I'm looking for ideas, suggestions. Thinking about getting into a new vocation of some sort. I'm 50 and I can support comfortably with my rental properties. But I'd still like a new job that could bring in some extra money. I have a small amount of college, I didn't really like it but I'd do it if it meant spending the rest of my life in a job I love. I also went through computer repair trade school but I never did anything with it. I'm mechanical, determined, and I don't mind work. I've considered an x-ray or respiratory technician, I still think it might be a good choice.

Ideas?

Home inspector.  

- Don't need to know jack shit.  "Light switch on, light switch off."
- Don't have liability. "Sign this form that doesn't make me responsible for anything I found or didn't find."
- Bang out a job in 2 hrs for $250-$400 and all you supply is a ladder and the nice little binder you put your bullshit into.

@ 47 yrs old, not sure what i would do if I could not be in Transportation.

I guess i could be a drug dealer.......in the end, I would have 3 hots and a roof over my head

After dealing with home inspectors a few times recently, this seems legit

It seems nearly impossible to find good welders and fabricators who will work for reasonable money.

Do you like trains? I have some that need repairing.

I can pay in imitation crab meat.

HVACR maintenance?  You're in VA.  Heat pumps everywhere for heat and cooling.  You have rentals, so you could also use the knowledge to service your own equipment.  Most community colleges offer a training program for this.

Fluffier, builds good hand muscles. 

Google FSMA

QA Manager

Food Safety

You better like paper work

If you were younger, I would suggest robotics repair and maintenance.   At 50 (which is close to my age) you might be a little too old as that revolution is still about 5-10 years away before it is full swing.

Providing hookers and blow to all the ARFcom basement dwellers might be a lucrative side line.

if you could do school and a bit younger i would say get your Rn hands down, great money, only have to work 4 or 3 days a week(depending on the hospital) OT potentials and you can get hired anywhere

Consider busking.
Work when and where you want. Any semblance of talent that provides the illusion of entertainment is welcome.

Drug dealing, collect all the welfare you can dream of, income is non taxed
and your *job* is now a days socially acceptable in most blue states, plus you spend all day every day doing mostly what the fuck you want with some social networking on the side
wish I was joking anymore

I have worked legally over the table for every penny I ever earned, every last cent
and now the people I see that have been dealing for years live in nicer houses than me, drive nicer cars, fuck off at the ski resort all day in the winter and out on the lake on a boat all summer
laws get passed that favor them every year at least in California, they don't pay taxes on income so they don't pay for illegals healthcare and schooling etc or even into the welfare system
I guess the joke was on me all along

Type the same 3 or 4 stupid cliche jokes on ARFCOM all day; it must pay well cuz there's a lot of people doing it.

This post contributed nothing to the thread 

Sales.  You'd be a perfect candidate for a commissioned sales job.

TBH, most trades would be hesitant to hire a newly-minted 50 year-old rookie.

Whereas in sales, especially if it's a commissioned position, the company will have a minimal investment.  If you're successful, it's a win-win.  If not, the company's not out too much.  Less risk in hiring you.  Make sure there's no cap on how much you make.  And if you ask around, in the top companies, the highest-paid person at a company is a salesperson.  I know salespeople that make six-figure salaries that don't start with a "1."  And the highest I know personally makes a little over $500k.

Aviation assembly/mechanic.

This right here makes me rethink my current path.

Home inspector sounds quick and painless.  as long as homes are being bought/sold

I'm 41 (getting a lil fat, have a minor disability that I don't claim married with a 15 yr old kid) I went back 2 yrs ago for environmental science.. not the tree hugging kind,
I'm aiming to work as an independent consultant/auditor, helping businesses meet EPA and OSHA standards.  ( some of the two fall much inline,)

I attended a conference and saw Laywers and Business owners get out pitchforks and torches in regards to some "rule interpetations" that were struck down in Federal court. ( the EPA and OSHA are just rewriting them now) which increased the demand for people like me.  The exact words were " we don't have enough qualified consultants as it is, what do you expect us to do?

* lightbulb went on.  I've worked for my family's company for a decade, I've spent years in Machineshops, factories and at a contractor for Union Pacific.  I've done internal auditing for QSR 9000, I know when something is dangerous, and enviromently shady.
fuck I spent a lifetime "getting around" and coving stuff like this up.  
sure as heck I can work on the side of a company, to help them comply with rules and regulations, while keeping an eye out for the worker, and writing them suggestions to help them help themselves comply.

I'm nearly done.  I might stack on a few more classes, then grab certs in Hazmat, airquality, yadda yadda.
with a little experience working for someone else, I can go out and launch my own low overhead consulting business.
Trump winning = economy bouncing back, growth in industry and even more demand.

Here is the kicker. I'm 2 years into college for an associates thats semi-pertinent.
I didn't need it.  All of this is self study-able.  I can schedule the cert. testing through the Wi DNR and OSHA Pass it and I'm good to go.

find a trade.
we are desperate for quality trades people.

Have a car?  Become an Uber driver.

Electroneurodiagnositic (EEG, EP, ESG....) Tech. One year course. Great $$$. Hospital environment and HOT nurses.

Are you near DC?

HVAC controls technicians are in high need right now. Try Siemens, Johnson, Shnieder, and Pritchet in that order. They are all hurting for techs badly. All you need to know is a little bit about HVAC and a little bit about computers. They train you in the rest. They all usually start at $50k with great benefits and a company truck.

Taxidermist

Buy old houses, fix them up, and flip them.

uber driver

I can't agree with that at 50. I'm 48 and can't imagine going back direct patient care.
I couldn't see a new grad getting a case manager or other nursing admin job.
If OP was 30, I'd be all for it.  (48 y/o RN here. It hurts my back just looking at patients...)

HVAC would be a good choice except the time it would take working with someone to learn the ropes. Once again, I couldn't imagine crawling around in attics unless I had no other choice and a family to feed. Maybe OP is tougher than me...

I keep bees. If you got all shallow supers (lighter boxes), which I may have to do in  a few years,  it's doable and you could start selling honey in a year or so.

Hydro electric dam operator . My brother does it and makes bank with amazing benefits

This. If you like people, have a decent ride you can make pretty good dough driving for uber.

At least till the rise of our robot overlords.

I'm a little surprised you suggested bees. All of my hives are in storage right now as it has been very hard to keep them alive with varoa mites and colony collapse and all of it.  I've seen people in this area lose  800 out of 1000 hives in the summer or half of them in the winter.

This sounds promising. There are hospitals everywhere. I would imagine the job is not that physically demanding.

Doubletap.

Pizza or Chinese food delivery. Stay strapped though.

Soda Jerk
Brain Surgeon

NOT IN FLORIDA!  You have to be sponsored by a general contractor & then get your own GC license & pass yet another test to become certified for inspections.

I've thought about this one, though not in florida. I believe the qualifications are much easier to get here than in florida. I had a single home inspected, about 2 hours, $350.00. I had a home with 5 units in it inspected about 4 hours, $750.00.
 On the other hand it would sometimes involve being on some very high ladders, and sometimes in some extremely tight dark dirty damp crawlspaces.