Alternative Income Sources: Hot Topics For 2021

By Nancy Gaskins

If there’s one thing that this pandemic has taught us, it’s the fact that we all need multiple streams of passive income; a way to generate income that is outside our J-O-B, brick and mortar businesses and doesn’t rely on government handouts.

Within days of lockdown, families were stressing over missing one paycheck. The same thing was going on for business owners. They didn’t have enough emergency reserves to keep themselves afloat. They couldn’t pay overhead, including payroll. “Stimulus Checks,” became the word of the year.

To keep the bills paid, some people became overnight entrepreneurs. Some business owners were able to pivot and survive. While I applaud these efforts, it didn’t eradicate the root problem that caused all the distress and stress; a lack of adequate emergency funds and passive income.

What if you or a loved one gets sick or becomes terminally ill? Do you have enough passive income and cash in reserves to take off work for an extended period to be where you need to be and not have to stress over money or whether you have enough PTO in your account?

Hate your job and want to quit? Maybe you’d like to just work part-time instead of full-time. Fired or laid off? Want to start your own business someday? Having an adequate emergency fund and alternative income sources gives you peace of mind and more options.

Someday is here. Do you have the funding in place to launch that new business venture? If you lost your job, could you take your time to find the perfect new job or career field that’s right for you, or would you be forced to accept the first offer simply because you need a paycheck? 

Retired, have a pension or live off social security? Is it enough to provide the standard of living in which you dreamed? Are you able to check off those bucket list items? What happens once you pass away? Will the check keep coming in to take care of the family members that rely on your income? Will it be enough?

Do you have aging parents, grandparents or family members? One of the things you might be faced with in coming years is taking in a loved one to help provide care or having to help supplement the cost of a funeral, assisted living or nursing home care due to inadequate insurance or other financial hardships.

Do you have a cause, ministry, club or non-profit that you’d love to support if you just had some extra cash?

These are all very real scenarios that we all have experienced or heard about during the pandemic of 2020. This is your wakeup call. It’s time to take action so that we are in a better position financially for the upcoming years.

I’ve recognized that families need access to affordable options to save, invest and build multiple streams of passive income that could help make ends meet, pay the bills should something happen to their primary income source and over time, have enough potential to provide enough cashflow to fund the life of their dreams. 

An earn as you learn investment club has the potential to check off all those boxes. I’ll be sharing some of our upcoming projects over the next few weeks as well as our results.

Feel free to send me your project ideas for consideration and join us on zoom each Wednesday at 11:30 am CST to learn more.