According to the BLS, embalmers earn $43,680 a year. The top 10% bring in $62,230, on average. Embalming is one of the oldest-known professions, and entails getting bodies ready for interment based on legal requirements.
Elsewhere in the industry, funeral service managers make $79,930 a year, on average. Top earners in this line of work are paid $140,740 a year for planning, directing, or coordinating the services or resources of funeral homes.
Another unusual job that pays fairly well: Genetic counselors. According to BLS data, there are only 2,000 of these professionals in the U.S. right now. What do they do? They assess individual or family risk for a variety of inherited conditions, such as genetic disorders and birth defects. They also advise individuals and families to support informed decision-making and coping methods for those at risk. Genetic counselors make $55,820, on average—while the top 10% make about $85,790 a year.
Gehring found that you can also make $25 to $100 an hour as a live mannequin or human statue—and ice cream tasters, who are usually qualified food scientists with a degree in chemistry, make $56,000 a year.
“The jobs I describe in [the book] are meant to inspire people to come up with their own great ideas for making money,” Gehring says. “People are most likely to be successful if they match a perceived need with their own individual skill sets or passions. For example, maybe you love healthy cooking and notice that a lot of families in your neighborhood order pizza every night. That could be your cue to start a healthy meal catering and delivery service. I love hearing stories about people who found a way to make their passion meet a need, and wound up making a lot of money in the process.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
