15 Best Low Stress Jobs After Retirement in 2023

by Erin Schollaert

Updated

Retirement is one of the most exciting steps of a person’s life, but retirees get bored after a few months of doing nothing.

You don’t have to stay inside watching television or reading on the beach.

There are plenty of low stress jobs after retirement that can keep you entertained and busy.

1. Equine Therapist

horses-on-beach

Average yearly income: $55,976 (Comparably)

Why it’s low stress: in this role, you get to help people find peace and work through mental health issues using the soothing energy of horses.

If you own or love working with horses: this is the job for you.

Equine therapy matches people with anxiety and depression with a therapist and horse that can help them gain confidence in themselves and heal through a connection with a fantastic animal.

2. Blogger

Average yearly income: $63,200 (Fit Small Business)

Why it’s low stress: you get to create your own schedule and talk about the things that interest you.

Whether you want to be a travel blogger or a lifestyle blogger, if you have insight into any interesting topic: people will come to read it.

Blogging is a great way to get your life story into words and invite people to learn more about the world around them.

A bonus for retirees is that this job doesn’t require standing and because it is from the comfort of your own home, it is a job without a uniform too!

Tactic for Success

The most important thing you can do as a blogger is to heavily network and grow a community around your blog. This will show advertisers that you’re worth working with and will feel more rewarding.

3. Remote Customer Service

Average yearly income: $35,000 (Glassdoor)

Why it’s low stress: you can work from home, and for some companies can set your own schedule.

One of the best low stress jobs for seniors is to take up remote customer service.

Using the skills you’ve gathered over a lifetime of helping and working, you can solve the problems and questions that customers have and do this without having to leave your home.

This could be a low stress job with a computer science degree but still allows you to relax.

Trend on the Rise

Companies that allow employees to work from home keep their workers for far longer, which means you’ll have a higher chance of feeling satisfied working part-time remotely instead of in a call center.

4. Etsy or eBay Seller

Average yearly income: $35,000 (Small Biz Trends)

Why it’s low stress: you can sell whatever interests you and join a community of sellers.

Creating your own business as a drop shipper or selling items that you’ve created on your own and then selling them on Etsy or eBay is a fantastic way to make money during retirement.

You can even sell off items like postcards or collectibles you’ve gathered through life that you no longer want.

starting-your-own-company-pros-and-cons

5. Lifestyle Coach

Average yearly income: $60,510 (Natural Healers)

Why it’s low stress: you get to use your wealth of knowledge to help others solve life problems.

Lifestyle coaches help their clients improve relationships, careers, and their daily lives through tips on making goals, finding obstacles, and making strategies to get around those obstacles.

This is a highly rewarding line of work. Depending how you meet with clients, this can be a top job without using hands if that is difficult for you.

Tactic for Success

To be a good lifestyle coach, you have to understand people’s wants and how to get them to these wants while pushing through whatever resistance they’ll put up. If you’re a driven motivator: this role could be for you.

6. Translator

Average yearly income: $52,330 (U.S. News)

Why it’s low stress: you can often work from home and either translate recordings on your own time or translate live calls.

As a translator, you’ll work with either written word or audio of conversations and convert text from one language into another.

This means conveying style, tone, and intent while keeping in mind the differences in culture and dialect.

This is a perfect way to earn money for a retired teacher who taught a foreign language.

Most In-Demand Languages

  • Spanish Translation – Specifically Spanish from Latin American countries is sought after in 2022.
  • Mandarin Translation – Grows in popularity and needs every year due to expanding trading.
  • German Translation – Has become increasingly needed in recent years.
  • French Translation – If you’re fluent in French and English, you may want to pick up work for French Canadian companies needing translators.

7. Art Therapist

artowrk-indoors

Average yearly income: $48,368 (PayScale)

Why it’s low stress: you get to use art to heal and work through the mental health needs of your clients.

Art therapists help those with mental health issues to use drawing, sculpting, painting, or other art processes to work through what they’re feeling and analyze it.

This helps people create more physical descriptions of how they feel and can help them heal.

8. Virtual Assistant

Average yearly income: $67,115 (ZipRecruiter)

Why it’s low stress: you get to work from home, often part-time, and help clients make their companies succeed.

Virtual assistants are remote employees that offer support for companies and their employers, generally part-time.

This can be anything from scheduling appointments, arranging travel, making phone calls, or organizing emails.

Although this may feel like a lot to take on, it’s a generally slow-paced job.

9. Furniture Flipper

Average yearly income: $60,000 (Merry for Money)

Why it’s low stress: you can find thrift and reimagine furniture on your own schedule at your own speed.

As a furniture flipper, you’ll gather older and used furniture that has a good base to work on for as little as possible and then turns it into furniture that’s worth far more through repairs, alterations, and redecorating.

This is a great job for creative souls who are handy with a hammer or screwdriver.

Trend on the Rise

Over a third of customers are currently only looking for more sustainable or green furnishings for their home, while 78% would be more likely to buy something sustainable if they found it. This is a massive market.

10. Voiceover Actor

Average yearly income: $31,400 (Avo’s Journey)

Why it’s low stress: you can work at your own schedule and work using only your voice.

As a voiceover actor, you’ll help bring text or animation to life.

This could be through reading books and creating audiobooks, acting in an animated series, or being the voiceover for commercials and television that’s only text.

This is a vast field to work within, offering tons of options for anyone who wants work.

11. Tour Guide

tour-guide-woods

Average yearly income: $33,854 (Salary.com)

Why it’s low stress: you can use your wealth of knowledge from living in an area for a long period of time and get to show people the city you love.

As a tour guide, you’ll escort people through sightseeing tours! This can be on cruises, or through public buildings, industrial sites, or in art galleries.

This is especially rewarding if you know the area from a lifetime of living there or if the gallery or museum is one that you’re well-acquainted with.

12. Tutor

Average yearly income: $41,228 (Salary.com)

Why it’s low stress: you get to discuss topics you already know about and help people succeed academically.

Tutors help students learn and study in any environment besides the classic classroom.

You can meet with your students online or in person, and help them study, take notes, test prep, and grasp concepts they’d otherwise find difficult or impossible.

That said, becoming an online tutor is probably more common than in-person these days.

Tutors work with students from a variety of age groups.

Easiest Topics to Tutor In

  • Writing and ReadingIf you’ve spent a lifetime of writing and reading, this can be an excellent topic to tutor.
  • History and Social Studies – History is fantastic to tutor because you can easily study up on anything before you have to teach it.
  • Elementary Math – If you’ve always had a knack for math, this is a great topic to teach.
  • Test Prep – Preparing for tests can be difficult if you’re skilled at helping people through stress: this is the subject for you.

13. Bingo Manager

Average yearly income: $61,733 (Comparably)

Why it’s low stress: work with people your own age, and help people have fun and relax.

Bingo managers direct the daily activities of the bingo department of whatever organization or business they work for.

This could be for anything from a retirement community, to a cruise line, to a nursing home: keeping compliance with federal and state gaming regulations.

14. Editor or Proofreader

books-in-bookstore

Average yearly income: $55,318 (PayScale)

Why it’s low stress: you can work on your own schedule and get to read books and texts earlier than the public.

Editors and proofreaders go over documents and manuscripts to ensure that they’re error and problem-free and that they’re ready to be published.

Although it can be detail-intensive work, it’s generally low-stress if you have an eye for details.

15. Online Dating Ghostwriter

Average yearly income: $65,773 (ZipRecruiter)

Why it’s low stress: if you’ve always called yourself a matchmaker, this job helps you put that skill to work and make real connections.

Online dating ghostwriters help create charming profiles for their clients and invent creative icebreakers to help get to that first date.

Some even handle the back and forth chats their clients would usually do in conversation.

Wrapping Up

Although this is the time of your life when you’ve earned a much-needed break: that doesn’t mean you have to sit still and do nothing.

Instead, consider picking up one of these many jobs that can keep your mind and body in awesome working order.

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Erin is a business teacher and mother of three. When she’s not in the classroom or fulfilling her obligations as an A+ hockey and lacrosse mom, she’s working on her latest article.

About the Author

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Erin is a business teacher and mother of three. When she’s not in the classroom or fulfilling her obligations as an A+ hockey and lacrosse mom, she’s working on her latest article.