Current statistics reveal that 76.1 million baby boomers are turning 50 at a rate of 3 to 4 million a year, with about 10,000 of the older boomers turning 59 every day — and many are still the caregivers for their aging parents as well! As these boomers age, they will represent a huge block of potential customers for innovative entrepreneurs who can supply them with the services and products they will need. Here are fifteen senior-related, home-business ideas that may have you finding riches in these boomers’ golden years:

*Please note: Professional associations are primarily networking organizations and usually do not offer start-up information. Include a business-sized, self-addressed, stamped envelope with any written correspondence.
 
 
1. MEDICAL CLAIMS ASSISTANCE PROFESSIONAL
Seniors often overpay medical bills; because they do not understand the insurance labyrinth involved in the filing and tracking of insurance claims that accompany accidents and illnesses. Medical claims assistants examine and compare their clients’ medical records with medical bills to ensure their clients are charged correctly. These professionals sometimes work as advocates to overturn decisions denying clients’ claims. Health care providers also hire medical claims assistants to check if they have billed for all the services they provided.
Success Tips: You need a current knowledge of medical terminology, the regulations and procedures of Medicare, and private insurances. Your business will come from the referrals from satisfied clients; marketing your services directly to small medical offices, hospitals, senior centers; and networking with lawyers, bankers, accountants, and other professionals whose clients may need your expertise.
Resources: National Association of Claims Assistance Professionals (NACAP), 5329 S. Main St., Suite 102 Downers Grove, IL 60515-4845. Understanding Health Insurance: A Guide to Billing and Reimbursement by Jo Ann C. Rowell, Michelle A. Green, 2005.
 
2. SENIOR CARE CONSULTANT
Senior care consultants are nurses, social workers, gerontologists, and other professionals with the credentials and experience in elder care and aging matters. They provide seniors, their adult children, or caregivers with information and recommendations for long-term health-care and living arrangements that best suit their clients’ needs, finances, and preferences. They help ensure their clients will have an on-going, optimum quality of life.
Success Tips: You should possess the qualifications, the understanding of elders’ needs, and a familiarity with community services and agencies for the aging, including knowing how to negotiate around the often-existing “red tape barriers” to obtain services for your clients. Business will primarily be from referrals from satisfied clients and the personnel of the social service agencies with which you will be working.
Resources: National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers, 1604 N. Country Club Road, Tucson, AZ 85716-310, www.caremanager.org/. Complete Eldercare Planner: Where to Start, Which Questions to Ask, and How to Find Help, rev. ed. by Joy Loverde. Long-Term Care: How to Plan and Pay for It by Joseph L. Matthews.
 
3. NUTRITION CONSULTANT
With age, people often develop medical and physical conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease, and other serious health concerns that require them to follow specific diets. Nutritional consultants educate their clients about the food and meal-planning regimens they need to follow while coordinating their efforts with the clients’ caregivers and their health care professionals’ recommendations.
Success Tips: Certification and licensing is required in most states for this profession. As a consultant, you can market your expertise by teaching classes, leading seminars at health fairs; writing articles; speaking to area organizations and seeking referrals from visiting nurses associations, hospice programs, and local health and aging departments.
Resources: American Dietetic Association www.eatright.org/. The American Dietetic Association’s Complete Food & Nutrition Guide by Roberta Larson Duyff. National Health Information Center - www.healthfinder.gov/
  
4. IN-HOME CARE (NON-MEDICAL) SERVICES
With the existence of in-home (non-medical) services that assist their clients with cleaning, shopping, running errands, and transportation, many retirees are opting to stay and live independently in their homes or apartments. In-home care specialists work with social services, family members or guardians to develop individualized programs to best manage and monitor their clients’ daily needs.
Success Tips: Education, training, and previous work experience with older populations is essential. Survey your community and potential clients to determine what types of non-medical services are most-needed. You can build a list of clients to personally assist on a regular or on an as-needed basis; or you can hire and direct other qualified caregivers. Check for local or state regulations and certifications you may be required to have.
Resources: In-Home Care for Senior Citizens: A Bedside Companion by Shirley M. Baker-Davis. AgelessCheckers – www.agelesscheckers.com.
 
5. DAILY MONEY MANAGERS
Seniors are often overwhelmed by the day-to-day money-managing tasks due to age-related disabilities or illness, or because of the death of a spouse — especially if it was the one who primarily managed a couple’s expenses. Daily money-managers supervise clients’ bill-paying tasks, balance their checkbooks, sort mail, and refer their clients to professionals such as accountants or tax preparers, when needed. Managers will also help their clients keep track of their scheduled appointments and engagements.
Success Tips: You will need money-management skills, and to develop a trustworthy reputation to build up a clientele that you will visit on a regular basis. Market your services to seniors and their adult children, as well as to bankers, financial planners, and others involved in managing the finances of older adults.
Resources: American Association of Daily Money Managers, www.aadmm.com/, State College, Pennsylvania. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (FDIC) Article, “Financial Caregiving: A Survival Guide,” www.fdic.gov/.

6. SEAMSTRESS-TAILOR**
Due to failing eyesight or loss of manual dexterity, seniors need experienced sewers to help them with a variety of sewing needs. If you are skilled with a needle, you may be hired to do everything from alterations, sewing on buttons or zippers, creating window treatments and upholstering furniture, to sewing wedding dresses or christening gowns for grandchildren. You may also be asked to alter and adapt clothing for your clients’ special medical conditions and surgeries.
**Note that home sewing of some garments is illegal. Check with the U. S. Department of Labor to learn about existing laws, www.dol.gov/.
Success Tips: Start by offering general sewing services to give you time to find the most profitable sewing niche for you. Market your services to the managers and directors of retirement and assisted-living communities to supply their residents’ sewing needs. Hand out business cards for future referrals.
Resources: Home Sewing Association, www.sewing.org/. Professional Association of Custom Clothiers, www.paccprofessionals.org/. Business of Sewing: How to Start, Maintain and Achieve Success by Barbara Wright Sykes, 2004.

7. HANDY-PERSON FIX-IT SERVICES
Many seniors or their adult children will gladly pay someone to do simple household jobs like painting and wallpapering, installing shelves and household fixtures, replacing windowpanes, and other simple tasks they do not have the time or no longer the ability to complete. Vocational schools often offer general home-maintenance courses if you need to brush-up your “fix-it” skills for small repairs and installations.
Success Tips: Older adults are wary of whom they allow in their homes. The entrepreneurs in this business who develop confidence and trust with their customers will receive much of their business through word-of-mouth referrals. Most professional handy-persons have more business than they can handle.
Resources: Handyman’s Handbook: The Complete Guide to Starting and Running a Successful Business by David Koenigsberg. Start & Run a Handyman Business by Sarah White and Kevin Pegg.