If you have daydreams about retirement, you don’t necessarily have to quit working. With the gig economy in full effect, there are plenty of ways to get some major payouts while simultaneously feeling like you are retired or on a vacation.
“If you have a penchant or experience for a certain trade, leverage these skills by utilizing freelance platforms such as Upwork or Fiverr,” recommended Kevin Huffman, the owner of Kriminil Trading. “You can find prospective project-based clients and work when you want, and how you want, potentially commanding top dollar for your skills.”
Huffman pointed to a 2023 study by Upwork that found that U.S.-based freelance knowledge workers billed $67 per hour on average. Freelance is just the tip of the money-making iceberg and still might require some elbow grease on your part.
So here are six ways to make big money while feeling like you are already retired.
Invest in Dividend-Paying Stocks
Stocks are a wonderful option for creating passive income streams, but don’t just throw your money in willy-nilly. Instead, focus on stocks that come with one thing in particular: dividends.
Adam Garcia, founder of The Stock Dork, said this “is an investment vehicle that allows the investor to receive steady income distribution based on the company’s success without adjusting the stock position actively.”
Garcia explained that this means “investors could identify companies that have consistently been paying their shareholders a portion of their earnings in kind while at the same time … creating healthy balance sheets.”
From a tax planning perspective, investing in dividend-paying stocks and mutual funds can be a lucrative form of passive income, according to David Brillant, tax, trust and estate lawyer at Brillant Law.
“These investments provide regular dividend payouts and potential capital appreciation,” Brillant said. “With the right financial advisor, you can create a diversified portfolio that aligns with your risk tolerance and financial goals, generating steady income streams.”
Learn More: Barbara Corcoran’s 5 Best Passive Income Ideas
Real Estate Investments
Buying property is just the first step to getting a return on investment. The next is putting that property to work and growing the amount of money coming back to you, including rental houses or apartments that act as sources of passive income most of the time without intensive oversight.
“By utilizing property management services, you can earn passive income from rent without daily involvement,” Brilliant said. “Real estate also offers appreciation benefits and tax advantages that can significantly boost your wealth over time.”
Peer-to-Peer Lending
Loaning money to friends, family and neighbors shouldn’t be a favor — it should be a way to make passive income. Take a note from the banks and make sure you are including interest, which goes right into your pocket.
“Peer-to-peer lending platforms allow you to lend money directly to individuals or small businesses in exchange for interest payments,” said Brian Quigley, finance expert and founder of Beacon Lending. “This can be a high-yield investment option, often providing better returns than traditional savings accounts or bonds.”
According to Quigley, peer-to-peer lending requires a bit of upfront research to choose the right platform, as well as borrowers. After the initial setup, your P2P can generate consistent passive income with relatively low ongoing involvement.
The average return on P2P reportedly is 5% to 9%, but some investors report making over 10%.
Passive Income Streams From Intellectual Property
Harnessing current intellectual property assets such as patents, trademarks or copyrighted compositions can generate steady revenues for inventors, in Garcia’s opinion.
“Franchise, rent or syndication arrangements offer some means for authors or inventors to earn revenue from their inventions or ideas while not directly engaging themselves in processes of production and delivery of the products,” Garcia explained.
This also can come in the form of e-books, online courses and other properties that you might have the rights or ownership to.
Brillant said, “Once these products are created and uploaded to platforms like Udemy or Amazon Kindle, they continue to generate revenue with minimal ongoing effort.”
High-Yield Savings Accounts and CDs
Putting your investment dollar in money market mutual funds or FDIC-insured accounts such as savings accounts with high interest or CDs is a smart move to earn big while doing very little. That’s because these methods of investing give you back a higher interest that can then be utilized to generate additional passive income on your cash balances with only the most minimal of setup efforts.
“Although regular savings accounts and CDs can pay competitive interest rates,” Garcia said, “the effective interest rate, and thus the opportunity for the generation of income from idle wealth, can be higher in high-yield savings accounts and CDs.”
Passive Income Through Royalties and Residuals
If you are a creative person in the entertainment industry or art scene, you might be able to do your craft and make money as a writer, performer, musician, producer or other creator.
“Benefits for entertainment industries include royalties and residuals wherein musicians, authors, movie producers and performers receive income after a creative product such as music, books or films has been sold or used in the long term,” Garcia noted.
Income from residuals and royalties, according to Garcia, are “best realized through licensing of rights in the works or entering into royalty agreements with distributors or publishers, from which they receive royalties from sales, broadcast or streaming royalties.”
He added, “One should think intentionally about developing a diverse portfolio of creative products and trying to negotiate reasonable terms towards royalties in order to achieve the higher passive income streams in the entertainment business.”
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Source: 6 Ways To Make Big Money While Feeling Like You Are Already Retired
