Best Multiple Streams Of Income Ideas

There are literally hundreds of different income stream opportunities for someone in their 20s. However, the trick is picking the streams that lay the foundation for multiple revenue options that are both lucrative and sustainable over the long term. Learn how to create multiple streams of income early.

Entrepreneurship isn’t easy, and income streams dry up all the time. That’s why it’s important to have multiple sources of income.

But while that sounds great, it can be hard to actually accomplish. My hope is that by sharing my journey, it can help you, too.

There is no point in creating a revenue stream that will stop giving after a couple of months or one that runs the risk of costing you more than it is paying out.

Have curated a list of some of those income streams geared towards benefitting 20-somethings the most, won’t give out after a short period, and are most likely to guarantee success. Learn more on the Best Multiple Streams Of Income Ideas to start today.

Why Multiple Streams Of Income Is Crucial

If you’re like most people, you probably have one primary source of income. And while there’s nothing wrong with that, relying on a single stream of income can be risky.

For example, what would happen if you lost your job or your primary source of income dried up?  Many experienced this during the pandemic with job loss and furloughs.

That’s why it’s important to have multiple streams of income. This way, if one stream dries up, you’ll still have others to fall back on.

Richard Corley, author of “Rich Habits: The Daily Success Habits of Wealthy Individuals.”, analyzed IRS data and found that 75% of millionaires have more than one income stream.

And it turns out that this is a strategy that many millionaires use. In fact, according to the IRS, the average millionaire has 7 streams of income!

5 Best Multiple Sources of Income Ideas

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1. Run a Website – and Build a Monetized Community

Blogging is holding its own in the digital landscape, and bloggers earn rich passive incomes from monetized websites through affiliate marketing and ad networks.

You can create websites for anything, from selling subscriptions to offering tips and advice or curating collections to sell.

2. Freelance – Your Talent And Scale Your Side Hustle

Heard of the Gig Economy? Multiple Streams Of Income Ideas to start at your 20s.

It’s booming right now. And offers people in their 20s the perfect opportunity to make the most of their time by allowing them to take jobs on the side that pay well and are over in a flash.

Freelancing is a great way to take your passion and monetize it for additional revenue.

Earned income is the money you make from working. It’s the most common and well-known type of income, but it’s also the least passive.

If you want to earn more money, you have to work more hours. There’s no way around it.

However, there are ways to make your earned income work for you. One way is to invest in a business.

Owning your own business gives you the potential to make far more money than you could ever earn working for someone else.

Of course, it takes a lot of hard work, dedication, and time to build a successful business, but it can be very rewarding both financially and personally.

Another way to make your earned income work for you is to invest it in assets that will generate passive income.

For example, you could use your earned income to purchase rental properties or invest in a dividend stock portfolio.

3. Create Digital Assets – That Keep Selling

Platforms like Teachable and Skillshare have made it easy to create compelling online courses that people are willing to pay for.

Once published, they can keep on earning for a long time. Pick a topic, create a course, eBook, or paid newsletter subscription, and sell. Simple!

4. Interest Income – Income From Savings Accounts, Bonds, etc.

Interest income is the money you earn from lending your money to someone else. For example, if you have a savings account, the bank will pay you interest on the money in your account.

Or, if you invest in bonds, you will receive interest payments from the bond issuer. Interest income is a great way to generate passive income because you can earn money without having to do any work!

The key is to invest your money in a safe and reliable investment that will pay you a consistent interest payment.

5. Trade Online – and Start Building an eCommerce Empire

This can include starting an eCommerce channel or getting into the finance game.

Trading online can range from drop shipping to reselling vintage items; trading in forex to trying your hand at crypto; or buying bulk, packaging items, and then selling them to retailers.

So long as you’re exchanging goods and services for income, you’re trading online. This is one way of creating multiple streams of income for beginners.

6. Offer Rentals – For Anything You’re Not Using

Buying property is a must, especially if you can afford it in your 20s.

Property is a sound investment and almost guaranteed to appreciate, so looking at an investment property (in addition to your primary residence) is a lucrative income stream.

But rentals can also include household items, your own equipment, and even your car. Rental income is passive because all you need to do is collect the rent checks!

Of course, you’ll need to put in some work upfront to find tenants and manage the property, but once that’s taken care of, the money will come rolling in.

Rental income is a great way to build wealth because it’s relatively easy to obtain and maintain properties, and the returns can be very high.

If you’re not comfortable with managing rental houses or investing in rental apartments, you can always invest in a REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust).

REITs are publicly-traded companies that own and operate income-producing real estate, such as shopping malls, office buildings, and apartments.

They’re a great way to get exposure to the real estate market without having to deal with the hassle of being a landlord.

Another option is Fundraise, a crowdfunded real estate platform that enables you to invest in high-quality, high-potential real estate projects.

7. Business Income – Income From Business Profits

Business income is the money you make from running a business. It offers ways to have multiple streams of income if you diversify.

This can be either earned income (if you’re self-employed) or passive income (if you have an investment in a business).

Either way, it’s money that you’re making from your business. Business income can be very high, especially if you’re running it.

Types of businesses you can start:

• Online Business: This is a business that can be operated entirely online. Examples of online businesses include blogging, drop shipping, and affiliate marketing.
• A Service-Based Business: This is a business where you provide a service to customers. Examples of service-based businesses include landscaping, pet sitting, and home cleaning.
• A Product-Based Business: This is a business where you sell products to customers. Examples of product-based businesses include online stores, brick-and-mortar stores, and food trucks.
• A Franchise: This is a business that is based on an existing business model. Franchises are popular because they offer a proven business model and support from the franchisor. Examples of franchises include McDonald’s and 7-Eleven.

The Most Common Multiple Income Streams

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If you are thinking about diversifying your income, you may be asking yourself, “How do I diversify my income?” Best Multiple Streams Of Income Ideas.

It’s actually pretty straight forward, and many of us already have multiple income streams, we just don’t realize it.

The goal of creating multiple income streams should be to maximize your potential in each category available to you.

If you are just starting out, it really isn’t reasonable to expect you to generate tons of rental income. However, if you start maximizing your income generating potential through your primary salary.

You will find yourself having excess income that you can reinvest to generate additional income streams use different buckets of assets.

Remember, the average millionaire has 7 different income streams. Seven! Here are the most common ones.

1. Online Business – Hobby Business

The first common stream of income is creating a side business.

This business could be online or offline, and I call it a “hobby business” because it usually takes a form that relates to the owners hobby.

For example, if you are tech savvy or enjoy working online, you may sell on eBay, or create a website (like I did), or promote your services through a site like Fiverr.

2. Rental Property

Purchasing a rental property is another common way that individual generate an income stream.

It is very similar to investing, in that you take a sum of money to purchase the property, and the property returns a cash flow – rent.

You do have expenses related to this that are different from investing, such as a mortgage, utilities, property taxes, etc., which all must be taken into consideration when calculating a return on rental property.

Rental property does have tax advantages that investing doesn’t have, but I will touch on that at a latter time.

The problem with rental property is that initial capital outlay required to get started.

Most people starting to diversify their income streams don’t have a 20% down payment to purchase an income property.

That is why this is usually something that is done later in life, almost like an advance multiple income stream topic.

However, there are ways to do this earlier, such as getting started with real estate crowdfunding.

With real estate crowdfunding, you can become a limited owner in real estate for a smaller amount of money. It’s a great way to get started investing in real estate.

 

3. Investment

After employment, I think that most individuals gain income diversification through investing. It is important to look at why we invest: because at some point we plan on using this money for something.

For most, it is saving for retirement, and the investing is done through vehicles, such as a 401(k) or IRA.

But investing is not just about stashing money away for a rainy day – that is what an emergency fund is for. Investing is about having enough capital to generate income.

Investing generates income through dividends, interest, and return of capital. You really want to maximize the first two, and stay away from the return of capital as much as possible.

Think about it. If you are saving for retirement, you are trying to save enough in investing to generate enough income to replace your primary salary.

Let’s take my friend’s example above: $50,000 a year.

To generate $50,000, you would need to have almost $1,700,000 saved, and be able to generate a 3% cash flow on that money (which is reasonable if invested in dividend paying stocks).

You could also draw down on your principal if needed, but this is a return of your invested capital, and if you continue this for a long period of time, you run the risk of exhausting your resources.

4. Primary Salary – Multiple Streams Of Income Ideas

For most people, their primary salary is their main income stream.

In fact, I think everyone starts this way (if you didn’t, I’d love to hear your story!). The goal is to maximize your primary salary to a point where you are generating enough free cash flow to reinvest in secondary income streams.

How do you do this? Well, try to get the highest paying job you can! Ask for a raise! Utilize services, such as Glassdoor.com, to see how your salary competes with others in your same job.

Some companies really force employees to leave to get a raise, and then come back for another raise. This industry jumping promotional strategy is very common and could work.

Or, there is another theory for your primary salary – generate enough to have a little excess cash flow, but do it at a place that you can work stress free and have time to dabble in other projects.

A good friend of mine has this setup – he works 10-5 and makes $60,000 a year.

This allows him to easily cover all of his expenses, but the shorter hours and flexibility in his job allows him to pursue his secondary income generating ideas!

Either way, the great thing about your primary salary is that you can usually get benefits, such as health insurance, that really protect you while you are pursuing your other ideas!

Speak Professionally

While public speaking can be very lucrative for well-known individuals, Clark said most people aren’t well-paid at first.

“As you build your brand, public speaking can become more lucrative,” said Clark. “Writing a book and starting a blog or a podcast can help you become well-known in your field and become an attraction for audiences.”

Shaw began public speaking when his consulting clients asked him to speak at workshops and conferences.

Now his business includes keynote speeches and presentations on branding, marketing and adapting to a changing world.

Public speaking may soon be Shaw’s primary source of revenue after nine years of adding extra income streams one or two at a time and building his brand through his coaching, his book and his podcast.

How To Create Multiple Streams Of Income

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The point is that you can diversify your income in various ways. You can basically choose one of each from the categories above, and create a very diversified income portfolio.

The other point is that it is pretty easy to get started. You don’t need to be super rich, and you don’t need a lot of time to get started.

To say it requires no time would be a lie, but you don’t need to make anything listed above your life.

• You can work at your job,
• Invest your excess income,
• Save to buy a rental property or rent out a room in your current house, and
• You start a side job online without breaking a sweat.

What Makes A Great Stream Of Income?

When picking a second or third income stream, it’s important to consider a number of factors:

• Cheap: Don’t put in too much money in a second job so you can recoup your investments quickly.
• Sustainable: You’re looking for a source of income that will generate funds even when you’re not technically working.
• Flexible: If you have a full-time job, you will want something that can work around your schedule.
• Enjoyable: A second or third income stream will take up a lot of your free time, so it’s best if you like what you do.
• Growth Potential: Find a side hustle that will grow easily and offer the ability to generate increasing amounts of income.

Value Of Multiple Streams Of Income

Multiple income streams can help you boost your earnings and achieve financial freedom, especially if you’re living paycheck to paycheck.

Here are some of the ways you can use multiple income streams:

• Put the money into a savings account for future goals
• Have more money to invest for retirement
• Pay off debts faster (such as student loans)

FAQs on Earning Multiple Streams Of Income

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