Creating Sustainable Income for Financial Freedom

Even though I have never been let go from a job, I still see the reality that working for someone else, or exchanging an hour of time for an hour of pay, may not always be sustainable. No job is 100% secure that you know you will never be affected by layoffs, downsizing or furloughs. Even if you aren’t affected by a potential layoff, organizations change and people change; a job or career that you once loved, could turn into a daily grind that is slowly killing you from boredom, stress or lack of physical exercise. Even with freelancing, you need to find someone to want to buy your services or products, and when the market demand changes, then you stop getting income.

Therefore, the most practical way to create a sustainable income is to diversify and build up residual income. This must be done so in a way that is environmentally and socially responsible for true sustainability.

I don’t like the term ‘passive’ income, because I really don’t think there is such a thing as a financial windfall that requires zero monitoring whatsoever. Even if you win the lottery or have a trust fund, you will most likely need to manage your earnings. And if there is such a thing as ‘passive’ income, I’m sure that very few people in the world get the opportunity to experience this.

With that said, residual income is income that comes in steady every month, without having to trade an hour of time for an hour of pay. You will still need to work for residual income, but you can put in a few hours up front and a few more per month for continued income for life.

There are many kinds of residual income, but there are three that I decided to focus on because I could incorporate environmentally and socially conscious business practices into these areas:

-          Residential rental properties

-          Information products

-          Selling products that you do not manufacture

The key is not to see someone else making good money and then say “I want that also”, so you jump on board too quickly. The key is to find something that you really enjoy; something that you don’t mind spending hours researching and want to continue spending a lifetime of learning for improvement. This is why I can’t stress enough that this is not ‘passive’ income, but rather ‘active’ work to create income, in an environmentally and socially conscious way. The beauty is that you will be working on your terms, not someone else’s. There is no better freedom than that.

RENTAL PROPERTIES – This has created the minimum starting residual income that I needed to cover my basic expenses and quit my job, while I work on other endeavors. I focus on rental properties that fit in with simple and environmentally and socially conscious living. The properties I own with my partner are all attached condos, so there is very little to be responsible for in terms of maintenance. Yes, we pay a monthly fee, but it is worth it for the sake of simplicity. Plus, multi-family housing buildings are much less destructive to the environment than 1-4 unit buildings. We choose units that are small and located in walkable areas near public transportation. As a landlord, we provide clean, safe housing at affordable prices. We are always giving our tenants a discount in rent for holidays throughout the year. We even have some tenants on a month to month basis instead of a year lease. We have found that this makes them feel they have more freedom and they will stay longer. We stay active with the management board to make sure that the rules and regulations provide, safe comfortable housing for everyone and that the buildings are being maintained in a responsible manner. When we need to make repairs in the unit, we can use materials that are safe for the tenants and the environment.

After I quit my job, I started with the informational products and selling products. I am not making money at these yet, but I will explain my reason for choosing these and my plan to succeed.

INFORMATIONAL PRODUCTS – This blog is the start of this journey. As I work on this blog, I am also working on ebooks to sell online. What I like about ebooks is that they are not very damaging to the environment and I think that reading is so important for an informed society. It is important to get all points of view and then form your own opinions. Never stop reading and listening to other opinions. Ebooks are cheap, so they don’t cause financial problems for people to buy them and they can provide beneficial lifestyle recommendations (self-improvement), continuous learning (technical subjects) or quality entertainment (novels). To me, these are worthwhile products to purchase and they fit in with a simple, clutter free, healthy life. Plus, it gives me an opportunity to share my knowledge, expertise and positive lifestyle experiences.

SELLING PRODUCTS – This one took me awhile to think about whether I could do this in a conscientious way. I don’t like to encourage people to buy more ‘stuff’, especially when the products are environmentally and socially destructive. I also don’t like to see people waste their money on products that don’t bring any health, wealth or happiness benefits. So, I had to really think about this one and do a ton of research and evaluating. I decided to sell organic skin care products.

First, I came to a realization that most people, especially women, are going to buy skin care products. Secondly, most women are buying products with potentially harmful chemicals to themselves and to their families. It is very hard to find products without at least one harmful chemical ingredient, even in health food stores. I figured if I can help one person switch to a completely chemical free product, then I have done something good. A win-win.

In addition, to the chemicals, below are other reasons why I found this to be a product I could feel good about. These are examples of conscientious thinking when considering different business models, products, services, etc...

-        The products last a long time for less packaging and shipping overall. This is because the organic plant products provide 30% more nutrients for more potency and there are no fillers in the products, so every ingredient is chosen for restorative properties.

-        The company uses fair trade practices and donates to non-profits.

-        The company has won many awards for sustainable packaging for post-consumer recycled content, compostable and recyclable materials, origami folds to avoid toxic glue, and non-toxic ink.

To help assist with marketing the above products and to further help others achieve true health, wealth and happiness, I am also offering my services for freelance work on an hourly or project basis to coach, educate, train, speak and strategize.

I know there are many other ways to create residual income, but the key is to love the process and love the product. But for me, most importantly, is to love people; I only work with products where I am making the most positive impact for people and communities involved in the supply chain, use and disposal phase.

Book recommendations: The Four Hour Work Week, by Timothy Ferriss; Multiple Streams of Income, by Robert G. Allen; any of the Rich Dad books, by Robert and Kim Kiyosaki; ECO-Preneuring, by Lisa Kivirist and John Ivanko.