Everyone must have some form of income to live a normal, healthy life. Unfortunately, life has a way of throwing wrenches into plans that can disrupt your way of making a living. Changes in circumstances don’t preclude you from needing a way to pay to live though, so what can you do to avoid or minimize disruptions to your income?
Keep Your Resume Updated
It’s always a good idea to keep your resume up to date. That way, whether you choose to leave your current job or get laid off, you’re ready to apply for a new job almost immediately. Review your resume regularly. Update it with new accomplishments and positions as needed.
Doing so frequently means you don’t have to spend hours pouring over it and adding information so you can use it to apply for something new. All you’ll have to do is take some time to tailor your resume to the position and you’ll be good to go.
Use Insurance
Sometimes income is disrupted due to a loss of health or the onset of a disability, rather than simply being laid off or fired. About 25% of adults become disabled before retirement. In such situations, it may be possible to use insurance to replace a portion of your income. That’s the purpose of insurance policies like short- and long-term disability insurance.
It’s important to understand that such policies don’t typically replace the entirety of your wages, but rather a percentage of them. Using insurance to avoid income disruptions may require some adjustments in how you spend your money.
Work on Your Side Gig
Having a side gig can be a great way to avoid income disruptions, depending on how much money you can bring in with it. Maybe it’s more of a hobby now than anything else. If you lose other sources of income, however, consider taking your side gig full-time. Transitioning from being an employee to being an entrepreneur takes some adjustment, but you may find that you enjoy being your own boss to be worth the added responsibility.
Given how important having a source of income is to living life the way you want to, it makes sense to take steps to protect your ability to make an income. Measures taken to avoid income disruptions may not prevent you from experiencing a loss of income, but they can help you minimize the impact of such an occurrence. Take it another step further and build up your emergency savings so you have money you can fall back on if your normal source of income is disrupted.
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