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9 Websites to Help You Make Retirement Income

By U.S. News & World Report

Even if you’ve saved enough for retirement, you may decide you want to bring in some extra income during your golden years. Whether you’re looking for a part-time gig to fill in some serious financial gaps or you just want to give the grandkids better gifts, these websites can help you bring in an income from your own living room.

1. Upwork. Two of the most popular websites for freelancers, oDesk and Elance, combined into Upwork. This site can help you find gigs, regardless of your specialty. When you sign up, you create a profile that features your skills. Then you can search for and bid on jobs. You get a set number of bidding points per month, depending on your membership level. Potential employers will contact you if they think you’re a good fit. Upwork offers gigs in a variety of fields, including design, writing, virtual assistantship, sales and marketing, accounting, consulting, web development and customer service. Translating your past work experiences into an Upwork profile could help land you work.

[See: 10 Ways to Make Extra Money in Retirement.]

2. Fiverr. This site is built on the idea of small jobs for small fees. Jobs generally start at $5 each, but can pay more depending on the job and the requirements. Competition for jobs is stiff, but you can build a decent side income on Fiverr if you translate skills into a great profile and excellent bids. Though Fiverr caters to jobs that can be done remotely, some people offer or ask for in-person services, such as personal assistants. Jobs are available for a variety of skillsets and interests.

3. Swagbucks. This site lets you complete tiny tasks, such as taking online surveys, shopping online, watching videos and even playing games in exchange for points. The more points you gather, the more you can earn. The one caveat with Swagbucks is that you aren’t paid in cash. Instead, you’re paid in gift cards. But with gift card options to versatile retailers such as Amazon and Wal-Mart, you can easily translate Swagbucks points into groceries, new clothes or holiday gifts for the kids. You can complete many Swagbucks tasks while relaxing in your living room watching TV or listening to an audiobook.

4. Toptal. If your professional background is in software, web development or design, Toptal is where you can make the most of your background for great pay. Toptal vets its freelancers, so you’ll have to go through a serious application process. But if you can pass, you could get high-paying freelance jobs. Toptal has a funnel-system application process, which screens your language, personality and technical skills before conducting a live interview and test projects. They say that they only take the top 3 percent of freelancers, making this a competitive process.

[See: 10 Jobs Hiring Older Workers.]

5. About.com. This website has been around for years, and it continues to be a useful resource. About hires experts in various fields to write about specific topics from travel to parenting. Experts who draw in a lot of traffic can get paid decent rates for their articles. About hires both guides, who run entire content sections, and writers, who are paid per article on specific topics. Some training is required, but could be worthwhile if you want to write about something you’re passionate about, but don’t have the time, expertise or interest to create your own topic-based website from scratch.

6. Shutterstock. If you’re more into photography than writing, check out Shutterstock. You can sell your own footage, images, vectors or illustrations. How much you earn depends on who buys your images and under which terms. The more images you sell, the more you’ll earn from individual images sold. You’ll get a bump in earnings when you hit the $500, $3,000 and $10,000 lifetime earnings milestones.

7. Skillshare. If you want to teach others your skills, rather than just using your skills to make money, check out Skillshare. This platform allows you to pass on your skills, such as crafting, cooking or writing. You can create mini courses using videos, screencasting and voiceover. Once 25 people sign up for one of your classes you will be enrolled in a Partner Program that lets you earn royalties on your work. You can also refer members to the premium program, which is another way to earn.

8. Mechanical Turk. In spite of all today’s technological advances, computers still aren’t good at some things. For instance, they’re not always great at telling the difference between images. Amazon created Mechanical Turk to help businesses bridge this gap. On this platform, you can sign up for various human intelligence tasks, which are simple tasks that require human input. HITs pay very little, starting at just a penny. But you can often complete several HITs a minute, even while watching TV. Some people become efficient enough to earn $10 to $11 per hour doing HITs from Mechanical Turk.

[See: The Best Cities for Retirement Jobs.]

9. Kindle Direct Publishing. If you have always dreamed of becoming an author, but don’t want to go through the traditional publishing process, publishing books independently on Kindle Direct Publishing may be an option for you. You can publish a book you’ve written in about five minutes, and it’ll hit the Amazon marketplace within two days. Earnings from independently published Kindle books vary greatly, depending on the price you set and how popular your book becomes. But this can be a fun way to put your knowledge and creativity into the world in exchange for some extra cash.

More from U.S. News

10 Jobs You’re at Risk of Losing as You Age

6 Tips for Going Back to School in Retirement

10 Financial Perks of Getting Older

9 Websites to Help You Make Retirement Income originally appeared on usnews.com

Don’t Settle for Student Loans to Pay for Online Education

By WTOP Staff
Online college programs are becoming a more popular choice for prospective students, with one study finding that more than 6 million students enrolled in at least one online course in fall 2015. The popularity of these courses can be attributed in part to their flexibility with working adults' schedules, students' ability to progress more quickly through online programs and, oftentimes, cheaper tuition. [See 10 low-cost online bachelor's programs for out-of-state students.]Online degrees can be beneficial to many college students, but some studies have shown online learners complete their programs at lower rates than students at traditional brick-and-mortar campuses. Individuals with student loans but no degree comprise two-thirds of defaulted borrowers. Though these numbers are not encouraging, just like for traditional programs, there are ways to reduce how much you'll need to borrow for an online program to ensure you won't become one of these statistics. Don't just settle on borrowing student loans to cover the whole cost of your program and living expenses. Instead, start thinking about how to cut costs and cover your balance in different ways, such as the following. -- Grants and scholarships: Even though you are taking an online course, you can still apply and receive grants and scholarships. But your first step should be to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, commonly referred to as the FAFSA, which will allow you to receive a Pell Grant if your expected family contribution is low enough. The EFC criteria and award amounts are adjusted annually, but the 2017-2018 academic year awards range from $606 to $5,920, which could significantly lower the amount you borrow annually. Your next step is to apply for scholarships. You can start by checking online scholarship search engines, such as the Salt Scholarship Search, College Board's BigFuture and Peterson's. But don't forget to take advantage of local organizations and your school's financial aid office. Both may offer scholarships that you can't find with a national scholarship search. [Review these 10 sites to kick off your scholarship search.]For instance, organizations like the Elks Club, Knights of Columbus or the Rotary Club typically offer scholarships annually to local students. Just because you're going to school online doesn't mean you're ineligible. Visit your local library for scholarship listings, and ask around town. You might be surprised how many local organizations offer scholarships. While these scholarships typically aren't large, every little bit counts. Each dollar you receive in a scholarship is a dollar you don't have to borrow and pay interest on. -- Work-study: Another option for online students may be work-study awards. Not all students enrolled in online programs are eligible, but students at some schools -- including, for example, SUNY Empire State College and Liberty University -- are. Work-study awards are not given upfront like scholarships and grants. In most cases, they are an offer to earn up to the awarded amount if you secure an eligible work-study job. While there is a misconception that all work-study jobs must be on campus, students can work for off-campus, nonprofit or public employers as long as the work is in the public's interest. You may be able to work for a for-profit employer if the job is relevant to your course of study. No matter who the outside employer is, it will need to have an established agreement with your college for you to receive work-study funds. Remember, to be eligible for federal financial aid, you must be enrolled and pursuing a degree or certificate. If you're not working toward a credential, Pell Grants and work-study won't be option, but you may still be able to take advantage of private scholarships -- just be sure to read the eligibility criteria carefully. [Explore what to know about financial aid in online programs.]-- Pay as you go: One of the great benefits to enrolling online is the flexible schedule, which can allow you to complete your college coursework around your responsibilities. But prospective students often overlook using their part- or full-time job earnings as an option for paying for college. Almost 80 percent of college students in 2015 worked at least part time while attending classes, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. By budgeting and thinking strategically about your college costs, you can likely reduce your dependence on student loans by paying a portion out of pocket. Many -- but not all -- online programs are less expensive than traditional programs and often have shorter payment periods. Six, eight or 10 weeks are common course durations. Because of the frequency of payments in an online setting, you may be well-placed to pay as you go and possibly avoid borrowing altogether. Attending college online and avoiding student loans may be challenging, but if you are willing to put in the effort, you can limit the amount you need to borrow. More from U.S. News Q&A: Understanding Student Loan Discharge Eligibility Student Loan Refinancing Isn't Right for All Borrowers
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