18 Sep Financial tips for content creators
Posted
in Industry Knowledge
Making big purchases when we do what we do can be scary. There are always a lot of questions when it comes to these things, and there are even more when you are an “Independent contractor”. The truth is, it’s not that bad! Getting pre-approved for a mortgage can be daunting when your income is from an e-commerce platform, and the broker needs certain information. For many of us, our smut peddling is kept a secret, and the thought of explaining what we do is enough to send us running in the other direction. This can hold us back a lot of the time from actually making the moves we want to make in our lives. The truth is, keeping your financial paper trail clean will make this process a lot easier, and you will run into less questioning on the actual topic of work that is done. Being a content creator is becoming more and more popular as a main income, and also, with most of the platforms using an e-commerce platform, it’s becoming increasingly easy to slide into the more generic content creation category when financing things.
Financing anything, a new roof, a car, etc., is usually stressful to begin with. The fact that our income with our platforms is not always consistent can add extra steps and questions. Typically, these kinds of big purchases will require you to provide proof of income. Most platforms make obtaining your pay stubs from previous payouts and even your tax documents easy. I know there is a common misconception that pay stubs state “I DO PORN”, but it is quite the opposite. Whoever requests the documents needs to see the proof of income. They are not looking to see what kind of content you create. Knowing this and having financed several large purchases throughout my career, I still have that fear every time I’ve gone through the financing process. Not once have I needed to reveal my secret! It’s important to keep in mind that they are not going into this process secretly, wanting you to admit that you are a content creator. In reality, they have no idea what you do (unless they are a super fan, but that is a different story altogether now, isn’t it?), and we assume the worst.
"THE FACT THAT OUR INCOME WITH OUR PLATFORMS IS NOT ALWAYS CONSISTENT CAN ADD EXTRA STEPS AND QUESTIONS. TYPICALLY, THESE KINDS OF BIG PURCHASES WILL REQUIRE YOU TO PROVIDE PROOF OF INCOME."
Buying a house, specifically, is obviously more involved for anyone, no matter your source of income. The process takes longer, it can be much more stressful and on top of all of that, it can be pretty darn confusing to the average person who doesn’t have a working knowledge of the topic (and honestly, even then!). The important thing to remember when starting this process is that you want to have all of your financial documents ready BEFORE you begin to avoid any extra stress. They will surely ask you for tax documents, bank statements and pay stubs. When you reach out to a lender, they will typically give you a list of documents that you are going to want to have ready as well (side note: going with a local lender or your local bank is MUCH better than any big financial institution where you are just a number, but that is a lesson for another day). As long as you have all your documents, you shouldn’t have any issues with where the funds are coming from. With the increasing number of people using streaming, content creation and the other services we offer, it is becoming increasingly common for these types of documents to appear in mortgage applications.
When doing what we do, or any independent contractor, keeping your finances in check and organized is imperative. This is what I meant earlier by saying, “Keep your paper trail clean”. Having this head step under your belt will make it much easier overall to finance major purchases and is extremely beneficial in the long run for many reasons. The critical thing to remember is that what we do IS work. It is a viable option for people to have either a side hustle or make a living wage. My fear of needing to use my financial documents to buy a house or a new car haunted me for many years. Remembering that I have always had a “Vanilla” career alongside my smut peddling has made this a tad easier for me. However, when I bought my house, I did include the income from cam and content sales. I know first-hand that it can be done, and it is not as difficult or scary as I had made it out to be in my head. If you are having trouble organizing your finances or want to get them better in check, there are many options you can utilize, such as financial advisors or personal accountants. I can promise that many people out there want to do their jobs and will not judge you because your paycheck comes from a predominantly NSFW site. Shop around, look at all of your options, and set yourself up for financial success!
SHARE THIS:
Making big purchases when we do what we do can be scary. There are always a lot of questions when it comes to these things, and there are even more when you are an “Independent contractor”. The truth is, it’s not that bad! Getting pre-approved for a mortgage can be daunting when your income is from an e-commerce platform, and the broker needs certain information. For many of us, our smut peddling is kept a secret, and the thought of explaining what we do is enough to send us running in the other direction. This can hold us back a lot of the time from actually making the moves we want to make in our lives. The truth is, keeping your financial paper trail clean will make this process a lot easier, and you will run into less questioning on the actual topic of work that is done. Being a content creator is becoming more and more popular as a main income, and also, with most of the platforms using an e-commerce platform, it’s becoming increasingly easy to slide into the more generic content creation category when financing things.
Financing anything, a new roof, a car, etc., is usually stressful to begin with. The fact that our income with our platforms is not always consistent can add extra steps and questions. Typically, these kinds of big purchases will require you to provide proof of income. Most platforms make obtaining your pay stubs from previous payouts and even your tax documents easy. I know there is a common misconception that pay stubs state “I DO PORN”, but it is quite the opposite. Whoever requests the documents needs to see the proof of income. They are not looking to see what kind of content you create. Knowing this and having financed several large purchases throughout my career, I still have that fear every time I’ve gone through the financing process. Not once have I needed to reveal my secret! It’s important to keep in mind that they are not going into this process secretly, wanting you to admit that you are a content creator. In reality, they have no idea what you do (unless they are a super fan, but that is a different story altogether now, isn’t it?), and we assume the worst.
"THE FACT THAT OUR INCOME WITH OUR PLATFORMS IS NOT ALWAYS CONSISTENT CAN ADD EXTRA STEPS AND QUESTIONS. TYPICALLY, THESE KINDS OF BIG PURCHASES WILL REQUIRE YOU TO PROVIDE PROOF OF INCOME."
Buying a house, specifically, is obviously more involved for anyone, no matter your source of income. The process takes longer, it can be much more stressful and on top of all of that, it can be pretty darn confusing to the average person who doesn’t have a working knowledge of the topic (and honestly, even then!). The important thing to remember when starting this process is that you want to have all of your financial documents ready BEFORE you begin to avoid any extra stress. They will surely ask you for tax documents, bank statements and pay stubs. When you reach out to a lender, they will typically give you a list of documents that you are going to want to have ready as well (side note: going with a local lender or your local bank is MUCH better than any big financial institution where you are just a number, but that is a lesson for another day). As long as you have all your documents, you shouldn’t have any issues with where the funds are coming from. With the increasing number of people using streaming, content creation and the other services we offer, it is becoming increasingly common for these types of documents to appear in mortgage applications.
When doing what we do, or any independent contractor, keeping your finances in check and organized is imperative. This is what I meant earlier by saying, “Keep your paper trail clean”. Having this head step under your belt will make it much easier overall to finance major purchases and is extremely beneficial in the long run for many reasons. The critical thing to remember is that what we do IS work. It is a viable option for people to have either a side hustle or make a living wage. My fear of needing to use my financial documents to buy a house or a new car haunted me for many years. Remembering that I have always had a “Vanilla” career alongside my smut peddling has made this a tad easier for me. However, when I bought my house, I did include the income from cam and content sales. I know first-hand that it can be done, and it is not as difficult or scary as I had made it out to be in my head. If you are having trouble organizing your finances or want to get them better in check, there are many options you can utilize, such as financial advisors or personal accountants. I can promise that many people out there want to do their jobs and will not judge you because your paycheck comes from a predominantly NSFW site. Shop around, look at all of your options, and set yourself up for financial success!
