06-21-2023 Primetime Living - Flipbook - Page 20
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A Special Advertising Section of Baltimore Sun Media Group | Wednesday, June 21, 2023
FINANCE
A little extra
Finding purpose (and some
extra cash) with part-time work
By Margit B. Weisgal, Contributing Writer
T
wo old men are sitting in the park. One says to other,
“You know, if I were Rockefeller, I’d be richer than Rockefeller.”
The other looked at him and asked how that could be.
The first replied, “Because I’d do a little teaching on the side.”
There are many good reasons to have a
side hustle, a part-time job, a place to go a
few times a week. It’s about having a purpose.
It’s about connecting with people outside your
regular cohort. It’s about mixing with other
generations. It’s about having a little extra
spending money.
So be brave and look around you. There
are more options than you thought possible.
Shauna Bertram was great at finding interesting part-time jobs. In the spring, she’d
check out the list of farmers at the markets
around town and see if any of them needed
assistance. That was four or five hours one
day a week. She then found an office position,
mostly filing, that took a few hours a week
when the office manager was out or on holiday.
All this was, of course, in addition to two or
three volunteer positions she had.
Sally Maxwell was a big art buff, so she got
a part-time job at a local art museum in their
gift shop and then went on to be a docent, taking school children on tours of the collection.
Garth Leonard wanted something that
would challenge his mind. He signed up to
edit scientific papers written by Asian doctoral candidates who wanted to be published in American scientific journals. Since
he had a good grasp of the subject matter, it was, for him, similar to doing crossword puzzles, figuring out exactly what they
were trying to say. The bonus was it covered his entertainment expenses for the year.
Helena Morgan asked shopkeepers near where
she lived if they needed any bookkeeping help.
By knocking on a few doors, she was able to
get jobs that took up about 15 hours a week.
Most of the business owners were young, so
they learned from each other. And she still had
time to meet up with friends.
Zelig White retired, but he hated it. He
took an exam and ended up teaching math to
high school students in the city. On the plus
side, the syllabus and lesson plans were all
provided, so he really just had to show up. It
still left him time for his deep interest in history.
There are as many ways to earn extra
income as there are people. Most of the time,
it’s a matter of asking about an opening. Even
if there isn’t one, you can network. Ask that
person if he or she knows someone who
needs help.
One of my favorite stories is how a former
client who joined the Peace Corps at 69,
something she’d always wanted to do. After
she retired, she questioned whether or not she
had something to contribute. She met with a
recruiter who reviewed her work and volunteer
experiences – crisis hotline, hospital, deaf relay
service, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial –
and said she was eminently qualified. He had
no problem signing her up.
She celebrated her 72nd, 73rd and 74th
birthdays in Lesotho with no running water
or bathrooms and only a coal stove to cook
meals, teaching AIDS prevention. When she
returned to Washington, D.C., she started
some old and some new jobs: answering mail
at the White House, volunteering (again) at the
Vietnam Veterans Memorial and helping out
at her church. She, like Shauna Bertram, was
never at a loss for something to keep her busy.
Those volunteer jobs can turn into paying
jobs because they showcase your talents and
abilities along with your reliability. So check
out the organizations you value, the ones with
mission statements you respect. Mention to
friends that you’re looking for something parttime. You never know what will bear fruit.
