Being a grandparent is pretty dope. Unlike parenting, grandparenting is a part-time gig. You not only get to do it on your own schedule, you get to spend time with your adorable little cherubs without taking on all the tough stuff, like sleepless nights and changing diapers. These side gigs for grandparents are much the same. They offer benefits ranging from great locations to high pay and you’re in the driver’s seat, deciding how often and when to do them.
Here are 5 side gigs for grandparents.
Work in resorts
The first thing many retirees say they want to do is travel. Having enough money to do it is often the only thing holding them back. But, what if you could get paid to spend a season in an elegant ski resort or lodge, working at the front desk or managing reservations? That’s the bargain that a wide array of lodges and resorts present to people willing to work during their busy seasons. These resorts favor active retirees because older generations often have excellent soft skills, like patience and reliability.
Where can you find jobs in resorts? CoolWorks and VagaJobs list hundreds of seasonal job options, ranging from cooking and serving to operating ski lifts and manning the front desk. Many of the jobs come with free or discounted housing, as well as meals.
Housesit
If working in a resort is a little more work than you were bargaining for, there’s another option: Housesit.
A site called TrustedHousesitters connects people who are traveling with house and pet-sitters, who are willing to watch homes and animals in exchange for free accommodations. You do have to pay an annual membership fee, but the fee ranges from $189 to $319, depending on whether you just want access to other people’s homes or if you want to also have someone watch your house and pets too.
However, given that pet-sitters frequently charge more than $50 a night and accommodations are considerably more, you break even after a mere weekend away. And, if you travel a lot, the membership can save you thousands of dollars annually.
Consult
Another attractive part-time gig for grandparents is consulting. Whether you had work experience that gives you great insight into using particular tools for, say, financial planning or project management, or you simply have life experience that allows you to opine about products and services, there are dozens of armchair consulting firms looking for your expertise. Some worth joining include Respondent, UserInterviews, WinnWinn Research, Maven and Rare Patient Voice.
The first four are all general-interest consulting firms, which may have gigs advising on everything from soda preferences to software. Rare Patient Voice, meanwhile, is all about medicine and making the health care system work better for people with chronic ailments. This site seeks both people who are managing their own ailments, as well as people who are caring for loved ones with problems, such as Alzheimers and dementia. All five sites pay generously for your time, with pay ranging from $50 to $150 per hour.
But jobs are intermittent at best, so if you like this idea, sign up with all five to have the best chance of getting semi-regular work.
Staff events
Have experience working with people? Sites like Qwick, Instawork and Gigsmart connect part-time workers with event staffers, who need people to man information booths at trade shows, serve and cook at holiday parties, and take tickets and direct people to their seats at concerts and comedy shows.
When you sign up with these sites, they show you available work in your neighborhood, what it pays, what it requires and when it starts and ends. You decide whether that’s a gig you want to take or pass up.
Collect rent
Homeowners can sign up with sites like Peerspace, Giggster and Avvay that connect homeowners with photographers, filmmakers and event planners, who are looking for unique spaces to rent by the hour. These customers sometimes need film locations or somewhere to take photo shoots. But, they may want to book your home for events like bridal showers and anniversary parties, too.
You set your own rates and rules, deciding whether you home is available solely for photo shoots and filming or whether you’re happy to host a party or two. When a customer wants to book your space, they contact you with the details of what they’re planning — a 4-hour photo shoot that will involve 5 to 15 people, for example. You decide whether or not to accept the booking.
By and large, renting your house by the hour with these sites is many times more profitable than renting the space overnight through a site like Airbnb. And there’s a tax advantage to renting out your personal residence like this, too. If you rent your personal residence for less than 14 days a year, all the income you earn is exempt from federal tax.
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