find a good job for retirees if it's been a while since you've worked or you're not sure what you're looking for.
Some tips you can use for your job search include:
- Spruce Up Your Resume. If it's been a few years since you've worked anywhere, take some time to refresh your resume and get it up to standards before sending in any applications.
- Set Income Goals. How much monthly income do you want to make with your retiree job? Set a realistic goal and remember not to overwork yourself.
- Focus On Flexibility & Enjoyment. The goal is to find a low stress retirement job, which means keeping things flexible and fun!
Hopefully, with these tips, you can find a job that helps you pay the bills but is also fun and engaging.
Extra Reading – 20+ Jobs That Pay $5,000 Per Month.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully these 15 ideas for low stress jobs after retirement gave you some inspiration for your next career.
There are so many part-time and remote options that don’t even require you to step outside. Plus, the average salary for these jobs is around $30,000!
Feel free to get creative and mix a few of these jobs together to make more money and keep yourself busy.
Good luck on your job search!
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