A retired B.C. man who spent many years working in the automotive industry has found a way to keep his body, mind, and bank account active post-retirement, while helping people in the community.
Daily Hive recently caught up with David Whiteley, who has been earning an extra $1,500 to $2,000 per month through Taskrabbit.
Whiteley came to the province in the late 70s and lived on the island for a bit before moving to the Lower Mainland.
He worked in various areas of the automotive industry, including repairs, sales, and customer service.
“I had a race car, so I did all my own repairs.”
One of the reasons he got into the car service industry was so he could get cheap parts and free advice from mechanics. The race car he had was an original Mini Cooper S.
“It was a great little car,” Whiteley said.
Then he got married, and he sold it to pay off credit card debt. We asked if that was a tough decision to make, but Whiteley said it was just a natural progression moving forward as a man starting a family in his early 20s.
The decision to retire and what came next
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Retirement is a tough choice to make for many people. The choice of leaving a long-time job for a quieter life and breaking out of a routine you may have had for a majority of your life isn’t an easy one.
Studies suggest that retirement is highly challenging both financially and psychologically for a large majority of people considering it.
The idea of outliving one’s retirement savings is a particularly notable fear.
“It was time to make that decision based on the fact that we’d just gone through COVID,” Whiteley recalled.
Looking back, COVID was really challenging for the automotive industry, which was also dealing with chip shortage issues. Whiteley doesn’t think it has recovered yet.
Whiteley was almost 66 when he retired, and he knew it was the right time.
The retired B.C. handyman told Daily Hive he loves doing things with his hands. After retirement, his wife asked him what he was going to do now.
He responded that he wasn’t very sure, but had thought of becoming a handyman.
His wife told him that a friend of hers had used a company called Taskrabbit. Whiteley had never heard of it.
After looking into it, he noticed the platform was very well put together, and it was a simple process to enroll.
You can check out Whiteley’s profile to see how much someone can charge for certain services, including things like furniture assembly, mounting, and basic electrical work. There are certain services that Whiteley will never offer, such as installing a toilet, for example.
He charges around $60 per hour for furniture assembly, so if you’re good at building IKEA stuff, that could be an easy way to make a buck on Taskrabbit.
If you’re concerned about safety, one thing that’s important to note is that folks who offer tasks on Taskrabbit are required to go through a criminal record check.
Whiteley says he would absolutely recommend getting into it for other people in his position.
“I have people in my age group that have their own set of skills, and I’ve definitely suggested that they try Taskrabbit,” he said.
And it doesn’t matter if you’re not a handyman; you can offer your own particular set of skills to folks who might need them.
If you’re retired in B.C., have you found ways to stay active post-retirement?