In this next part in the series about earning money after retirement you will discover that a love of popular types of food and a willingness to take a little risk helped these three retirees earn extra cash to supplement their retirement income.
Waffle Makers. Ed and Mary, with no background whatsoever in the food or restaurant industry, knew what food they loved and thought that other people would love it, too. So they bought a commercial waffle maker and began making and selling waffles at their local farmers’ market on Saturday mornings. The toppings are a few syrups, powdered sugar, whipped cream and the fruit-of-the-season. It is both fun and a solid money maker for them.
They live in an area where the farmers’ market operates only during summer months, so this is definitely part time work. In some parts of the country, farmers’ markets run year round.
If you want to go into any type of food business, be sure to check local health department regulations as well as business licenses needed. Also check with your local farmers’ market; some have waiting lists.
The Pie Lady. Peggy had a great reputation among her friends for her homemade pies. She even won some awards at the county fair. After doing some calculations about how much money she would need when she retired, she realized she needed more. So–you know where this is going, but there is an unexpected decision–before she retired she came up with a name for her new pie-making business, got business cards and checked out local health department requirements.
She started selling pies to friends right away for birthdays and other parties and told them about her plans to expand once she retired. As soon as she left her full time job as an office manager, she approached local businesses about pies for parties. “Cake?” she often says. “Who wants cake when you could eat a delicious coconut cream pie? And you can put candles on it, too!”
Her latest effort is teaching pie-making to pre-teen and teenage girls in her own kitchen. So often their mothers have office jobs and do not have time to teach their daughters, so she offers after-school and Saturday classes.
Friends and family have encouraged her to start selling pies on the internet but she has said “No, it would take too much of my time. I’d have to set up a factory and work 12 hours a day.” She earns enough locally and wants to continue to have free time to do other things with her life.
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Note: The people mentioned on this site are real and what they did is true. Their names have been changed to protect their privacy.
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