Retirement occupations

[C-Note]

I'm about 10 years from retirement from my office career, so I'm already starting to think about what I'll be doing to keep myself active. My kids will be out of the house by then, so I should have plenty of freedom to do whatever I want. So, I'm looking for some ideas.

I agree with conventional wisdom that a retired man should at least work part time, not only to obtain some extra money to augment his pension, but also because studies appear to show that having at least a part time job helps keep men healthier through their golden years. I had a boss with no history of serious health problems who keeled over and died from a heart attack six months after he retired. He had not taken a part-time or second job after he retired.

I don't think being a web designer or something like that is necessarily an optimum retirement job, because it's too sedentary. Older people seem to enjoy being in a position in which they can interact with other people in a friendly, sociable way. I'll start the list off:

Portrait or editorial photographer
Fitness trainer
Barista
Bartender (preferably at a high-end cocktail lounge)
Cruise ship social director
Tour guide
Living history museum re-enactor
Actor

Any other ideas?

 

[DarkTriad]

Good thread idea. English Teacher X once wrote that the only people happy long term being English teachers overseas were those that had already retired from another job.

 

[SiverFox]

I'm about 10 years from retirement from my office career, so I'm already starting to think about what I'll be doing to keep myself active. My kids will be out of the house by then, so I should have plenty of freedom to do whatever I want. So, I'm looking for some ideas.

I agree with conventional wisdom that a retired man should at least work part time, not only to obtain some extra money to augment his pension, but also because studies appear to show that having at least a part time job helps keep men healthier through their golden years. I had a boss with no history of serious health problems who keeled over and died from a heart attack six months after he retired. He had not taken a part-time or second job after he retired.

I don't think being a web designer or something like that is necessarily an optimum retirement job, because it's too sedentary. Older people seem to enjoy being in a position in which they can interact with other people in a friendly, sociable way. I'll start the list off:

Portrait or editorial photographer
Fitness trainer
Barista
Bartender (preferably at a high-end cocktail lounge)
Cruise ship social director
Tour guide
Living history museum re-enactor
Actor

Any other ideas?

Coaching! Great way to stay active and interacting with other people.

 

[SteezeySteve]

Yeah coaching sounds like a good one because your outside running around.

I think everybody who had a phsycotic coach dead set on winning still remembers the terms he used and motivates themselves using those terms.

every youth Rec soccer league needs atleast one of these cats to up the competition level and create those games where the opposing team has an excuse to keep the starters in for the game.....it literally doesn't matter if you know about soccer or not if you push these kids,take things way to seriously,and say fuck the parents you will have the best u8 to u12 team that dominates the league for four years straight.

Just make sure you can handle the flack.

 

[DarkTriad]

Yeah coaching sounds like a good one because your outside running around.

I think everybody who had a phsycotic coach dead set on winning still remembers the terms he used and motivates themselves using those terms.

every youth Rec soccer league needs atleast one of these cats to up the competition level and create those games where the opposing team has an excuse to keep the starters in for the game.....it literally doesn't matter if you know about soccer or not if you push these kids,take things way to seriously,and say fuck the parents you will have the best u8 to u12 team that dominates the league for four years straight.

Just make sure you can handle the flack.

Coach Lombardi (of the NFL Lombardi trophy fame) once completely turned around a college basketball team he was coaching. He had never played organized basketball in his life, he just knew how to win, and how to coach.

 

[DarkTriad]

Yeah coaching sounds like a good one because your outside running around.

I think everybody who had a phsycotic coach dead set on winning still remembers the terms he used and motivates themselves using those terms.

every youth Rec soccer league needs atleast one of these cats to up the competition level and create those games where the opposing team has an excuse to keep the starters in for the game.....it literally doesn't matter if you know about soccer or not if you push these kids,take things way to seriously,and say fuck the parents you will have the best u8 to u12 team that dominates the league for four years straight.

Just make sure you can handle the flack.

Agreed with everything except "take things way too seriously". It's sports, it's almost impossible to take things too seriously as an athlete or coach. It's only fans that can take things too seriously. If you're playing, it's teaching you how to be winner and a leader, skills that are ALWAYS useful for a man.

 

[Hypno]

Gentleman host (dance companion for old ladies) on a cruise ship.

Doesn't pay much but with some creativity you could make it work for you.

Also thought about buying a sailboat and chartering it.

 

[Bolly]

 

[jbkunt2]

Coaching sports of any kind sounds like a great idea.

 

[doc holliday]

I'm thinking of selling my main business in 5-6 years after my kids are done college and working my side gig which should pay me plenty while being able to do it 3-4 days/week. I wouldn't mind using the extra time to try working in another industry just for fun and some of these ideas are cool. I've thought about being a host in a high end restaurant doing customer service stuff which I've gotten very good at over the years in my main business. Then when I get even older, I could move somewhere warm like Vegas and do that down there once I decide to quit my industry altogether. I agree that retired people should work part time and keep busy along with staying in shape.

 

[Sidney Crosby]

A seasonal campsite/RV park wouldn't be bad. You could make decent money and hire other people to do a lot of the grunt work, you could live on site and in the low season you could close it if wanted and just travel or have someone manage the place.

The job would be pretty laid back and you could be as busy as you wanted to be depending on the size and you could basically pick anywhere to do it. It would give you a good opportunity to meet a ton of people as well.

After you die you could also leave something to your kids.

 

[C-Note]

Some more ideas that occurred to me after reading everyone's responses above:

Substitute teacher
Apartment complex manager

I've been thinking of purchasing a sailboat and sailing up and down the coast after retirement while living on the boat (I was already considering this before the NASA Test Pilot fiasco). Doing charters on the boat would help bring in some extra dough, if it's a viable option.

 

[Hypno]

Will probably move to a beach area, buy some rental properties, and manage them and hire myself out as a manager for other properties. Management companies take 20-30% in resort areas, and as long as I'm managing my own properties it makes sense to manage them for others. Decent income, not too much work, just enough to keep busy and write off my expenses.