Pensioners Seeking Work
The idea sold by pensions companies, whether the Government or private pension companies was to be able to do what you want to do and have enough money to do it with, in your retirement, however it turns out that so many pensioners retiring now, are looking for ways to work to supplement their income to make ends meet.
The UK government for example has no issue with you doing work whilst getting your state pension, I think they expect it because retiring on around 160 pounds a week is below what many organisations feel is an acceptable amount of money to have a reasonable life.
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation for example states that:
A single person needs to earn £20,400 a year to reach a minimum acceptable standard of living in 2021, but the National Living Wage (NLW) is not high enough to allow them to reach this standard, as it pays around £17,400 for someone working full-time.’
Compare that to the state pension of £179.60 per week at the full rate (in 2020/21) but what you will get could be more or less, depending on your National Insurance (NI) record which is around 50% of what you need to have a decent retirement!
Pensioners have for many years looked for places outside the UK for better weather and somewhere where their money lasts a bit longer. Southern Europe has always been an attraction for expats. In the last 20 years Thailand and Southeast Asia has also seen an increase in the number of retirees moving to the sun.
Pattaya for example on the Eastern Seaboard of Thailand is very popular with expats has grown by an average 15% in just a few years and has an average 28 degrees all year round and cheap accommodation, and plenty of Western food and entertainment.
Back in 2000 when 1 English Pound could get you around 90 Thai Baht and one large larger beer was 50 Baht from a convenience store, you could see how 160 GBP per /week would give you a good life, however the baht to the pound, and the dollar as well, decreased massively over the last 17 years and now it is around half of what it was worth in 2000.
So even expats are now needing ways to supplement their income, let alone people who decide to stay in UK.
One in seven pensioners in the UK retiring today will be relying purely on their state pension which will be a bleak life indeed.
Finding work online
If you live as an expatriate from your own country you cannot just walk into a job center and find work in a foreign country, more so outside the European Union, and who knows how that will pan out with Brexit for British people working across their own continent.
The internet has been pivotal in giving so many people a way to earn a living from home, it is however like life, easy for the pioneers, and notoriously difficult now for the masses who joined later, and you have to be very innovative, creative and definitely tenacious and patient to make it and earn ‘good money’ online.
The buy and sell method, buy cheap sell at mark up, has been a market traders technique for many centuries and still works, find factory goods and display them in a better setting and ask for more. Online this is about creating a website and selling a product based on your content branding, blogs, call to action links, growing your email database, it certainly takes a lot of time and hours to pen good content and many years to grow a social media presence that you can share your messages to.
There are many people on the internet who are hawking methods to get rich quick online, but many are promising an easy ride for something that is fundamentally difficult to do. So; tread carefully!
Forex and Crypto Currencies
Block chain technology has certainly been in the news and media of late and they have a good story about how Cryptos are fighting the banking elite, it’s a ‘good pain’ to market to people because we all have a grudge with the banks regarding bank charges and time to send money to other accounts.
Like Forex traders who will tell you it’s not just something you can learn overnight and so much of it is speculation and trial and error to make money, you certainly have to lose some to make some, and more importantly never to invest all in one basket.
You have to have a good understanding of human behavior and political knowledge helps to, not forgetting a good command of History including how many previous speculative bubbles all have in common with Cryptos is a warning from history you would be foolish to ignore.
English Teaching
Teach English as a foreign language (TEFL) is a way to earn some money abroad, generally speaking there are two types of teachers; first are what I call career teachers who have degrees and teach at schools in their home country, they go and work at proper International schools and earn more or less what they would in their home country.
Then there are TEFL teachers who are mostly back packers who want to earn their passage, and pensioners who attend a TEFL course and then after they can teach a small class in a provincial school for around $500 a month.
We have a thriving TEFL group on Facebook for those who want more information on TEFL Jobs in Thailand
What are you panning to do for retirement? Do you have enough saved to live like you do now, or will it be a bleak existence in store for you? Do you plan on being a greeter in a supermarket or be an online marketer or affiliate?
If you are still at working age you need to talk to an expert as soon as possible because if you are smart with your money you can save enough to have a decent retirement.