Whenever someone needs additional
income, the stereotypical suggestion offered is to “get a part-time job.”
But what if you don't have the
time or energy to put in all those extra hours?
I know I didn't. Plus that wasn't
as appealing as making money while I was trading time for money.
For that, you may need some
passive income ideas — ways to make money with little investment of time and
effort on your part.
Here's a list of quite a few passive income ideas, so it's likely that you'll be able to find at least two
or three that will work in your situation.
Invest in dividend
securities
Some stocks provide shareholders
with regular payouts called dividends. For very large, old companies, these
dividend payouts are made for consistent amounts and can amount to a
substantial income if you own a large number of shares. Look for companies that
are very established and have been paying dividends for a long period of time
(more than 10 years). You should be able to find this information with a quick
online search.
Offer advertising space
If your website is popular, you
can sell space to retailers who want the people who are visiting your site to
see advertisements for products, movies, music--just about anything. If you
publish an e-zine or send an e-newsletter to subscribers, you can also sell
space in the documents.
• Consider
using advertising platforms like Google Adsense or LinkShare to gain revenue
from ads on your website.
• Some
advertisers pay "per click," meaning that you make a small commission
every time a visitor clicks on an advertisement and visits the advertiser's web
site.
Sell your own products
on the internet
The possibilities here are endless
— you can sell just about any product or service that you like. It could be a
product you have created and can manufacture on your own or it could be digital
in nature (such as software, DVDs, or even instructional videos).
You can set up a dedicated website
for this product or service, unless of course you have a website or blog
already in place. Alternatively, you can also sell it on an affiliate basis,
either by offering it direct to websites and blogs related to your product or
service, or through a platform such as Click Bank.
If you make a lot of money in
your current job and you're not sure that you can make a similar amount by
selling products online, think again. A while back, I interviewed Steve Chou
from MyWifeQuitHerJob.com. In our podcast interview, Steve explained how his
wife quit her job to become a stay-at-home mom.
Now, being a stay-at-home mom is
a full-time job — but Steve Chou's wife also started an online business that
replaced her former salary and started bringing in a six-figure income! Wow,
right?
You can learn to sell products
online too and make quite a bit of money. While it's not entirely passive, it's
certainly more passive than getting up and heading out the door to work every
morning!
Refinance Your Mortgage
This may sound strange in apassive income article, but refinancing your mortgage can be a great way to
free up a lot of income and save you $100,000s over the life of your loan.
That's a pretty good gain in my book.
Right now, interest rates are
still near historic lows, and if you haven't checked out your mortgage lately,
now's a great time to shop around and compare rates. If you can save 0.50% or
more on your loan, you're potentially adding tens of thousands of dollars back
into your pocket. Not many investments can beat that.
Sell Digital Files on
Etsy
I’ve been into home décor lately
and I had to turn to Etsy to find exactly what I wanted. I ended up purchasing
digital files of the artwork I wanted printed out! The seller had made a bunch
of wall art, digitized, and listed it on Etsy for instant download. There are
other popular digital files on Etsy as well such as monthly planners. If you’re
into graphic design this could be an amazing passive income idea for you.
Real Estate Investing
This is mostly passive once you
have it all set up, but it does take a lot of work at the beginning. Real
estate investing also requires occasional maintenance. Currently, we invest in
a couple of rental properties and earn about $500 profit from each per month.
You can read more about my rental properties at MoneySmartLife.com: How and Why
I Became a Landlord.
If you don’t want to get your
hands dirty, you can gain exposure to real estate investing through Real Estate
Investment Trusts (REITs). REITs invest in real estate and mortgage, and pay
out 90% of the taxable income to shareholders annually.
