I recently came across a question on a forum that gave me quite a jolt. Indeed, what should one do if they suddenly lost their job one day?
This question is very realistic, especially in today's economic climate where pay cuts and layoffs have become the norm. One may have a job today, but what about tomorrow? No one knows for sure.
Going to work, doing a job, earning a salary, and then using that salary to maintain one's daily life is the norm for 90% of people.
But if one day you really lose your job, do you have other sources of income?
Some might say, I have the habit of saving money, so even if I lose my job, I can rely on my savings to get by until I find the next job.
This way of thinking is not wrong, to be more precise, it is commendable.
Having savings can indeed serve as an emergency fund, for example, when we are unemployed, savings can come in handy.
Of course, the role of savings is far more than just helping us get through tough times when we are unemployed; there are many situations where savings can play an important role.
However, the issue we are discussing today is whether there are other sources of income besides job income.For instance, imagine a day when you suddenly lose interest in your job and desire a relaxed and free life. However, without the income from work, is there any other source of income to support your living expenses and fulfill your aspirations?
Another scenario could be losing the ability to work due to an accident. Is there any support for your future life?
To illustrate this issue, let's first share the situation of a netizen whose non-job income is mainly divided into three parts:
The first part is rental income.
In addition to his own residence, he also owns another property. Although it is located in a fourth-tier city where the rent is not very high, it is better than nothing. If he can maintain a steady rental status, it can provide a cash inflow of 800-1000 yuan per month.
The second part is interest from savings and returns from financial investments.
The family has savings of about 300,000 yuan, which are deposited in a local commercial bank with a fairly good interest rate, reaching around 4.2%. The monthly interest is approximately 1,000 yuan.
There is also about 100,000 yuan in funds, mainly consisting of index funds and bond funds. Of course, the returns from this part are not very stable, and generally, the earnings from funds are used for reinvestment.
However, if it is really necessary to use these returns for living expenses, providing an extra 500-600 yuan per month for pocket money should not be a problem.Part III, Side Hustle Income.
This netizen has just entered the self-media industry, initially intending it as a side hustle, but if done well, the income could be comparable to that of a primary job.
He has not been involved in self-media for long, only about 5 months, and has not invested much effort, averaging about 2 hours per day. As of now, he earns approximately 1500 yuan per month.
In fact, self-media can be considered both labor income and passive income. This is because articles written in the past will continue to generate irregular earnings for a period of time in the future.
If self-media is regarded as labor income, its advantage is the relative freedom in time, allowing for complete autonomy in scheduling.
If self-media is seen as passive income, it can still bring in earnings even when we are unable to create new content.
Combining the above three parts, excluding work income, this netizen can still earn around 4000 yuan per month, which is just enough to cover the expenses of a household but is somewhat challenging.
This is primarily directly related to his limited assets; if he had more assets, it is believed that the passive income could significantly increase.In fact, expanding income beyond work-related earnings is not only about increasing our sources of income, but more importantly, it helps us improve our income structure, making our income more stable and more resilient to risks.
Take the pandemic at the beginning of 2020 as an example, many people were unable to work, and their income disappeared overnight, forcing them to rely on savings or loans to get by.
However, some individuals had a more reasonable income structure. Although they couldn't go out to work, they had savings and investment returns, and some even worked part-time online. These sources of income helped them weather the crisis.
Whether or not to retire early and live a leisurely life is a choice. When we are capable, we can choose to retire early; when we are not, we can choose to continue working. The decision-making power is in our hands.
But accidents and misfortunes do not shift according to our will. Once an accident occurs and work income is lost, our lives are inevitably plunged into panic and disaster.
Therefore, improving our income structure as early as possible is an urgent matter, and it is best to start right now!
