The 4 W.I.S.E Income Streams

Founder and President Tim Goodwin wrote a book called, Exponential Wealth: How to Create Sustainable Income for Life. In his book he explains exponential wealth is composed of multiple income streams that you’ve been intentionally building over time. Tim explained, “One of the benefits of having exponential wealth is that it gives us better options to pursue meaningful work and meaningful experiences that we otherwise wouldn’t have been able to pursue.”

Goodwin Investment believes in creating freedom and independence – where you are building true financial independence and not just working toward a retirement date, but instead are creating multiple income streams and therefore have sustainable income for life. In creating sustainable income and exponential wealth we encourage you to have at least 4 streams of income. To explain these different income streams, we will use the acronym – W.I.S.E.

W. is for Work – (add value to others)

Having meaningful work that is exciting and fulfilling and adds value to others. The best scenario would be when that work is from an income-producing hobby or some type of contract, part-time work where you are in control of the amount of time and effort you put in. Ideally earning at least $1,000-$2,000 a month in retirement. This significantly increases your chances of your money outliving you, especially when you take into account other income streams.

I. is for Investable Assets – (stocks + bonds)

Building investable assets through your 401(k) at work, Roth IRAs, and other brokerage savings accounts.

Invest in a well diversified portfolio over time. Offset risk by having a combination of both stocks and bonds.

S. is for SSI – (Social Security Income)

Social Security will on average replace about 40% of your earnings upon retirement. Your social security benefits are calculated by indexing your 35 highest paid years of income. This is a great resource, but you will need other sources of income to sustain you during your retirement such as savings, investments, pensions, or retirement accounts.

Self-employed – You may want to run more of your income through salaried payroll instead of owner distributions to increase your future benefit.

Delay your benefits if you can. You can often receive at least a 25% increase in benefits.

Spousal Benefit Rule- You are entitled to 50% of your spouse’s SSI. If your personal benefit is less than 50% of your spouse’s, then Social Security will increase your benefit until it reaches 50%.

40 Credits. The Social Security Administration defines “enough work” as earning 40 Social Security credits. More specifically, in 2019, an individual receives one credit for each $1,360 in income, and they can earn a maximum of four credits per year. So, 40 credits = 10 years of work. An individual needs 40 credits to qualify for Social Security benefits.

E. is for Estates – (Real Estate)

Create income through residential or commercial rental property, that when paid off, provides increasing income for life as rent usually goes up over time. Rental income is a consistent income stream. Read our Women of Wealth – Real Estate Investing blog to learn from one of our trusted advisors, Sharon.

Pay off your primary residence. While this doesn’t produce income it drastically decreases your budget by eliminating your largest expense.

Pay off your rental property. It will continuously generate income and if you don’t want the hassle of management you can always hire a management company to do this for you. They will ensure you have great tenants, keep them paying on time and maintain the property.

Conclusion:

Talk to your advisor about how you can create exponential wealth through the W.I.S.E income streams and how you can change your current financial situation. If you don’t have an advisor and you live in Canton, Woodstock, Marietta, Alpharetta, or the North Georgia area, reach out to Goodwin Investment Advisory to set up an intro call. We would love to help provide guidance and confidence in your financial plan.

Helpful Tip – Don’t let interest go both ways. Decide to receive interest, not to pay it. Stop acquiring things and experiences you can’t afford. Make a choice to invest in your future instead of the present and immediate satisfaction.