This seems like a ridiculous title to an article, because the title is a no-brainer. Of course it's advantageous to have more than one source of income. Money makes the world go around, and if you have more than one source of that money, you're in a better position for the ride. However, outside of the obvious reason, there are certainly many advantages of having more than one source of income.

1. Insurance. Not the physical purchasing power of insurance. But if you lost that primary source of income, you've got a bit of a backup for lost wages. For example, about a year ago, I was the only one making money. My wife and I had just had a baby, she was a stay-at-home mom. But at this point, we rented out our basement to a friend. My wife wanted to get out of the house so she's gotten a part time job. In addition to that job, she also cleans a few houses for people at our church. And I do a bit of online work with surveys and helium.com. The latter is by no means "an additional source of income." But I keep all my earnings in the website until an unexpected bill comes up and I need the money. So if I were to lose my job for any reason, we have a bit of cushioning to fall back on.

2. Get out of debt sooner. Shortly after my wife got her job, we were able to pay the two small credit cards off completely. The only debt we have now is a student loan and a mortgage. But those are both good debts to have and they're at low interest rates, so we're content in adding to our savings.

3. Create an "emergency fund." This is important so you don't use a credit card for any kind of minor emergency. Some people think $1,000 is enough, I like to think of it as 3 months worth of bills. If the total of all your bills each month is $2,000, then a good emergency fund would be $6,000. If you were to lose your primary source of income and weren't able to replace it as soon as you'd like, you need to have money to fall back on.

4. Invest. If your "emergency fund" is to the amount that you're happy with, you can then think about investing. Perhaps you can contribute more to your employer-sponsored retirement plan. Or open an IRA so you can broaden your portfolio. Either way, with additional income, you're financially able to do more than just pay your bills and keep whatever you have left over.

In general, if you can have more than one source of income, you'll be in great shape. My wife and I have five sources of income instead of the one we used to. And we see about $1,200 more per month from it. Not a bad amount to save and invest. Just be strict with yourself and create that emergency fund while you have the money to do so.

Learn more about this author, Barry Tadmore.
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