The economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic have included massive layoffs across the globe. Toward the end of September 2020, 15% of adults in the U.S. alone reported having been laid off because of the pandemic.

Although not everyone lost their job, many of those still working have been struggling financially and have borrowed money from friends, savings, and retirement accounts to continue paying their bills.

Though many have been struggling to make ends meet, a handful of individuals have been resourceful enough to create multiple sources of income in the age of COVID. If you’re looking for creative ways to generate more income, or you’re just curious, here are three ways that some people are managing to create additional sources of income.

1. Signing up for an annuities plan

An annuity probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when you think about extra income. But it qualifies as income regardless of the access restrictions.

An annuity is an agreement with an insurance company under which you pay a certain amount of money and the firm provides you with periodic disbursements. These can be released right away or sometime in the future.

Annuities come in three forms: fixed, variable, and indexed. Each of these features its own risks and payouts. Generally, the higher the risk, the greater the potential payout.

What is a fixed annuity?

A fixed annuity will pay you a guaranteed amount either now or in the future. You’ll get a higher rate of return than you would from a CD, but it’s not the highest version of annuity.

If you’re new to investing and don’t want to walk into your bank, you can find some great annuities online. For example, Due.com offers a fixed annuities plan that offers a 3% return on every dollar without any strings attached.

What is a variable annuity?

A variable annuity entails greater risk than a fixed one, but has a corresponding potential for a greater return. To arrange a variable annuity, you’ll select some mutual funds and when you retire, your payments will be based on how those funds performed.

What is an indexed annuity?

An indexed annuity is even more interesting. It combines the certainty of a fixed annuity with the risk of a variable annuity.

For example, you’ll get a guaranteed minimum payout, but some of your return will be performance-based and tied to a specific market index. As with every investment, the downside to variable and indexed annuities are the fees.

If you don’t want to take a risk, just get a fixed annuity and you won’t have any anxiety headaches.

2. Affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing has always been a great source of income for people who have the necessary patience. Generating income from affiliate marketing is a long-term strategy: You have to build your website, choose your products, and launch a strong marketing campaign.

The benefits of getting into affiliate marketing can be vast, although there have been greater benefits during the pandemic. Affiliate marketing doesn’t require warehousing of physical goods or a brick storefront.

Since all transactions take place online, all you have to do is wait to get paid. Whether you’re new to affiliate marketing or you’ve been around a while and are looking for new ideas, check out Influencer Marketing’s guide for beginners and advanced marketers.

Which products are best for affiliate marketing?

All kinds of affiliate marketing opportunities are available, but the most popular products right now tend to be food storage and survival gear. People have observed supermarket shelves get emptied now and then, and some have become concerned that all the chaos in the world could lead to a more permanently bad situation.

As a general rule, you’ll do better with affiliate marketing when you sell products currently in high demand. That’s why you see so many survival food affiliate links being dropped on YouTube and other social media platforms.

3. YouTube influencer

People are catching on to the fact that anyone can be a YouTube influencer because an audience for almost anything is out there. Influencers can make thousands of dollars a month just from advertisements. That doesn’t include paid promotions and partnerships.

Since the pandemic began, advertisers have been spending more money on ads, because more people are staying home for more of the day. If the idea of making YouTube videos sounds appealing to you, trying to become an influencer could lead to a great income stream.

Multiple sources of income provide better financial security

If you’re looking for financial security, you should have multiple sources of income. If one dries up or becomes unstable, the others will still be available to you.

It’s possible but unlikely for all your sources of income to disappear at once. At the very least, multiple revenue sources will lessen the effects of the pandemic and the end of unemployment.