What kinds of work can old people do?
Pension funds, Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid going broke is a foregone conclusion. So is inflation withering of purchasing power of the assets you might have saved. Furthermore, taxes will rise as governments become desperate to feed the ravening beast.
It seems inevitable that I will have to work to put bread on the table at some point in the next 15 years. In 15 years I will be 81 years-old.
What kinds of work can a 65 year-old do? What about 70 year-olds? 80 year-olds?
Work vs Job
Notice I used the word "Work".
"Job" implies some degree of permanence. It is an artifact of the Industrial Revolution and the transition of the economy to consumer debt. Nobody was going to loan you enough money to buy a car if you didn't have a "job", that is, a guarantee of future income.
In the United States, the majority of the economy transitioned from "work based" to "job based" sometime in the 1920s and 1930s. Before that, the only people with "jobs" worked for the railroad or in steel mills or the new automobile plants.
Limitations of being older
- Vision is often an issue.
- Reaction times get slower
- Physical strength and stamina are limited
- Hearing is often less acute
Most of us will not be capable of doing 40-hours-a-week of concrete work in our seventies. Long-haul, OTR, transcontinental trucking is also not in the cards nor is delivering 50 pound bags of dog-food to apartment blocks.
Going door-to-door selling garden produce is a possibility. Mrs ERJ does that now when she gives away her surplus of cherry tomatoes and sweet peppers.
My dad was canning tomatoes into his mid-80s and mowing grass with a garden tractor until he was 90.
Watching young kids...say up to 5th grade, is an option.
Repairing clothing is an option if you have bright light, magnifying glasses and (perhaps) easy to thread needles.
Being a waiter, bus-boy or bartender for a few hours (lunch rush) is a possibility although wet floors are not our friend.
If you had to go back to work as a 75, 80 or 85 year-old, what would you do?
Since I'm disqualified from being President of the US instead I'd be a philosopher-king. But I expect demand for my services might be low.
ReplyDeleteI started making 20k a week as a part time job on my computer working from home! Just click this link... Lol!
ReplyDeleteDid my first 'task' for a task-rabbit customer. Hauling cardboard boxes and bags of plastic trash to the dump in my pickup. Manageable 'work', even for my 51 year old butt. $50/hr, I billed 3 hrs. Should see the cash in my bank account w/in 7 days.
Not bad.... after $5k annually, they mail you a 1099 form.
They have other categories of labor, skilled and unskilled. You set the rate, can refuse any job you don't like... On the surface, it looks like a winner.
CAD might be an option. Those with building trade work experience could probably find contract work drawing. You might be working at home, working your own hours and submitting your work via email. The employer would not have to provide space in their office nor provide insurance benefits for contract workers, providing an incentive to hire.
ReplyDeleteI would maybe work at the local farm stand for a few hours. So far, I can still stack wood, mow the grass, work in the garden. I’m 70, and this year really knocked down my capacity to work. I hope after knee replacement, I’ll gain a little bit.
ReplyDeleteSome years ago, I spent an afternoon showing a girl how to pressure can meat: that type of instruction might be done for a small fee.
The local library has some people working a few hours a week, so that’s possible.
If I have the stamina still, I would clean stalls at the local riding stable once a week or so. I had horses for close to 50 years. Some chores are easy: fill water buckets, turn out, hand walk injured horses.
I think many of us could offer instruction in a wide range of skills.
Southern NH
I would also talk to the town’s Council on Aging, and any food pantry. A few hours work may be available. If you still drive, you could deliver meals, or take people to medical appointments.
DeleteSNH
I’m thinking of selling myself for medical experiments.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if working will even be an option. The generational hate out there now is real and it can only get worse. Boomers are seen as having ruined everything and the kids are already talking about smothering us late at night with our own pillows. Finding work may not be a problem…
That is why I sleep with sheathed knife wrapped in bed covers. Even John Wick didn't see that coming ...
DeleteBuy a Power ball tikket...
ReplyDeleteBest to be smarter and save for retirement
You can make between 10 and 20% on your saved money via dividends and never touch the principal. Compounding makes for pretty decent growth over time.
Failing that, you can easily work from home for a company like Verizon or Xfinity doing customer service work. All you need is a pulse, power, a laptop, and an internet connection.....Apparently you don't even need to speak English well. Lots of work in that area. No physical issues either.
"If I had wanted to work for a living, I wouldn't have become an engineer"
ReplyDeleteAs long as my thinker still works, I can find work even in my 70s. It's even easier now that the younger generation is not able and/or willing to do so (yes, a stereotype, but one with a foundation). Someone has to fix AI's "answers".
Yep. Tried that work stuff for a few summers then studies engineering. 68 and in demand even though I sometimes feel guilty about coasting a bit compared to 25 years ago. Working with a 78 year old doing same job. Funny how AI and computers in general seem to create more work for the old fart who can metaphorically put the chalk mark on the machine where the problem is (IYKYK the story. )
DeleteBTW, confirmed with my doc that they see a spike in deaths when "professionals" stop working when they could continue. He is not quitting until forced, either.
DeleteChild care for my grandkids.
ReplyDeleteRetirement work/job/gigs pretty much come down to your skills, abilities, resources, interests and location, location, location.
ReplyDeleteNiche and cash economy work reflect the local community and its needs and wants. Around here are there is small engine repairs/tuneups and some heavier equipment repairs. Most folks don't have a hydraulic press in the garage. Mine gets a workout each spring replacing bearings in mower deck hubs. Sometimes it is real small repairs, a fellow had the remote fob for his car fail. It took about twenty minutes to locate the fault and solder the broken connection. He tossed a fifty on the counter and sent a lot of folks my way needing similar repairs. This is one that can start getting away from a fellow if he does good work. I could probably open an equipment repair shop if I wanted to work that hard.
CSA, it is surprising how many lbs of raspberries, onions, green beans, ears of corn, heads of lettuce, etc local folks will purchase even in a small community pop ~ 1200 or so.
I believe someone above mentioned hauling, very young and senior folks especially, often times lack the ability to haul off different items or move things, an example an older fellow had his pickup breakdown while moving a round bailer three hours away. Got a knock on the door and got his pickup going good enough to get it home and towed his bailer in as well, that was almost a full days effort. All it takes is folks knowing you have the interest and ability to get the job done and they will come to you.
Handyman/cleanup, folks are always needing things trimmed around their place and the brush hauled off. One of my boys made more mowing lawns during the summer than he could working for one of the local farmers. When he left for school I could have stepped into his shoes but I had too much other stuff going on. Cleaning gutters is another local area need. It's that time of the year to mount studded tires and the nearest tire shop is more than a half hour drive. Slapping fours studded tires and wheels on a rig doesn't take much time or effort but the local senior ladies sure do appreciate it. Ditto shoveling walks and driveways in the winter.
There is a local meat cutter that can benefit from my help with slaughter, processing and packaging of beef and hogs. Those days can get real long when there are several animals to process. There's also always a local farmer/rancher needing someone to cover winter feeding for a few days or help with roundup, shots and branding or doing field work.
Honey, there is a strong market for as much raw, local honey as the bees produce and I can process at $20 a quart. Anything over twenty hives gets into the range of a real job though. I may have to go to medium supers as deeps are getting heavier every year.
Turning a hobby/interest into a small cash crop, even over here on the dry side of the state there is interest in fly fishing flies. A few hours at the tying bench meets my needs and the surplus more that pays for materials for myself and the surplus. Yes, I use a large magnifier now and no longer do marathon sessions at the tying vise.
Some of this may seem like work for a younger man and three years ago I almost cashed out but I can still carry my weight when working and I'm just a tad older than you as near as I can tell.
The nice part about a lot of this is, it is seasonal and the work load/demand is spread out over the year so I'm not getting burned out punching a time clock sixty hours a week.
Just some, not all of the ideas that work where I am.
wes
wtdb
Do you need squirrel tails?
DeleteNot at this time, thank you.
Deletewes
wtdb
I'd find a couple of young men to do the work and I'd be the brains and run a small to medium repair, fixing and making operation.
ReplyDeleteSome years ago my husband had a little side business sharpening chain saw chains. No one else local was doing it.
ReplyDeleteSNH
ERJ, I will say that the produce job I had was something I could easily see having done into my 70's: not a lot of lifting (heaviest item was 40 lbs. boxes of bananas), low impact (although on your feet all the time).
ReplyDeleteI will say that one added benefit was a discount on store brands. This helped our grocery budget even then; it would be even more important during rampant inflation.
At 71 years old , I gave up my CDL with triples,tank endorsments, also haz-mat. To old for insurance companies, and not able to work 60-70 hours a week.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to be a talent scout for a pole dancer agency but I couldn't find one. ---ken
ReplyDeleteI'd invest in a WILL WORK FOR FOOD franchise at a freeway exit ramp.
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/jphfMd4_LCs?si=hZ7jHB37GUWV65_F
ReplyDelete