While indulging in your hobbies, with probably a lot more gusto that you previously had time for, you might consider the possibility of actually earning some money from them. Now, I don't mean selling your wares, but of course if they are easily posted ebay can be a great marketplace for you.

What I am referring to you is selling you knowledge. Whether it is sports, crafts, cookery or photography, you could use your retirement to join thousands of others who are making a profit out of their skills.

The secret to making money from what I'll call your collective "hobbies" is to approach the project as a labor of love. Love of your hobby.

If you can remember back to the days when you first started your hobby, you were keen to gather as much information as you could about how to master it. Learning about the different methods, patterns, tools etc that could be used was a great adventure. You may still be on the journey!

With the aid of the internet, you are able to share your knowledge not just with your grandchild (who may not be interested anyway) but with people around the world who want to know how to master that particular hobby. Who knows? You could be a master at it, without even knowing.

Writing an e-book is a very easy thing to do, and couples who work together on these projects often enjoy the whole process. Learn how to create a simple website to use as your sales page (don't be scared - its easy with a capital E) - another great skill that you will use over and over again. Include how-to photos are great - heck you can even make a short "how to" movie with your digital camera and post it on You Tube, linking back to your web page.

There are very easy methods that automate payment and direct download of the document you create.

Take the time to do a Google search to see what information is already available on your hobby, and see if you can do something similar, but better. It's important to not over-value your e-book or article. It is much better to have 1000 purchasers at $10 than 100 at $25!