The Finance Thread

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Progrez

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Post away on the news and advice or useful websites you use for finance/money.
 
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dmgtz96

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Jul 13, 2020
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What's your view on Cryptocurrency. It's tempting but it's high high high high risk. You could lose all of your money, there are a lot of dodgy brokers out there IG Market is a dodgy one.
Yeah, pretty much not worth it unless you're Vitalik Buterin or invested very early on in one of those things. I've gotten messages on Linkedin for Bitcoin mining, and they all are from super sketchy people that are clearly unemployed / not working full-time anywhere.
 
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Progrez

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Yeah, pretty much not worth it unless you're Vitalik Buterin or invested very early on in one of those things. I've gotten messages on Linkedin for Bitcoin mining, and they all are from super sketchy people that are clearly unemployed / not working full-time anywhere.
Have you heard of Ramit Sethi?


 

Jetflag

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Jul 17, 2020
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I don't know if this specific strategy has any fancy name. but what i'm doing finance wise is this:

1: Split methodes of income over multible sources instead of relying on one.

I have a daytime job which allows me to get a morgage aswell as my own freelance company in the sector that I work. Should one of them fail I can alway rely on the other instead of having to depend on savings when i'm out of work or for that matter, fired.

2: Split (methodes of) saving over multible sources instead of relying on one/ invest in passive income.

I have multibe bank accounts, and apart from a small buffer on each of them I actually don't put a lot of money on either of them. Instead investing most of it in (relatively stable) things that preferably don't require an outside party to manage and either retain their or increase their value later down the line. So Things like Precious metals, Real estate/paying of the morgage of my flat etc.

3: Monetize hobbies/free time as much as possible.

Music production is one of them, aswell as doing some occasonional freelance work video editing. I also like to make/build stuff myself which saves money on things like a new kitchen, increasing the value of my appartment or van etc.

my 2 cents.
 
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Progrez

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Ive been tempted recently to create a thread on how much i earn from my Youtube channel - but would that be controversial? Or helpful to other producers what you can make? I notice no one really talks about how much money they make from music....
I have a youtube channel which I share royalties with another artist (I won't name him) but I earn about $100 twice per year from it and I have over 11K subscribers from that one.
 

Jetflag

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Jul 17, 2020
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Ive been tempted recently to create a thread on how much i earn from my Youtube channel - but would that be controversial? Or helpful to other producers what you can make? I notice no one really talks about how much money they make from music....
go for it. 👍

i'm @ a 100 á 200 Euro from bandcamp+ royalties per year by the way, Nothing to make a living off, but a nice little extra for what is essentially relax/hobby time for me.
 

Magdelayna

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Jul 13, 2020
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West Yorkshire,England
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soundcloud.com
go for it. 👍

i'm @ a 100 á 200 Euro from bandcamp+ royalties per year by the way, Nothing to make a living off, but a nice little extra for what is essentially relax/hobby time for me.

Over about 3 years on Bandcamp,ive made about £416 in sales - which is not bad to say id never ever make anything like that on indie label sales. In fact ive never made any money at all from nearly 15 years of releases - partly because of high thresholds and then some labels dont even bother sending you an invoice.

Those Bandcamp sales however have come mainly when ive released something on there,or people do a rare bulk buy of my discography - for example,i havnt made one sale on there for a few months now.

Its a shame in this day and age that people just want to stream,stream,steam - they just dont even want music on file anymore. Its the only way to get my music on WAV format,and if burnt to CD after,its a perfect replication as it was exported from the DAW. Im going to branch into physical media soon on BC,like my albums on CD...you see the demand for physical in the recent vinyl boom for example. Plus i just want to offer a real physical thing for my fans.
 
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Magdelayna

Elite Member
Jul 13, 2020
1,490 Posts
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West Yorkshire,England
Website
soundcloud.com
I have a youtube channel which I share royalties with another artist (I won't name him) but I earn about $100 twice per year from it and I have over 11K subscribers from that one.

What youve got realise about Youtube revenue is the seasonality. For example the back end of the year can be the highest paid due to advertisers paying more money for ads - due to black friday,xmas etc. But then comes January 1st,and all the revenue plummets - as there is no events in that time of year for advertisers. It then rises to a peak around april-june...and then July 1st it plummets again. So really the revenue stream in a year is very up and down and follows a pattern.
 
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Progrez

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Over about 3 years on Bandcamp,ive made about £416 in sales - which is not bad to say id never ever make anything like that on indie label sales. In fact ive never made any money at all from nearly 15 years of releases - partly because of high thresholds and then some labels dont even bother sending you an invoice.

Those Bandcamp sales however have come mainly when ive released something on there,or people do a rare bulk buy of my discography - for example,i havnt made one sale on there for a few months now.

Its a shame in this day and age that people just want to stream,stream,steam - they just dont even want music on file anymore. Its the only way to get my music on WAV format,and if burnt to CD after,its a perfect replication as it was exported from the DAW. Im going to branch into physical media soon on BC,like my albums on CD...you see the demand for physical in the recent vinyl boom for example. Plus i just want to offer a real physical thing for my fans.
That sucks. I actually would love CDs would make a comeback because I really love them and Mp3 I found out that they don't offer much in terms sentimental value at all. It's just 1's and 0's. When I go to my cash converters and the best they can offer is like 5cents which I think is ridiculous considering a lot of time has been spent on this piece of sound.

I know that Youtube revenue changes and it's like the stock market where you get different revenue and profit on a yearly basis. I paid Ross Couch (House Music producer) $350 for his entire discography which he was happy to give it to me via Paypal and some of the music he made he never got paid for like this one
 
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dmgtz96

Elite Member
Jul 13, 2020
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Have you heard of Ramit Sethi?
Never heard of him, but from the couple of minutes I watched his "investing is boring" philosophy resonates with me. Boring things like an S&P 500 index fund are fairly low risk but can definitely grow wealth.

I don't know if this specific strategy has any fancy name. but what i'm doing finance wise is this:

1: Split methodes of income over multible sources instead of relying on one.

I have a daytime job which allows me to get a morgage aswell as my own freelance company in the sector that I work. Should one of them fail I can alway rely on the other instead of having to depend on savings when i'm out of work or for that matter, fired.

2: Split (methodes of) saving over multible sources instead of relying on one/ invest in passive income.

I have multibe bank accounts, and apart from a small buffer on each of them I actually don't put a lot of money on either of them. Instead investing most of it in (relatively stable) things that preferably don't require an outside party to manage and either retain their or increase their value later down the line. So Things like Precious metals, Real estate/paying of the morgage of my flat etc.

3: Monetize hobbies/free time as much as possible.

Music production is one of them, aswell as doing some occasonional freelance work video editing. I also like to make/build stuff myself which saves money on things like a new kitchen, increasing the value of my appartment or van etc.

my 2 cents.
This strategy is how you can build generational wealth.
1 is interesting. It depends on your country and how tight non-compete clauses there are. Some employers can restrict you from starting a business that does the same kind of work you are already doing for the employer. If this isn't an issue, then yeah, that's a great way to earn more income.
For 2, I had completely forgotten about precious metals. You can invest in the physical items or in the more abstract financial products tied to precious metals. They're basically impervious to market crashes and bubbles. Not sure if I would personally invest in precious metals over maxing out 401k/Roth IRAs/index funds, but they are certainly worth considering if you feel like a crash/bubble is going to happen.
3 only really applies if your hobby skills are at the level where you can monetize. It doesn't make much sense to monetize a knitting hobby when it took you 40-50 hrs to knit one piece, and you can only sell that piece to break even. On the other hand, if you're really good and it makes sense (good per-hour profit), why not?
In my opinion, young professionals will see a better return by acquiring more skills or putting more effort/hours at their day job than learning and then monetizing a hobby.

edit: after reading up some on gold investing, it seems more like a hedge rather than an investment. Still, it's a smart thing to do if you want to diversify your money.

Making/building stuff would have been better as a #4. If you're a handyman, you can save a lot.
 
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Jetflag

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This strategy is how you can build generational wealth.
1 is interesting. It depends on your country and how tight non-compete clauses there are. Some employers can restrict you from starting a business that does the same kind of work you are already doing for the employer. If this isn't an issue, then yeah, that's a great way to earn more income.
For 2, I had completely forgotten about precious metals. You can invest in the physical items or in the more abstract financial products tied to precious metals. They're basically impervious to market crashes and bubbles. Not sure if I would personally invest in precious metals over maxing out 401k/Roth IRAs/index funds, but they are certainly worth considering if you feel like a crash/bubble is going to happen.
3 only really applies if your hobby skills are at the level where you can monetize. It doesn't make much sense to monetize a knitting hobby when it took you 40-50 hrs to knit one piece, and you can only sell that piece to break even. On the other hand, if you're really good and it makes sense (good per-hour profit), why not?
In my opinion, young professionals will see a better return by acquiring more skills or putting more effort/hours at their day job than learning and then monetizing a hobby.

edit: after reading up some on gold investing, it seems more like a hedge rather than an investment. Still, it's a smart thing to do if you want to diversify your money.

Making/building stuff would have been better as a #4. If you're a handyman, you can save a lot.
I count no4 as part of no2 actually, the current overvalue of my appartment which borders around a hundred k is due in part to me investing time and energy to renovate the place. So far i've handymanned a new kitchen, bathroom, toilet and electricity aswell as DYI repairing concrete decay on the balcony. For gas, heating & wetwalling I usually hire an guy as its somewhat out of my league, and it would cost a hell of a lot more to fix the damage lol.

I disagree with no 3. remember, its supposed to be/stay a hobby. you're not meant to make load of money with it or break even, Its for recreating/relaxation which you have to do regardless. If however you can make a couple of bucks with it (even thoug it takes you 50 hours to knit one piece) then why not?

as for 1, technically yeah. and for the record I happen to have a good deal/communique with my boss about running a business on the side, but i know plenty of people who just well, don't tell their boss and keep a low profile. I mean, its not the boss his business what you do in your free time :)
 
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Archon

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Jun 27, 2020
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So how much do you earn from the side-gig, and what are the ratios/percentages of the money you earn from your main job compared to your side-gig, hobbies, investments etc? Does your main job still account for more than 50% of your total earnings?

Feel free to include or omit as much information as you feel comfortable with (while still answering my questions ha).

The model seems really good, and if you can balance both together, as well as with free time and family life, more power to you! Passive income and investments are especially interesting to me, I'd like to hear more thoughts on that.
 

Magdelayna

Elite Member
Jul 13, 2020
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West Yorkshire,England
Website
soundcloud.com
I earnt more on Youtube in the month of June than i earnt in my day job...if it stayed at that rate i could conceivebly retire haha. I was shocked tbh. But as soon as July came,it nearly halved...and thats where the seasonality in revenue i talked about comes in. Very unpredictable.
 
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Jetflag

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Jul 17, 2020
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I can resonate with @Magdelayna on that. My day job gives me a stable income of a couple of thousand per month netto, so every month, on one consistent date, a couple of thousand.

my side business on the other hand can whoop up as much as ten grand in a month. Then again, most months I earn 0, either because I don't have a client at that time or i'm simply invested in a running project that hasn't been completed and as such, invoiced yet.

That being said. If I where to go full time own business I'm confident that I could sustain myself and my family.
 
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Progrez

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The model seems really good, and if you can balance both together, as well as with free time and family life, more power to you! Passive income and investments are especially interesting to me, I'd like to hear more thoughts on that.
I think it's great but you have to first invest first in most passive income and let that be automated after a while. Whether it be affiliate marketing or creating an app or self publishing books or audiobooks narration or getting royalty shares through findaway voices or ACX and you get paid at least $200 - up to $500 per finished hour. Voice Over Xtra

I am not having any luck with Voice over at all. I've created an account for ages and none of the authors want me because I don't have the means of the equipment to record it.

I also want to open up a blog or website about Real Estate and helping renters and homeowners find affordable houses near their area. I am unsure if this is a profitable idea.

@dmgtz96 Check out this guy's blog website some useful information you might find useful since you are living in the states. He talks about Roth IRAs and ETFs like Vanguard. I Will Teach You To Be Rich Blog
 
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Jetflag

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Jul 17, 2020
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I think it's great but you have to first invest first in most passive income and let that be automated after a while.
yup, 100% correct, thats, as we dutch like to call it, a Truth like a Cow

no such thing as a free lunch in this universe, you have to invest (some) efford, regardless.
 

dmgtz96

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Jul 13, 2020
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So Things like Precious metals, Real estate/paying of the morgage of my flat etc.
How are your precious metals investments doing today? I think these are starting to look more attractive especially during periods of runaway inflation, like the past year