Hi, my name is Mary. I started this blog out of a personal interest in exploring side hustles. My journey began with extensive research into the many opportunities available, but I was overwhelmed with all the options. I kept telling myself to just pick one and start. As I did more research, I was looking for side hustles that could be managed within a limited timeframe, since I am currently employed full-time, but also would be interesting enough for me to work on daily. This exploration led to the creation of this website.
My intention is not to make this platform about me, unlike many other brands that focus on personal promotion. While there’s nothing wrong with that approach, it’s simply not my style. However, since people are naturally curious, I’ll share a bit about myself: I started this blog at 61 years old, while still working full-time. I started a recruiting side hustle that lasted 10 years while raising children. I also had a side hustle Virtual Assistant business for 2 years. Both were part-time and I went back to work for an employer once the children were older. My goal is to establish a stream of income that will enhance my retirement lifestyle during the first 10 years of my retirement. I don’t need to generate income immediately, but I am using this time to learn and experiment with different ideas.
The percentage of people comfortable with their retirement income varies, but overall, a significant portion of people, 55%, rate their financial retirement readiness as Fair to Poor in a Fidelity Report. It varies by age, but all ages within this report fall somewhere in the 48-62% range. That means more often than not people don’t feel prepared for their retirement. That’s why I created this blog, to help people who are within 10 years of retirement or already in retirement. People who still have the ambition to do better financially in their retirement.
How we got here, not feeling comfortable about our retirement picture, can be for a variety of reasons, some of our own doing with not great either income or expense decisions, or life just handed us some obstacles that made saving difficult. We are not here to judge how you got here, but the fact that you are here and asking yourself the question what you can do to feel better about your retirement picture, is why this blog exists.
We give a variety of side hustle options. We don’t decide for our audience if “Seniors” (still can’t get use to the idea I am considered a Senior) are physically capable of doing some side hustles (like a pressure washing business). We may tweak the side hustle a bit (like sticking to jobs that don’t require heavy equipment), but we don’t make judgments on what people want to do as their side hustle just because they are 50+ in age.
The last thing I would like to share with you is my vision for this website. My hope is to grow a community of individuals aged 50 to 80+ who are passionate about starting and maintaining a side hustle. While financial reasons may drive many of us to pursue these ventures, others might seek the engagement and activity that comes from being involved in something meaningful outside the confines of our homes.
This website aims to be a hub for knowledge and ideas, helping you overcome the challenges of starting (by far the biggest obstacle for most people) and growing a side hustle. I don’t have all the answers, but I am committed to continuously learning and sharing insights that can assist you in launching and expanding your small business. At this stage, my primary goal is to spread the word about this blog and attract visitors who are eager to learn more about side hustles for their retirement. My eventual plan will be to create a community, probably on Facebook, once there appears to be enough interest (based on website traffic) in this topic.
Please share this website with people who may be interested. Sharing will push me forward to grow a community of people who would like to learn more about starting, and maintaining, a side hustle for retirement.