I have been going through several of the posts here and see some talk about them doing the NH circuit. I'm guessing this is the nursing home circuit. In any case, if that is so, have any of you figured out how to make any money playing them?

NH = Nursing Home ... AL = Assisted Living ... SC = Senior Center ...



Gary can write CHAPTERS about that ... along with some others on this board ...

Earl,

You can make a pretty good living working the senior circuit, nursing homes, assisted living centers, retirement communities and senior centers. Add to them, some over 55 communities that seem to be springing up everywhere you look.

I also managed to make a few bucks playing political fund raisers, which can be extremely lucrative. Keep in mind that most of the folks attending these events are relatively old, mostly in their 60s and up to the low 80s. The majority of them are either wannabe politicians or people that are looking for some political favoritism, such as building contractors, engineering firms, architectural firms, and lawyers who wish to be appointed to judgeships. They are paying huge sums of money to attend these functions, often more than $2,000 a plate for finger food the caterer bought at BJ's Wholesale Club or Costco's. Once you get in with the promoter, which is not easy, but still doable, you can name your own price and usually get it. During most election years I was usually able to pull down 30 to 45 2-hour jobs.

Much of your total income will depend upon a couple factors. First and foremost, the area where you live will have a big impact on how much you can charge. The deep south, especially the southern, coastal states, FL, LA, MS, TX are notoriously low paying. It can be a real struggle there to get more than $75 to $100 per hour, but it can be done. The highest paying areas are the mid-Atlantic states, parts of New England, and California. Nearly everyone I know in these areas pulls down $125 to $150 per hour for the senior circuit and $500 to $600 for private parties of 3 hours or more.

New Years Eve, which is always lucrative, can be even more so if you throw in a couple NYE day jobs at the Assisted Living and Retirement Communities at your regular rate. Then later, after a good supper and a short nap, head off for the 9-p.m. till 1-a.m. job where single OMB entertainers can pull down $800 to $1,500 or more, depending on their market area.

As you can see, if you are healthy and energetic enough to go balls to the wall, 7 days a week, which was my schedule, you can easily average 10 jobs a week, which at $125 per hour, translate into $1,250 a week, or $65,000 a year, and that's if you didn't do any of the more lucrative jobs. Now, if you can't make it on $50,000 to $65,000 a year, put your wife and girlfriend to work, both of them! And, if one of them happens to be a good singer, duos command a better paycheck - something to think about.

Of course, in doing this number of jobs, you will a significant amount of transportation expenses to contend with, all of which will be deductible.

PS: I have a lot of beautiful satin shirts with matching ties, and incredible, embroidered silk vests, size XL that I am willing to sell at dirt cheap prices. Unfortunately, most of the guys on this forum are a bit larger than XL, or they would have sold a long time ago.

Hope this helps,

Gary

Earl, I used to live in Hope, Arkansas, and at the time, the entire state was pretty impoverished, at least from what I saw during the six months I lived there. Then I moved to Palestine, TX, which was a bit higher on the scale, but not a lot. I agree, anything more than 100 an hour there would be hard to come by, but you never know until you try. Hey, even at $100 for an hour long job, 500 jobs a year is $50,000. Young folks can easily handle that kind of work load. I was still doing an average of 440 jobs a year when I was 74 years old. Keep in mind, you can always come down on your price if they think it's too high, but it can be real difficult to raise the price once you have committed to a lower pay scale.

Good luck,

Gary

Wow!! 440 jobs a year at 74! I was worried that I might be to old at 73. T W how old are you now?

I'll be 77 in October, and believe me, if my health hadn't gone to Hell last summer, I would still be doing at least 300 jobs a year.

Good luck young fella,

Gary