The Sharing Economy Is Growing
I think we are in a really exciting time for all generations as the sharing economy is growing. In this post, let’s look at companies that allow you to work remotely instead of for one employer and predict How to work remotely in this economy.
Traditionally, you would graduate from college and be at the same job for 30 years. Consequently, you would then retire at age 65. You would then go down to sit on the beach in Florida until you die. I think that is changing. I see both baby boomers and millennials getting remote, freelance jobs.
Uber: The ‘Work When You Want To Revolution
Look at Uber. The majority of my drivers are either split into two categories, one, retired and do it for extra money. In fact, in my hometown, there’s a gentleman that used to be a dentist that is retired that Ubers and has the nicest Acura I have ever seen. It’s got to be an $80,000 or $100,000 four-door sedan. I’m a very tall guy. I can sit in the back with no problem, leather interior, gorgeous car. He was a dentist and he does it because it forces him to get out of the house and it brings in extra income for his family in retirement.
The other group that I see in working with Uber are people who already have a 9 to 5. They are picking up extra ways to make money at night and in the evenings and on weekends that can also bring in additional income. Hopefully, they’re not using it to keep up with the Jones’s. Hopefully, they’re using it to pay down debt or to increase their savings rates.
The Traditional Model is No More
But this idea that you can work when you want to, where you want to, is very fascinating. I think if you blend this into the tiny house movement and minimalist movement. You could live wherever you want.
You go back to the traditional model of getting a job at the same company for 30 years, a lot of our parent’s generation, the baby boomers, stayed within the same town for the majority of their life or were forced to move to towns that they didn’t find appealing only to continue to have that job. That does not sound like something I’m interested in at all.
You also have companies like Upwork and Freelancer that allow people to work from anywhere in order to make a living. They work on their own time. The job turns on when they want. They can accept a job when they want, and when they don’t, they can turn off their phone or the app on their phone and they do not need to go work.
Freelance Opportunities May Help Your Retirement Goals
I look at my dad who wants to retire and I think that he and his wife could if they were willing to do some type of freelance work, but they didn’t make great savings choices during their working years (not their fault, job changes, and layoffs and low paying jobs), so now they are strapped for cash in retirement and they do not want to get a part-time job at a physical location where they have to drive in.
I think the idea of working remotely, being a freelancer, traveling to their grandkids’ house, they can turn on and off when their grandkids are at school, that flexibility is really appealing and I wonder why we don’t see more of this.
Learn How To Work Remotely in This Economy
To wrap this up, does anybody have any business ideas that would help the sharing economy? If they do, please contact me, I would love to explore these ideas with you.