<p>Well, aside from spending your whole life working, I mean. I am about to have an empty nest and too much time on my hands. Because a little extra money wouldn’t hurt either, I am thinking of finding a part-time job. I work 8 to 5, M-F, so I wouldn’t mind working some night and weekend hours at Home Depot or Walmart (gasp) or something similar. (Anybody know which places pay the best? I have not done any homework yet.) </p>
<p>Somewhere I read something that made me think there may be some special tax handling or other repercussions involved with two jobs. I doubt that an extra $6000 or so would put me in a different tax bracket as I’m barely in the middle class now.</p>
<p>If working at that second job makes you happy, I say there is no downside. If it puts a burden on you, physically or emotionally, and you dont “need” the extra income, I think you would be better served finding an activity that makes you happy.</p>
<p>Costco pays the best as far as retail, but I don’t know much about how they work their part-timers. They have a rep for treating employees very well.</p>
<p>One thing to watch out for in retail is “on call” scheduling. My Dd tried to work retail to earn a little extra money as a second job at a mall chain, but they wanted her to be on call on weekends. So she’d wait on Saturday to get a call, and if she didn’t, no work. She couldn’t schedule her regular tutoring on that day because if they called her, she’d have to go in.
I’ve heard many retailers are doing this now, and it’s really tough to work any other job at the same time because you can’t plan anything. Beware. They never mentioned this during the interview process or during training.</p>
<p>If you like working, I don’t see the downside. If you don’t like what you are working at, doing more would be a bad thing. I really like not working, so working 2 jobs would be twice as bad as working one job. It sounds gratuitous (to me, of me) to suggest that if you find yourself with extra time, why not find some meaningful volunteer work… but if you like work work better, do that. I am a firm believer in doing what pleases yourself.</p>
<p>I’m not a fan of working. In fact, I’ve started looking at birthdays as one year closer to retirement. And any part-time job would be in a totally different field than I’m in now and require very little of me mentally. I’ve tossed the idea around for a long time, but have always found an excuse not to (kid needed me at home, extra income would adversely affect FAFSA, etc) but I could use a little extra money, at least to replenish my savings account. (I spent some on home improvements, dental bills, etc). </p>
<p>I volunteered with our local community theatre in a behind-the-scenes capacity for years, but they worked me to death, to the point where I figured if I were going to put in all those hours, I should get paid for it.</p>
<p>My original question was about tax consequences or other pitfalls. I think this bug was put into my mind by a question on turbotax last year, which didn’t apply at the time, but has stuck with me. I’m thinking it was in the category of “special circumstances” or something like that which made me think there was something quirky about two jobs. </p>
<p>Thanks for all your replies. I will wait a while to see how I like the empty nest before making any decisions. (Because I’m single, my nest will be completely empty when my D leaves.)</p>
<p>In this economy it would be kinder to let someone else have the income who otherwise would not have any job. </p>
<p>The investment any employer makes in your training means they will want enough hours from you to offset their expenses. Do you want to shift gears after work and have to go back to work every time you are scheduled? Do you want to be required to work the weekends/vacation time your D can visit you? You won’t be able to “cherry pick” your hours. You probably don’t realize how having down time from an obligation is psychologically important. Your performance at your full time job could suffer.</p>
<p>There is plenty to do without daily parenting. Think of all of the things you never had time for. Reading, crafts, exercise, household improvements, gardening. So many “me” things that put on hold for so many years you have forgotten they exist.</p>
<p>The FAFSA issues won’t go away until the D graduates.</p>
<p>If you plan to earn money outside your regular job, you need to check your employer’s policies on what’s acceptable.</p>
<p>Some employers have restrictions designed to avoid the problem of someone working for competing or related businesses simultaneously. Conflicts of interest are a legitimate concern. If your current full-time job is not in retail and you’re seeking a part-time retail job, there is unlikely to be a problem. But it’s worth checking anyway.</p>
<p>I used to earn my living entirely by doing freelance work. Currently, I have a full-time job, but I take occasional freelance assignments on top of it. I have to be very careful not to accept freelance work that could get me into a conflict-of-interest situation.</p>
<p>Why not do some babysitting? People are always looking for responsible adults to babysit. Sometimes the pay is better, work is easier and hours more flexible.</p>
<p>Are you interested in dating more once the nest is empty? If so, you may want to look for a job in an environment where you are likely to meet lots of new people who are interested in the same things that you enjoy.</p>
<p>I currently work two jobs. I own a business with my husband and as we have downsized it no longer takes up all off my time. I work half time at a local school doing financial work which is what I do for our business. There are no tax problems. The only issue would be if the school were to go to full time I wouldn’t be eligible for their pension plan and my self employed IRA. I would have to choose on over the other. As long as your regular job is M-F and steady hours I don’t see a problem. Over the past few years I’ve done a number of things and also served on a non profit board and volunteered. My theory about the part time work was that as long as I enjoyed it and was fairly paid it wasn’t any different than volunteering.<br>
That said, of course you do have to be careful about conflict of interest, as Marian points out. While my company does some school work we do not work for the school I work for and we do not foresee ever working for “my” school so there is no conflict.
I’ve also worked evenings in the past pouring wine. I had been a customer at a local place and if they got “slammed” I would jump up and help a bit. After a few months they asked me to work. I loved the change from my regular job and the people. Did it for a few years until I decided I wanted my nights and weekends back.<br>
I say go for it.</p>
<p>One thing that a friend did when she had an empty nest was taking in visiting foreign students, providing room & board. It provided her with a bit of extra income and company (she’s very much a “people person”). She had mostly positive experiences, but you do have to screen people carefully.</p>
<p>I’d suggest looking into developing interests you find rewarding, exercise class(es), volunteering, etc., if money isn’t a huge issue and reason that you’d be pursing an extra part-time job.</p>
<p>If you want to travel, you might look into working for an airline & see if you can get travel privileges. I have a relative that did that and is loving being able fly at will wherever and whenever he wants.</p>
<p>Can you turn a hobby into a job? My sister still works once every few weekends at a fabric shop. She’s an expert seamstress and figured she might at well work where she bought all of her fabric.</p>
<p>Another sister works for Costco and I will vouch for them treating workers well. She makes good money, has great benefits and the working conditions are good. I don’t know about PT though. She’s way past PT work and is an exec now.</p>
<p>Ask yourself what you’d do if money wasn’t an object-would you teach (community center/senior center classes, maybe?), would you get certified in comething (learn to be a spin teacher, yoga, etc.)? Would you travel? Do you like people (lead tour groups who visit your hometown, sell tickets to the cruise ships) ?</p>
<p>If you want to do it, I say go for it! My sister has had an empty nest fro a few years now and that very occasional second job not only gives her something to do but a whole other group of friends.</p>
<p>If you are worrying about tax implications of multiple jobs, I’d suggest you ask whomever helps with your taxes, just so you don’t end up with a bad surprise. We have our CPA help us calculated estimated taxes which we pay so we don’t end up with penalties at tax time & it has worked out pretty well for us so far.</p>
<p>It is nice when you have an interest you love that can turn into something that pays. Since you loved theater, do see if they want to pay for your talents, if you’re still interested or find something else you enjoy. Nothing wrong with getting a job that you love, whether part-time or full-time. ;)</p>
<p>Looks like no one has mentioned FAFSA concerns? If FA is part of your economic life, you might want to consider how that might be impacted by the extra income. </p>
<p>I have a few side jobs, and certainly enjoy the variety they add to life.</p>
<p>FAFSA is no longer a concern. That was one of my prior excuses for not getting another job. </p>
<p>I did enjoy working with the theatre group, but part of the reason I “retired” is that they refused to pay me anything. The artistic people (director, choreographer, etc) were paid a stipend per show, but as the “producer,” I got nothing. It was discussed many times and they still refused to pay because not everyone who served in that capacity did a good job. I was in charge of basically everything offstage (playbills–sometimes involving ad sales, house management, cast T-shirts, plus was at every rehearsal) and spent many hours, including my lunch hour, taking care of theatre business. It truly became a job.</p>
<p>Although I like to be alone, I have become somewhat of a hermit since my kids grew up and I am no longer involved in their school activities. I haven’t dated in 16 years and don’t really want to. Sounds bad, I know, but I’m pretty independent. You all have given me a lot to think about it. Thanks so much for your input.</p>
<p>Since you know you’re good at and enjoy the theater, is there a way you could do that part-time at a different theater? For the community college? High school? Elsewhere? Another theater? It’s unfortunate that they chose not to pay you anything–could at least have given you a token stipend if they couldn’t afford a full salary or wages.</p>
<p>Sounds like you have a lot of options. Good luck choosing among them. Encore careers/hobbies can be VERY fulfilling, regardless of how much (or little) they provide financially. I’m really enjoying the non-profit I created when I “reinvented” myself.</p>
<p>A good friend is a nursery school teacher and works two nights a week at Home Goods. She especially loves the Home Goods job. The nursery school – not so much, after decades of doing it.</p>
<p>She’s not getting rich on those jobs, but her husband makes a good living.</p>
In fact, I’ve started looking at birthdays as one year closer to retirement. And any part-time job would be in a totally different field than I’m in now and require very little of me mentally. I’ve tossed the idea around for a long time, but have always found an excuse not to (kid needed me at home, extra income would adversely affect FAFSA, etc) but I could use a little extra money, at least to replenish my savings account. (I spent some on home improvements, dental bills, etc). </p>