Passive income

My grandfather always had a saying that has stuck with me: Never take off the pile. Granddad was an old farm boy living the dream in the backwoods of Nowhere, Wisconsin. He lost the farm in the farm crisis of the early 1980s and then rebuilt his fortune doing nothing more than saving a serious portion of all his income. Most money was only deposited in bank accounts. And he still managed to re-grow his liquid net worth well into the seven figures starting over from an old age.

The corpus of your investments, that original seed money, is sacred. If you never touch the sacred you will always be safe! The income stream keeps growing larger with time. Dividends reinvest to earn more dividends. You don’t need a pension when you have one far safer.

Yeah, we just had July 4th here in the states, so did you. The only difference if you live in a country outside the U.S. is we celebrated our Independence Day. Lots of fireworks were involved.

It’s not a one night affair either. Some cites shoot off fireworks a few days early over the weekend, some do it the night before, many do it on the 4th.

Neighbors have the same philosophy. For a week the crack of thunder (well, it sounds like thunder when I’m trying to sleep) can be heard until the wee hours of the morning. As long as nobody gets hurt I’m okay with it.

I don’t participate in the festivities. Laziness is the problem. Many years ago I had a year or so of insanity and bought some fireworks. Some ointment cleared that insanity right up.

When it comes to passive income I have an edgy side as the title indicates. Multiple streams of income showing up in your account regardless what you are doing is a powerful force to have on your side. Losing your job is only an issue if your job is the bulk of your income. Business owners know the loss of one client out of hundreds is no more than an annoyance. You can harness the same force in your finances.

Before I list the sources of passive income I have, let me share a short story that happened to me recently. Certain sources of passive income are offered to small groups only. I was fortunate enough in my business to have one of these sources. Mr. Money Mustache, a personal finance blogger named Pete, gave me a plug, including a plug for this new source of passive income. I did not expect a lot. When the numbers were finally tallied I was surprised. The revenue was much higher than I calculated. I shared the info with Pete along with traffic data. He responded with an email saying, “Welcome to the world of passive income.” It started me thinking about all the sources of passive income I have and how passive income cements my finances regardless of the economy or my business.

The idea of starting a business or owning rental properties builds over a period of time. Slowly you convince yourself you can really pull it off. You talk with family and friends first before speaking with your accountant. Owning a business is a dream you have had from a young age. The work involved is something you enjoy so you are motivated. A business plan is drawn up with the help of an accountant or attorney. With a business plan in hand you visit your banker for funding.

For our example we will use an ice cream shop as our business. Suppliers are lined up, employees hired, equipment purchased and promotion in place. Business is hard, but you deal with problems as they arise. Before you know it years get behind you as your business grows until locals use your business as a landmark (turn left at John’s Ice Cream Shack).