Chapter 14 · Companion tool
The Second Income, With a Finish Line
A second income with a number and an end date is a tool. Without one it is just a longer week. Write the sentence, run the hours, make the three calls, and count what is actually left.
1. The one-sentence plan
2. The hours
Your monthly number is money left after costs and the tax set-aside. Your rate is what you bill, before tax. The page shows both.
3. Three people to ask this week
Actual names, from your own phone. People who might pay you, or who know someone who would. This replaces building anything.
4. The two dates
5. The profit tracker
Revenue is not money. Money is what is left. Count everything, monthly.
6. Working for yourself? Raise the rate first
Nobody withholds tax from side money. Once net earnings reach $400 in a year, self-employment tax applies on top of income tax. The day a payment lands, subtract what it cost you to earn it, and move a quarter to a third of the rest into its own savings. Ask a tax preparer about quarterly payments before month three. Set your monthly number on what is left after that, not before.
Keep the streak going
Finish the chapter in the book, then come back for the next tool. If something here did not land, bring it to Open Mic and I will walk through it live.