Sunshine Coast pensioner gets financial boost through tech side hustles

A Sunshine Coast pensioner hasn’t let the retired life slow him down, with a tech-savvy mindset earning him $100k on the side. Here is how he does it.

Tech-led side hustles and hobbies aren’t just for the younger generations with pensioner Brendon Clancy showing he has what it takes to succeed in the industry.

The 64-year-old has forged ahead with a number of business initiatives to help guide him and wife Cathie through retirement and to fight back against rising living expenses.

Among Mr Clancy’s side hustles is car rental via web-based service Car Next Door, with the pensioner making $70,000 a year by loaning out five privately owned cars including a Honda Kia (8 door), Hyundai i30 and a Toyota Yaris.

It’s netting Mr Clancy more than $2000 a month.

Brendon and Cathie Clancy have embraced a number of side hustles including car rental via Car Next Door.

He’s also dived into the world of Airbnb, an online platform for booking a home or room rental, managing five properties.

Mr Clancy plans to double both side hustles over the next six months, adding one car a month to his fleet and five or more properties.

The tech-savvy money-making initiatives were taken on after the Clancys, co-founders of Overflow Kids and OKTV Global, had their international ministering efforts at churches and community groups grounded by Covid.

“We’re living in a disturbed moment in time, but at times like this you’ve got to pivot and become self-sufficient in a non-self-sufficient world,” he said.

“The best tech people have is their minds – use your mind!

“It’s not like the olden days of chickens and growing your own vegetables – there is so much money-making and saving tech to be aware of now, it would be criminal not to make use of it.”

Mr Clancy isn’t alone in embracing the world of private car and home rental for a financial boost during the pandemic.

Car Next Door CEO Will Davies said the business had experienced huge growth as people looked for ways to save on their expenses.

The share economy platform had a 245 per cent increase in customers since the pandemic, with some 19,000 new users signing up each month.