A second job may beat investing in the stock market. Yup, you heard me right. Let’s say you pick up a side job at $8 an hour and you work eight hours a week. By the end of a year, you’ll have earned $3328 from your second job. Now compare that to the stock market.
ROI from a second job
If you invested $66,000 and got a consistent rate of return of five percent, you’d match the returns from that second job. You might be in a better tax situation, but let’s not consider that for a moment. If you don’t have a magic way to put $66,000 in your pocket right this moment, a second job may be the best option you have for increasing your cash flow.
Second jobs add up
And what if you find a second job that pays more? For example, when I started consulting more than 10 years ago, I was able to get jobs for $35 an hour. Most entry-level folks I know are making around $50 now. But let’s just use $35 for our calculations. Let’s say you pick up eight hours of consulting work at $35 an hour every two weeks. That’s $7280 a year and you may be able to write most of it off, depending on your home office expenses.
I’m not saying you should give up on the markets. Heck, I’ve got money in the markets. But a second job, especially a high paying one like a consulting business, may deliver great financial returns, depending on your unique situation.
Check out my book on Side Jobs:
Related to second jobs
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- Christmas jobs
- Discover Your Inner Consultant
- Discover Your Inner Entrepreneur (for moms)
- Getting out of debt