Everyone needs to make money, which means there is no shortage of people out there giving advice on how to do it. But most are offering one-size-fits-all advice. I’m here to talk about what works for me as a cam model.
My Story
It doesn’t matter if you are looking to get out of debt, document your progress or even travel the world while on your journey to financial freedom, you are not alone. There are tons of people out there looking to learn how to make money, then keep it, invest it and multiply it. But how?
The world is full of popular financial gurus telling people how to handle their money. I was working hard to work with their advice, but I just couldn’t connect with it. And no wonder. It was cookie-cutter advice aimed at everyone. Some things seemed logical — suggestions I could put into practice and get results. But then I took a deeper look. I realized not everything is one-size-fits-all. I somehow forgot the “personal” in personal finance.
In 2017, I realized something important: The way to make this work for me was take what I needed from the cookie cutter advice and leave the rest. I only needed the things that got me feeling inspired about taking responsibility for my own personal finances. I think an effective financial plan for a cam model should incorporate three types of income: earned active income, portfolio income and passive income.
Active Income
Active income is money you earn that requires your time and presence to be there to earn it. I have found that cam models tend to only openly talk about one this type of income.
Active income is earned in a variety of ways for most of us. It can include commissions from a webcam site and/or phone sex site, from paid chat time, earnings from room tips, virtual gifts, etc. Different money, yes, but in all cases you have to be actively online and available to receive it.
Something to note: Active income is the highest taxed income you will make. There are tax advantages to earning income where you are considered an independent contractor or self-employed, but it can be tricky to identify those advantages. It might be worth talking to a tax professional, but certainly at least consult your government website to see what tax bracket you would fall into based on your earnings alone. These are different depending on what country you live in.
With active income, you can only work so many hours in a day. There will be days where it feels like you’ve worked so hard, but you don’t feel like you are getting ahead. I’ve found the money that comes from webcam and phone sex can be limited and even stressful if you are looking to maintain a long-term lifestyle. That’s where the other forms of income come in.
Portfolio Income
At first, I didn’t think portfolio income was right for me. But the truth is, ANY type of income working as a cam model is right for me, as well as for anyone reading this. Creating portfolio income is right for you, too.
Portfolio income is just selling an investment for more than what you paid. Sounds simple, but that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily that straightforward in practice. There are many ways of doing this. In Canada, you can do it through your bank, through a financial advisor, through the internet and more — the list goes on.
This area is still extremely new to me, and it varies from region to region so you need to do your own research. To give you a taste though, there are financial products that are set up for retirement like a 401K and IRA in the USA. In Canada — where I’m from — they have RRSP (Registered Retirement Savings Plan) and TFSA (Tax Free Savings Account). There are also things like stocks, bonds, GICs, mutual funds, as well as buying and selling real estate.
If portfolio income is new to you, I highly recommend learning about it. I’m learning that not only can building up portfolio income come in handy for my long term financial life, but there are tax advantages too.
Passive Income
Passive income is money that is generating cash flow for you. You hire out your money for a job, then your money goes out to work and comes back with more cash for you. It’s pretty much the dream for people who want to create financial freedom.
There are a lot of ways you can do this, but some examples are rental income, investments, learning to trade in foreign currency exchange and even the new cryptocurrency market. In fact, the portfolio income we talked about earlier is basically a form of passive income, but one that is easy enough to get into that it deserves its own heading.
There are definitely other places you can have your money growing for you, but the examples I gave are the ones I’m interested in based on listening to Grant Cardone and Loral Langemeier. They talk about wealth creation and want people to be educated about creating passive income.
While I listened to them, I started to ask myself different questions about money and found myself looking at my money differently. It’s more than just feeding myself and putting away a little bit in savings for a new purchase.
As with so many people starting new jobs, most of us when we get started making money as a cam model tend to be only focused on our immediate needs, often out of necessity — but as we find our feet, it is time to change our attitudes. To be in a position where your investments are generating repeat income for you that you do not have to do a lot to maintain is what can free up your time to do virtually anything you want.
The End Goal: Building Financial Freedom
For me, the active income from webcam earnings is starting to become a little flat, while the price and cost of living are going up. Plus, the older I get, the more I find myself wanting to create income outside of the adult industry. Learning about these three types of income has inspired me to do just that.
Income affects your bottom line and creates the options in your life. The more you understand how income works, the more leverage you’ll have in deciding the type of lifestyle you want to live and choices you’ll have access to.
The sooner people become aware of what is available to them, the sooner they can make better financial decisions. That’s what can help achieve financial success and live a life you desire.
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Minnie is a Jamaican-Canadian, 15-year industry veteran cam model and adult video performer. She’s also found success as an affiliate marketer while building a personal brand that’s lead to creating a life by design filled with freedom and financial independence. Minnie enjoys traveling to infinity pools in tropical locations, skydiving and riding rollercoasters. Email her at minnie@ynotcam.com.
