

I've now only got an SF rental condo and a Lake Tahoe vacation rental in my real-estate-rental portfolio. Although I miss my old house, I certainly don't miss paying $23,000 a year in property taxes and another mortgage, and dealing with leaks and managing terrible tenants. I drove by the other day and couldn't believe how much noisier and busier the street was than where I currently live. I wouldn't be comfortable raising my son there.
You can start by going to your personal Facebook page and posting about the teething ring you like and telling your friends about it.  Then include your Amazon Associates link to the product.  If one of your friends buys the teething ring after clicking on your link, you get a percentage of the sale.  Your friend doesn’t pay any extra, and you make money.  Win-Win.  Oh, and if your friend clicks your link to the baby teething ring and gets distracted and ends up buying a new vacuum–you still get your commission even though that’s not what you linked to!  Awesome!


You can make extra income by becoming a virtual assistant. This is something that I started doing after I created my blog. It doesn’t comprise a LARGE percentage of my extra income, but it is there. I like to be diversified just in case anything does happen to one of my other extra income streams (yes I realize that I am not fully diversified because a lot of my extra income is earned online – just in different ways).

I knew I didn't want to work 70 hours a week in finance forever. My body was breaking down, and I was constantly stressed. As a result, I started saving every other paycheck and 100% of my bonus since my first year out of college in 1999. By the time 2012 rolled around, I was earning enough passive income (about $78,000) to negotiate a severance and be free.
There was a time when CDs would produce a respectable 4%+ yield. Nowadays, you’ll be lucky to find a 5-7 year CD that provides anything above 2.5% The great thing about CDs is that there are no income or net worth minimums to invest, unlike many alternative investments, which require investors to be accredited. Anybody can go to their local bank and open up a CD of their desired duration. Furthermore, a CD is FDIC insured for up to $250,000 per individual, and $500,000 per joint account.

If you have a knack for a certain subject and live near a college, consider offering up your brain power and teaching skills for some quick cash. Grade school kids need help too, and parents pay better than college students. You can take this idea to the next level and scale by tutoring online. We have an interview post dedicated to a chemistry tutor who took his skills to Tutor.com.  To be successful, you have to have a good grasp of the concepts but also be able to find a way to relate topics using real-world examples.




This is one of my investments. It’s a very simple index fund. Took about 5 minutes to set up and it automatically withdraws from my bank account each month. Spend five minutes couponing and you’ll save a few bucks. Spend 5 minutes setting up an index fund and you’re likely to build substantial wealth over time if you invest consistently and don’t pull your money out with every little fluctuation in the market.

There are many comments about it being impossible to break into real estate with little money, or needing help from the bank of mommy and daddy. It is possible. I bought my first property, a multifamily, 6 months after graduating college, with a garbage job I got 3 months before and barely 7k in the bank. It’s now two years later and I’ve purchased a second this summer. Regarding management, I self-manage like most ‘small time’ landlords. Unless you own a massive apartment buidling, there’s no need to professional managment. Like another comment mentioned, I’ve only ever gotten heating issues or other minor things, for which I have a handyman to take care of. Aside from that, it’s fairly passive IMO. Dividend investing doesn’t require 100k either. It’s just an example the author used. I invest un securities with dividends ranging from 2-12%, and hedge/balance according to risk. Higher dividend % isn’t always better, but there are some good deals you can find. I think the key is to realize that you don’t need to stick to just one form of passive investment. Sure, 10 properties sounds daunting, and a $1M portfolio seems impossible, but you can combine both, as well as other passive income strategies. And ofc, the more risk you are willing to take on, the higher the potential reward (and loss). I day/swing trade, but wouldn’t advise this. It’s also not passive, I spend a massive amount of time researching and analyzing the technicals, but it’s worth it for now, as I’m fairly consistnet with profits. I have not tried blogging, and am not sure I’d be any good at it. I dabbled in ecommerce but found it was too time consuimg, but I know people who were able to quit their 9-5s from ecommerce. I’m sure no matter how much debt you have (i have 30k unsecured debt) or how little you think you make, there is a way to start investing today, even if it’s starting small.

Animal lovers can start dog walking or dog-sitting with apps such as Rover, Wag or DogVacay, or by sharing services on community boards or by word of mouth. Compensation will vary by location, app, frequency and the rates you charge. Users of these apps typically set their rates and work through the app to schedule boarding and walking requests from dog owners.
Focus groups are a little more involved than paid surveys, but they are a bit similar. Rather than ticking off a yes/no to say what you think about a product or service, you're invited to participate in discussions about what you tried, or share your thoughts via webcam. Focus groups also pay more than paid surveys, and sometimes you may be asked to leave your home and visit a location to do them.
