Ways to make some money on the side

Photo courtesy of 401kcalculator.org

By Neale Godfrey
Posted on February 20, 2020

As we recovered from the recession, many people who wanted to work took any extra jobs they could. In my day, we called these gigs part-time work, second jobs or moonlighting. But today they have been dubbed “side hustles.”

A side hustle is usually taken in addition to your other work, or you can string a bunch together. You are freelancing to supplement your income.

Let’s face it: To avoid having to offer benefits, many companies don’t want to have full-time employees. Also, there’s a market for those interested in side hustles.

In addition, side hustles can be a way to pursue some of your passions, which, if done full time, may not cover all of the bills.

A growing phenomenon

“Temporary employment has been growing steadily for the last several years…Nearly 480,000 jobs were added from 2012 to 2019 with companies seeking more flexibility in how they staff, and workers seeking greater control over when and where they work,” according to the New Job Forecast from TrueBlue and Emsi.

The big news was that almost 20% of these workers were 55 or older. The Bureau of Labor Statistics found that about 40% of people 55 and older are actively looking for work. (The vast majority of these job seekers are women who are looking for the best job for the next phase of life.)

Also, the New Job Forecast found that these side jobs are projected to increase into almost 3.2 million total jobs for all age groups by 2025, growing by 8.5%. Compare that to only 6% growth for all U.S jobs from now to 2025.

Before you seek out a side hustle, however, evaluate your skills and passions. Here are some lucrative side hustles to consider:

Bookkeeper: $30/hour — You could work with clients via phone or online to set up and track monthly budgets, pay bills, hunt down mistakes on credit card statements, track investments, complain to Medicare about them rejecting doctor bills, etc. You don’t need to be a CPA, but you should be organized; be a whiz at QuickBooks and Excel; and coordinate with your client’s accountant to create quarterly or year-end tax filings and payments.

Career Coach: $20/hour — You could work with clients of any age to help them create resumes, roleplay for interviews, or identify jobs to suit their qualifications. If you have worked in a large or small company before, you will be perfect for this.

Copy Editor: $25/hour — If you have an eye for detail and grammar, you could be a freelance copy editor. Many people need someone to review their blog posts before they go live. If you love this work, consider ghostwriting for others.

Specialized Consultant: $100+/hour — If you previously worked in a specialized industry, offer your expertise to others. For instance, I have a friend who owned car dealerships. He created a side hustle helping venture capitalists and individual buyers of car dealerships properly value prospective targets.

Sharing your talents: Fee varies — If you are a great cook, baker, athlete or musician, you could give lessons; if you can paint, you could do portraits of people or of their homes.

Side hustles aren’t a passing fad. They give the employee flexibility, which is important for the next generation as well as for today’s reitrees.

Sara Sutton, CEO of FlexJobs, told me, “Over the last 10 years, we’ve seen people 55 and older increasingly seek out freelance, part-time and project-based work. We expect this trend will continue, thanks largely to the rise of remote work.

“Usually we see this semi-retirement work arrangement because people want to stay active and contribute professionally, while also supplementing their income.”

A side hustle is also a great way for you to put a toe in the water not only to see if you like your passion as work, but also to see if you can earn money at it before jumping in with both feet.

Neale Godfrey is president and CEO of Children’s Financial Network, Inc. This article was written by and presents his views, not those of the Kiplinger editorial staff.