If you want to have enough money to retire comfortably, the experts have some simple advice: make a plan, start early, live frugally and let compound interest work for you by investing in the stock market for 40 years. At the end of all of this, you will be able to retire in style!

Well, this is all well and good but what happens if you find yourself reaching retirement age with less money than you expected? Is there any hope for those of us who failed to follow the straight and narrow path to retirement bliss? Or, are we doomed to live life in poverty without even the slightest hope of improving our situation?

Is it Too Late to Make Money in Retirement?

Of course it’s not too late! In fact, after talking with 100s of men and women over 60, I am amazed by the creativity that some of us are showing when it comes to supplementing our income in retirement.

In this article, I want to talk about a few categories of activities that you can use to make more money in retirement. In future articles, I will dive more deeply into each of these and will provide more specific suggestions.

Here are 4 sources of additional income that can change your life in retirement.

Make Money by Renting Your Assets

For most of your life, your house is not an asset. By this, I mean that your house takes money out of your pocket every month.

When you reach retirement, you have the opportunity to start making some of this money back by rending a room – either on Airbnb or directly to someone in your neighborhood. In fact, I know older adults who make more every month from renting a room in their house than they do from Social Security.

Are there risks associated with rending a room? Of course! But, these can be mitigated by getting the right paperwork in place, making sure that you have the right level of insurance and screening your renters carefully.

If you live in a city, another source of potential rental income is sitting right outside your house. Yes, I’m talking about your parking spot. For example, Justpark is a service that connected people who have a parking spot to rent with those who are looking for a place to park.

There are even services like Turo and Hyrecar that let you rent out your car for extra cash. This might be an especially attractive option if you spend part of the year in another country and your car is left behind, while you travel.

Look for Ways to Create Passive Income

Generating passive income is all about putting in a bunch of effort up front so that you can make money without raising a finger tomorrow.

A good example of a passive income generating activity is blogging – you write articles now with the hope that they will bring in traffic (and advertising dollars) tomorrow. Will blogging make you rich? No. But, I know literally hundreds of retirees who make an extra $500 – $1,000 a month from their blogging efforts. I even know one lady who passed $10,000 in passive income a few months ago.

Other passive income sources include owning rental properties, becoming a YouTube star, writing a book, investing in REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts) or creating an online course.

Earn Money as a Consultant or Freelancer

One of the big advantages that retirees have when it comes to either consulting or freelancing is that we already have strong business networks.

Rather than posting your profile on Upwork, why not try reaching out to your business acquaintances first. Since most people see retirement as a destination, many of your colleagues will not have even considered the fact that you might be looking for work. As a result, if you have a good reputation, you may end up with more projects than you know how to handle.

If you don’t have a strong network and have to rely on freelancing sites, be patient. Chances are, it’s going to take you several long months to get regular customers. In a separate post, I will tell you what I learned about being a successful freelancer after spending $50,000 hiring people on Elance and Upwork. But, for now, I’ll just recommend the following: find a niche, be responsive, start your own blog and go above and beyond the call of duty.

When All Else Fails, Get a Part-Time Job

Many people see the idea of getting a job in retirement as an indication of failure. I don’t see it that way! If anything, working in retirement is a great way to stay social, while earning a little extra cash.

If you don’t want to be on your feet all day, stay clear of retail and consider some of the following ideas: tutor, babysitter, customer service representative or event planning. If you are looking for even more ways to make money in retirement, here are 60 that you may not have considered.

I hope that you found these suggestions for making money in retirement. If you have any additional ideas, please share them in the comments.

How are you planning on making money in retirement? Do you have any suggestions for other people in our community who may be struggling a bit financially? Please join the conversation!