If you’re like me when I retired, you do “need” to work. Even if you don’t “need” to work for the economics of it, you still “need” to work for the meaning of meaningful participation.

Your financial survival as a retiree likely depends on some combination of retirement accounts, retirement savings, Social Security, rents, and royalties. When that total figure falls short, it’s a fact of life that many of us retiring Boomers will at some point start considering adding a carefully chosen part-time job to balance our retirement budgets.

This is not a negative or pessimistic reality. Working after retirement can actually be a benefit for life. It can help us stay engaged in worthwhile activities, engaged with people, focused on practical matters, and otherwise active, healthy, and upbeat.

Deciding whether to work after retirement

During our long-term careers as full-time employees, we give up our own freedom to meet our employers’ schedule and schedule expectations. After we retire, we most likely won’t have a predetermined schedule beyond the demands of life, family demands, and possibly a travel schedule. As a retiree, you are probably ready and eager to enjoy the freedom as a result of your past career. Any type of work you consider doing next should dovetail with this sense of freedom, with a good balance between retirement and work.

Establishing a well-designed plan to achieve this end is an active process, not a passive one. But there is very good news to take into account. The job market has changed significantly since we started working so many years ago, transformed by the Internet. This completely changes the possibilities of combining sustained work with a flexible retirement lifestyle.

If you wanted a job online, how would you find it?

Given the vast interconnectivity and “anytime, anywhere, anyone, any pace” of the Internet, online job opportunities abound. If you’re a retired Boomer looking for a job online, rest assured that there are thousands of companies, both in the United States and in a variety of countries around the world, looking for you. The key is knowing where to look. Knowing what you want to do and what you’ll be good at is also key.

This is where having some guidance is crucial. The obvious route, as with everything else online, is to start with a Google search for the type of work you want to do. As a warning… some of the bolder online job advertisements that appear in search results may seem too good to be true. And, indeed, they are. These ads, which sometimes promote jobs with Google or Facebook and the like, are not actually served by Google or Facebook, but by third-party companies who want to sell you something, not pay you something. Their claim, of course, is that if you buy their service, you may be able to make money as a result. If you are asked to spend money to earn money, go ahead.

But real online work for pay is definitely available, even plentiful. In fact, online job agencies claim that the online contract workforce is growing at a rapid rate. twice the standard labor force rate. According oDesktop, one of the largest online recruiting services, more than 90% of US companies now use recruited talent on a regular basis and spend $120 billion on this type of experience each year. Another major online employment service, lance, reports from its small business survey that 80% of small businesses plan to hire up to 50% of their workers as online contractors. Another online agency claims that monthly petition has passed supply by more than 30%, leaving thousands of contract jobs unfilled on its job board. And all of this is just in reference to one type of option for online work… contract work. There’s others.

seven necessary steps

Confusion about working online is all too common…and it gets in the way of retiring for Boomers who could be making money working online at something they find challenging and fulfilling. If the concept of participating in a post-retirement online career seems a bit fuzzy or beyond your grasp, a good place to start is by completing these seven necessary steps:

1. Determine who you are and what you do best. Re-explore your personality type and temperament, as well as your interests, values, abilities, and traits, to identify the next work direction that best suits you and will improve your life ahead. Include any and all of your Internet skills, communication skills, and interpersonal skills as assets that can and will make you a valuable contributor to online employers.
2. Develop a clear idea of ​​how much time you want and can afford to work, and when. Keep this guide in mind when searching for and selecting the particular job you will do next.
3. Read key books and resources and apply their guidance. This will save you valuable time and point you in a direction that will benefit you, both financially and in terms of finding a job that you find attractive and fulfilling.
4. Learn Internet search strategies that will produce the kind of results you want. Given current SEO (search engine optimization) techniques, many of the search results that appear on the first page of your search are not actually jobs or career opportunities, but rather so-called “investment opportunities.” Seek guidance on how to search in ways that lead you to opportunities that are real.
5. Set aside time to prepare and organize your online work environment. Realistically assess your team and resources, and add as needed. Create a wonderful workspace for yourself where you can be productive. Strengthen your Internet, search, file management, and software skills, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other tools of your future business. If you don’t already have all the skills you’ll need, take classes, read books, complete tutorials, and otherwise gain the proficiency needed to be an “ace” in your new domain.
6. Dedicate a minimum of 10 days to carry out a systematic job search. Start by focusing on contract, outsourced, and freelance employment websites (see the book “Shifting gears in your life and work after retirement” for direct links to dozens of these sites.) Work on your job search like it’s your own 9 to 5 job. Take notes. Follow up on key leads.
7. Notify your network with the details of your plans. Include former and future colleagues in your job search network, both in your local area and beyond. Also connect with family and friends. Clearly define and communicate, via email, Facebook, and other means, the details of what you will do, the services you will provide, the costs of these services, substantial evidence and samples demonstrating your skills and abilities in these areas, and descriptions of the types of work assignments you are looking for.

Online may be your next best place to work. As you picture yourself at the beginning of your work day, consider the differences of working online. How about spending a morning outdoors playing golf, gardening, biking, or swimming, followed by an afternoon working online? Would working via a laptop from your beachfront deck on Ambergris Caye in Belize have any appeal? Or maybe work flat out for 6 months, then take a three-week break to ride the four scenic trains through the Alps… traveling east on the Glacier Express to St. Moritz, then south on the Bernina Express to Lake Como in Italy, then north on the William Tell Express to Lucerne, then west on the Golden Pass to Montreux on Lake Geneva.

Having WiFi, being able to roam… Or having WiFi, being able to stay at home… These and many other options will be yours.