Cool Jobs for Encore Hustlers

One of the great things about planning to be an encore hustler that we do not necessarily need to be  bound by what we did in our "real" career.  Also, not all encore hustles have to be limited to the sharing economy jobs, or "gig" jobs, that always come to mind: Lyft, Uber, TaskRabbit, PostMates, etc. Instead, we can let our imagination flitter across the possibilities that are there for the taking only if we have the courage to try them.

For example, would you jump at the chance to work on a cruise ship in exchange to free accommodations and a small salary?  The cruise industry is booming, with 13 new ocean going ships were launched in 2018 alone. Name a niche or interest and the cruise industry tries to cater to it.  Many cruise ships are virtual floating cities and they need armies of people to work these ships as photographers, nurses, shop personnel and instructors for crafts, bridge and golf. There is also my personal favorite gentlemen hosts hired to be dance and social partners for woman passengers.

If cruising is not to your liking how about being a caretaker of luxury houses on an island on the Australian Great Barrier Reef?  Check out this article about Bedarra Island that is advertising for a caretaker to maintain a cluster of seven luxury vacation homes while the owners are off island.  In exchange you will receive $450 a week and a one bedroom cabin.  The 15-hour work weeks should allow you plenty of time to enjoy the pristine beaches and tropical rainforest the island is known for.

Another great site to check out for the outdoor enthusiast is the Older and Bolder section of CoolWorks.com which goes by the motto If You Rest, You Rust! Spend a minutes pursuing scores of jobs that range from Grand Denali Lodge in Alaska, Mt. Rainier Park in Washington and the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee and imagine nights spend under a dome of stars and clear mountain streams waiting for you to drop a fishing line.

One of the activities I love to indulge in when visiting new cities or historical sites is taking tours.  Well, have you considered working the other side of the microphone and being a tour guide yourself? Imagine having a captive audience that will pay to listen to you tell stories and appreciate your vast trove of trivia. It is true that many tour guides are unpaid volunteers  but there are thousands of paid positions that are just a Google search away.  For example, I did a quick search on Indeed.com and found part-time tour guide jobs at the New York Power Authority, the City of Aurora (CO) Naturalist Program, the Minnesota Historical Society and the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston.  I am sure that there are similar opportunities where you live.

Over the last few years I have met many people who have pursued cool encore careers.  It takes planning, guts and a dream, and I'm giving a thumbs up and a hurrah to:

• The Air Canada pilot who now owns a beachfront hotel in Honduras
• The steel mill scheduler who took a buyout package to join the Texas Seniors golf tour
• The Wendy's shift manager who is now a flight attendant on a regional airline in California
• The engineer who started his own wine label in the Columbia Valley in Washington state
• The university professor who runs a coffee business in Shanghai
• The procurement manager who retired to join a Search and Rescue team in Bend, Oregon

If you have encore career or are planning to take the leap I would love to know more about it.  Please contact me at Mr.EH@encorehustle.com and share your story.

Happy Hustling!

The Hustle High Five - Hustler News of the Week - February 1

Much of the country is indoors taking shelter from the polar vortex.  It's a good time to read this selection of curated stories related to Encore Hustles.

1)   Chris Farrell has written extensively on retirement and encore careers.  He has a new book Purpose and a Paycheck coming out on February 5th.  Here is an exert from his first chapter.  I highly recommend picking up a copy of this book.








2)   In Australia seniors are turning to Airtasker, which is similar to the American TaskRabbit, to earn extra money by performing a variety of tasks that others want outsourced: gardening, baking, handyman work and IT help.  Check out this story from Yahoo Finance of an Australian senior who has made $20K over three years by being an Airtasker.

3)   Read and watch this story of a 71 year old Nashville retiree who funds his bucket list goal of visiting every National Park by working 4 months of the year Amazon.

4)   It is a big decision when to retire, assuming you are not forced into it by layoffs or poor health.  Read this article from Canada, where 1 in 4 retirees regret retiring and want to go back to work.

5)   One of the reasons people consider an encore career is to pursue a passion.  Here is a story from NextAvenue of an aerospace executive, who at age 60, left corporate life to become a high school tennis coach in Chicago.

Federal Employees Furloughed - The Case for an Emergency Fund

It's Day 16 of the Federal Government shutdown and over 800,000 government employees are starting their second week without a paycheck.  Government workers like the majority of us often live from paycheck to paycheck and have less than $1000 tucked away in emergency funds. Don't take Mr. EH's word for how Federal employees are doing check out this story in the Washington Post.

Many furloughed workers are not just sitting at home waiting for the shutdown to end.  They are trying make ends meet with side hustles and part-time jobs.   Kudos to them.

CNBC also run a story about short term money sources for furloughed workers with suggestions such as interest free loans from Federal Credit Unions and tapping their home equity.  Additionally the story highlights less desirable options like withdrawals from retirement accounts or credit card cash advances.

While there is some comfort in knowing that in past Congress retroactively provided backpay to the furloughed workers it does not help them in the short term.  Of course this retroactive backpay applies only to federal employees and not contract workers.  Both federal workers and contract employees on furlough can apply for unemployment benefits (a state not federal program) but that can generally take two to three weeks to the first check to be issued. Also the maximum amount paid is $450 per week.

The takeaway from all this is that everyone needs an emergency fund. If the paycheck does not stretch to allow funding of an emergency fund then the solution is to get out there and hustle.  Take your pick from any of the hundreds of side hustles available to us.  Be it Uber, Rover, Airbnb, TaskRabbit or PostMates.  The important thing is to hustle and build that cushion in advance.

Good hustling!