Leo works as an Uber driver in San Antonio, Texas, almost every day and earns $980 a week on average. The 63-year-old is a retired maintenance worker making ends meet on his own time and in a leisurely way.

“I like driving and meeting new people,” Leo said.

Of the $980 he clocks a week, Uber takes a percentage that equals about $256 and he pays $174 to lease a 2016 Nissan Altima from the company. That includes an oil change.

“I still take home a significant amount of money,” he said. “And it’s better than sitting at home watching television.”

Leo is among a growing number of the 75 million boomers in the U.S. taking advantage of the sharing economy as a way to make up a shortfall in retirement savings. Some 24% of those over the age of 50 said they would consider using their car as a source of income, according to a recent Merrill Lynch/Age Wave study called “Finances in Retirement: New Challenges, New Solutions.”

“There’s an emerging realization that if you can't afford retirement as a solo project then there are other ways to get there from here that aren’t that painful,” said Dr. Ken Dychtwald, San Francisco-based president and founder of Age Wave. “In fact, some of them might even be better for you and better for everyone.”

While the sharing economy, which includes services like Uber, FlightCar, Craigslist and TaskRabbit, may have been created by millennials for millennials struggling to stand on their own two feet financially, it’s those over 50 years old who are taking the concept to the next level. About 69% said they'd be willing to barter or trade skills.

“More and more people are enabled by the internet in creating and relying on the village movement where communities, not just retirement communities, are rising up and posting on neighborhood websites their needs and the services they can offer in exchange,” Dychtwald said.

For example, a retired lawyer might be willing to help a neighbor with legal issues in exchange for their help painting his house.

“I’ve had a few of these conversations with my older clients,” said Steven Sivak, a financial advisor with Innovate Wealth in Pittsburgh. “TaskRabbit is gaining traction and notoriety for things around the house that aging clients don't want to do anymore, and I’ve seen multiple clients download Uber. Several clients are now using Care.com to look for help with certain things, and retirees who are still handy advertise their services on Craigslist to pick up small jobs on the side.”

The biggest winner, however, is Airbnb.

“Modern elders, or people over 60, own more housing and real estate than any other group in the country, and they are now the fastest-growing segment using Airbnb, and in many ways, the most lucrative,” Dychtwald said.

Fifty-two percent of Americans over the age of 75 live alone, but 27% of people over the age of 50, including retirees, said that they would consider renting a room for short or long terms.

“Boomers are becoming more aware of Airbnb as a trend,” said Chris Chen, a financial advisor in Boston. “I have one retiree who rented out her home for six months to pay for her trip to South America because she has a lifelong interest in Latin American culture and she wanted to learn Spanish.”

According to the study, 28% of those over 50 said they would consider a housemate since living alone is both isolating and expensive.

“I’m seeing the sharing economy among my clients who are 50 to 70 years old and who are pre-retirees or recent retirees when they're still young and fresh and interested in exploring new ways of traveling or living that they haven't necessarily tried in the past,” said Jonathan Swanburg, a financial advisor in Houston. Although he encourages his aging clients to embrace new ways of pooling resources, it’s with one caveat, which is to stay close to the group.

“Participating in the sharing economy doesn't mean you're automatically ultra-trusting,” Swanburg said. He says you should never deal with the hosts of the Airbnb house or the Uber drivers directly outside of the mobile application or website, even if they say it’s cheaper. “Always use the internet platform to book because there are safety, security and insurance mechanisms in place to protect users.”