In the United States the average age of retirement is 65. This is a pretty good age for curtailing many types of activities. Very physical jobs like firefighter, vineyard worker, or construction crew jobs are best performed by those under 65. When you reach 65 you start to think about what activities you are still capable of and possibly even better at as a senior. Wisdom is supposed to come with age — at the very least the longer you live the more experience you have.
The ideal version of retirement involves doing all the things you never had the time or money for when you were younger. Ideally, this time should feel like one (hopefully) very long vacation.
But wait a minute. Some of us seniors may find ourselves over 65 and not exactly that ideal situation. Maybe health is a problem. Since health is your greatest wealth that really can be a problem. Next, assuming that your health is more or less sound, what about that other kind of health: financial health? Coming up short in this department these days can necessitate a long hard look at ways to earn well into the “golden years”.
A person finding themselves in this category will have to think about how to be an effective earner after 65. What jobs are doable and even enjoyable for a resilient senior?
I decided to test the waters by doing a mailing to 100 friends and acquaintances. One side of my card read, “Odd Woman Seeks Odd Jobs” while the flip side said, “The New Year is here, time to get organized — I can Help.” I included my name and contact information. Attached to each card was a handwritten note. I asked each recipient to recommend me even if they didn’t personally need an “Odd Woman” at the moment. I also listed some possible services including home healthcare, sewing, de-cluttering, cooking, errand running, and writing.
In the week that followed the mailing 20 of the 100 people I mailed to responded in one way or another. Some offered actual jobs, others commented on what I was doing or gave me suggestions or referrals to others. This was a good response rate, which I attribute to the fact that I actually knew every person I mailed to. It was, as they say in sales, a “Hot List.” No matter what you call it, getting that much feedback was gratifying and encouraging.
The second week I started interviewing with potential clients. I visited someone who needed me to feed three horses and three cats at their beautiful ranch home while they travel.
A professional artist took me on a tour of her studio and may hire me to help organize and store pieces of art from her last two shows.
Two charming women from a local commune are looking to organize a lifetime of precious possetions. A book on “Swedish Death Cleaning” inspired one of them.
Apparently in Sweden it is customary to tidy up and pare down your things so that your heirs will not be burdened with a landslide of your lifetime of accumulated “stuff” when you die.
I also heard from people who need help cleaning out garages, offices, their memorabilia, photos and creative writing files. Someone needs “extra hands” for when houseguests arrive. A collector of gorgeous ethnic art, clothes and fabrics wants help preparing for a sale. A person needs dog sitting and someone even needs help dividing clumps of irises in their garden.
It’s now the third week and I’m starting to do some of the jobs that were booked. It has been much more fun than I imagined. I thought re-entering the job market would be hard. Instead I’ve found myself surrounded by beautiful things with friendly people who feed my soul while helping me pay for groceries! In Anderson Valley the homes I’ve worked in have been lovely, many with views to die for. The people I’m working for are definitely blessed. Also many of them are artistic, creative or otherwise unique which makes my life richer.
The take-away from this story is that sometimes lemons (the need to return to work) can turn into lemonade (who knew these jobs would be so interesting?!). I am taking care to log each job and maybe I’ll even write a book about my surprising experiences someday that will encourage other seniors to take heart and go forth boldly if they too need to go back to work in their golden years.
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