“If you don’t find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die.”

Thus goes the quote attributed to investment guru and billionaire, Warren Buffett.

This statement will stand the test of time especially when considering the increasingly widening gap between the rich and the poor in the society. The statement is a simple, tested and trusted approach advocating for wealth growth through multiple streams of income; salaries, equities trading and a host of other means of investment.

This method has been employed by quite a few individuals who make up a tiny percentage of the world’s population, but they’re the world’s wealthiest. It is not a rocket science to realize that times have changed and the age of the hard worker or household living solely on the proceeds of their labor is a relic of a bygone era.

Salaried employment alone isn’t sustainable to lift the worker from the rat race.

Countries, in the course of history, have encouraged massive commercial activities and developing a system that generate multiple source of revenue form the upper echelon of the technologically and economically advanced nations of the earth. The same theory applies on a personal level in the lives of individuals.

College graduates in recent times, years after leaving college, still struggle to pay off debilitating student loans racked up in college. The college degree is no longer a meal ticket to a life of basic comfort. People are now, more than ever, open to the idea of having multiple streams of income in order to quit the life of struggle, living from paycheck to paycheck, running the rat race.

Several means have been suggested and employed to ensure individuals are able to generate multiple streams of income in addition to their primary source of income which could be salaries or proceeds from a business.

Some of these include:

Savings

One of the oldest forms of investment is savings. It’s a fact that man is restricted by time and space and therefore can’t predict the future. The income from savings can form the bedrock of future investments. While some spend, the era we live in encourages it, some are in the habit of saving. This is a smart move in the quest to grow financially independent.

Risk Management

Do you manage business risks only via insurance? And do you believe that every time your insurance company will be able to save you?

Well, the truth is — your insurance company won’t be able to save you every time; as it won’t cover adverse price fluctuations of your company’s assets nor it will cover the risk of getting your business work fulfilled by third-parties. Thus, to protect your business profits and minimize loss, you should opt for other risk management techniques to help you counter the bad days of your business.

• Hedging is one such technique. Hedge is a type of investment which helps in reduction of risk of adverse price fluctuations of an assets.
• A surety bond is an agreement between surety, obligee and principal where a promise is made by surety to protect obligee from financial losses incurred by principal due to non-fulfillment of terms mentioned in the agreement.

Bonds

Bonds are a form of IOU(I Owe You) issued by government, companies or local authorities. Bonds generate interest for the bond holder and usually run for a fixed term. A huge advantage of bonds is that they are guaranteed by the government or whoever is the issuer and thus they don’t generate as much interest rate as stocks.

Bonds are usually registered by the holder and the legal title can’t be transferred from one person to the other until re-registered. The exception to this type of bond is the bearer bond, which are akin to cash and is owned by whoever is in physical possession of it.To allay the fear and minimize the level of financial exposure of investors, various forms of risk management are advanced. These protects the investor from total loss, they are like insurance to various transactions.

Trading Stocks

While the interest rate from savings is usually low, trading in stocks is a good way to increase and generate passive income for the investor. The volatility of prices of stocks tend to scare some people away from investing in it. With the volatility of the stock prices lies the likelihood of huge profit. Warren Buffett is renowned to have made the bulk of his fortune trading in stocks.

The need to diversify and spread the streams of income presently can’t be overstated. There are lots of business opportunities one can explore to increase income sources. Cost of living is on a constant increase while salaries aren’t increasing at the same rate. This is bound to plunge a lot of people further below the poverty line. While those with nothing more than shiny college degrees will just keep getting by.

This is disastrous especially when taking into cognizance the fact that the moment students get their letters of acceptance from their respective colleges, they’re filled with hopes and aspirations. Just getting by wasn’t a part of the picture.

The future used to be for those who are wise enough to see it. Right now, it seems even the present belongs to that exclusive few who can see it.

Richard Agu is a researcher, entrepreneur and freelancer, passionate about entrepreneurship and self-development. Currently, Richard writes for Entrepreneur.com, Goodmenproject.com, among others. Follow him on Linkedin.com by clicking here now.