What type of Income Is yours ?

Everybody lives through one form of income or the other. Look into your pocket. There should be some money there. If there is no money there . That money has a source. It came from somewhere. Try and think of where this money came from. Will money come from that source again ? These are things we hardly think about. But they are so important. What is the source of your money ? How reliable is that source ? Will it still be there as time goes by ? Is it a regular source ? Will it grow as your needs and responsibilities grow? Income is key to economic survival. You must know your source. You must understand it and you must defend it and yiu must expand it.
Ther basically three types of income that i have identified in life. Let us look at them.

Linear income.
This is a situation in which you have only one source of income. It could be a job or some asset that is getting you money but it is the only source of income. The most common form of linear income is a job. A lot of people have jobs and that is the only thing that brings them money. Other forms of linear income are :- popcorn machine , a bus for transport, photocopy machine, a business center etc.

The unique thing about linear income is that if you lose that source of income , then you will have no other income. for example , if you lose your job or your photocopy machine becomes faulty, then until you get another job or until you fix that thing that brings you money, you have no income. ( The only way that linear income can be good is if the source is very solid and reliable. Like a very good job with promotion prospects.)

This is one of the disadvantages of linear income and it can be a problem if you have people you have to take care of like children ,aged parents etc.

Multiple income.
This refers to a situation in which you earn money from more than one source. This may mean you have several branches of your small venture or that you have two jobs or it could mean that you have a job and also have some other business that you engage in like selling phone credit o running a business center...etc. As long as you have more than one place from which money comes to you, you have multiple income.

The unique aspect about this type of income structure is the stress factor. All the sources of income are connected to you as a person. It is true that you now have more than one source of income, it is also true that you will no longer be handicapped if one source of income fails.. For example, if you lose your job, because you have another source of income, you can rely on this until you get another job.

But the point is that now... No matter how many sources of income you have, they are all connected to you as a person. The continued supply of revenue is dependent on you as the driver of these sources. You need to supervise all the sources to ensure thy keep bringing income. So what happens if something happens to you ?
whatever happens to you will affect every branch- If the breadwinner dies or falls ill, the bread stops coming.

Residual income.
This refers to a situation in which you earn income for an effort you made in the past. For example , a musician will keep earning money every time someone buys his records even if he has stopped singing. An author will still earn money every time someone buys his or her book even if the author has stopped writing.

Because of that one effort they made , they keep earning income . This is residual income. In Nigeria ,it is a fact that the children of the late legendary musician Fela Anikulapo Kuti. Still earn money from sales of their fathers recordings. The Man is no longer alive but his children still benefit from his work. This is residual income.

Which type of income do you think is better ? The wise person will definitely like to have income which is regular and which will be constant even when you get old or when you are sick.

Many of us just work, work and work. We do not really try to analyze our finances we just leave a lot to luck and chance and abstract spiritual interventions. If you keep praying and fasting and you don't have a clear organized idea of what you are up to you may get frustrated and begin to think that God does not care because you are not likely to get results from the prayer.

Do you notice that the really successful people do not do as much work as those who are not rich ? It is very simple. When you take some actions at the right time, your stress will be reduced and your comfort will increase as time goes by . Planning makes all the difference. You need to see the handling of money as a science that needs to be mastered and not taken for granted.

What we are saying here is that it is wise to plan your income so that in the future things may be easier for you.

Multiple income is more reliable than linear income and residual income is the best income. It is the way that billionaires are made. You can never become truly wealthy or financially independent if you do not create some form of residual income - income which will come to you wether you are there or not.

Some sources of residual income are

1. Investment in shares , stocks or bonds.
2. Reliable multi - level programs.
3. Internet entrepreneurship.
4. Creative work . Write a book or release an album.
5. Insurance.
6. Pension schemes.
7. Mutual funds.
8. Property.

When you make a one- time effort , the results keep coming in a stream of income. In the next edition, we will look at each individual source and examine the pros and cons of each one.

You can send any questions to incomeideas@hotmail.com