Last week I was flying with a new hire First Officer and had a senior wide-body captain on the jumpseat.

 After all the nice pleasantries and taking off, our conversation turned to the last year's turmoil - the cost Covid-19 had on the airline industry.

The new First Officer thought he had made it - landed a pilot job with a Legacy Carrier.

 Both myself and the Senior Captain couldn't stress enough the importance of having a secondary source of income - just in case.

 In the airline industry, it's never "just in case." It's not a matter of if, but a matter of when - when the industry takes a nose dive again.

 It seems that aviation is hit with some sort of unpredictable and uncontrollable Category 5 financial hurricane ever eight to 10 years.

 9/11

 The 2008 recession

 Covid-19 lock-downs

 Several airlines didn't survive this round.

 Hundreds of pilots received the dreaded news:

“Due to current unforeseen business circumstances beyond our control, the Company has made the ...

When flight planning, do you begin with the departure point, or your destination?

How about planning for retirement, even if it's a few decades away?

Did you start when planning for retirement when you started flying, or will you begin right before you turn 65, when you're grounded by federal law?

Airline pilot unions do an amazing job with retirement seminars. But other than signing up for the company 401k or other retirement programs, there is little to no education on what to do with your money.

Do you roll the dice with a pre-selected investment strategy? Do you manage the account your self or get help?

One area to start is to work the numbers backwards. Where do you want to be at the end of your flying career? Start a Point B. You already know where your starting point.

Do you want to retire with $3,000 a month income?

$10,000 a month?

$20,000 a month?

Is it all going to come from your 401k, or defined benefits plan? Or will a portion of that co...

Today we hear from a Guest Writer, Tim Glasser with Franchise Copilots!

Nearly every pilot I’ve talked to is interested in ways to invest some of their money that will result in predictable additional income with a good rate of return. Obviously you can invest in mutual funds and perhaps get an 8% return over time. This is almost entirely a passive investment, as it consumes very little of your time.

But what if you expect to get significantly more than 8%? If you are willing to spend some of your time and energy to manage your investment, but want to keep the aviation career you love, then a semi-passive franchise business opportunity might be right for you.

Semi-passive franchise businesses are found in a range of industries, but they tend to have some common characteristics:

● The business model has already been proven to be successful if you follow the playbook

● The operational systems and supporting technology are provided by the franchisor

● They are driven by m...

Unlike the W-2 incomes earned from working at an airline, passive income has several tax advantages.

First and foremost,  passive incomes are not subject to Social Security and Medicare taxes.

Passive incomes are rents, royalties, dividends, interest, and short-term and long-term capital gains.

According to Anderson Advisors:

"Passive income is not subject to withholding or Social Security and Medicare taxes. This automatically eliminates the combined 15.3% Social Security and Medicare taxes and amounts to an additional 14 cents of every dollar back in your pocket when the same income is earned passively instead of actively."

Think about that - keeping 14 percent more of your hard-earned income!

Three smart moves for passive income are:

• Dividends
• Options
• Real Estate

 While once wildly popular with investors, there are still some companies that pay dividends to their shareholders. While taxed, these dividends are taxed at a lower rate than many active income rates.

Option...