Should I Launch a New Career?
Should you stay with what you know or go in a new direction? One of your first decisions must be whether to work full- or part-time in your same line of work or at something different. If you need significant income, you're probably best off staying on as a consultant, contract worker or part-timer with your longtime employer or another company in the same industry. Your skills have already been demonstrated, and you may get to hang on to your health insurance. Partly for these reasons, folks who find retirement work in their same field generally report better mental health, according to a study published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology. If you are reasonably settled financially, though, you may want to work for other reasons and possibly even go back to school to learn a new skill — say, photography or real estate sales — that you enjoy and can quickly turn into a fun, low-pressure job. Another option is to turn your hobby into a small business — say, opening an art studio or repairing vintage motorcycles. The key is knowing how much income you need in order to make ends meet at home.
See more questions about whether you should work or not:
Introduction: Should I Plan to Work?
Where Can I Get Business Funding?
Does Work Reduce My Social Security?
Will Retirement Work Crimp Happiness?