With me it not learning a new skill set; it's what work am I willing to do for the $$ offered.
I am 76 years old retired with a teamsters & State pension, wife and I are also on Social Security.

I can weld and burn, do custom body work, drive just about anything on road, work in retail sales, and can still turn a wrench on both deisels and gassers. Do I want to do any these type of jobs.....Nope not unless it was required for eating.

I would probably get a job as a rent a cop. In my area every one want a rental cop, hell I could become the new mall ninja.

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Originally posted by Aeteocles:

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Originally posted by Warhorse:

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Originally posted by Aeteocles:
Alternatively, I think I could turn a modest income taking real estate photos, and already own the equipment for it.

I'm not trying to burst your bubble here, but I don't think there is much demand for real estate photography. At least around me, most realtors do their own photo's anymore.

I bet the real estate photo thing is completely dependent on local markets. Nearly every listing here that is done by a "full time" professional agent gets full staging and pro photos. Our typical listing is $1M+ though, so there's a certain amount of effort expected.

Ah...that makes total sense.

This is a fantastic thread, thanks for starting it. I'm reading with a great deal of interest. I'm almost done "working", gonna "hang up the cleats" very soon. Sending my son here. I'm sure there will be some good info for him.

Interesting thread since this is kind of what happened to me last March. I was working in the live events industry which pretty much completely collapsed in a matter of weeks. I had jobs scheduled all year and within 10 days every one was cancelled.

I have an electronics background and so I could always be a bench tech somewhere. My specialty is video equipment so thankfully I was able to still find a job outside of the live events industry and still within my expertise.

Outside of that I’ve worked in restaurants and construction so I might be able to get work there. Probably not enough to pay my bills though.

Mobile auto detailing would be another low barrier to entry job. I'm sure it takes a ton of work to become really good, but the barrier to entry is low in terms of specialized tools and no special license needed.

Residential window washing is another.

Without really planing to do so I ended up with a few mostly due to growing up with friends who were all in different types of construction so we would all help each other depending on who needed help or needed work.

I could do everything from framing to trim work or wood floors to custom tile showers. From the family business I grew up in I also know quite a bit about HVAC/Refrigeration so depending on if I had to move states my HVACR license should transfer or I would just have to retest in that state. I was also able to take the test for my master electrical license due to having an electrical engineering degree and the design experience even though to date I’ve just used it to pull permits for friends who were doing their own work.

My leather working is mostly a hobby that pays for itself but with the tools/equipment I have it wouldn’t be a stretch to start mass producing a few cheap items or even start doing some upholstery.

The great thing about this day and age is if something interest you and you have the time/ resources to invest in it the knowledge itself is out there and most likely for free.

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Originally posted by Aeteocles:
Mobile auto detailing would be another low barrier to entry job. I'm sure it takes a ton of work to become really good, but the barrier to entry is low in terms of specialized tools and no special license needed.

Residential window washing is another.

I have friends who do both of those and they are making good money on the side of the regular jobs.

Mobile auto detailing takes a larger investment in consumables as good products are expensive. There are also a lot of specilized tools the make the job faster and easier.

Residential window washing is very lucrative with the most expensive investment being ladders. The trick is to not trying to make consumables last past their efficient service life.

Besides real estate photography, very common in these days of remote viewing, another business that is gaining growth in the current private marketing world is automotive photography for automotive auction sites

If there is no market for lawyers, what market would there be for window washers or auto detailers? I would think that a back up skillset would be something that was essential, directly related to providing food, water, sanitation, shelter, or medical service. Anyone that got time off due to Covid might want to reconsider how essential their career field actually is.

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Originally posted by Stlhead:
If there is no market for lawyers, what market would there be for window washers or auto detailers? I would think that a back up skillset would be something that was essential, directly related to providing food, water, sanitation, shelter, or medical service. Anyone that got time off due to Covid might want to reconsider how essential their career field actually is.

I did post the topic up for general discussion, so not strictly talking about me or lawyering in specific. I imagine right now, for example, that people working for airlines or hotel chains would be in a position where they could use a backup income source until the economy recovers, even though there are plenty of people out there who haven't been affected..

In any case, with respect to lawyers, the legal field is often an early indicator of general economic health. When the economy contracts, businesses and people reduce their legal spending, and law firms are really sensitive to their profit margins. If billables drop, firms immediately begin shedding attorneys. I know more than a few out of work attorneys right now because of the pandemic, even though there's nothing preventing an attorney from grabbing a laptop and working from home (which is what I've been doing for the past 5 months).

The problem with providing "essential" services is that, because they are essential, those industries already have fresh applicants in the pipeline at any given time. There are always nurses and utility linemen already in line for any given job position. For a backup job that you can jump right into, you pretty much have to find an industry where you can provide services directly to a consumer.

This thread reminds me of my response many times when I have seen a topic posted about what to do with extra money.

My answer has often been to invest in yourself in education and training to make yourself more valuable and able to bring money in.

I think this is true no matter what your age may be.

IMO and experience there is a great joy and satisfaction in learning something new.

Never stop learning. It is good not just for your bank account, it is great for your mind and your mental, emotional and physical state.

Enjoy life.
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I see your point but another realistic threat to prepare for is hyper inflation. Imagine that everything you worked for all your life was worth very little. You may have physical assets still of use like a house and car but savings and 401 would be almost worthless. How long can our govt keep spending and thinking printing more money is the solution? Physical precious metals and cryptocurrency would seem to be a good idea. Those will still both have value unlike the dollar.

Precious metals and crypto currency suffers from the same drawbacks as fiat currency: the extent of its value is simply what people decide it is worth. Gold has zero intrinsic value to me: I have no industrial uses for it, and I don't even like the way it looks.

The only hedge against hyperinflation that I can see is owning property/land. Land still always be valuable because it will always have scarcity and utility.

If my dollars lose their spending power, I will take small consolation in knowing that I will be paying down my mortgage with inflated dollars at the same rate.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Aeteocles,