From the survey and messages we’ve received so far, finance goals definitely top the list of resolutions and goals this year. More people are looking for ways to grow their wealth. According to financial experts, one of the best ways to meet finance goals is by working to increase your earnings.
Certified Finance Education Instructor (CFEI), Tomie Balogun is the founder of The Green Investment Club; an investment platform and community aimed at educating “millennial investors” and helping them take action on their investment goals. She shares exclusively with Glazia, actions one needs to take to attain an increase in his/her earnings this New Year.
The first tip is to create a budget.
“A budget is a plan for your current income”, she explains. Why start with this, you may ask. “If you don’t keep track of how much you’re spending, you’ll always wonder where all your money is going and even if you earn more income, it will not make a difference”.
“A lot of people earn great monthly salaries but have nothing significant to show for it” she expounded further. “They get a promotion at work and earn even more income but their expenses level up because they do not track their bad spending habits. When I work with my clients or members of my community on their budgets, they are always shocked at how much expenditure is recorded. Once they decide to get better with how they spend money, they find out they can actually save and invest with the difference when they cut back unnecessary expenses”.
Automate your savings and plan to earn a stream of income from investing.
According to Tomie, saving should be a lifestyle habit and not something you do only when you feel like it. In her own words, “a lot of people wait till they get a wind fall or bonus at work before they decide to save. This is not a great approach to financial discipline and can be major set back in your finance goals”.
So she provides a solution, “if you feel you are not disciplined enough to not spend money in your bank account because you have access to it; automate your savings to go straight into a closed savings account or mutual fund which you do not have access to”. This is a great step because, “once you can build it up to a tidy sum of money, you can invest in options that pay you higher returns”.
Create additional streams of income.
We couldn’t but agree when Tomie said “I don’t think it is wise to plan to live on one stream of income in this economy. We all need to create additional streams of income to meet the gaps”. Tomie earns income from 4 key streams, they are; “my skills, knowledge, investments and business”. She put her skills to work as a freelancer and sometimes, “I earn from knowledge shared in my book, YouTube channel, speaking opportunities etc. I earn from my investments and also earn from my financial education business”.
Freelancing is on the high in this digital age and saving as a freelancer is vital as it is not a completely secure means of finance.
Tomie was kind enough to share a Bonus tip “if you are a freelancer, prep for financial security or aching finance goals”.
She further advised that as a freelancer, you should “work with a strict expense budget and save up as much as you can during the buoyant periods when you earn steady income. Build up at least 12 months worth of emergency fund, seek out medium to long term contracts as much as you can and more importantly, create additional streams of income”.
These tips will sure help anyone looking to earn more income in 2020. Hard work and persistence always pay.
Connect with Tomie Balogun on LinkedIn
About the Author :
Popularly known as the Millennial Investor, Tomie Balogun is a certified Financial Education Instructor and the Founder of Green Investment Club. She is passionate about democratizing investment opportunities for Africans, especially millennials.