Ideas to boost your income in 2021-22
This content is for information purposes only and should not be taken as financial advice. Every effort has been made to ensure the information is correct and up-to-date at the time of writing. For personalised and regulated advice regarding your situation, please consult an independent financial adviser here at Castlegate in Grantham, Lincoln or other local offices.
There are two main ways to increase the amount of money you can use to spend and/or save – cut expenses and grow your income. Doing the former (especially during hard economic times) can be very worthwhile, but only gets you so far. Generating more income, however, could lead to dramatic changes in your lifestyle if done strategically.
In this article, our financial planning team here at Castlegate in Grantham, Lincolnshire offers some ideas for boosting an income in 2021-22. We hope you find this content helpful. If you’d like to discuss any of these matters or your own financial plan please get in touch to arrange a no-obligation financial consultation, at our expense:
01476 855 585
info@casfin.co.uk
Develop passive income streams
Many people have assets which could be put to good use for generating an extra income. In many cases, this can be done passively (i.e. without requiring lots of extra work). Here are some ideas to consider:
- Renting out a spare room. If you don’t mind sharing your space with a lodger or tenant, then this income could be very useful to help cover monthly food and/or mortgage costs.
- Rent out your driveway. Do you have a parking space which is not often used? Renting it out to tourists could be quite lucrative. Residents in Wimbledon, for instance, have found demand to be high during the tennis tournament. People living in Twickenham also did well during the Six Nations in 2016!
- Dividends. Some people could benefit from generating an extra income from dividends (payouts from company profits to shareholders). Here, one option might be to sell certain higher-value items (e.g. jewelry or art collectibles) and invest the proceeds into stocks or funds which pay a regular dividend. This approach requires careful thought, however, so it’s worth discussing such a strategy with a financial planner before parting with any of your cherished possessions.
Build your state pension
In 2021-22, the full new state pension is £179.60 per week (£9,339.20 per year). However, to receive this full amount you need at least 35 qualifying years of National Insurance Contributions (NICs) on your record. If you are still working, then checking that you are on course to achieve this will be very important to your future retirement income.
However, those currently receiving the state pension – but who do not have the full 35 years – could also boost it, in certain circumstances. If there are “gaps” in your NI record within 6 years of the current year, then it may be possible to “top up” these incomplete/missing years using voluntary NICs. The cost of doing this will depend on how large these gaps are. However, bear in mind that your state pension income is guaranteed for life in retirement and rises with the cost of living under the “triple lock” system. So, even if it means dipping into some savings now to boost your NI record, it could be well worth the investment over the long term.
Invest in yourself professionally
For many people a salary is going to be their main source of income. Raising this, therefore, would naturally lead to more income. Whether or not this is realistic depends on your profession and specific circumstances. What are the prospects of increasing your salary within your current line of work? Are there opportunities to move upwards within your organisation? If not, do these opportunities exist with another potential employer?
Assuming there are opportunities within your current field, are you in a position to negotiate a higher salary? Assuming you are not, what could you do to increase your value? Here, it might be appropriate to consider investing in developing yourself professionally – perhaps by doing some further training or study, to gain additional qualifications. In some cases, however, it may be that you need to consider changing careers entirely. Doing this likely would mean taking a lower income in the short term as you work your way back up the ladder. However, in the long term this could open up opportunities to generate a much higher income if you are successful.
Conclusion & invitation
If you are interested in discussing your own financial plan or protection strategy with us, please get in touch to arrange a no-commitment financial consultation at our expense:
01476 855 585
info@casfin.co.uk
