How to build solid income security for yourself

The future of work is not Job security but Income security, the ability to earn income regardless of salary.

Work as we know it today will be different post-COVID-19. There will be downsizing, salary slashes, layoffs and so on. The truth is the insecurity in the job Market will triple. If you are still holding on to your job congratulations but not for too long. 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. Your employers can’t, neither can 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 are able to keep jobs intact. But when consumers are scared to spend and hoard money. Organizations must trim down jobs to stay alive.

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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 exposing certain gaps in the system. The only way to protect yourself long-term from the hammer of a job is to secure the one thing that makes a Job important to you. Your Income.

The New security is thus now income security. That is the ability to keep income flowing even when a job ends. 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. You must be able to create the kind of income that does not require ongoing work to thrive.

So, how do you create this kind of income?

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To create lasting income you must do three things. First, 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 points in detail.

The first is to increase 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. This kind of sluggish saving will only extend the number of years you will have to work.  The most successful people save 40-50% of their income. They are able to exit the corporate world in their youth and achieve financial stability at a young age.

They increase their savings at every opportunity and short cut their years of active labor. To create income security that stands the test of time you must push your savings beyond average and here is why. It will take you 10 years to save 12 months of your current salary if you save just 10% of your income. How many more ‘ten years’ do you have in the corporate world? Approaching savings with a lazy attitude as this is getting rich never. Without the discipline and commitment to save above average, financial freedom is out of reach for you.

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The second thing you must do is add new sources of income to your existing income. And there are two ways you can do this. The first is to earn more income within your current organization. The second is to find new sources of income outside your organization. Earning more income within your organizations is important because you spend over 70% of your time at work.

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 outside sources of income. And these sources must be high-income sources to create a major change in their lives. Thus the focus on one’s place of employment make sense. To earn more income within your organization you must become a problem solver.

Every organization has problems that need to be solved. The closer the problem is to the bottom line the higher the reward. This means that organizations are constantly looking for people who can solve their problems. If you can solve a problem that is important to your organization you can negotiate a cash or kind reward that can fast-track your journey to financial freedom.

Do you know the top three problems of your organization? Have you found a new way to help your organization make more money? Do you have skills that are in high demand? Are you unique and different? To successfully solve organizational problems, you need creative and negotiation abilities.

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You can also earn money from other sources of income outside your organization part-time. You can earn passive income through your investments and you can earn commission from other organizations willing to pay you for referring customers to them. Salary plus commission is the easiest most effective way to Remove the Ceiling from your Income and earn income that is bigger than your salary.

The third thing you must do is to separate your income from your Job and create an Independent Income for yourself. You do this by first saving big portions of your income. Savings is the only thing that keeps money in your pocket. With your savings you can then create a system of generating passive income and begin to build a solid passive income portfolio that can fund your life.

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 salary. Because only then can you truly gain control over your time. There is no job security anywhere.  The only security that exist is the one you create for yourself today.

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If you want to create income security, increase your ability to solve problems or upgrade your knowledge about investing for long-term financial success, we can help you. To learn more, send an email to the email address at the end of this article.

The best use of your corporate career life is to create a solid independent income that will carry you throughout life and Not to enjoy a temporary prestigious Job life.

About author

Grace Agada is The Senior Financial Happiness Director @ Create Solid Wealth. She is an Author, and Column Contributor in Six National Newspaper. She is a contributor at BellaNaija, Nairametrics and Proshare and she is on a mission to help working-class professionals and CEOs become more financially successful. To learn more about Grace and how she can help you send an email to info@createsolidwealth.com.