Britannica Money (2024)

Britannica Money (1)

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Earning from your job, from investing, and from things you own.

© Marje—iStock/Getty Images, © guvendemir—iStock/Getty Images, © 10'000 Hours—DigitalVision/Getty Images; Photo composite Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

What is income? On the surface, it’s an easy answer: any money you receive. And it’s essential to your financial well-being, from paying your bills to funding your goals to building your retirement nest egg.

Even if you have substantial assets, your regular expenses will eventually draw down your savings to zero unless you have income.

Key Points

  • Earned income is the money you make in salary, wages, commissions, or tips.
  • Investment income is money you make by selling something for more than you paid for it.
  • Passive income is money you make from something you own, without selling it.

When most of us hear the word “income,” our first thought is the salary from our jobs. That’s one type, but there are more:

  • Rental income from an investment property
  • Proceeds from the sale of a stock
  • Money you won in a raffle
  • Interest from your savings account

You get the idea. And just as there are different types of income, there are different ways to categorize it. The IRS broadly categorizes the money a person makes as either income or capital gains. But there are also highly granular approaches that break out different varieties of income, some of which could include a half dozen or more categories.

But for the purposes of our discussion—and in the lives of most people—income tends to fall into three broad categories: earned income, investment income, and passive income.

Earned income

This is money you work for. It includes salary, hourly wages, tips, and sales commissions.

Earned income is arguably the most straightforward of the three. Plus, it’s the income we typically rely on to purchase the assets that deliver the other two types.

It’s important to note that earned income is almost always taxed as personal income. As such, you can expect to pay higher tax rates on it as you earn more.

If you own a business or you’re an investment professional, the line between earned income and other income types might be a bit murky. But in general, when you work your job and get a paycheck, it’s earned income.

Investment income

Simply put, investment income is any money you earn by selling something for more than you paid to purchase it. This usually applies to stocks and real estate. But it can also apply to collectibles such as comic books, baseball cards, or that Picasso you found in Grandma’s attic. Also, the sale of a business typically counts as investment income.

Sometimes the line between investment income and earned income can seem blurry, as when a company compensates you with stock options. But those options, when exercised and sold, count as investment income.

Investment income is usually taxed as capital gains, which tend to face a lower tax rate than earned income. For example, for the 2022 tax year, the top tax rate for ordinary income is 37%, whereas for capital gains it’s 20%.

Passive income

This is money you receive from something you own but don’t sell. It can seem complex at first, because it often involves an investment.

For instance, when you buy a bond or other fixed-income security, you’ll most often do it for the interest payment it provides. That interest payment may be higher or lower depending on how much risk you’re willing to take. Regardless, those payments are passive income.

If you own a stock and don’t sell it, but the stock pays a dividend, those dividend payments fit the description of passive income. Or if you own a house and rent it out, the rental payments you receive are passive income. If you receive royalty payments on a book, movie, or piece of music you own, those payments are also passive income.

But if you sell that bond, stock, house, or piece of intellectual property, the proceeds from that sale count as investment income.

Until you sell that asset, however, any money you earn on it counts as passive income. And like earned income, passive income is typically taxed as personal income, which means it will get lumped in with your earned income at tax time.

The bottom line

Throughout your life, income is essential. When you’re starting out, you need income to survive. As you become more established, you can use income to purchase assets that allow you to compound your wealth through investment income and passive income. And in retirement, you’ll rely on the income generated by those assets to fund your life after work.

Britannica Money (2024)

FAQs

What is money Britannica? ›

Britannica Dictionary definition of MONEY. 1. [noncount] : something (such as coins or bills) used as a way to pay for goods and services and to pay people for their work.

How does Britannica make money? ›

Only 15 % of our revenue comes from Britannica content. The other 85% comes from learning and instructional materials we sell to the elementary and high school markets and consumer space. We have been profitable for the last eight years.

What are the 5 stages of evolution of money? ›

There are more than five stages of money's evolution. Still, five notable stages include: commodity money (i.e., grains, livestock), metallic money (i.e., coins), paper money, credit and plastic forms of currency, and digital money.

How does Britannica work? ›

Once an article is written, it is reviewed and revised by a team of editors. Articles are edited to make sure that they cover the important points a reader needs to know, are written in an engaging way, and are fair, making clear not only what is known about a topic but also what may still be in dispute.

What is Britannica good for? ›

It fits the ideal purpose of a reference work as a place to get started, or to refer back to as you read and write. The articles in Britannica are written by expert authors who are both identifiable and credible.

Can I trust Britannica? ›

Britannica's content is among the most trusted in the world. Every article is written, and continually fact-checked, by our experts. Subscribe to Britannica Premium and unlock our entire database of trusted content today.

Who runs Britannica? ›

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Under the leadership of Jorge Cauz, Britannica and Merriam-Webster have been transformed from iconic print brands into two of the world's largest and most trusted digital media platforms, serving a global audience of more than 150 million monthly users.

Are Britannica worth anything? ›

The Internet has rendered vintage encyclopedias obsolete and today the value is primarily from people looking to have a set similar to the one that they grew up with. A complete 1967 white britannica encyclopedia sells for $50 or so at auction and for $120 to $150 from antique book dealers.

What is the oldest money? ›

The first metal coins date back to the 7th century BCE in Lydia (modern Turkey) and China. In China, metal coins were made of bronze and shaped like farming tools. In Lydia, coins were made of an alloy of gold and silver called electrum. Lydian staters were the first coins to be officially issued by a government body.

What is full body money? ›

(i) Full bodied Money: Any unit of money, whose face value and intrinsic value are equal, is known as full bodied money, i.e. Money Value = Commodity Value. For example, during the British period, one rupee coin was made of silver and its value as money was same as its value as a commodity.

What is the high power money? ›

High-powered money is the sum of commercial bank reserves and currency (notes and coins) held by the Public. High-powered money is the base for the expansion of Bank deposits and creation of money supply. The supply of money varies directly with changes in the monetary.

Who invented currency? ›

No one knows for sure who first invented such money, but historians believe metal objects were first used as money as early as 5,000 B.C. Around 700 B.C., the Lydians became the first Western culture to make coins. Other countries and civilizations soon began to mint their own coins with specific values.

Who invented paper money? ›

The first known banknote was first developed in China during the Tang and Song dynasties, starting in the 7th century. Its roots were in merchant receipts of deposit during the Tang dynasty (618–907), as merchants and wholesalers desired to avoid the heavy bulk of copper coinage in large commercial transactions.

When was cash invented? ›

No one knows for sure who first invented such money, but historians believe metal objects were first used as money as early as 5,000 B.C. Around 700 B.C., the Lydians became the first Western culture to make coins. Other countries and civilizations soon began to mint their own coins with specific values.

What is the best definition of money? ›

Money is any object that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts in a given country or socio-economic context. The main functions of money are distinguished as: a medium of exchange; a unit of account; a store of value; and, occasionally, a standard of deferred payment.

What is the exact definition of money? ›

Money is any item or medium of exchange that symbolizes perceived value. As a result, it is accepted by people for the payment of goods and services, as well as the repayment of loans. Money makes the world go 'round. Economies rely on money to facilitate transactions and to power financial growth.

How do you define and describe money? ›

In short, money can be anything that can serve as a. • store of value, which means people can save it and use it later—smoothing their purchases over time; • unit of account, that is, provide a common base for prices; or. • medium of exchange, something that people can use to buy and sell from one another.

What is currency Britannica kids? ›

In the United States, Canada, Australia, and several other countries the currency is the dollar. Other common currencies are the peso, the dinar, the crown, and the rupee. Most countries of the European Union use the euro. Other currencies include the pound in the United Kingdom and the yen in Japan.

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