Seniors Tapping Into the “Gig Economy”

Many boomers approaching their retirement years are anxious about having enough income. But many are finding help by turning to the so-called “gig economy” – driving for Uber, renting out extra rooms in their homes. Twenty-four percent of all Uber drivers are over age 50, and 3 percent report being formerly retired. Bloomberg reports that people age 60-plus are the fastest-growing and best-reviewed age group on Airbnb. DogVacay, which connects pet sitters with owners, reports that people over the age of 50 constitute 25 percent of sitters. The JPMorgan Chase Institute reports that seniors earn about 25 percent of their income from working and that this share may rise in the future. It found the percent of seniors in the work force has been increasing recently, from 20.7 percent in 2009 to 23.1 percent in 2015. The institute anticipates that much of the anticipated rise will come from the gig economy. Of course, earning income in the gig economy has some downsides. Most of the time, workers are considered contractors and are responsible for paying their own taxes. In addition, the income can be quite unpredictable. However, these drawbacks may be an acceptable trade-off to earning additional spending money to supplement Social Security and other retirement income.

Source/more: CBS Money Watch

David Wingate is an elder law attorney at the Elder Law Office of David Wingate, LLC. The elder law office services clients with powers of attorneys, living wills, Wills, Trusts, Medicaid and asset protection. The Elder Law office has locations in Frederick and Montgomery Counties, Maryland.