Passive Income:

What is it? How do you build it?

In theory, financial freedom is defined as having enough passive income to cover your expenses. Passive income is money you (in theory again) don't have to work for. It is money that you receive from your investments. You will of course have to do some ongoing work by keeping track of all your investments and continuing to educate yourself. But, you will not be trading your time with your employer for a paycheck to get this money.

Those who have achieved financial freedom have multiple streams that their passive income flows from. If your salary from your employer is your only stream of income right now then it is time to get to work on setting up some other income streams. The possibilities here are really endless, and for that reason you will need to formulate a plan, educate yourself, and do what feels right to you.

You may need to work harder at first to get those multiple streams of income flowing but the effort will be well worth it. As a teacher with a full-time demanding job already, you will need to be realistic about your time commitments. Remember there are ways to leverage what you already do.

First, look at ways to maximize the salary that you already are earning. Here are three questions to answer first:

As always our aim is to work smarter, not harder.

What are your assets? Look at where your income is coming from now: salary, interest from savings, interest from a Roth IRA, stock dividends, income from investment rental property, etc.

Most likely what you'll need is more available money that you can invest. There are so many ways to go about this but you need to do the research to find out what will work best for you personally and is in keeping with the goals you have set for yourself.

I will present some ideas and links, along with what has worked for me so far, to get you started. What I won't do is tell you which path is best because that varies for everyone. There is a lot of information out there that will try and tell you what to do with your money, and many people just want to be told where to invest their money.

What you will need to do is look for ways to increase your passive income, money that works for you. If it were that easy, just to have other people make decisions about your money, we would all be rich. It will be your desire and commitment to being financially free that will make the difference for you.

I have to go back to the quote on the home page that says, "Ordinary tasks done consistently well produce extraordinary results." If you do your research, deliver a service or product that others need or want, do it well, and stick with it, you will see results.

The streams of income that I currently have are my teaching salary, stock, Roth IRAs, rental real estate, consulting and public speaking business, and an internet business. It sounds like a lot, and I do work hard, but I also have time to relax and enjoy life. I have not achieved what defines financial freedom for me yet, but I feel I am on the road and will enjoy sharing the journey with you.

Remember - you work for money, assets work for you and bring you money.

Increase your passive income and you increase your choices to do what you want when you want.

So how do you start those multiple streams of income flowing?

Follow the links for some more ideas.

Financial Leverage: Use Your Teaching Knowledge to Make More Money

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