Passive Income

What is Passive Income?

Passive income is any money earned in a manner that does not require too much effort. There are several passive income generating ideas that require a lot of work, to begin with, like developing a blog or leasing property, but eventually, they earn money even when the owner is asleep.

Reasons for Building Passive Income

Personal income is the greatest wealth generating tool – something that requires an individual’s active participation. Thus, even if an individual has a full-time job, he or she would welcome additional income without necessarily having to sweat for it.

Developing a way to generate passive income provides many benefits. With the additional income, an individual is able to expand the wealth-building base so that it is easy to take early retirement.

Additionally, passive income is a backup plan in case the person loses their day job and offers an alternative in case a retiree outlives a retirement plan.

How Much Income Can Be Made?

Passive income doesn’t guarantee immense wealth overnight. Therefore, an individual shouldn’t expect to get rich so soon. However, steady and gainful passive income opportunities can cause a person to amass income over a long period. It means a few thousand dollars to hundreds more based on the income stream at hand.

Different Ways to Build Passive Income

There are many different ways to build passive income. Here are a few:

1. Investing

Whenever someone mentions passive income, there are people who think of investing since it has the potential to produce good results quickly and with little effort. However, passive income and retirement plans shouldn’t be considered as being the same.

The purpose of making an investment is to ensure there is an income stream during retirement. It’s ideal to invest in a retirement scheme if the current fund choice agrees. That way, a person can build a sound plan for retirement, although there are penalties or taxes in case a withdrawal is made before the maturity date.

2. Real estate

A smart way to generate passive income once all debts are cleared and there is extra cash is to consider a real estate property for renting out. Before buying property, clear the mortgage, and then buy the property with cash. There’s no point in seeking debt to finance the purchase of a property. Things become complicated when there is a mortgage to clear and yet a loan was used to buy a property.

It also makes sense to buy property nearby in order to ensure that the owner can look after it properly. It means consulting a property agent who understands the owner’s area to ensure the new property can attract tenants.

A rental property is a good source of additional income, although it’s one of the most passive sources of income because it will require time and some effort to keep it in good condition. So, a person who opts for real estate must be in control of the property at all times.

Other Passive Income Ideas

1. Digital ad space

Selling digital ad space is a brilliant way to make passive income for those with great ideas and a significant audience base. A YouTube channel or a blog can generate a lot of online traffic, which can be monetized eventually.

If the content is captivating, and it receives a lot of traffic each day, selling ad space on the blog sounds like a good moneymaking idea. Once an individual sets things into “heavy lifting” mode, he or she can relax and watch income grow.

2. Digital products

If there is a creative way to generate content, it can be used to generate traffic to any ad. All that is needed is a product that the audience would be tempted to purchase. It usually means an e-book or an application that offers the potential to generate income for a long time.

3. Store to keep people’s things

Most people keep many things in their homes, and they are always on the lookout for cheap ways to house them. There’s nothing easier than being paid to keep other people’s things. However, generating passive income from storing things for people requires a huge initial investment to acquire a storage structure.

The alternative is something simple like letting a shed or storage basement. The important thing is ensuring that the things to be stored will be safe every day.

4. Renting out handy items

There are people with items that are no longer in use that others can borrow and use. They include a truck, a small boat, or even the yard. Such things can be rented out for a small fee, which makes for a very nice way to generate passive income.

Spare rooms at home can be rented out with the assistance of platforms like Airbnb. Doing so is actually simple. All that is required is a photo of what is on offer, a price tag, and a catchy statement to encourage people to use the service.

Final Word

Many things can be done to generate passive income. While looking for an idea that can work under the prevailing circumstance, look out for ideas with a positive long-term record. Find out whether there are people elsewhere who have benefited from that idea.

Additional Resources

Thank you for reading CFI’s guide to Passive Income. To keep learning and advancing your career, the following resources will be helpful:

• Interest Income
• Investing: A Beginner’s Guide
• Remuneration
• Social Security
• See all accounting resources