Residual income, active income, leveraged income, passive income…
You’ve probably heard these terms, but do you know what each one describes?
All the ‘finance speak’ can be quite overwhelming – especially if you’re just starting out on your journey to build your personal wealth.
In this article, you’ll learn exactly what residual income is, why it’s so great for motherhood AND how to create it.
Sound good? Let’s dive in!
What Is Residual Income?
Residual income is a financial term that has a few different definitions according to the context.
In the corporate world, it refers to the amount of money remaining after all costs for a project or investment are subtracted.
But we’re people, not corporations, so we’ll focus on the definition as it applies to us – specifically, mums!
For us, residual income is a type of income that you continue to receive even after you’ve finished doing the work that initially produced the income.
For example – let’s say you’ve written and published a book. The money you earn from the ongoing sales of that book over the years is classified as a residual income.
The same would apply if you’d written a song. You receive royalties for your music – that is residual income. There are plenty of other ways to receive residual income, but we’ll look at those a little later on.
Isn’t it Like Passive Income?
If you’re thinking that residual income sounds a lot like passive income, you’re totally right!
The terms passive and residual income are often used interchangeably. Although, some financial experts have slightly different ideas about the specifics.
In personal finance circles, residual income can also refer to the amount of money you have left after you’ve paid off all your debts and bills.
But for us mamas, residual (aka passive) income provides an income stream that keeps the money flowing, after the hard work to create it is finished.
Why Is Residual Income Important to Working Mamas, specifically?
Why should working mums care about residual income? Because it’s our key to financial (and actual) freedom.
Instead of trading your time for money by working a job that pays you for the hours you trade, you can create income streams that pay you even when you’re not working.
Residual income fits around your life, your schedule, and your kids, instead of fitting your your life around a job.
It means you don’t constantly have to be ‘on’ to earn.
It also means you can create multiple income streams to help you gain control over your finances and build the kind of life you want, without sacrificing time with your family.
I give regular updates on the my multiple income streams in my newsletter. Download my guide to leveraged and passive income and you’ll automatically be added to my email community too.
The sky is the limit when it comes to earning this type of income!
You can use your residual income streams to earn as little or as much as you like.
There is also no limit on the number of streams that you can create either. You just need to be able to work within your own capabilities at the time.
Let me just remind you that kids get older and need less attention over time. You’ll eventually get more time to invest in your residual income streams – and that’s when the magic can really happen. Now is the best time to get started.
How To Create Residual Income
Thanks to the wonders of the internet, there are many ways to create a residual income, even for busy mums!
A passive or residual income doesn’t mean there’s no hard work involved. You still need to spend time creating your residual income stream. But once that part is done, there can be little to no work required to maintain the income.
Here are a few examples:
💰 Investing in stocks (especially dividend-paying stocks), bonds, or real estate
You don’t even need to be an expert to do this. Check out a platform like Sharesies who make it easy to invest – with as little as a few dollars. Set up an auto invest in the background and you won’t notice the money coming out each pay. Do this on the regular and then let it grow!
💰 Affiliate earnings from a website
An “affiliate” earns an income by marketing someone else’s products or services.
You can also use an affiliate to sell your products and services.
The affiliate gets a cut of the profits when the sale proceeds.
You can provide links to products on your own website, publish on a public website, or have others post links for your products on their website. Income can be tracked via affiliate links.
💰 Create and sell an online course
If you have specialist knowledge, you can turn it into an online course!
Create, load and market your content on a course platform as your own product, using platforms like Kajabi or Teachable, for ongoing income.
💰 Set up an online shop selling digital products
Photos, recipes, graphic templates, knitting patterns, printables etc. Anything you can create once, then sell again and again can build a steady residual income when done right. Check out my shop here.
💰 Publish and sell a book or e-book
Write it once and reap the financial rewards over and over every time your book sells to a new reader. Do your own brand photos then you have a ready made book cover to reduce your costs!
💰 Rent out your property
Got room to spare or a whole house? You can make a good income by renting it out.
💰 Become a distributor for products you use and love
These are companies that use network marketing to sell their products, so you can create residual income streams as a result of using and sharing their products. Just be absolutely sure that the product is GOOD and their marketing techniques are authentic (i.e. you don’t have to buy a certain amount yourself per month, in order to receive your commissions).
Summary
Residual income is a fantastic option for mothers, providing you with the flexibility to create wealth from anywhere at any time.
You can put in as much or as little time as you want, and put your existing skills to use – all while creating financial stability for your future. What’s not to love!
Find out more about creating residual income in this download.
