Show Me the Money! How to Continue to Make Money Post-Retirement

The word "retirement" means different things to different people. For some, it means the end of working life altogether. For others, it may mean a career switch or a leap from full- to part-time, consulting or freelance work.

However you define it, you still can make money once you've retired. One way is through your investments. If you have invested your money wisely, it will continue to grow regardless of your work status.

But if you are the type who likes to stay active, why not also earn some spending money while doing what you enjoy?

Volunteer Now, Get Paid Later

You may be able to parlay your volunteer efforts into a paying gig. If you're great at planning events, raising funds, obtaining new members, updating databases or other tasks, you could use those skills to snag a paying job.

For the Young at Heart

If you don't have any grandchildren, your grandchildren live far away or you simply love kids, you could work at a daycare, preschool or camp. If your career was in education, consider working a few hours a week as a tutor.

Earn Extra Money? No Sweat!

Now is the perfect time to get (or stay) in shape. If you're serious about it, you could get paid for exercising! Personal trainers who focus on the senior population are in high demand. 

You also can specialize in exercise formats that cater to the older generation: Zumba Gold, Silver Sneakers or the Arthritis Foundation Exercise Program. Water aerobics or other water-based programs are easy on the joints and worth a look.

Yoga is also becoming very popular among seniors due to its numerous benefits to the body, mind and spirit. Expand your mind and your exercise routine and learn why yoga is perfect for older adults.

Have a Hobby?

Do you love sports? If so, you could find work as a coach or referee for a community youth league. Love to dance? Knit? Enjoy mah jongg or cards? Create artwork? Play an instrument? 

You could teach an adult education course through a local community college or other venue. Senior centers and adult communities usually offer a variety of activities, and these may be great places to start teaching.

Lifelong Learning

If you're eager to continue learning, take a class to brush up on a topic or acquire a new skill. Once you reach a certain level of proficiency, you could be teaching a course! Remember, many colleges and universities allow seniors to audit courses. That means you can take a course but will receive no homework, no exams and no credit.

Know the SCORE

Those retiring from a career in business may want to become involved with Service Corp of Retired Executives (SCORE), run by the Small Business Administration. 

SCORE volunteers are trained to serve as counselors, advisors and mentors to aspiring entrepreneurs and business owners. Once you receive your training, you may decide to branch out on your own as a consultant to small business owners.

Social Security Issues

Working after you retire can bring in some extra bucks, but it can be at the expense of your Social Security Income (SSI) if you're not careful. If you do it right, however, it could actually mean a higher benefit for you down the road. 

The good news is that if you wait to work until the month you reach full retirement age, your earnings will not reduce your benefits, no matter how much you earn.

According to the government's Social Security website, if you are younger than full retirement age and make more than the yearly earnings limit, your earnings may reduce your benefit amount. 

What's full retirement age? It's 66 for people born from 1943 to 1954. Starting with 1955, add two months for every birth year until 1960 and beyond, when the full retirement age is 67.

Jobs with Benefits

Of course, many seniors work not for the additional income but for the health insurance that comes with the job. These industries are more inclined to offer part-time benefit programs: healthcare, blue collar (unionized), military, government and retail. 

The following are several companies that are said to offer health benefits to part-time employees: Costco, Lowe's, REI, Starbucks, UPS, Whole Foods and Trader Joe's.

If your job does not offer health benefits, you may want to learn more about continuing care retirement communities. CCRC’s offer lifestyle accommodations that range from independent living to assisted living and skilled nursing care, and your monthly fee will never increase solely based on the need for a higher level of care.

Retirement doesn't mean you have to give up contributing to society and the economy. It's never too late to pursue a passion... a dream... or just pocket a few extra dollars.

The Thrifty Senior Citizens' Guide to Eating Healthy

As you get older, eating a healthy diet becomes even more important than when you were young. Seniors need more of certain nutrients, such as vitamin D, calcium, and B vitamins, as well as plenty of protein and fiber. Getting the nutrition you need doesn't have to break the bank, though. With a bit of planning and consideration, you can eat healthy without going over budget. Here's how.

Plan Your Meals

At the start of each week, or before you go grocery shopping, take 30 minutes or so to plan out your meals. Look at what you already have in the pantry or refrigerator and put together a list of simple, easy to prepare meals that use many of the ingredients you already have on hand.

Then, make a list of any additional groceries you'll need to buy to prepare those meals. When you go grocery shopping, stick to your list so that you don't feel tempted to overspend on impulse purchases.

Of course, if you are living in a retirement facility, then it can be harder to plan your own meals. Where possible discuss any nutritional or dietary requirements with the cooking staff to ensure that you get the nourishment you require in a specialized diet.

Shop the Sales (and Use Coupons)

Pretty much every item in the grocery store will go on sale at some time or another. When planning your weekly meals and grocery lists, consult the sales flyers from a few of your favorite stores. Try to only buy foods that are on sale that week.

Combining store sales with coupons can also help you save more on your groceries. Just remember that having a coupon isn't an excuse to buy something. If you wouldn't ordinarily buy an item or if the coupon is for an "unhealthy" food like candy or chips, you're better off not using it and skipping buying that product altogether.

Consider Lower Cost Swaps

Protein is an essential nutrient all throughout your life. It becomes even more necessary as you get older, as many seniors reduce their protein intake or are simply not getting enough. The tricky thing about protein is that many people think it's expensive.

While meats such as beef, chicken, and fish are pricier than other options, they aren't the only way to boost the protein in your diet. Plenty of low-cost foods, such as beans and eggs, are full of protein. If you can't afford meat with every meal, consider swapping in beans or eggs as needed.

Dairy products are also an excellent source of protein and are low cost. Plus, when you consume dairy, you are upping your intake of calcium and vitamin D, which boosts bone health. Look for low-fat dairy products, such as low-fat yogurt, 1 or 2 percent milk, and cottage cheese to increase your protein and calcium consumption without going over budget.

Skip the Processed Foods

While it's true that some processed foods are less expensive at the checkout register than healthy whole foods, those processed foods typically cost more in the long run. If you continue to eat sugary, high fat and high cholesterol foods throughout your life, you have an increased risk for pricey chronic conditions such as heart disease and diabetes.

Plus, the extra cost of healthy foods is usually negligible. A study published in the British Medical Journal found that healthy eating cost about $1.50 more per day. If that extra $1.50 per day saves you thousands on future medical bills, it's worth it.

Buy the Store Brand

Generic or store brand food products are typically the same quality as their branded counterparts, but often cost about 25 percent less. Whether you're buying milk, vegetables or other whole foods, trading a name brand for a generic brand can reduce your food spending without you noticing a big difference in taste.

Healthy eating doesn't have to be prohibitively expensive. Paying attention to the foods you eat can help you live a longer, healthier life.

Best Foods for Longevity and Health in Retirement

Getting old isn’t anybody’s idea of fun. However, it’s something that is inevitable, and that you can’t really escape. What you can control, however, is what sort of effect aging is going to have on you. 

Exercise and nutrition definitely delay the achiness and negative aspects of aging, and keep you feeling energized for years to come. Proper nutrition can stave off disease that can leave you paying out hospital bills for the rest of your days.

In terms of nutrition, there are several foods that, when consumed in a balanced diet, help improve your longevity...

Matcha tea

Matcha tea might seem like one of those health fad foods that rolls around and gets everyone talking, but there’s a good reason for that. Matcha tea is an incredibly nutrient rich powdered tea that traditionally comes from China, originally, and Japan. 

Not only do the intense amount nutrients in matcha make for a more nutritional diet, but matcha actually has mental benefits, such as improving your memory and potentially preventing Alzheimer’s disease. 

On top of these benefits, the matcha powder can be consumed in a variety of ways, not just as tea. You can put scoops of matcha into smoothies, and even use it in your baking, to get the benefits.

Sweet potatoes

While we wouldn’t recommend eating sweet potato fries for every meal, at least not for longevity, sweet potatoes are actually an incredibly rich source of a variety of nutrients, such as vitamin A and potassium. 

As a matter of fact, sweet potatoes are actually considerably more rich in potassium than bananas. On top of this, sweet potatoes have even more antioxidants, such as beta-carotene, than most leafy green vegetables. 

This makes regularly eating sweet potatoes a great boon to your immune system. Sweet potatoes are also great if your teeth aren’t in great shape, and they’re easy on your digestive system, as evidenced by the fact that they’re regularly used to help babies transition to hard foods, as this article points out.

Broccoli and sprouts

One of the biggest pains of getting older is the wear and tear that starts to occur to your joints. 

Getting arthritis as you get older is practically a natural law. However, by improving your diet, along with taking care of yourself, physically, you can greatly reduce the effects of joint pain. 

Eating lots of broccoli and sprouts, besides being exceptionally healthy sources of various vitamins and minerals, is incredibly beneficial to reducing joint pain. This is because both broccoli and sprouts contain a compound called sulforaphane that helps protect cartilage.

Blueberries

Blueberries work very hard to earn their title as a world class superfood. Many of blueberries’ health benefits come from the anthocyanins inside of them, which also contribute to the deep purple color. 

A healthy intake of blueberries helps lower blood pressure and can prevent the development of diabetes, due to the amount of fiber inside of them. The various antioxidants in blueberries also help ward off cancer, which is more of a risk, as you get older. 

From an aesthetic standpoint, as well, blueberries improve collagen, which keeps our skin looking young and wrinkle-free.

Avocados

Keeping a healthy heart should be a priority, as you get older, in order to prevent heart attacks. 

Avocados are an excellent source of fat that are low in cholesterol, since the fats are full of water. On top of that, avocados have an incredible amount of vitamin E and magnesium, and even help you get a little bit of protein in, as well. 

Because the fats in avocados are anti-inflammatory, they also help keep your skin looking fresh.

Coconut

As you get older, your body needs more fiber to keep a healthy heart and to reduce the negative effects of aging. Coconut is an excellent source of fiber, and even is a good source of protein. 

The fat in coconut gives is a plant-based fat that has no bad cholesterol, but helps your body produce natural cholesterol that reduces aging. Coconut also helps your stomach produce more bacteria, which improves your immune system and keeps it strong in older age.

Apples

Everybody knows the phrase “an apple a day keeps the doctor away!” Well, it might be cliche, but there’s a lot of truth to that. 

Apples help put natural sugar into your diet. Apples also have one of the highest amount of antioxidants that you can get in your diet, which helps prevent cancer.

Sensational Summer: 4 Investments You Won't Regret This Season

One of the most highly anticipated times of the year is summer. During the summer months, many people try to spend as much time outdoors as possible.

To ensure that you can enjoy your summer as much as possible, there are four different investments that you should consider making that you will never regret.

Vacation

The first investment that you will not regret this summer is investing in a vacation. Over the past decade, the amount of extra vacation time people do not take advantage of has increased dramatically.

While people may do this to avoid the cost of vacation or due to a demanding job schedule, it can be a huge mistake. It would be a very good idea to instead invest in a vacation.

Taking a vacation at Jumby Bay island has a wide range of health benefits. It can help you relax and can help make your life way less stressful when you get back. Everyone needs a break sometimes.

Summer is the perfect time of year to party and play. To enjoy this season as much as possible, some investments are well worth making.

All you have to decide is what you want to invest in to be the life of the party. Once you find something that you love, you definitely won’t regret it.

Outdoor Living Set

One investment to consider in your home is an outdoor living set. One of the best parts of summer is being able to spend time outside and throw parties.

To fully enjoy this time of year, you should consider purchasing a full outdoor living set, including a patio set, a new grill, outdoor speakers, and even some fun outdoor games. This can make your home the perfect place for parties and fun during the warmer months.

New Pool

During the summer months, one of the most enjoyable things to do is to lounge in and outside of a pool. Getting a new pool, such as those by places like Legacy Pools, can allow you to do this.

There are a wide range of above and below-ground pools that you can choose from, which will help to ensure that you find one within your budget and could make a great long-term investment.

Improved Air Conditioning

Another investment that you should consider making for your home is the installation of a new air conditioner. Having a quality air conditioner in your home will help you feel much more comfortable and may even help you sleep better.

If you have an older air conditioner it may no longer have the ability to cool your entire home especially after the long winter months. By replacing it with a new air conditioner, with modern amenities, you will have far more control over the temperature in all areas of your home.

Furthermore, it will run more efficiently which can help reduce your energy bills during the summer months.