Multiple Incomes – 2016 Update

More Income Streams

Most people can make over $100,000 a year if they’re committed to improving their formal education, be dedicated to their careers, and be willing to work 60+ hours a week. But unlike most people, I’m lazy and don’t like to work hard. 😛 So I prefer to use multiple income streams to eventually earn a $100,000 annual income instead. I first discovered the power of combining multiple income sources in 2012. Why remain a one-income household when you can become a two, five, or even ten-income household? 😉 Instead of focusing all our energy on growing one income, I feel the priority should be to promote synergy between multiple income sources to make them all work and grow together.

For example, my full-time job provides me with important skills, which I can utilize in my part-time job to increase my value there and get paid more. My increased part-time pay is saved up and used to buy dividend growth stocks which typically yield 3% to 4% to enhance my dividend accumulation rate. Then I reinvest a portion of my dividends in interest generating investments that yield 5% returns or higher. I can then use the interest income to invest in even more assets to grow my passive income. The more individual income streams I create, the easier it becomes to grow the entire income pot. 😀

In my last update I had 5 streams of incomes. In today’s post I’d like to welcome a new passive income stream. It’s interest-ing! 😀

Interest

Introducing my new income stream, Interest. I started earning interest on my investments in 2014. Back then I was only making a few hundred dollars a year. But by the end of 2015 it had grown to ~$2,000 per year so I feel obligated to officially include it on my income graph below, (light blue bar).

16-02-mulitple-income-update-2015

It’s always fun to discover new income sources. 🙂 Each one will have its own unique characteristics and advantages. Everyone knows we shouldn’t put all our investments into one basket. I feel it’s prudent to do the same with our incomes and not rely entirely on one job or income source. If I ever lose my primary job, it’s nice to know I have 5 other incomes to fall back on. Phew.

Income Breakdown

Here’s a description of each of my current income sources.

Interest Income: A new addition to my list of income streams. I’m currently earning $2,000 a year. Roughly half of this amount comes from mortgage investment corporations, and the other half is from high-yield bonds. I started investing in interest producing assets a couple years ago to diversify away from dividends.

Freelance and Other Income: This is miscellaneous income I make throughout the year that comes from freelance contracts, selling things on craigslist, and online income. For example last year I helped a local store owner design some posters and labels and got paid $500. 🙂

Farm Rent: In 2012 I bought a farm and since then I collect rent from a farmer who uses my property to grow and sell crops. Being a farm landlord is less stressful than owning a house because I don’t have to worry about the tenant damaging anything since the property is just 300+ acres of dirt, lol.

Dividends: Stock dividends from my investment portfolio.

Part Time Job: I teach graphic design at a local college.

Full time Job: Graphic design related work that requires the typical 2000 work hours a year. This job paid about $25/hour gross a few years ago. Here’s one of my semi-monthly pay stubs from 2012. I’ve blurred out personal details that could be used to identify me. Today, I am making between $25/hour to $30/hour.

Obviously graphic design isn’t a high paying field, but it’s also better than most jobs you can get with an arts education. The important thing is I enjoy it and I’m happy to continue working even if my compensation was cut by 50%, lol. But don’t tell my boss that. 😛

I’m sure there are still tons of other income generating ideas that would suit my financial taste. I can’t wait to find my next opportunity and grow my collection of income streams even more. 😀

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Random Useless Fact:

Two years ago Romania decided to install fiber optic cables nationwide to stimulate its economy. Today they have the fastest internet in Europe and a growing start up community with programming, web design, and other IT services.

16-02-romanian-europe-internet-speeds

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BeSmartRich
02/04/2016 6:34 am

That was great breakdown and looks like you are well on the way to reach your financial independence with diversified income sources. I really like your farm rental which I have studied through your articles although I chickened out. How is farm market in Saskatchewan doing lately?

Cheers!

BeSmartRich

BRS
BRS
02/04/2016 6:38 am

I have a 3 part time jobs in 3 different dental offices. recently started investing in dividend stocks. Brainstorming more for ideas.

Anon
Anon
02/04/2016 7:20 am
Reply to  BRS

If you’re doing the same job then you really have only one job, just at different locations. I think the point of this article is to demonstrate different sources of income — employment, rent, dividends, etc.

BRS
BRS
02/07/2016 7:32 am
Reply to  Anon

Then I have one job and dividend only.

Anon
Anon
02/04/2016 6:45 am

“I’ve blurred out personal details that could be used to identify me.”

But we already know who you are, thanks to your bouts in the media.
(How long ago was this article written?)

Roadmap2Retire
Roadmap2Retire
02/04/2016 7:40 am

Love it!! I am a huge fan of diversification – not only for investments, but also for income. Great work in diversifying your income sources….the more the better. Even if one dries up, you can keep things going as normal.

R2R

Taking over my portfolio
Taking over my portfolio
02/04/2016 7:51 am

This is a great article, I sent a link to my son since we were just discussing this a couple days ago. I have also started multiple income streams and I truly believe that this is the way to go in my situation. I would love to add more, but I only started last year so for now I only have the following 3:

Full-time Job (40 hours per week)
Part-time Job (week-ends – apx 4-6 hours)
Dividends (apx. $80 per month)

Tawcan
02/04/2016 7:53 am

Great breakdown, income diversification is always good. Definitely something I need to do better. 🙂

Time to move to Romania for cheap living cost and fast internet?

Oana
Oana
05/13/2016 4:23 am
Reply to  Tawcan

Romania is not cheap, unless you wanna live in a small village. I can assure you living in Bucharest is more expensive than living in Toronto.

DivHut
02/04/2016 12:02 pm

Always smart to have multiple sources of income. You never know which one will crap out or be severely diminished. Too often people rely just on wage income and fall into trouble when let go from their job or get sick. The farm income is interesting. I think you are the only blogger I know that owns farmland.

Anon
Anon
02/06/2016 3:06 pm
Reply to  DivHut

I own farmland but I’m not a blogger.

Anon
Anon
02/07/2016 9:07 am

Too much work, too little pay.

Jason B
02/04/2016 12:08 pm

I’m loving the breakdown of the streams. I have a full time and a couple of freelance streams, but I’m thinking about adding a part-time job to the list.

Anon
Anon
02/07/2016 9:12 am

Don’t forget the tax implications of the second job. If it’s not taxed at the source it will be on your annual return. In the end, you might be working just to pay taxes.

DHC
DHC
02/04/2016 2:30 pm

Quote: “But unlike most people, I’m lazy and don’t like to work hard.”
But you have two jobs. So you’re working to be lazy, but not lazy now.

Some sort of mental accounting to me. You have only two income streams:
– employment income
– investment income (the breakdown is more of where your investments are).

JC_PIP
02/04/2016 4:59 pm

Multiple income sources is crucial, especially for anyone that works in a field that is quite variable in activity. Why rely on just your day job income to support your lifestyle? Aside from the fact that having multiple income sources gives your diversity in case something happens to one of them, primarily your day job, but the income/savings from all of your sources can be invested to further generate higher income in the future.

Dave
Dave
02/04/2016 6:06 pm

There’s a lot of analysis on your income but I see a trend of increasing expenses every year as well. Do you find that to be concerning or track it as closely as well?

DHC
DHC
02/05/2016 1:22 pm
Reply to  Dave

I have yet to see a number showing YOY returns, and cash flow it generates. A couple of money losing farms, plus a condo he lives in with unrealized capital gains. Okay, their values may have been appreciated, but then again, they are unrealized gains. How creditable are the fair evaluations anyway, but they are all added to the net worth. In reality, gains are made only after selling, minus fees, minus taxes. Net worth doesn’t make much sense. If you have 10 million dollars, but you live in a 10 million house, you get zero cash flow.

Anon
Anon
02/06/2016 3:13 pm
Reply to  DHC

“Net worth doesn’t make much sense. If you have 10 million dollars, but you live in a 10 million house, you get zero cash flow.”

That’s why any worthy wealth analysis discounts primary residence and focuses on investable assets only.

Lots of real estate millionaires in Vancouver…with no money.

Investing Pursuits
02/04/2016 6:44 pm

Liquid,

More income streams make it easier to deal with a major problem such as a job loss or illness. Also, more streams of income make it easier to sleep at night.

Dividend Hustler
Dividend Hustler
02/04/2016 10:52 pm

Thanks for the article Liquid. No doubt we gotta work on all income streams. It’s nice making money from all angles. Why not? I say just keep at it and push ourselves to better and better. Good to great. Stay consistent and we’ll be okay. Cheers bud.

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Ramon Smothers
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01/28/2017 8:07 am

Multiple Income Streams are definitely a game changer. I was laid-off a few months back and the multiple income streams I acquired prior to the layoff has really helped me weather the storm. Good job achieving a few yourself! It’s definitely a commodity worth venturing into.

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