"How To Finance Retirement By Increasing Your Income And Decreasing Your Expenditure"

Introduction

In a previous article (How To Save For Retirement) we created a hypothetical spreadsheet for a typical household budget.

In that article we discussed that being able to save for a meaningful retirement meant that if the household budget was tight (and whose isn't?) you needed to increase your incomings and decrease your outgoings.

Much easier said than done.

As we all know only too well.  It is too easy to dispose of money than it is to earn it.  Especially in these trying times. The cost of just about everything seems to have gone up.

If you are fortunate enough to be employed, probably your earnings are finite.  And any annual increases are miniscule.  If you want an increase you would probably have to change employees and that is not always possible - for lots of different reasons.

In these articles we will highlight several ways of how you can achieve more income - in this article, we highlight just one.

The other side of the household budget equation is Expenditure.

Here, there are umpteen ways to save.  In this article we will highlight just a couple.

Future articles will detail many other methods of saving on your outgoings.

"One Method To Increase Your Income"

Are you employed?

Are you in business for yourself?

Have you been dumped on the scrapheap because of the Corona Virus?

Or are you looking for some way to earn extra income?

If you answered "yes" to any of the above questions then this next section is for you.

Have you ever thought about running a small business online?  Or maybe you already have a business online.

Maybe you know a lot about about a certain topic and would like to share your knowledge. For sure, if you are enthusiastic about a subject, there must be others that are interested too.

What if you could turn that knowledge into profit?  But let's be clear about this - if you like the idea of making a profit out of something you know a lot about, then it no longer is a hobbby - it is a business.

And let's be clear about something else?  It isn't easy?  Lots of people have "had a go" with launching an online business only to find out - the hard way - that it ain't easy.

Be honest with yourself - if making money with an online business were easy - everybody would be doing it and everyone would be rich.  That is clearly not the case - nor will it ever be.

We have been online for nearly 20 years and we have learned the hard way.  Not to mention, that over those 20 years a lot of detail has changed. But the basics remain the same.

Just Google: "Why do 97% of online businesses fail" and you will discover lots of horror stories.

Because of our own experiences, we have our own theories on why people fail.  However, it is a jungle out there in the internet marketing world and a lot of charlatans are only too willing to lead you down the wrong path.  That is, the right path for them - but the wrong one for you.

They are all saying the same boring stuff:  "Buy my 'system' because ..."

The truth is, the 97% want to hear it.  They are looking for an easy route.  The next shiny object.  A magic bullet.  Instant gratification.

Quite frankly, none of them exist.  Yet, there is an endless stream of people (the 97%) who think: "This time it's different."  They will attend workshops, seminars, buy this package, that package - they pay £1,000s to learn the "secrets" of online success.

There is no secret. 

There is only what there has always been.  Hard work and persistence.

If you really want an online presence, and a successful one, be prepared for a massive learning curve - or series of learning curves.

Having said all that - get it right and it will be more than worth it.

There is one company that knows how to "get it right."  They have been around for a long, long time and know how to get small businesses and individuals online. 

Furthermore, instead of being kidded into £1,000s of extras, this company includes EVERYTHING in its package.

By EVERYTHING we mean:

• Step-by-step guide (both text and video)
  
• A Domain Name
• Web Hosting
• ALL Necessary Tools
• Keyword Research
• Social Media
• How to write Sales Copy
• Getting Traffic to your website
  
• Monetisation
• And Much, Much More

For a (very) low yearly price, this company offers all that you will ever need to build a web business.  If you are looking for an extra income, and are not afraid of putting in some effort, you should acquaint yourself with what this company has to offer.

You can access details of their services by visitng: Your Own Business Online

In future articles, we will offer you other income streams, but trust us - the above resource is the best online service available. 

"Several Ways To Cut Your Outgoings"

Look at the out-goings on our model household budget.  Can you see where you could make savings?

We can see a lot.

The expenditures on that spreadsheet are listed in the following order:

• Household
• Everyday Costs
• Transport
• Entertaiment
• Health
• Vacations
• Recreation
• Sunscriptions
• Personal
• Financial
• Miscellaneous

Let's look at them - one by one.  In this particular article, Household expnditure is examined.

This first category of expenditure covers one of everyone's basic need - shelter.

Probably the single biggest cost for anyone is their mortgage or rent.  If you are lucky enough to have no mortgage, or a very low mortgage, then good for you.

However, for most people, they seem to be mortgaged to the hilt. 

This, in our opinion is a mistake. We did the same when our family were young and it put a massive strain on our resources.

Obviously, changing where you live is a massive undertaking but here is our take on the whole thing: buy the house that you need and not the house that you want.

We did the opposite and regret it.

If you are thinking of moving home - what and where to buy should be the subject of great discussion.  You may be bound by where you work, a bigger family, proximity of schools, or near to relatives and friends, there will be dozens of things to think about.

It is your single biggest investment, choose wisely.  Take all factors into consideration, not least, the cost of your mortgage.

Another obvious saving in this category are utilities. Shop around and find the most cost effective.

Visit comparison sites such as Go Compare.

In our next article on saving money, we will focus on more elements of that spreadsheet. You did construct one for yourself didn't you?  You will be surprised how much you can save if you do have your own spreadsheet - just copy the one we have built and personalise it.

In our example, the total household expenditure for the month of July was £612.  We reckon that figure could be almost immediately decreased as much as £80-£100.

What you save could go straight into your SIPP.

Conclusion

This typical household budget is just that - typical.  Or average.

The income is only just enough to service the outgoings, leaving very little left to save for a SIPP.  But close scrutiny reveals that there are lots of savings that can be made.

It is also glaring that there is only one income.  When children are small it is difficult to do any other.  But that changes - unless of course, you decide to add to the family.  That poses its own problems.

If there is one thing that is 100% dead sure it is this: stay out of debt.  In  future articles we will repeat that warning as the British public do not seem to understand.  The average UK citizen is way over their credit limits.

The best course of action is to not incur debt in the first place (easier said than done).

However, in this article, we have suggested one way to increase income and a couple of  ways to decrease expenditure.  Future articles will give you more ideas on how to save.

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