According to the IRS as well as the HMRC in England, a typical millionaire has approximately 3-8 sources of income. On the other hand, the average professional, doctor, business person, wager-earner, etc. has just the one source of income.
Let me preface this by saying, where most additional streams of income fall short or fail is that they still need the planning, execution, and management of the core or any business to be successful. All modes of wealth require some level of the basics: a) strategic vision b) strategic inflection point c) strategic objectives e) a balanced scorecard f) strategic intent, and g) strategic plan. Without certain structures in place these income streams are just side hustles at best and more likely gambling, a waste of time, and a distraction from your main source of income.
I also prefer to help people set up more complex strategies like additional businesses, stocks, and real estate rather than just list them as a generalized way to generate additional streams of revenue. There are also BWBs (Businesses within the business) that are a huge, direct way to generate other sources of income – but I am counting them as part of the core business for the purpose of this article.
Here are 5 very accessible ways to add streams of income:
- Sell your stuff. Poshmark, Mercari, E-bay, FB Marketplace, Nextdoor, Amazon, and others have all made it super easy to sell what has been sitting around the house, garage, or yard. For sustainability, sell other people’s stuff. The daughter of a friend of mine no longer baby-sits for us because she makes a fortune listing other people’s stuff and keeps 50%.
- Buy low, sell high. My dad used to have an old trick when he owned a convenient store. You can go online or find deals at discount stores on items that can be sold through these outlets (Poshmark, Mercari, FB, etc.) at a profit. My dad would find mega-deals on bottled water or soda at a Sam’s or Costco, go buy a storage-unit full of it, and sell it for 2-3 times what he paid for it at the store.
- Upgrade Mortgages. This has been a long-time favorite of mine. A contractor or home owner desires to buy a property, renovate or upgrade it, and then live in it or do a flip. Due to the cash they have to lay out for renovations, they cannot afford a conventional mortgage. Therefore, I am able to provide a non-conventional 5-year balloon mortgage on a house that will be worth quite a bit more than the mortgage amount due to the upgrades. I provide the cash to buy the home and hold the home as collateral. The hope is that they can pay the mortgage, if not I receive a home with a whole lot of equity in place due to the upgrades. (I choose economically stable people as I’d want to avoid foreclosing at all costs and have never had to do it).
- Income from rent. Single family homes, condos, duplexes, and larger multi-family properties come onto the market on a regular basis. While you have to know what you’re doing, understand the economics, and evaluate the rental market before purchase, there are so many relatively inexpensive ways to enter and generate regular income in this arena.
- Income from dividends and interest-deferred stock. This is a minimum for most people to commit to investing in regularly. Dividend stocks can pay as high 5%-10% with tax-deferred options paying off enormously over-time due to growth compounding before taxes.
How you use these dollars to become a millionaire is something we’ve shared in many past articles and focus on specifically with the doctors and entrepreneurs we work with every day.
Thanks a million!
Dr. Ben
