Stock Market Sell-Off: How I'm Continuing to Make Passive Income

I have been entrusted with my family's finances. It is not a task that I take lightly since a mistake on my part could leave us in the street. OK, that's hyperbole, but it is the weight that I feel, and bear markets don't make the weight any lighter. However, I have a playbook that I've lived by for years, and market sell-offs are actually a great time for me to keep building my passive income stream. Here's how I make downturns work for me.

I take my job as ensuring that my family has the financial wherewithal to handle financial adversity in relative stride. To that end, I have a laddered Certificate of Deposit (CD) portfolio with roughly six months' worth of living expenses in it. One of the six CDs I own matures every two months and automatically rolls over if I don't stop that process from happening. Essentially, I've always got access to some cash if I really need it, which makes buying stocks less stressful. The key is that this vital safety net is on auto-pilot. I thought about it once, setting it up, and now I never have to think about it again. I just know it's there.

"Keep it simple" is a vital mantra for me because I'm just not capable of juggling too many things at one time. I share this because this same logic is important for my investment approach, as well.

Source Fool.com