Retiring early and having the time for our family and hobbies we enjoy is our goal here at Build Your Early Retirement. But in order to do so, many of us will need to have some extra income during those carefree years.
So how about doing what we love to do and having another income stream at the same time!
Here is my list of 20 hobbies after retirement that also have the possibility of making you some cash at the same time–have fun AND make money!
Gardening
I had to put gardening in first because it has become one of my favorite things to do! I start my plants indoors in February and have loved every minute of learning how to grow wonderful vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, and onions.
If you have enough room for a big garden and a green thumb, you could sell your produce at a local farmer’s market. People are always looking for wonderful, locally grown vegetables.
If you don’t want to sell produce, gardening is a terrific niche to be able to make money from your own blog. Creating your own website is super easy with the technology out today, and if you love communicating with people who share your same interests, writing a gardening blog can be enjoyable and profitable!
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Pet Sitting/Dog Walking
Are you an animal lover? Many people who work full time or like to travel need someone to take care of their pets during the day.
Some owners need a person to go to their home and walk their dog a couple of times a day, while some may be looking for a loving home for their pet to stay at while they go away overnight, go on vacation, or need to go on a business trip.
In addition to making some extra income, pet sitting and dog walking can also be great exercise and keep you healthier as well!
Painting
For the artistic individuals, you can also consider painting as a hobby after retirement. You sell your paintings at a local art gallery or festival.
Specializing in painting flea market finds like throw pillows and vases can transform them into chic decor that people are looking for–and will pay for.
A woman in our town paints beautiful designs on sets of wine glasses, and sells these one-of-a-kind items for a nice profit. She’s able to do something creative that she loves and also found a niche to make some extra money!
Small Appliance Repair
If you are a person who has worked in the appliance repair world and have dealt with mechanics, then you should not let all that experience go to waste!
Start small appliance repair as a hobby after retirement. There are so many items that are just thrown away and replaced because people don’t have the expertise to fix them themselves. If you have the knowledge, there is money to be made!
Writing
Do you love to write? There are several ways you can use your skill to make money, and after retiring you have the time to actually write as compared to earlier years when you had a schedule to keep.
Here’s a few ideas:
~ Start your own blog—Find a great niche that you are interested in or passionate about, create your own website with WordPress in just a couple of minutes, and start writing blog posts!
Once you get a few posts on your site, you can learn how to monetize it, and then you can make as little or as much money as you want depending upon the time you want to put in.
~ Copywriting–Do you know how to write press releases, ads, brochures, product copy and more? If so, copywriting could be just right for you.
You can offer your services on sites like Fiverr or search for freelance copywriting jobs on sites like Upwork, FlexJobs, and Crowdsource, just to name a few.
~ Content Writing–If you can write a good blog post and know a little about SEO, Search Engine Optimization, many bloggers are looking for good content writers to expand their website. In addition to the companies above, Textbroker is another good site to check out.
~ Publish eBooks–Publishing eBooks has never been easier, and many writers have made excellent money writing and self-publishing eBooks on sites such as Blurb, Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, Nook, E-junkie, and many more.
Tutoring
Tutoring is one of the best hobbies after retirement because you get to pass down your knowledge in an area to others.
This is an especially great idea for retired teachers who already have the skills to teach a variety of subjects to elementary and high school students.
You could also tutor in adult education in subjects such as learning English as a second language.
Online Training Courses
Does creating online training courses sound more to your liking? You can create training on any subject on sites such as Udemy or Teachable, offer it online, and get paid every time someone takes the course.
You could create training on anything from decorating a professional looking cake to laying bathroom tile–the sky’s the limit!
Travel Blog or Guide
Is traveling the country your retirement dream? One way to achieve it could be to write a travel blog!
Detail your trips with beautiful photos and tips on the best places to eat, the most economical ways to travel, the best hotels for kids and pets–you name it!
Do you have a favorite place you love to visit year after year and know all about it? Maybe you could earn some income while on vacation by working as a tour guide and letting visitors know about the history of the area.
Traveling is one of those hobbies where you need to look outside the box and see what’s available out there!
Fishing
Fishing is one of the most popular pastimes for retirees. But how could you make money? Here’s a couple ideas:
~ Boat Tours–If your boat is big enough, you can rent it out for boat tours, which are popular in tourist areas like Florida.
~ Make Your Own Fishing Lures–Every fisherman is looking for that one great lure that will attract the trophy fish. If you know how to make a quality lure, you could have a great part-time income in retirement.
~ Give Lessons–It takes skill to make the perfect cast and to find the best fishing spots, so your expertise could be valuable. Also, creating an online training course about how to clean and filet a fish could bring in some cash!
Wine Making
Wine Making is one of my favorite hobbies, and I’ve learned how to make it from so many things–even jalapenos! So if you are a homemade wine enthusiast, this would be the perfect niche for a blog.
You can publish content on different techniques, equipment, qualities of a good wine, endless recipes, and more. Making YouTube videos to show your process can be fun and bring in a lot of visitors to your blog.
There are terrific ways to monetize a wine making blog that could have this as a hobby you love and make money as well!
Craft Beer Making
Craft beer making is extremely popular right now, and along with wine making, would be a great niche for a blog. Being able to engage with others who share your passion and have an income at the same time is a retirement dream!
Furniture Restoration
Do you like to take a worn piece of furniture and restore it to look brand new? A lot of restoration projects just take knowledge, time, and elbow grease to turn old pieces into beautiful furniture again.
You could find projects at flea markets or garage sales to restore and resell or have people bring their treasures to you!
Woodworking
Woodworking is a hobby that requires space and time–two things that retirees usually have more of than before. If you use your skills to create one-of-a-kind pieces, there are many ways you can sell them!
My husband and I tried our hand at making a large farmhouse table for my daughter when she bought her first house. The total cost was about $250, and turned out beautiful.
Several people have asked where she got it and said they’ve seen similar tables for well over $1,000. We had so much fun making it that woodworking is on the top of my husband’s hobby list when he’s ready to retire!
Photography
If you are that type of person who knows how to get great angles and take a great picture, why not take up photography? As a hobby, photography is by no means limited to things like weddings.
When traveling or even going about your daily life, go ahead and start snapping away. There are sites that buy stock photography for a set price or pay you every time someone buys one of your photos from their site.
As a blogger, I can tell you that I’m a big fan of stock photography sites like Pexels, iStock, Dreamstime, and more to enhance my posts. The old saying is very true, “A picture is worth a thousand words!”
Antiques
Do you know how to spot a good antique? Someone who can pick out a valuable antique at a flea market or garage sale can do very well reselling them online on sites like EBay.
You’ll need to do your research about how to preserve the value of your items. Some antiques can actually lose value when refinishing them in the wrong way.
In addition to selling your antiques, you could look at donating them to the local historical society. In addition to preserving wonderful, historical pieces, you’d be getting a valuable tax deduction!
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Beekeeping
My in-laws have been beekeeping for several years, but since retiring, they’re having a great time expanding the number of hives and how much honey they’ve been getting. Quality honey is a much sought after product and very profitable.
This year my father-in-law is also catching wild swarms and building hives out of scrap wood–we got our first one from him last year to put by our fruit trees. They are retired farmers who are having fun with their passion for helping bees survive and making a great stream of income while doing it!
Quilting
If you are a fan of making custom fabrics then you should consider quilting as a retirement hobby. People love to buy beautiful custom quilts for wonderful wedding and shower presents.
A friend of mine found someone who made a quilt out of all the little shirts she saved from when her daughter was a baby. She gave this gorgeous quilt to her daughter when she was pregnant with her little girl. They plan to make this a wonderful family tradition!
Flea Market Flipping
Love flea markets and have a flair for transforming junk into chic furniture and decor? Flea market flipping is a great place to put those skills to use.
You can purchase items at cheap prices from flea markets, garage sales, auctions or thrift shops, restore them or create unique pieces, and then upsell them for a profit. Get really good at it and compete on TV’s Flea Market Flip!
Golfing
If your favorite pastime is golfing, you’re not alone! To make some extra money you could give lessons to beginners and kids.
If you like to travel and try new golf courses, you could start a golfing blog and review and promote the courses and equipment that you like.
With so many golf enthusiasts out there, you’ll have a wide audience who will be looking for information you can provide!
Homemade Soaps and Lotions
If you like to make unique soaps and lotions, there is a market for them in places such as Etsy, EBay, Amazon Handmade, and more. If you can find your niche and make quality products, you can be creative and profitable at the same time!
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Having Fun in Retirement Can Be Profitable!
With a little ingenuity and ambition, you can find a way to enjoy your favorite hobby and create another income stream in the process. Check out our video that shows you how to make money blogging about anything:
What are your ideas for hobbies after retirement? We’d love to hear them in the comments below!
Retirement sounds like it could be a lot of fun. I’m only 19, so I’ve got a long way to go before I’m there, but I do still look forward to it and save for the occasion. Painting is a great activity to do when you want to practice your creative abilities. I love that you included writing as one of these hobbies. Retired people tend to be a lot better at this, since they’ve lived longer and have had more experience with words. Although that is just my opinion. I have some retirees in my German class. Their version of having fun in retirement is revisiting a language they’ve somewhat forgotten. It’s interesting hearing them speak, because they often have no accent. One of the guys in my class spoke German as his first language, but later moved to the US and was assimilated. Now he takes the class to recap on his forgotten language. I think that’s a great idea! Thanks for sharing this article. There are a lot of great activities here to try out.
So many people look at retirement as the day they quit working and live a life of leisure. But often they find themselves with a lot of time on their hands and not a lot of money to enjoy their newfound freedom.
By combining an activity they love to do and learning how to also earn an income while doing it, they can truly enjoy their retirement!
It’s great that you’re looking ahead at your age because so many young people miss out the benefits of saving early. A lot of people start one of these activities as a side hustle while they’re younger and realize that they can retire many years before they thought possible!
It is a great idea to find something to do after retirement, you have the best niche which is to make yourself busy and at the same time making money online. Fishing is my best choice among all the beautiful options that you have because it’s my hobby since a kid. But one of the most interesting thing in your choice options after retiring should be the writing, by writing blogs or content for your website. The more contents we can make the more chances we can be indexed in google and the more traffic you will be having and the more chances of revenue. your choice of fun after retiring is also good, because in gardening you will be at the same time exercising yourself and therefore, making you sweat and burning some calories for you to lose weight. You have an amazing niche, keep it up, have fun and enjoy yourself while making money online. Have a great day…
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and have a great day as well!
Hey, I love your awesome guide on 20 hobbies after retirement that also have the possibility of making you some cash at the same time–have fun AND make money. It is only possible via an online business according to me. I am working online and living a happy life with my family. I will also retire within few year but my hobbies will continue paying me. I have writing and photography hobby. If our business is related to our hobbies then while enjoying we earn good income during our retirement. Love your hobby list.
I love my online business and plan on having it fund our retirement for years. Good luck, and I wish you every success!
Many thanks to you for sharing such an excellent article with us .Your article looks like it is a very timely article for my mom because my mom will retire shortly. So he was looking for some of his job options .As if his time was up and he could make some money as well .And I have some extra space in our house and my mom has already gardened there, there are some vegetable fruit trees. And after reading your article, I think it would be great to have a job option if my mother now uses this garden in a big way. He will also write a book on how to garden, how to care for others, etc. And I think it will be a great way for him to make money as well as help others to garden.And this garden blog essay will be really enjoyable and the best medium for making money .
Finally, I hope this article brings great news to those who retire after a while and soon they will share their new experience with you.
I’m so glad you found it helpful for your mom, and I hope she finds a terrific hobby to make money in retirement!
Most retirees should be able to select at least one of the hobbies in your list. Several appeal to me that I’ll list here.
Writing. Tutoring. Online Training Courses. Craft Beer Making. Photography. Online Business. When I got my first job, making beer was popular with my work mates. Hence I learned how to make beer too. When I left England for Canada, I served my home made beer at my farewell party. It was well received. However, this is not something I’d like to do in retirement.
What I do like is photography, writing and using the Internet to learn new things and build an online business.
Edwin
You have a lot of the same interests that I do! I absolutely love blogging, making wine from the fruits in our orchard, and photography. My husband is looking into brewing craft beer and woodworking. Our problem is finding enough time for all our hobbies!
Wow. Thanks a lot for sharing with us such an amazing ideas about what to do after retirement.
My father has one more year until retirement and even last day I had a discussion with him. In this period it is very difficult and he would like to work until the end. He does not see retirement and always says “what am I doing now, am I waiting for the end of life?”
I think these ideas would help him a lot and give him confidence that retirement is a worthwhile thing and should be taken full advantage of. Maybe it’s fun but I would like to retire, but I would like to stay home and do many things that you have put here. Good luck!
I hope your father finds a wonderful hobby and enjoys the time he’s worked so hard to earn. Having a purpose and reason to get up in the morning can not only help him enjoy his retirement, but I’ve read where activity can keep him healthy longer. Hopefully he’ll find something on this list!
Hey Jenelle, Thank you for giving your light on retirement hobbies that can make money. I enjoyed it a lot while reading your article and find it very useful for everyone. Your hobbies collection is awesome. My hobbies are Photography & Writing . While enjoying our life we will make some good living with them. Thanks for sharing such a useful video.
Photography and writing are 2 of my favorites! I love blogging and would love to have time to delve into photography a lot more. Glad to hear you are enjoying them so much and making a great living. I wish you continued success!
Thank you for this informative post. It seems it’s been tailor-made for me.
Surprisingly, you included a number of things I love to spend my time on. That is writing, painting including travel blogs. I haven’t reached retirement but want to start preparing.
In the near future, I want to write and self-publish my eBook. Like you rightly said it has never been easier.
Thanks again for pointing us to sites where to get self-published. I am a newbie but interested in ebooks. Which among the sites you listed would you recommend?
Amazon Kindle Self Publishing, Blurb, and E-junkie are 3 sites where I know people have sold their eBooks successfully, although there are many more. You’ll want to check several platforms to see what works best for you in terms of cost and how easy it is to set it up. Some platforms charge a fee for every book for sell, and some have a monthly fee based upon how many titles you publish and storage you need.
Good luck with your eBooks!
Wow, what a wonderful thought out post. So informative and full of good ideas, I had never considered bee keeping as a hobby, but I guess you are right. My mother at the moment is considering her options for retirement and so I will pass on your page to her so she can see for herself that many options still exist for when the time comes to exit the 9-5. Thank you so much for the information.
I hope your mother finds some good ideas for when she retires! Hobbies like beekeeping have other great benefits as well as being able to make money. My in-laws are engaging with others that have the same passion, and it gives them another purpose to fill their day and be active along with their other hobbies. They’re staying in good health and busier than ever!
Thank you for stopping by!
Hey Janelle:
Your post is a grand argument for developing hobbies BEFORE you retire. By the time you retire, you’ll have a bunch of interests that (a) keep you occupied and maybe even joyous and (b) you’ll be skilled enough (or have enough surplus inventory) that you might actually making good money with them!
A very cool post. Thank you!
You’re exactly right, and I like the way you think! Thanks for stopping by!
WOW! I really enjoyed my visit to your website. I’m looking to retire early and want to have income from my hobbies to help keep me financially independent. Your ideas give me a lot of think about in terms of how I can take my interests and earn some money from them. Thanks!
I’m so glad I could help, and I hope you enjoy your early retirement!