Best Ways To Earn Money In Early Retirement (2024)

Early retirement is a goal for many people because of the freedom of not having to work unless you want to.

A common occurrence I see from early retirees is the desire to do some type of work but with no obligations involved. Work is much different when you know you don’t have to put in the hours.

Instead, you get to choose something you enjoy doing. It also doesn’t hurt to have income coming in when you’re newly retired.

Here’s a list of the best ways to earn money in early retirement.

Sell printables on Etsy

Are you looking for a stress-free and profitable side hustle that makes up to $10,000 a year?

Selling printables on Etsy is the best side hustle out there right now. Tons of women are making between $100-$1000+ a month selling printables online (see their success stories here).

This is the side hustle for you if you’re looking for something stress-free to start from home that also makes passive income.

You don’t need any previous experience to do this, you don’t need to be a graphic designer, and you don’t even need to be tech savvy for this. This is a great side hustle for someone low on time but wanting to make extra money.

Find out what kind of printables to make (so you can make the most money) and how to start an Etsy shop in this free training.

Proofreading

Proofreading is a great side hustle for anyone looking to bring in extra income from home. If you enjoy catching grammatical errors and correcting mistakes, you may want to consider proofreading as a side hustle.

There are so many benefits to being a proofreading, including getting to work as little or as much as you’d like. There’s also a high demand for proofreaders.

The average salary for a proofreader is in the $50,000 range, but that obviously depends on a variety of factors including how much you work, who you work for, and how many clients you have.

Getting started as a proofreader requires work on your end. You may want to find an affordable proofreading course online that teaches you how to get started as a proofreader and how to find clients.

Here is a free training that gets you started on a proofreading business at home.

Swagbucks

Swagbucks is a way to earn gift cards and extra cash from your phone or laptop by answering surveys.

You can even earn points for watching videos, shopping online, and other things. Redeem your points for free gift cards to over 100 retailers.

Start earning money on Swagbucks here.

Create a niche website

If you’re thinking about starting a blog, the old way of blogging is dead.

There’s a new way to blog and it’s incredibly important if you want to be successful. Basically, you have to start a niche website if you want to make money from blogging.

Retirees may find that blogging is one of the best ways to make money because it can be done anywhere, anytime, and it’s incredible flexible.

I just started a niche website and it’s going great so far. I purchased a course called Niche Site Academy that teaches you how to find a successful niche and also how to start and build the website with the niche in mind.

With niche websites, you are writing content with Google in mind. It’s much different than the old form of blogging.

I plan to make at least $3,000 a month with my niche website and since it’s my second blog, I plan on investing and saving all income from the second blog. This is a great side hustle for early retirees.

Get on the Niche Site Academy waitlist here.

Maximize coupon savings with one click

If you’re doing any kind of shopping online, you need to use Honey.

Honey finds the best coupons online for you so you don’t have to go searching for them. With just one click, you can get the most savings on any online purchase.

For example, I was shopping on Petco for dog food and Honey found me a 20% off coupon.

Join Honey here and start saving.

BookNook Tutor

Are you passionate about tutoring students?

If so, becoming a BookNook tutor may be for you. BookNook tutors teach reading or math online to groups of 1-4 students.

You will use BookNook’s learning platform and curriculum to tutor. This platform will guide you through lessons and even show how your students are performing in real-time.

BookNook is looking for tutors who:

• Educators with a passion for working with K-8 students
• 1+ years of teaching or tutoring
• You need toquality for one of these requirements – Option 1 requirement: 3+ years teaching or tutoringOption 2 requirement: 1 year teaching or tutoring and a bachelors degree Option 3 requirement: 1 year teaching or tutoring and current enrollment in a teaching credential program
• Current US Citizen pr Permanent Resident and have a current social security number
• Must be at least 18 years old

Pay is $18/hour + potential bonuses

If you’re an early retiree that is passionate about working with learners and tech-savvy, sign up to apply to become a BookNook Tutor here.

High yield savings account

If you’re a responsible adult you more than likely have an emergency fund.

Do yourself a favor and put your emergency fund into a high yield savings account like in CIT Bank.

This kind of savings account helps you at least earn something while your money is sitting in an account.

Pinterest Virtual Asisstant

Are you a creative person who wants to help small businesses and work from home?

You can do all of those things by becoming a Pinterest Virtual Assistant. Pinterest is the way thousands of businesses get seen online and therefore, how businesses are profitable and successful.

Pinterest Virtual Assistants are in charge of making sure businesses get seen by thousands of people on this platform. As a Pinterest VA, you’ll be in charge of designing Pinterest pins, scheduling pins, and other tasks.

Pinterest VA’S can make anywhere from $500/month to $10,000 a month.

Here is a free training that shares a day in the life of a Pinterest Virtual Assistant.

Credit card hacking

A fun way to earn some extra cash is hacking credit cards. If you’re a responsible spender and pay off credit cards on time, taking advantage of credit card perks may be a good idea.

For example, both my husband and I signed up for a Chase Sapphire Card which gave us each $750 for spending $4,000 in three months.

This was easy for us because we put everything on the credit card, including groceries, vet visits, restaurant outings, household items, etc.

Taking advantage of credit card perks is such an easy way to make extra cash. Altogether we’ve totaled $3,000+ in a year just sign up bonuses. That $3,000 includes cash back and flights just for doing our regular spending.

Rakuten

Whenever you do your regular shopping, make sure you’re using Rakuten.

Rakuten is a cash back service that is completely free to use and has the potential to save you hundreds of dollars a year.

For example, I recently shopped at Petsmart online and got a percentage cash back from my purchase just by using Rakuten. You are missing out on savings if you’re not using Rakuten while shopping online.

Sign up for Rakuten here.

Find a remote job via FlexJobs

If you’re looking for a remote job, FlexJobs is the #1 website for remote job listings.

Every single job listed on FlexJobs has been vetted for security and accuracy. There are currently over 25,000 job listings from over 5,500 companies.

Retirees will love FlexJobs for many reasons, including:

• No wasted time – every job listing is vetted before listed online
• Access to career coaching, courses, and resume reviews

FlexJob listings will even share how remote the job is. Most jobs are 100% remote but some jobs may have you come in from time to time and if so, that will be listed.

Lear how to find a remote job and start working from home with FlexJobs.

Earn cash back from groceries

Ibotta is a free app that gives you cash back and extra savings on groceries and other items you buy.

I’ve been using Ibotta for years and it helps me save on healthy groceries like fruits, rice, vegetables, and proteins. I highly recommend Ibotta if you go grocery shopping.

Start saving money on groceries with Ibotta.

Make dog treats

Did you know you can make an extra $500-$1,000 a month with a part-time side hustle at home? If you love baking and dog treats, consider opening up a dog bakery at home.

This side hustle can go even farther than $1,000 a month depending on how much time you put into it.

People love spending money on their pets and by creating special dog treats, you get to make money and pet lovers get to spoil their dogs with treats.

Here is a free training that teaches you how to start your own dog bakery.

Make and sell digital stickers

You can make and sell digital stickers from home and make a great side income doing this.

Digital stickers are a great idea because you don’t have to print or ship anything.

You only have to make the product once and people can buy it again and again. There’s even a course called the Digital Sticker Course that teaches you everything you need to know to succeed with this side hustle.

WeBull

WeBull is an online brokerage that has impress tools available to the users.

Get up to 12 free stocks when you open a WeBull account here.

Facebook Ad Manager

Facebook Ad Managers are one of the best side hustles to start this year because of all the potential.

If you’re interested in becoming a Facebook Ad Manager, check out this free training here.

This free training teaches you how to start running ad campaigns as a beginner and how to find business owners who are willing pay you.

Clean parking lots

This is a side hustle you may have never heard about and it’s quite unique. You can clean parking lots and earn money for tidying up areas outside businesses.

My friend Brian has been doing this cleanup business for decades and always recommends it to others who are looking for a fun new side hustle.

Find out how to earn a part-time or full-time income cleaning parkings lots here.

Freelance writing

Are you a writer who has trouble finding paid work or a stay at home mom who wants to turn her writing skills into a career?

Freelance writing is a great option for fully remote work that can either be part-time work or a full-time gig.

My friend Ariel is a full-time freelancer and even teaches others how to work from home making up to $5,000 a month.

Learn how to make money from home as a freelance writer with the course Big Money Writer.

This is a 40 day program that teaches you a step-by-step process on exactly what you need to know to be successful at this.

This works even if you have no college degree, no writing experience or have never even earned online income before.

Sell a planner on Etsy

People loving using planners to stay organized and productive.

Did you know you can make planners yourself and sell them on Etsy?

You can sell printables for between $5-$25 and the best part is, you only have to make the printable once and people can purchase it again and again.

Find out how to sell planners on Etsy here.

Key points to remember

There are so many ways to earn extra money in early retirement.

One of the best parts about early retirement is deciding if you want to work and if so, what kind of work you want to do.

There are so many options for early retiree work including:

• Proofreading
• Create a niche website
• BookNook Tutor
• Pinterest Virtual Assistant
• Credit card hacking
• Affiliate marketing
• Rakuten
• Find a remote job via FlexJobs
• Make dog treats
• Make and sell digital stickers
• High yield savings account
• WeBull
• Facebook ad manager
• Maximize coupons with one click
• Bookkeeper
• Clean parking lots
• Freelance writing
• Swagbucks
• Sell planners on Etsy
• Earn cash back from groceries

If you’re ready to start a side hustle in early retirement, now is the time. Pick one of these side hustles and work as little or as much as you want. That’s the freedom of retirement!