How To Invest To Generate A Passive Income

Generating a passive income is hard to do, but there are many ways to do it (here's a list of 20 different ways to generate a passive income). But today I specifically want to talk to you about how to invest to generate a passive income.

It is important to note that most income is not truly passive in the sense that no work was required.  However, in my examples below, you will see how the income is now passive since the work was done prior to the income being made.

Also, when it comes to investing to generate a passive income stream, most of the time it's money that's required up front. It's nearly impossible to create an investing passive income stream without capital. However, the amount doesn't need to be large, and you can allow your investing income stream to reinvest and grow over time.

Passive Investment Income

The first major way individuals generate passive income is through investments.  This can be done because many investments distribute gains in the form of dividends or distributions.  These dividends and distributions are income, and many people are able to live off of them.

A common strategy is to put together a portfolio of high dividend paying stocks.  In fact, there is an ETF that trades under the symbol DVY that does just this – it is the top dividend paying stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Also, you could invest in something like peer to peer lending, where you loan money and get paid back interest, but it's all automated.

I personally invest in high paying dividend stocks, peer to peer lending, and also REITs (which I will actually discuss more below).  These stocks pay dividends quarterly, and I count the income when I receive it.

Investment income is passive once the investment is made, but most investments to require some work in the form of research and ongoing monitoring of positions. You, of course, also need to have some money to invest.

Passive Royalty Income

Some royalty income is truly passive – if you lease your land for natural resource production.  You really didn't have to do much besides negotiate a contract with a company.  However, there may be work involved in monitoring the company and following up on the contract.

However, most royalty income is the result of hard work.  Most individuals create something, and spend a lot of time and resources doing so.  They then sell the rights to the creation (whether a product, a song, etc.), and they get income from others using and selling their works.  In this case, the work is up front, but there is no longer work once the income is coming in.

A new form of royalty income is investing in blogs and websites. Once again, this requires some investment, and usually some time, but could provide a nice income stream.

Passive Rental Income

Some people consider rental property income to be passive, and others consider it to be more like a business.   I consider it to be a combination of both – you have to treat it like a business and it requires work to find tenants and do the general maintenance, but once it is rented, the income is usually pretty passive.  You get your rent each month and pay the expenses, and you don't usually need to do much else.

One of the most popular investments right now is crowdfunded real estate. Instead of having to buy and manage a rental property (and having to use a large amount of money), you can now join others on platforms to invest in real estate. This allows you to invest much smaller amounts of money (typically $1,000 or $5,000) and you get a slice of a property that earns you money.

Services like RealtyShares allow you to invest as little as $5,000 into real estate investments. Think of RealtyShares like LendingClub for Real Estate Investing.

This allows you to make your real estate investment even more passive compared to owning your own properties. Check RealtyShares out – they’re getting a lot of attention in this space. We offer our readers a bonus of $25 to start to off. Simply reply to the “Congratulations on Linking Your Bank Account” email with the referral code TCI25. It takes up to 30 days to process the referral code and make the payment, but it’s free money.

Another similar platform is FundRise. They let you start investing in real estate at a $1,000 minimum.

Passive Business Income

This one may be shocking to most, but you can have passive business income.  There are two main ways to do this:

1. Be a partner in a business (usually a limited partner)
2. Invest in a partnership

If you are interested in venture capital, a common way to make money is to become a limited partner in a round of financing.  You don't get much say, but you don't do much work either.  You can then (possibly) earn a return on your investment.

You can be a partner in a variety of companies without much experience through crowdfunding. Check out all of the major equity crowdfunding platforms and know the risks.

Another common way to get passive business income is to invest in a business.  You can invest in Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs), which trade like stocks, but are taxed as partnerships.  You can also invest in REITs, which are like stocks, except distribute most of their income, like businesses.

Final Thoughts

Investing is a great way to build a passive income stream. You can build a diversified portfolio of investments that can work together to generate a steady stream of income. Once you make your investment, little work is actually required, making this one of the most passive income streams available.

Readers, what other ways do you know of that can generate passive income?