Corporate C-level executives rarely face extreme personal financial challenges because they enjoy very lucrative employment contracts which include "golden parachute" clauses that pay them sometimes obscene amounts of money if they are fired.
Although many of the C-level executives are over age 50, the vast majority of 50+ corporate managers aren't C-Level and so do not enjoy such attractive employment benefits.
The hard, but true fact is that you have very little flexibility in increasing your income in any given year when you work in the corporate world. And often you receive relatively little in the way of "exit money" should you be downsized.
If you suddenly need $20,000 more income, good luck. The typical corporate salary is only going up about 3% per year.
So, how do you bring more financial flex to your life?
I strongly urge all individuals over age 40 to create what I call the "silver parachute" to protect their personal financial security should they face any of the elements we are seeing in the current "perfect storm" of personal finance - skyrocketing adjustable mortgage payments; job loss with little severance pay; or a significant decline in their 401 k balance.
How do you create your personal "silver parachute"?
You need to carefully examine all of your work and life experience and your well-honed talents to see what you can sell to boost your income.
For example, can you sell your corporate management skill as an independent contractor, (perhaps even to your existing firm should they downsize you)?
Can you sell what you do as a hobby to other individuals with a similar interest?
Do you have volunteer experience that can be buffed up as a service to sell?
Are you experienced enough selling household items on eBay that you can crank up an eBay store and start to make some real money?
Can you provide training, coaching or consulting as a subcontractor to a larger company?
Thanks to technology and a greater willingess to buy from them, most new businesses can start in a home office today. This is great news, because many home-based businesses can be run with monthly overhead expenses well below $500, thus allowing you as the business owner to access a large part of every dollar of sales as personal income.
For example, if you can charge $75 per hour for your consulting knowledge and you can land just 10 hours per week of consulting work, you will gross $750 per week, $3000 per month, most of which will be available to pay your family bills. This is a nice financial return for part-time work!
So, lay out your experience and skills and get ready to pack your "silver parachute".
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