The Senior Scene

Today’s uncertain economy could put a comfortable retirement even farther from reach for many who lack adequate savings, but there’s a bright spot:  New technology has handed baby boomers an unprecedented opportunity to earn online, according to an International Living report that focuses on the 100 best places for retirees to earn a flexible side-gig income doing something they already know how to do.

Companies are turning to freelance talent for the greater flexibility, access to a bigger talent pool, and the ability to hire people with more specific skills. Freelancers are rarely required to show up to a physical workplace, which allows them to set their own work schedules and earn from anywhere.

This is good for baby boomers who are looking for income to shore up their nest eggs, according to Winton Churchill, author of the just-released, “The ‘New’ Retirement: The Rise of the Gig Economy and How You Can Profit From It.”

“Often boomers don’t think they have online skills, but they’re wrong,” Churchill says. He argues that baby boomers actually have an advantage earning as freelancers on the many job-and-project platforms available online.

Churchill, who with International Living’s editors compiled the list of 100 Best Places for Boomers to Earn Online, notes boomers “are seasoned. They come to freelancing after a lifetime of earning in other ways. They have practice completing work on time and meeting project goals. They communicate effectively in writing and speaking. They have a depth of knowledge—and life experience—that they can bring to their subject areas. These attributes make them valuable freelancers.”

The new report breaks the list of 100 places into 12 sections. Five of them include:

 

Freelance services

There are over 300 marketplaces for freelance services filled with millions of buyers who want simple things like proofreading and editing, as well as more complex assignments like business consulting and pretty much everything in between. Now is a great time for folks to use the downtime during the pandemic to start building an online profile, reaching out to clients, and getting the first few paychecks. Before long, this could lead to a steady new income stream and increased financial security—invaluable assets in these unsettled times.

 

Art Design and Crafting

Practicing an art or craft offers many benefits to retirees. As well as being a hobby and potential income, it can help ease the lost sense of purpose that often accompanies leaving the workforce.

Artisan crafts are coming back in a big way. Online retailers are catering to this demand by giving artisans and craftspeople a place to sell their wares with ease to a world-wide market.

For expats in search of new ways to make money from anywhere, this renewed demand for handmade crafts spells opportunity.

 

Simple Tasks

Retirement a generation ago did not include cell phones, computers, social media, remote working, or portable incomes. With the rapid invention of all these technologies, the way we work has changed dramatically.

People live very busy lives and are looking to outsource all sorts of odd jobs and simple tasks, from running errands to assembling furniture. For most of these websites, all one has to do is register, provide some basic information, upload a profile photo, and pitch for tasks with details about experience and capabilities.

 

Tutoring

Using an online teaching platform, boomers can work from anywhere and create their own flexible schedule. There has never been a better time to explore the earning potential as an online tutor. And nowadays, with a laptop, an Internet connection, and a little know-how, folks can be set up in a matter of weeks and start earning online from the comfort of home.

Neither experience nor complex technical skills are needed to get started. Teaching online is a fun, smart, flexible way to build a portable income.

 

Photography

Stock photographs are the generic pictures you see used again and again in brochures, magazines, posters, websites, billboards, and any kind of advertising. They’re pictures that have a specific topic of focus but are still universal enough to be used in many different contexts. For instance, a picture of a man in a suit holding his lower back could be used in an article about back pain, in advertising material for a pain relief medicine, or to sell orthopedic chairs.

Because stock photographs can sell over and over again, they’re an easy source of passive income for anyone who enjoys tinkering with their camera. All you have to do is pinpoint a subject you want to photograph—something simple with a defined concept works best— upload it to a stock photography web site, and you’re done. Pictures can now sell repeatedly, without any further input.

Once you’ve built up a library of stock photographs, there is no limit to how much income can be made. All folks have to do is upload the images to stock websites.

 

There are personal or financial reasons someone may want or need to exit their timeshare, and there are ways to do so–sale, transfer or cancellation. But the process can be complex and risky.

“Timeshare owners are never more vulnerable than when they’ve made the decision to end their ownership. The resale market is flooded, resorts have stacked the deck, and con artists are waiting to take advantage of your situation,” said Gordon Newton, president of Newton Group Transfers and author of “The Consumer’s Guide to Timeshare Exit.”

In Washington, state Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit in February against Bellevue-based Reed Hein and Associates LLC, alleging unfair or deceptive business practices related to services to “exit” consumers’ timeshares. The complaint, filed in King County Superior Court, accuses the company of numerous violations of the state’s Consumer Protection Act and the Debt Adjusting Act.

Newton says consumers can protect themselves by having a better handle on the timeshare industry. Among other things, he points out:

• Many timeshare resort developers see the resale market as a direct threat to their revenue stream and have rigged the system in their favor. For example, some resorts restrict rights and benefits for owners who purchase their timeshares on the resale market, intentionally devaluing a timeshare while also making it harder for it to be unloaded.
• Only sign an agreement offering you real protections in your timeshare exit. Specifically, any agent you hire should be aligned with your interests, agreeing in writing to cover all timeshare fees – or legal fees – that arise during the exit process for a flat fee.
• Research your exit company’s credentials (through the Better Business Bureau, the state attorney general, consumer protection agencies, and a general Internet search), looking for a minimum five-year track record of success. Beware of companies that are hard to research.
• Be wary of timeshare exit companies boasting “attorneys on staff.” Those attorneys will be acting in the best interests of the company, not yours.
• If an exit deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Be wary of phone solicitors telling you someone has a buyer, anyone advising you to stop paying your timeshare mortgage or maintenance fees, “donate your timeshare” programs, or anyone marketing a guaranteed timeframe for the exit. These are all red flags.

In the Washington case involving Reed Hein, the attorney general claims the company advertised a 100 percent money-back guarantee, but consumers have struggled for years to obtain refunds. Under the terms of Reed Hein’s guarantee, clients who are facing foreclosure aren’t entitled to their money back, because Reed Hein considers foreclosure a successful outcome — despite the potential damage to the customer’s credit, Ferguson said, adding such practices are unfair or deceptive.

Reed Hein and Associates LLC is the legal entity for founder Brandon Reed, whose company does business under the name Timeshare Exit Team.

In online marketing materials, Timeshare Exit Team/Reed Hein and Associates “guarantees” that it “will find a way” to “transfer ownership or negotiate to get” clients out of their timeshare agreements.

Over the course of eight years, Reed Hein contracted with nearly 32,000 timeshare owners, including 2,500 Washingtonians, who hoped to get out of their contracts, Ferguson said. Of those, 17,000 are still pending — more than 8,000 for two years or longer, and more than 4,600 for three years or longer, according to the attorney general.

The American Resort Development Association (ARDA), a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., provides information to timeshare owners and consumers about resale, rental, transfer and relief companies who aim to profit through deception. In a case last May, ARDA issued a consumer alert about a company that allegedly used false and misleading information in an effort to pressure consumers into buying the company’s timeshare exit plan, including an up-front fee. The company invited timeshare owners to a dinner at a restaurant and talked to them about the plan.

According to ADRA, vacation timeshare ownership is highly regulated through state laws that address such issues as financial requirements for the developer, contract-cancellation rights, consumer information about resorts, and provisions for resort management. ADRA officials advise caution when purchasing a vacation product that sounds like a timeshare but isn’t registered as one under state timeshare laws.