It sure seems that wages don’t keep up with the cost of living as it soars year after year. Not to mention how it will become more difficult to live on social security and retirement savings as the cost of living continues to rise. So whether you are still working or have retired, the need for more money is an ever-present reality.
If you are receiving social security earlier than full retirement age, you can still earn money and only beyond a certain amount would it require a deduction in your benefits. If you have reached full retirement age, it won’t be deducted at all. Beyond what you would need to use to supplement your living expenses, etc., you could start saving whatever you don’t need to use.
If you are still working at a day job and just barely scraping by – or at the least have nothing left over to save after your living expenses, then working at home to build another income is a very wise thing to do. Having a second job is a little more tedious in that you are spending a lot of time traveling from home to job one and then from job one to job two. All that commute time is really unpaid labor. It is stressful and dangerous — one commute is bad enough, not to mention so much time away from home.
When you have a home business you can just come home from work and relax, have dinner and visit with your family. Then instead of ‘the boob tube’ you can go to your computer and start working in a relaxed and friendly environment. This is relevant because many times the work environment is not friendly and in fact is hostile, which is more stress.
If you have a business in your home there are certain tax advantages in that you can claim a percentage of your maintenance costs as business expense – whether your home business is full or part-time. For example you can claim some of your rent or mortgage, utilities, equipment, security, communications, etc. Additionally anything directly spent on your business is deductible as well, such as advertising, technical support, etc.
Consult your Federal and State tax websites to get forms and schedules that include instructions on what is a legitimate deduction and how to claim it. Be sure to have documentation for every deduction you take and keep it for at least 7-years in case of an audit. The regulations change so be sure each year to check the rules.
There are a number of things you can do to earn ‘passive’ and residual income more or less on ‘autopilot’ once you have it all set up and running. The easiest thing to do to start a business is to join one or more affiliate programs. This is because they will provide almost everything you need to start earning money if you will just do the work consistently.
