6 Strategies for Diversifying Your Income Streams to Save for Retirement

Are you worried that you have not saved enough money for retirement? You are not alone. Many people aged 50 and older have this concern. Many seek ways to diversify their income sources so they can save or invest more money leading up to retirement.

Strategies to Diversity Income

Diverse income streams offer more security leading up to and during retirement. By combining multiple income sources, you have other options if one stream doesn't prove as lucrative as expected. Here are a few common and uncommon options people over 50 use to diversify or supplement their income.

1. Investments

During retirement, many people live partially off their savings or investments in the form of retirement account payment and pensions. 

If you have money invested in growth stocks, this might be the time to see a financial planner to rebalance some of those assets to dividend earning stocks, bonds and dividend earning REIT investments.

2. Rental Property

If you own a home or real estate, rental income can be an excellent way to diversify your income. Options range from renting your extra house, an apartment within your house, or even a room in your home. 

Many people over 50 enjoy a nice side income with short-term rentals through Airbnb, HomeStay and TurnKey. This may be a perfect option if you are a natural host or hostess. 




Finally, some college and university programs hire local hosts to rent a room to visiting international students and scholars. 

Often this pays a modest stipend, but this can be a fun way to earn extra cash if you are an empty-nester who likes spending time with teens and young adults. Check local colleges and universities for listings.

3. Part-time Job

Many retirees opt to take a casual part-time job to supplement their pension and retirement earnings. But you don't have to wait for retirement. In fact, some mid-career workers take a second job to add to their retirement savings and investments.

Local listings are an option, or you may be able to find convenient work you can do at home. For example many companies like Amazon and American Express hire work-from-home customer service representatives. 

Other options include transcription, virtual assistant work and social media evaluation. You can find options through job sites like FlexJobs and Indeed. 

Be careful of work-from-home scams that con people out of money or sensitive financial information. See whether the company is legitimate by researching the Better Business Bureau or Glassdoor.

4. Embrace the Mainstream Gig Economy

Take a cue from the Millennials and consider joining the gig economy with a side hustle. According to the Pew Research Center, 16 percent of people between 18 and 29 participate in the gig economy compared to 6 percent of people over 50. 

However, people who are 50+ are among the fastest growing segments of gig workers. Options include:

• Driving for rideshare programs like Uber and Lyft
• Running errands through platforms like TaskRabbit or Postmates
• Providing pet care or dog walking services like Wag, DogVacay, or Rover
• Crowdsourcing microtasks like Amazon's MTurk

Teaching conversational English via webcam for programs like VIPKids or Cambly.

5. Start Your Own Business

Most likely, you have extensive experience and expertise to offer.This may be a good time to start your own business even for side income. 

Self-employment is growing at record rates. You may be able to put your expertise to work whether you offer a product or a service like consulting.

6. Flipping Used Items

If you enjoy buying and selling, you may earn money flipping used items. These may include your own unwanted items, rare books, vinyl records, collectibles or clothing. 

Resourceful flippers earn money by combing thrift shops, Craigslist and flea markets for inexpensive local items. Then you may clean or upgrade the item and sell it online for a higher price at places like Amazon or eBay.

Keeping it All Organized

A smartphone with split-screen multi-window ability like the LG V20 can help keep all these revenue streams organized. Most income streams have associated apps, and a good phone with a generous data plan makes it much easier to manage.

If you are not used to self-employment, be aware that the taxes can be a little more complicated. Be sure to visit the IRS page for sharing and gig economy workers.

With a little creativity, you can diversify your income for a more comfortable retirement. You just may be able to have fun and meet new people by monetizing a hobby. 

Who knows? You might find that your side hustle leads to a lucrative business.

Contributor

Dan Cormac knows how to make his money go further. A freelance financial journalist, Dan is passionate about personal finance. Whether you hope to escape the chains of debt, to save for a house, or to retire within a decade, Dan explores the most effective ways you can achieve your financial goals.

How Does an Individual Voluntary Arrangement Work?

For those in the United Kingdom and Wales, an individual voluntary arrangement, or IVA, is a draft worked out between two parties as an alternative to bankruptcy. 

It is an agreement which may be simple or complex, but it works out an arrangement between the debtor and the lender or the debtor and the credit card companies.

What Does an IVA Do?

One way or another, it is intended to work out in a manner which leads to the complete payment of the debt without resorting to bankruptcy filing or court costs. 

Even retrieval costs can be significantly spared in this way. You work with a representative who compiles and represents individual voluntary arrangement agreements.

This is the perfect way to pay of the debts you owe because, as they have accumulated, interest and fees have burdened the situation further. 

With a good consolidator on your side, they will be able to work all of the payments down to the most essential level and pay it all off. Then, you simply get a monthly note to pay for the whole work.

You can get advice on individual voluntary arrangement when you look online and seek professional help. Detail your situation to a representative and get the process started to pay off all of the debts you have accumulated and need to resolve.

How Can Advice on Individual Voluntary Arrangement Help Me?

It is not surprising that a little debt seems to affect your life in only a minimal way. It almost seems as if it has disappeared and you will never owe anything again. 

While you could have gotten away with this about 50 years ago, that surely is not happening in this digital age. Everything is tracked, categorized, assigned, and numbered right to your name.

As such, it is not as if you can run from larger debts. Surely this is motivation enough to pay off bills as you can. However, if you are like countless others, you have gotten in way over your head and now there are bills up to the virtual ceiling. 

What the IVA does to help you is simple. It takes all the debt you have presently and stops it. The fees stop rising up so you can have an easier time paying in installments.

In some cases, you may even be able to pay off the arrangement earlier than expected. When you work with a public worker or solicitor, they can help you reach and exceed your goals and help you get your credit in line much faster.

Conclusion

It is far better to address your debts earlier than it is to do so later. It may take some courage to put it out there. Understand that, the longer you wait, the worse it will become. 

Create an Individual Voluntary Arrangement as soon as possible to keep the late fees low and to avoid collections. In time, all of your accumulated debts will be efficiently paid off.

It's Often Best to Seek Personal Financial Advice Before Making Investments

When you earn your money from work, it never seems like it can go far enough. For the average person, maintaining a livable income is more than just making ends meet. If all the situation is right now is hand to mouth, there is little to no room for gain in the long run. What will it take to make it ahead? One thing is for sure, it is not a matter of more work.

Smarter Work with Money

In our younger years, we are more preoccupied with spending our basic earnings and enjoying ourselves. This is perfectly fine, as there may be no other point in life to do so. As the age sets in and we begin to understand where we fit into the world and how money works, we start to look toward savings and investments with our money so it will last.

Investing is something that always appears as a good idea. In fact, with the proper direction, investments can lead to significant gains. At the same time, we want to be careful what we invest in. Whether you are at the beginning level of investments or experienced and older, it is wise to seek professional advice.





You might think life is all about earning money. Aside from the obvious, it is not. In fact, the old saying to “work smarter not harder” is something we would all do well to follow. There are thousands upon thousands of potentially beneficial investments, but what is right for you right now with the funds you have?

Look to sources such as https://www.hensoncrisp.com/ for additional information regarding how to make your money work smarter for you. Investments are a risk and you can lose, but with the right guidance, you are more likely to succeed and even be among the wealthy. This is especially important when you are using retirement funds for investment in order to create a secure future.

Retirement and Investment

Retirement funds are something you should be building up your entire life. Let us be realistic and understand that economics do not work for present generations the way they did in the past. Most of us looking toward retirement today are actually dealing with debt and dire economic circumstances which we can barely understand.

The retirement funds you have built up so far are going to be the source for investments in years to come. The idea is to invest only what you can afford into the most likely prospects. This is, again, where financial advice comes in handy. In fact, with the proper help, your savings can double or triple in one third of the time or less it took your parents to achieve.

This generation determines the sustainability of the next, much as the one before us did. It is all a matter of making the smartest investments to get ahead in the game. Creating wealth is actually not a game, but if it were, the earnings would be a win and missed advantages would be a loss.

How to Maintain a Good Credit Score & Find Financial Freedom

If you are looking for a home mortgage, then you need to know your credit score. You can order a free report from each of the major reporting agencies once a year. Maintaining a good score or raising it a few points can often help you get a better rate on your mortgage. Here are some tips to help you maintain a good credit score.

Understand the Components of Your Score

The biggest component of your credit score is your payment history, so try to not have any delinquencies, declare bankruptcy or have other problems appear on your Fair, Isaac and Company (FICO) score. 

It is often recommended that you keep your balances on all your accounts like credit cards and installment loans under 30 percent. Try not to open any new accounts and have some type of activity on all accounts over a year old.

Think before letting someone run your credit as you do not want more than four credit checks in any three month period. Try to maintain between one and three revolving credit accounts but avoid having more than seven.




By maintaining a good credit score, your financial freedom will improve. You’ll have more access to opportunities, such as being able to apply for a home loan with certain banks. In that case, you’d be able to get the resources you need to get the home that would be best for you and your family.

Spot Mistakes

About 20 percent of people have a mistake on their credit report that makes them look riskier than they are, so it is important to get these mistakes corrected. Send a letter to each of the major credit agencies and include any documentation that you have supporting your claim that they made a mistake.

Also, send a letter to the company that made the mistake insisting that the error is corrected. If they continue to report the information that you think is in error, they must tell the reporting agency. They must also take steps to correct the problem if an error occurred.

Build Your Credit Utilization Ratio

Your credit utilization ratio is vital to getting a good credit score. It is determined by the amount that you owe on all credit cards compared to the amount that you are allowed to borrow on each card. Assume that you have three credit cards with a total borrowing limit of $6,500, and you owe $2000 on one of them. Your credit utilization ratio is 30 percent. 

If you close one of your cards, then you may only have a total borrowing limit of $3,500 and your credit utilization ratio rises to 57 percent. Strive to keep your credit utilization ratio below 30 percent.

Avoid Having a Hard Pull Done on Your Credit

There are two types of credit reports that can be done. If you are looking for a new job and the company decides to run a credit check, this is a soft pull. A soft pull also happens when you get an unsolicited credit card offer in the mail. 

Alternatively, hard pulls require your consent. If you must have a hard pull done, then try to group all your hard pulls together as all inquiries within 45 days are considered one hard pull. Letting someone run your credit can hurt your score by up to 20 points.

Use these steps to make sure that your credit stays in great shape. You also need to remember to pay your bills on time so that you do not receive any bad reports on your credit score.

6 Ways a Smartphone Can Help Seniors Save Money

Thinking of buying a mobile phone but not sure you want to spend the money on a smartphone? Did you know buying the more expensive smartphone can actually save you money in many ways? 

Before you pick out a flip phone, let's look at different ways your smartphone helps you save time and money in today's world.

Ease of Smartphones

Carrying a mini-computer in your pocket once belonged to the realm of science fiction. But today, smartphones are just that, a mini-computer. Capabilities include tracking and managing your finances, comparison shopping from the store (should I buy it here or somewhere else?), and taking quality pictures without buying a high-end camera. 

When you purchase a smartphone from a reliable carrier like T-Mobile, the world is at your feet.

Money Management

There's an app for almost everything today including tracking your finances, checking your balances, paying bills, and even swiping your phone instead of a credit card. Choosing a financial management app is the hardest part. 

Look for apps with a lot of positive reviews, such as Mint.com or BillGuard. These apps keep your information secure and let you track with the ease of touching the phone screen.




Banks also offer smartphone apps for checking your balance, paying bills, and transferring funds. Some even make it possible to deposit checks into your account. Plus, new security measures make online transactions safer than ever. 

Purchase items with your phone using digital checks, debit cards, or credit cards. Never worry about losing your checkbook or credit cards again. All you need is your phone.

Compare Prices

Why go from store to store comparing prices and then find out the first stop had the best deal? Sit in the comfort of your living room and let your phone do the shopping. Apps let you compare prices in both stores and online. 

Once you decide which items you want, pay with your phone, and decide if you want to pick up the item or have it shipped directly to you. You save time and gasoline; plus, your feet won't tire out.

Energy Saver

Purchasing a new appliance is more than just comparing prices. You need information about the cost of energy for of running that appliance. With an energy saving app on your phone, just input the manufacturer and model of your selection. 

The app calculates the cost of gas or electricity over the next several years. That way, you know if a new appliance is energy-efficient and worth the price of the item. This helps you save money throughout the life of the appliance.

Use your phone for controlling your home thermostat, even when you're away. Turn on the lights before you get home and don't enter a darkened house risking trips or falls. 

Check the weather on your phone's weather app before heading out the door or find out road conditions after storms move in. Smartphones let you do all those things with just a swipe or touch of the screen.

Picture Taking

Some of the best point-and-shoot cameras available come on smartphones. Many of the latest phones offer dual cameras for close-up and far away shots. Recent technology lets these cameras take shots that come out clear, crisp, and frame-worthy. 

Using your phone as your camera also means you only have one thing to take along with you, not two. And, it's easy for posting online when the pictures are on your phone and not a separate camera. Share with friends and relatives without downloading to a computer.

Navigation Help

No more hard-to-fold paper maps when you travel. GPS systems come standard with smartphones. These map apps not only show you the route but give directions out loud as you drive. Your eyes never leave the road helping you arrive safely at your destination. These tools don't even need a Wi-Fi connection.

So, consider buying a smartphone. It still makes and receives calls, but a smartphone offers so much more. Whether you're checking prices, looking for the nearest gas station, or needing a map, a smartphone offers all that and fits comfortably in your pocket. What more do you need?

4 Ways Divorced Parents Can Financially Support Their Kids

While divorces can be bitter for parents, divorces can be devastating for any children involved. One way to ensure that your children are properly cared for and don’t feel that you’ve abandoned them is to continue to financially support them in essential ways. 

Below, you will find some of the most beneficial ways that divorced parents can financially support their kids.

Place Your Children on Your Health Insurance

In this economy, healthcare is becoming the most talked-about topic for many families. Health issues and accidents can occur without warning and to any member of your household. This is especially true for your children. 

To ensure that your children obtain the best healthcare coverage without accruing crippling medical debt, add your children to your work or private healthcare insurance. This will also help to pay for eyeglasses, dental care, and psychological counseling if it’s needed after the divorce.

Court Mandated Child Support

Some marriages do not end amicably. When love ends and a marriage dies, sometimes, it requires lawyers and a family court judge to help figure out how to fairly split the possessions and money which you’ve accumulated as a married couple. 

If you have children, family court is also responsible for deciding the custody of the children and calculating child support payments. These child support payments are a very standard way of financially supporting your kids. 

The amount of child support can be agreed upon during a meeting with your family lawyer, but can also be altered by the divorce court judge if they see fit.

Opt to Pay for School Supplies

As technology in our schools continues to advance, the price tag on classroom instruments and supplies are also advancing. Children are coming home with school supply lists that can get into the hundreds of dollars. 

Your children are unable to pay for these expensive supplies, so a great way to use your financial resources to continue to support your children would be to take them out on a school supplies shopping trip.

Foot the Bill for Their Yearly Wardrobe

Children experience several growth spurts during their younger years. These growth spurts require that new clothes be purchased for the children to fit their larger frames. This can quickly become an expensive necessity for your children. 

Consider taking your children out to purchase new clothes when they need them to help your child feel confident when they return to school.

A small way to help financially support your children after a divorce can also be to give them a weekly allowance. Although their allowance may only be a few dollars a week, they’ll purchase beloved games or treats with that money and think of you while enjoying them.