How many sources of income do you have?

[COcheesehead]

not to pick at nits but "income" to us means $ in our pocket. 100% of investment divs/interest are re-invested...that's wealth building. 100% of our IRA RMDs are sent to a DAF or QCD...tax management. we did some tax loss harvesting a week ago in order to pay cash for a new Jeep, but that's a rare occurrence. the last time we did that was in 2015. otherwise our day-to-day incomes are three defined-benefit pensions and two SS.

We spend our interest so to us it’s income. As I indicated up thread, you can decide what is “income” for own situation. It will likely be different for everyone.

 

[rwdflynavy]

Military pension (COLA)
VA disability (COLA)
Very part time W-2 wage employee
Very part time government contractor employee
Quarterly dividends from taxable account

 

[PandaBear]

Currently dh and I have:
Two pensions (one from private corporation and one education, both 100% survivor)
1 education annuity (from extra work I did in education, has 9 more years)
Social security (only dh)
Me working a little

We have retirement savings but not currently accessing them).

 

[Car-Guy]

I consider anything that increase my investable and cash NW as income. If it's not at least 1k a year, I don't really count it or think much about it.

1 tIRA (Tax deferred and invested in fixed income)
1 401k (Tax deferred and invested in fixed income)
2 streams from SS

 

[jollystomper]

I do not consider cash back or rebates as "income". I see them as "discounts" against the money you are spending to gain said cash back or rebate. If you did not spend the money, you would not get them, as opposed to "real" income. In addition, one does not declare these items as "income" on one's tax returns. Just my view .


The only exception would be things like depositing a set amount in a bank account for a set period to gain some cash award. You are not spending your money to do this. But you do have to declare the cash award as income.

I try to keep things simple in retired life, so I view my sources as:
- Pension
- DW SS
- Interest income (taxable and non-taxable)
- Dividend income (taxable and non-taxable)
- Capital gains (taxable and non-taxable)
- Very sporadic W-2 or 1099 income for DW and I (we never plan on this, but since both our retirements one or the other or both have received some income from these sources).

Only stream not yet tapped is my SS, which will also trigger DW spousal SS (which will be almost triple her own SS).

 

[Exit 2024]

For us:
2xW2 (still working)
Rental
Int/Div/CapGains

Interesting that many mentioned CC Cashback, I never looked at that as income but rather as discount on our CC purchases, same as coupons that we use in the stores.
On other hand although it is not huge but still is not a small change, per Quicken we are averaging $2.5k per year for last 8 years.

 

[O2Bfree]

I found a dime on my walk today does that count.

You are richer in that you were paying attention to your surroundings and not glued to your phone.

 

[scrabbler1]

I do not consider cash back or rebates as "income". I see them as "discounts" against the money you are spending to gain said cash back or rebate. If you did not spend the money, you would not get them, as opposed to "real" income. In addition, one does not declare these items as "income" on one's tax returns. Just my view .

A few years ago, before the 2017 tax law change, some years I was itemizing my federal deductions which included my state income and local property taxes. Some of the property taxes I paid were refunded in the following year. Unfortunately, this rebate was considered by the IRS as ordinary income, not an offset to Schedule A taxes paid (unfair IMHO). This reduced my ACA premium subsidy because it raised my MAGI even though it didn't increase my ACA premium subsidy the year I (over)paid the taxes.

Eventually, I was able to start getting these rebates in the same year as I paid the property taxes. But, it became moot when I was able to stop itemizing before that.

 

[O2Bfree]

Me:

• Interest, divs, cap gains
• For about 7 more months, payment on a promissory note I inherited when my mom died
• RMD from inherited IRA
• I also have a micro-pension coming when I'm 65, around $375/month.
• Bucks here and there from selling off my parent's things.
• Occasional cash from new credit card offers
• SS eventually

DH:

• Interest
• SS
• Pension coming from his job with the City.
• Profit from flipping military and gun-related items found at thrift stores and sold at gun shows

Also cash back on CCs and the occasional gift card for blood donations.

 

[EastWest Gal]

Interest, from treasuries and investment accounts
Dividends
Capital gains from equities sold from taxable to meet our expenses.
DH's income from music gigs (a few thousand/year)
Occasionally income from a music gig (small)
RMD from inherited IRA (a few thousand/year)

Starting in 2027:
SS and DH's spousal (I was the bring-home-the-bacon spouse)
Income from the family orchard (no income for a few years due to replanting)

Starting in 2032: My RMDs.

 

[FlaMariner]

So I have a chart with each source of income and the annual amount......either we get now or plan to receive in the future:

Pension
Dividends/Interest from taxable brokerage account
Rental Property
Annuity (have yet to annuitize)
IRA Withdrawal (mine, interest/dividends or less...not 59.5 yet so nothing now)
IRA Withdrawal (hers, interest/dividends or less...not 59.5 yet so nothing now)
Social Security (mine, planning to start at 62)
Social Security (hers, not sure when/how)
BofA Credit Card cash back (it's real money, $1500/year)
Online Savings Account (it's real money, $2,000/year)

Plan is to not spend principle.

 

[Major Tom]

I do not consider cash back or rebates as "income". I see them as "discounts" against the money you are spending to gain said cash back or rebate. If you did not spend the money, you would not get them, as opposed to "real" income. In addition, one does not declare these items as "income" on one's tax returns. Just my view .

+1

I was about to say the same thing until I saw this part of your post, which describes my thoughts more accurately than I would have been able to.

My income sources are straightforward. They are -

1) Index fund dividends + sales (taxable account)
2) Savings account interest (very small amount)

In the future, income will also come from

3) Social Security
4) Index fund dividends + sales (tax-deferred account)


I just turned 59 1/2, so could begin withdrawing from the tax-deferred accounts anytime. Haven't really thought about when that will be. Also not sure about when to take SS, but will quite possibly wait until 70.

 

[brett]

The amounts and type of each income source are so much more important IMHO than the number of income sources in my experience.

Cannot help it...I am a numbers guy at heart. Numbers do not lie. You cannot spend income sources, you can only spend income or capital!

 

[aja8888]

SS, RMDs, dividends and interest, and collecting returnable soda cans I find along the streets.

 

[HarveyS]

I receive my retirement income from the following:
Tax free interest
Taxable interest
Capital gains
Dividends
eBay
Credit card points in cash
Paid research
A part time W2 job
Cash back apps - 2 of them
RMDs from a small inherited IRA
Asset sales - Facebook Marketplace and such

What about non-W2 job income (that is, cash tips)?

 

[HawkOwl]

The amounts and type of each income source are so much more important IMHO than the number of income sources in my experience.

Cannot help it...I am a numbers guy at heart. Numbers do not lie. You cannot spend income sources, you can only spend income or capital!

This. It seems a moot point to have a dozen sources of income that all originate from the same source- say, equities, or the bond market, or a single past employer. If that source of income hits the doldrums, all the income streams will tank. You maybe don’t have the diversity of income streams that you think you have.

 

[Flyfish1]

Just retired a month ago at age 59.
Sources are simple:
Dividend income from 401K.
Dividend income from taxable accounts
Real estate income from private real estate funds
Next year I will start drawing on income from cash value life insurance.
Social Security is a decade away.
I don't count credit card points or the simple small interest from bank accounts.
I do get a buy out from the business but that goes to paying off my boat and increasing my emergency cash.

 

[iloveyoga]

Between my husband and me:

2 pensions, part of one has COLA.
2 SS
My PT job
eBay

 

[COcheesehead]

What about non-W2 job income (that is, cash tips)?

It’s a reportable line on the W2.

 

[RetiredHappy]

Current:
- Husband's RMD
- Husband's SS
- Wife's Deferred Income Annuity
- Wife's taxable interest and dividends from brokerage
- Wife's additional withdrawal from brokerage account

In 18 months' time, add following:
- Wife's SS
- Hopefully, reduced Wife's additional withdrawal from brokerage account besides interests and dividends.

Basically, wife turned her IRA into Deferred Income Annuity. Wife has large Taxable account and husband has large IRA account.

 

[Teacher Terry]

This. It seems a moot point to have a dozen sources of income that all originate from the same source- say, equities, or the bond market, or a single past employer. If that source of income hits the doldrums, all the income streams will tank. You maybe don’t have the diversity of income streams that you think you have.

I totally agree with this post. My main source of income is my pension with everything else just tiny in comparison. If that went away I would be up shi* creek. Luckily I don’t have to worry about that with the state I retired from.

 

[Koolau]

I totally agree with this post. My main source of income is my pension with everything else just tiny in comparison. If that went away I would be up shi* creek. Luckily I don’t have to worry about that with the state I retired from.

I hope your state is flush. Sounds like it is from your post. Some states are teetering. I'd hate to have my pension with those states. As far as I know (and I've been wrong before ) State pensions are not covered by PBGC. Best luck.

 

[F.I.R.E User]

W-2 full time job
DoorDash 1099.
Credit Card Cash Back.
Brother A check.
Brother B check.
Mother C check.
HYSA interest.
Dividends from mutual funds are reinvested so does that count?

 

[SecondCor521]

Dividends from mutual funds are reinvested so does that count?

Most would say yes, including me.

 

[Surewhitey]

Now,
credit card bonuses and 2% cash back
DW's w2
My self employment and extra SEP 401k contribution
Dividends & interest (mucho 4.5-5.5% CD's)

Later,
401k dividends & gains (x4) need to rollover
IRA'S
DW's pension ($110k-ish or $10k annually)
DW's SS
My SS
HSA (currently >$45k)
DW's RSU's (3rd year to get)
DW's company stock purchases (dividend & gains)