Make Money

Risk-Free Passive Income Ideas: Make Money Work for You

by Maria @ Call It Adventure

Making money while you sleep is real when you have passive income. Learn about the best passive income ideas and how to implement them.

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When you look up passive income ideas, a lot of search results tell you to invest in P2P, CDs, REITs, and stocks and bonds. Sounds intimidating, scary, because what does this even mean? All of these options may sound scary to people. At least I was frustrated and postponed searching for passive income ideas that day. The impression is that passive income is very hard and requires a lot of specific knowledge and money.

Therefore I gathered easy to implement passive income ideas that are easy, rick free to understand, implement, and require mostly time and desire to start with money expenses as low as possible.

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What is passive income?

Passive income is money received from a business or business activities in which a person who gets the money is not actively involved.

Passive income requires two types of investments: work and money. The proportions and amounts can vary.

It goes without saying that you need to invest many hours of research and work to create a passive income source. But after all the hard work is done, you enjoy the results. What is great is that you create a source of income that will keep bringing money to your pocket. Meaning you invest some time and money into creating a passive income that will bring much more money than invested in a much longer period of time compared to the time invested.

Below are some examples to figure out what does a passive income mean.

12 Risk-Free Passive Income Ideas

If you are looking for passive income ideas, consider these low-risk ideas:

1. Blogging

If you create a successful blog and monetize it with affiliate marketing and ads, it can be a great source of passive income. Total investments are mostly mean spending a ton of time working on the blog. Plus, I suggest learning how to do it right so that you don’t waste your time and think that blogging is not working for you. Based on my experience, you need to find the perfect niche, create epic content, and learn how to monetize it.

For example, check this awesome blog about succulents Succulents Pal.

Here is a post with my  personal advice, tips, and strategies to reach success: How to Make Money Blogging | Big Little Secret to Success

Cash investment: you can start as low as $3,95 per month for hosting with Bluehost. But I suggest investing money into learning how to do it right.
Time investment: one-two years if done right
Potential income: six figures

2. Write an e-book

A great passive income idea is to publish an e-book. Publishing an e-book requires is a relatively cheap way to create a passive income. Therefore, if you have a story to tell and share, write a book.

Here is a great book about writing: The Last Book On Novel Writing You’ll Ever Need by Jessica Brody.

Check it out to get an idea of what it takes to write a book.

Cash investment: zero
Time investment: one month and up
Potential income: six figures

3. Sell an online course

Online courses are very popular, especially nowadays, when everything is transformed into a remote realm. Create an online course, or a guide, or a manual and will bring money. It can be anything from yoga classes to gardening.

The best platform to create courses is Teachable.

Cash investment: zero
Time investment: one month and up
Potential income: six figures

4. Sell a digital product

Do you know who got very rich during the Golden rush? No, not the gold diggers. But the people who sold equipment to the gold diggers. Think in this direction to find passive income ideas but in terms of the digital world. You can create mobile apps, online games, software, digital tool, etc. if you’re into development, or you can hire someone to implement the idea. In any case, make sure to make proper research to find out if the idea is valid.

Cash investment: zero
Time investment:  one year and up to implement, develop, and publish the product
Potential income: six figures

5. Sell designs

Another digital passive income idea is to create designs and sell merchandise with. Head to CafePress to create custom t-shirts, posters, and so much more.

With CafePress you download your designs and receive a commission every time someone buys a product with it.

Cash investment: zero
Time investment: a month or two
Potential income: a couple of hundreds, not much. But again, this is passive income.

6. Rent real estate

Renting a property has been one of the best passive income ideas for a long time. You can invest money into a rental property, but remember that we are discussing low rick passive ideas. Therefore I suggest turning your current house into a rental property once you’re ready to move into a bigger house or to another city. Don’t sell it, rent it.

At least this is my plan for my condo. Meanwhile, another goal that pushes me to make more money is to save for another downpayment.

Cash investment: zero
Time investment: zero
Potential income: $10-20k annually

7. Rent a room

You can start making money by renting real estate earlier. Just rent out a room or a basement. Find a roommate who will pay part of your mortgage.

Cash investment: zero
Time investment: zero
Potential income: $5-10k annually

8. Rent a space

Many people pay for renting a storage space. You can help them out and make money if you have free space. Rent storage space at Neighbor.

Cash investment: zero
Time investment: zero
Potential income: $100 and up annually

9. Rent a car

Do you use all of the cars in your household all the time? Probably not. Let others rent your car on Turo when you don’t use it. These payments can cover your lease and create a passive income.

Cash investment: zero if you rent out your car. Some people buy several cars specifically to rent on Turo
Time investment: Text
Potential income: $100 and up annually

10. Youtube videos

Did you know how much do Youtubers make? In short, a lot. Moreover, not all Youtuber stars provide great value. Some just vlog about their life. But of course, it is better to provide value. In that case, even one video with useful information can bring positive cash flow.

Cash investment: zero
Time investment: a couple of months and even less
Potential income: six figures

11. High Yield Savings Accounts

I’m a true believer that money should work. Therefore keeping money in the regular savings account is no good because all the interest income is zeroed by inflation. But one the Dave Ramsay steps to financial freedom is setting aside some amount for a rainy day. So if you follow Dave Ramsay strategy (which I recommend, because it is a smart money management system), you’ll need a savings account to do that. Therefore make a choice towards a savings account with good interest.

Cash investment: equal to 3-6 months of expenses
Time investment: long term
Potential income: $100 and up annually

12. CDs

A great alternative to saving accounts are Certificates of Deposits (CDs). Check for the current rates to choose the best.

Cash investment: equal to 3-6 months of expenses
Time investment: long term
Potential income: $100 and up annually

Additional passive income ideas

The list of passive income ideas goes on and on. But I decided to round up easy and low-risk passive income ideas that require little money investment and mostly depend on the amount of time invested.

If you’re ready to invest more time into research and money into investments here are additional passive income ideas:

  • Stocks and Bonds
  • Peer-to-peer lending. Check Lendingclub and Prosper to invest in P2P.
  • Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)
  • Crowdfunded rentals. Check Fundrise and DiversyFund to invest in crowdfunded rentals.
  • Robo-investing. The most popular instruments are Betterment or M1 Finance.

How to start generating passive income

Anyone can start making passive income. All you need to do is to switch the mindset towards smart money management. With an attitude set to reach financial goals and wealth, you’ll be able to see the opportunities to make and save money and use them to achieve financial goals.

Here is what you need to do to start generating passive income:

1. Invest in yourself

Spend some time to understand how money work. First of all, anyone can get rich no matter the starting capital. Secondly, if you don’t believe this, it means you need to learn about the basics of how money actually work.

To better understand money, cashflow, and personal finance, I suggest starting with reading financial books. My all-time favorites are Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki and The Richest Man in Babylon by George Clason.

These books are very easy to understand, and yet they are game-changers. After reading these two books, your attitude towards money will never be the same.

Moreover, Rich Dad Poor Dad and The Richest Man in Babylon will help you understand why it is great to have a passive income.

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2. Spend money smart

A penny saved is a penny earned, right? That is to say, you’d better be smart about your expenses. To create a passive income source and reach financial goals, you need to cut some expenses and sacrifice some things. For example, in terms of creating a passive income source, it is better to spend money on an online course that will teach new skills that can be used to create a passive income source.

3. Find a side hustle

A side hustle can either help generate money for an investment or create a passive source of income.

There are many side hustle ideas to choose from depending on the amount of time you have, interests, and skills.

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That is to say, once you’ve implemented one of the passive income ideas, move to create the next passive income source. Following this strategy, your passive income will grow like a snowball.

In conclusion

To sum up, I’d like to mention that there are high-rick passive income ideas that require a lot of research. But there are also almost rick free ideas that anyone, no matter the current financial situation, can implement to build the wealth that I’ve tried to cover in this post.

Let me know which on the passive income ideas look the most appealing to you in the comments below!