Savings, Thrift & Investment | |
Savings, Thrift & Investment | |
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Thursday, October 29, 2020 / 01:40PM
/ Grace Agada / Header Image Credit: Quontic Bank
There are two smart things to do when your source
of livelihood come from an income that is uncertain. The first thing is to move
your source of livelihood to a more reliable source of income that is within
your control. And the second thing is to move the income earned from the
uncertain source to a source that is within your control. The solution to the
first option is to start and grow a successful business. Not everyone can do
this right away and it does take time to get a business to the success level.
The solution to the second option is to secure a certain amount of the income
you earn from the uncertain source. And to put this amount in a secure source
that is more certain and within your control. This is the faster option and a
great option to explore for most people. To achieve solid income security, you
must use your active career time well. And the best way to use your active
career time is to work hard at working less in the future and to build a solid
income security for yourself.
What is Income Security?
Income security is the ability to thrive and
sustain ones living standard regardless of a job.
Work as we know it today is changing and
uncertainty of a job income is increasing. There have been several downsizings,
salary slashes, layoff and so on. The truth is the insecurity in the job market
has tripled. If you do not have a system that shield you in the days of
uncertainty, your pain will be extensive. While we pray that nothing bad
happens to your job, we cannot rule out the possibility of it happening
someday. You cannot guarantee your job security neither can your employers or
the government, and here is why. Job security is not in the hands of your
Employer. Job security is in the hands of customers. When customers patronize
businesses, organizations make money and can keep jobs intact. But when
consumers are scared to spend and hoard money.
Organizations must trim down jobs to stay alive.
Additionally, organizations are realizing that certain job roles are no longer
important for their survival. They are also shifting from the traditional
workforce model to an independent and remote workforce model. The only way to
protect yourself long-term from the hammer of a job loss is to secure the one
thing that makes a Job important to you. Your Income. The New job security is
thus now about income security. That is the ability to keep income flowing even
when a job dies. This is important because a job is a short-term need while
income is a lifetime need. While you may survive without a job, you cannot
survive without income. So, the wise thing to do is to pursue income security
and not Job security and separate your income from your job.
How then do you create Solid Income Security
To create solid financial security from uncertain income
you must answer the question "What would it take for me to never worry about my
job again?" To answer this question and eliminate job security worries there are
three things you must do.
The First is, you must increase your savings
ability. Second, you must create new income sources within and outside your
Organization. And third, you must separate your income from your job and create
an independent Income security for yourself.
Let me explain each of the point in detail:
1. Increase your
savings ability.
To create income that is free from job loss you
must save a sizable portion of your income each month. The average employee
saves 5-10% of their income every month. This is a lazy way to save. Saving
this way will only extend your years of hard labor. The most successful people
I know save 40-50% of their income. They can achieve financial security fast,
exit the corporate world and pursue their dreams. To increase your savings, you
must save on your purchases. You must also reduce your expenses by creating a
low maintenance lifestyle or an economically efficient household. If you keep
saving the way you have always done financial security may be far away from
you. For example, it takes 10years to save 12 months of your current income if
you save just 10% of your income. How many more ten years do you have in the
corporate world? Approaching savings this way is getting rich never. Without
the discipline and commitment to save above average, financial security is out
of reach for you.
2. Add new sources of income to your existing
income.
There are two ways you can do this. The first is
to earn more income within your current job. The second is to find new sources
of income outside your job. Earning more income within your current job is
important because you spend over 75% of your time on your job. Most people do
not even have extra time for anything else. This means they can only invest
only a small fraction of their time in other side income and this limits their
opportunity. Thus, the focus on one's job make sense. To earn more income from
your job you must become a problem solver. Every organization has three major
problem they are willing to pay someone to solve. The first is the
Revenue-Organizations want Continuous, low cost and predictable Revenue. The
second is savings-organization wants to save more money. The Third is Time -organizations wants to save time and speed up operations. The closer the
problem you solve is to these three areas the higher your chances or earning
more income.
You can also earn more money from other sources of
income outside your job part-time. You can earn passive income through your
investments and you can earn income from a side hustle. The key to success with
a side hustles is that it must have the power to give you the freedom that you
seek and must be able to do so within the shortest possible time. Adding
passive income from your investments and a side income from your side hustle
can boost your savings dramatically.
3. Separate your income
from your job and create an independent source that is secure, interest
yielding and within your control.
You do this by investing your saved income in an
interest yielding investment account and building this investment until it can
carry the weight of your bills and sustain your living standard for a few
months. The length of income security you build is dependent on the amount of
time it will take you to bounce back in the event of a job or income loss.
Funding your life from an uncertain source of
income like salary is choosing to suffer financial stress for the rest of your
life. Your goal as a smart employee is to create a life that thrives regardless
of your salary, because only then can you truly be free. There is no job
security anywhere. The only security that exist is the one you create for
yourself today. For feedbacks, comments and enquiries, kindly send an email to info@createsolidwealth.com
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