AARP Hearing Center
Glenn Harvey
When Dan Simms left his job selling insulation at age 56 and needed cash to tide him over until he found a new job, a friend suggested he look into a surprising side hustle: dog sitting.
On his friend’s recommendation, Simms signed up with DogVacay (now Rover), an online platform that pairs pet owners with sitters. He also tapped into his sales background to land clients, handing out business cards at veterinarian offices, dog groomers, kennels and other places around town.
That was more than eight years ago. Now Simms and his wife, who retired from her sales support job in 2022 and became a dog sitter too, bring in $75,000 to $80,000 annually from this work.
Thanks to that income, Simms, now 64, says he hasn’t had to start collecting Social Security benefits yet or dip into his retirement accounts as aggressively as he would have otherwise. “I feel very blessed, particularly after the last 10 years of my career, switching jobs frequently,” he says. Plus, the couple has enough flexibility to travel eight to 12 weeks a year.
Simms turned to the gig economy to generate cash. But that’s just one way retirees can pad their wallets, at a time when many are concerned about their finances.
A growing number of retirees say they’re worried about the impact of inflation on their savings, according to a 2025 survey by investment management firm Schroders. Of those polled, 92 percent said they’re concerned about inflation lessening the value of their assets. Nearly half said their expenses in retirement are higher than expected, and more than 3 in 5 said they have no idea how long their savings will last.
If you’re retired and feeling financially pinched, don’t panic. From pet sitting and taking paid surveys to cutting expenses and finding unclaimed assets, there are plenty of ways you can generate extra cash.
“There really have never been as many opportunities for [retirees] to earn a fairly significant amount of money on the side,” says Kathy Kristof, founder of SideHusl.com, which reviews and rates moneymaking opportunities. “You can easily earn $500 to $1,000 a month without giving up your travel or still doing all the things you want to do in retirement.”
Here are 10 ways retirees can raise cash.
1. Tighten your belt
Review your bank and credit card statements to see what expenses you can reduce or eliminate to free up more cash in your budget. Some cuts can be made by taking advantage of free access to things you typically pay for, says Alissa Krasner Maizes, a financial adviser in Boca Raton, Florida, who works virtually with clients nationwide through Amplify My Wealth. For example, public libraries offer free access to books, ebooks, audiobooks, music, movies, activities and educational events.
Maizes also suggests reducing the frequency of services you pay for, such as housecleaning, car washes and haircuts. Let’s say you’re getting a $100 haircut and coloring every six weeks. You could save $200 a year by going to the salon every eight weeks instead.
2. Find unclaimed assets
“There might be money that is yours that somehow got ‘lost,’” says Bobbi Rebell, a certified financial planner and personal finance expert at CardRates.com. You could have security deposits, uncashed paychecks, insurance payments or forgotten investment accounts worth thousands of dollars that were turned over to state governments or federal agencies as unclaimed assets.
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