3 tips for increasing your financial stability as a digital nomad family
As an aspiring digital nomad with kids, you probably have some worries about financial stability. I can totally relate. It is what kept me awake at night when we were setting up our location independent lifestyle. And not without reason, because I can think of a few disasters to happen if we are completely broke. In the long run, worrying about financial uncertainty can even result in major health issues. But over time, I’ve found a way to deal with concerns about our financial security. And to help you stay sane too, I have three tips.
1. Diversify your online income
Never put all your eggs in one basket! It may seem obvious, but in reality, you have to take special care to diversifying your earnings. Once one strategy works, it may look like a waste of time to put in extra effort to set up another income stream.
Keep in mind that putting all these hours in a second, third or even fourth income source is an investment in your family’s financial stability.
Stay up to date!
Related to this is the importance of keeping your skills and knowledge up to date. Read about new developments in your field, talk with other (successful) people in your area, and always think ahead about new possibilities. What works today, might be outdated tomorrow.
Keep your skills and knowledge up to date! #digitalnomadfamily Share on X2. Work both
It can be quite convenient if only one of the parents works. One takes care of the kids, while the other works. Never a discussion about who takes up the working or the caring part. However, working both is another way of diversifying your income, because you probably have different skills and knowledge. For instance, my husband is into IT and website development, while I am a (Dutch) copywriter and SEO-nerd. It’s a huge advantage that our skills and knowledge complement.
Also, when one loses income, the other can close this gap by (temporarily) taking up more clients. Of course, balancing time to work and to nurse is challenging at times, but it increases your financial security, so for us, that outweighs the cons.
3. Change your mindset
The first two tips are practical; the third tip is mental. I think this third tip is crucial for easing your mind about financial security. Our ideas about savings, insurances and a steady income are very traditional. Reflect on the way your grandparents lived; the mother stays home to take care of the kids while the father has a lifetime employment. These days are over.
Job hopping
In my social network, I know only one person of my generation that has been with the same company for years. The rest hops (often unwillingly!) from job to job, from temporary contract to the next, or tries to make the freelancing thing work. You don’t have to be a digital nomad family to experience financial uncertainty.
You don't have to be a digital nomad family to experience financial uncertainty. Share on XWhen you realize there is no such thing as real financial security, you might panic even more. But this realization can also lead to a new mindset. One where you make the best of the situation.
Financial stability?!
We don’t know what the future will bring. We put aside some savings every month, we diversify our income, and we try not to worry about the future so much.
What is it you worry about most? Do you plan far into the future as far as estate planning? Or are you more like us and don’t worry too much about the future?
