Baby Boomers, or men and women in their 50s and 60s, face many challenges in the current economic environment. Most have savings of less than $25,000 for their retirement, which is hardly enough, especially when one considers the rising life expectancy across the United States, Europe, and Australia.
With interest rates as low as they are, and with stock markets so volatile, it’s hard to depend on the savings collected over a lifetime of work. They cannot depend on Social Security either, as economists predict that it’s a matter of when, not if, the US can no longer support the Social Security system.
For this reason, a number of Baby Boomers are looking at online jobs or work-at-home jobs to sustain themselves through tough times. Online jobs or internet jobs do not require any physical effort of any sort, and need little or no capital investment; but they do require an investment of time, which makes them ideal for seniors and retirees.
Here are the Top 5 Online Jobs for Baby Boomers in 2016…
#1: Sell Physical Products Online – It is certainly possible to make a decent living from selling online on sites such as Amazon, eBay and Craigslist. There are many seniors who make $10,000 a month as Amazon or eBay sellers. The key is to select the right products available at the right price, which are in high demand and for which there isn’t much competition. You will need to invest a lot of time in product research and learn the technicalities of selling on Amazon and eBay.
#2: Virtual Customer Support Agent – Most small businesses cannot afford to hire an in-house customer service team. But rather than outsource customer service to non-English speaking countries, they would rather hire local virtual customer service agents. This is a great job for seniors; you can pick your own working hours and take the calls in a relaxed manner. It is possible to earn $20 to $25 an hour in this job. It would help to have a soothing voice and a pleasant demeanor. You may also find Customer support representative jobs with Jooble.
#3: Online Tutor – Many seniors or retirees are highly educated and have great expertise in math, science and English. There are a number of young students around the world who lack proficiency in these subjects. Now, more than ever, everyone is connected no matter where they are located. You can now offer online English lessons to students in China or teach chemistry over Skype to youngsters in Germany. There’s a great potential for good money to be made here. You can easily make $25 an hour or more and work for 5 to 6 hours a day. There are dozens of great websites that pay you for this, just Google “online tutor” to look for them.
#4: Freelance Writer or Editor – A number of seniors are academics, researchers or former journalists. Their skills are highly prized in the digital economy. There are a number of websites that pay good money for original pieces, such as Writerfind.com, Yahoo! Voices and Helium. Sites such as MyEssays.com offer good money for essays. Seniors can find many editing and proofreading opportunities on freelance sites such www.upwork.com, www.freelancer.com and www.guru.com. They can also offer their freelance writing and editing services to local newspapers, magazines and trade publications.
#5: Telemarketing – Telemarketing is another interesting work-at-home opportunity where you can get paid for running cold-calling campaigns for a variety of businesses and organizations such as credit card companies, banks, bond traders, marketing agencies, nonprofits or political campaigns. As a telemarketer, you will earn a commission on every sale. You can work for as long as you want, it’s entirely up to you. Of course, if you have a plenty of cold-calling and customer service experience, this can really help you a great deal.
Each of the online jobs for seniors 2016 listed here are simple and can be performed by most seniors, depending on their experience and skillsets acquired over a lifetime. As they say, age is just a number and your best years have only begun. You may also find jobs for retired people with Jooble.
