31 Best Passive Income Ideas for 2018 
Passive income. We all want it. We all crave it. We all want to make money without work. But how can you actually make passive income in 2018?
Well, there are four main ways to make passive income:
- By investing money
- By investing time
- By renting things out
- By getting paid to do activities you do anyway, such as getting paid to shop on Amazon.
Below we have given you specific ideas for each of these four passive income categories for a total of 31 passive income ideas.
If You Have Money
The most passive forms of income will require you to put up at least a little bit of money up-front.
Here is our top passive income picks for 2018.
1. Invest in real estate with as little as $500.
In the old days, you needed a lot of money to invest in real estate.
$500 would not have cut it.
But thanks to advances in technology, real estate investing has become democratized.
Now, if you have $500 or $1,000 in your pocket, you can get started investing in real estate through a platform called Fundraiser.
Fundraiser is the first private market real estate investing platform.
By combining technology with new federal regulations, Fundrise lets you invest in the once-unattainable world of private investments.
Click here to learn more about Fundrise.
2. Lend money in $25 increments earning 4-6%.
Lending out money is one of the oldest ways to earn passive income. It’s essentially renting out your money for either people to use, and the rent you charge is known as the interest rate.
Now, in the old days, if you wanted to lend money to somebody, in particular, you were taking on a pretty risky business, unless he or she put up some form of collateral. But now, thanks to technology, you can spread out the risk by only lending your money in $25 increments.
How does this work? Well, let’s say Borrower A needs a $25,000 loan. Instead of going to one entity, like a bank or rich person, to borrow the full $25,000 — which would be very risky to that one entity — he or she borrows $25 from 1,000 people. This scenario presents much less risk because the most any single investor could lose is only $25.
Such an arrangement would have been administratively impossible just 15 years ago. But thanks to the wonders of the Internet, it is now very possible, and the peer-to-peer lending industry, as it’s known, is thriving for borrowers and investors alike.
Click here if you have $25 and you’d like to earn way more interest than the bank pays you.
3. $50 Bonus: Invest in dividend-paying stocks.
We love dividends here at Money Done Right.
When you invest in a dividend-paying stock, you are acquiring a portion of a company that somebody else built and that thousands of other people work for, and they are giving you a portion of their profits. Blows my mind!
There are plenty of great places to open up a stock-investing account, but the one that’s getting us hot and bothered at the moment is Wealthsimple.
They’ve developed a pretty amazing platform and for a For a very limited time, Wealthsimple is giving a $50 sign-up bonus to Money Done Right readers if they sign up and fund a new account through our Wealthsimple Free $50 Sign-Up Bonus Link and fund it with at least $100.
Yes, this is really free money. There are no gimmicks here! If you’d like to learn more about Wealthsimple and why we think it’s great, check out our Wealthsimple Review.
4. Invest in a duplex, triplex, or fourplex.
More young people should start investing in real estate. I think a big misconception about real estate investing is that you need a lot of money to get started. You don’t! My first property was a 4-unit property in a suburb of Los Angeles that I picked up in my 20s for only 3.5% down.
Check out my article How 20-Something Me Bought a Fourplex in L.A. With Only $15k Out of Pocket to learn about my first real estate purchase.
5. Put money into high-yield savings accounts.
Yeah, this one’s pretty boring and doesn’t have the pizzazz of the others, and you won’t make nearly as much money. But it’s also the least risky by far. We recommend Capital One. They have no fees, a 0.75% APY on savings accounts, and will give you $25 for opening an account if you deposit at least $250 at account opening.
Click here to open up your no-fee checking or savings account now!
6. Pay off debt.
This one’s kind of funny, we know. You’re not really putting your money to work by making you money, but putting your money to work by saving you money. And arguably, this is more important and has greater economic value than passive income! You can read why in our article How to Make Your Money Work For You, Part 1: Pay Down Debt.
7. Invest in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
Many people have become unlikely millionaires by investing in cryptocurrencies, and the concept of cryptocurrencies is not without merit.
If you would like to receive a $10 bonus to start investing in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, please click my Coinbase $10 Sign-Up Bonus Link to buy some right now (the markets are 24/7).
Related: [$10 Bonus] I Finally Bought Some Bitcoin. Here’s Why.
If You Have Time
The forms of passive income we describe below involve you creating a cash-flowing asset rather than merely purchasing one with the methods above. Therefore, these forms of passive income will require some up-front investment of time. However, eventually, you will be sitting on a cash-flowing asset spinning off hundreds or even thousands of dollars a month of passive income.
8. Start a blog.
I love blogging! Not only do I find it extremely enjoyable to share what I know about my passion (personal finance) with others, but I am making thousands of dollars a month from it, somewhat passively — and I just launched my blog this year! And as an accountant by trade, I had absolutely no formal training in either writing or computers!
If you would like additional information about setting up your blog as well as making money from it (and more!), I recommend that you sign up for my free blogging e-course below.
9. Write an e-book.
E-books can be an incredible source of recurring residual income, month after month and year after year. You put in a lot of work now, and you profit for the rest of your life. And thanks to technology, it’s easier than ever to become a published author. You can do it all yourself on platforms like Amazon Kindle! Interested? Click here to check out this online course taken by over 33,000 Amazon Kindle authors to learn how to make and create e-books quickly and profitably!
10. Create an online course.
This is basically tutoring on steroids. Also, an online course has the potential to become an incredible passive income stream since you only have to put in the work once to profit forever. If you’re interested in creating an online course, I recommend you click here to sign up for a FREE webinar on how to launch your own profitable online course.
11. Design T-shirts.
Did you know that over 2 billion T-shirts are sold every year? It’s true! Think about how many T-shirts you own. Probably at least a dozen or two, right? And consider the fact that every one of those T-shirts had a designer who was paid handsomely for his or her creativity.
And just one or two T-shirts that you design today could provide you with passive income for years to come! And you can get started designing T-shirts from the comfort of your own home.
That’s right. Somebody else can handle for you all the production, inventory, and shipping. It’s true! Interested? Then click here to check out our full article on this very subject “How to Make Money Selling T-Shirts Online.”
12. Sell your photos.
Are you good behind the camera? Then you can make a somewhat passive side income licensing your photos online for others to download.
For example, I get all my pictures for this blog from various stock photo sites on the Internet. And every time I download a photo, the photographer who uploaded it gets a royalty!
Licensing one picture that you take and upload now can give you cash flow forever as it’s downloaded again and again!
Sound appealing? Click here to get an exclusive discount on a 4.5/5.0-rated course taken by over 1,200 photographers to learn exactly how you can make extra income licensing your photos online.
13. Invent something.
Invent something once, and either sell it or license it for passive income forever! Believe it or not, you don’t have to be a Thomas Edison to make money inventing things.
In the modern day, it’s actually easier to make money inventing things than it was in Edison’s day. In the 21st century, we have the advantages of 3D printing, outsourced manufacturing, and automated fulfillment.
Interested? Click here to get an exclusive Money Done Right discount on a 5.0/5.0-rated online course on becoming an inventor in the new global economy!
14. Write a song.
If you have musical inclinations, then writing a song for passive income can be perfect for you. Thinks about it. You spend a few weeks, days, or even hours writing a song, and you can collect royalties on it for years to come!
Just like with becoming a passive income-earning inventor you don’t need to be an Edison, you don’t need to be a Mozart to make a decent stream of passive income from making music online. In fact, many musicians are making a passive income just through easy-to-write selling beats online! Click here to check out Todd Hathcock’s $2.99 e-book How to Create a Passive Income Selling Beats Online.
If You Have Things
Maybe you don’t have money to invest right now, and you don’t have time either. What can you do? Well, you can take stock of your stuff and see if you can turn any of them into cash-flowing assets by renting them out. Read how below.
15. Rent out your car.
Do you simply drive to work and leave your car sitting in a parking lot all day? Or are you going on a vacation soon while your car will be left unused at home? If so, renting out your automobile while you’re not using it could be an easy source of income for you.
There is a website called Turo that acts as a private rental car listing service. When you rent your car through Turo, your car is protected against physical damage, up to its actual cash value, for collision and most “comprehensive” causes, including theft. You are also covered by $1 million in liability insurance. If this sounds like something you would be interested, click here to sign up to rent out your car at Turo.
16. Rent out your spare room.
Renting out lodging can be an incredible way to earn extra money. I know some people making thousands of dollars a month, all by renting out an extra room to short-term guests.
Now, if you wanted to do this 10 years ago, you would’ve had to post an ad in the classifieds or on shady old Craigslist. Gladly, those days are over. You can now put up your spare room for rent on Airbnb and screen out prospective guests. (Guests are rated by their hosts for things like cleanliness and communication.)
If you’d like to sign up to become an Airbnb host, check out my article Make Extra Money with Airbnb.
17. Rent out your clothes.
You know that corner of the closet filled with clothes you may have worn once for some special occasion like your wedding dress or really any kind of fancy dress, graduation gown, or tuxedo? Or maybe some random costume you wore to a Halloween party?
Well, that little corner could be a small gold mine for you. That’s right. See, there are plenty of people in your town who would prefer to rent such high-ticket or limited-use items rather than own them outright. And I’m sure they’d love to rent from you. If this sounds like something that interests you, click here to sign up to list your clothes on Loanables by clicking here!
18. Rent out your bike.
You have a bicycle in your garage. Do you ride it every day? No? Then why not let someone else pay you to use it?
If you’d like to sign up to list your bike, follow my link here where you can sign up for Spinlister (and get $5 ride credit), and then once you are signed up, click on the “List a Ride” button to rent out your wheels.
19. Rent out your instruments.
Whether it’s an old Fender, your tuba from band class, or that piano your great-aunt gave you a few years back, chances are there’s someone out there willing to rent it out from you.
The truth is that musical instruments cost a pretty penny, and there are plenty of people out there who would prefer to rent rather than own them.
Maybe it’s a frugal mom or dad who wants to sign their little prodigy up for piano lessons but isn’t sure about the long-term financial and space commitment to purchasing a Steinway. Or maybe it’s the cash-strapped college student who wants to start a band but doesn’t have the money saved up for a new guitar.
And it’s up to you to help them out to let their musical talents shine! There’s a relatively new company, Sparkplug, that lets you list your musical instruments, equipment, or even rehearsal room or studio to interested parties. If you’d like to rent out anything music-related, sign up to list your items or space on Sparkplug by clicking here!
20. Rent out your garage or parking spot.
Have a two-car garage but you only have one car? Or do you have a parking spot that you won’t be needing for a while? Then consider renting it out! Post in the area around where your garage or parking spot is located, letting people know that you are willing to rent it for the dollar amount you choose and see who calls! If you live in a major metropolitan area where parking is at a premium, you should be able to command a pretty penny for your spot.
21. Rent out your backyard.
If you have a backyard or really any open space where people could gather, consider renting it out on Nookzy. Nooky can arrange various accommodations to make your space more venue-friendly, such as restroom solutions, lighting, and hot tubs. If you are interested in learning more about Nookzy and becoming a host, click here.
Get Paid For Doing Things You Would Do Anyway
This is probably the most passive form of income out of all of them — getting paid to do things you would already do anyway! It doesn’t get much more passive than that! Read on to find out how.
22. Get paid to shop on Amazon.
If you’re a regular Amazon shopper, you can earn money each month simply by letting a research company track your purchase history.
Shop tracker will instantly send you a free $3 Visa gift card, plus another $3 for every month you keep it installed if you sign up through our link.
23. Get paid to search the Internet.
Swagbucks will pay you to simply use its search engine. Yup. It’s pretty darn easy. And the search results aren’t too bad either. To learn more, click here.
24. Get cash back on every grocery trip.
Ibotta gives you cash back simply for snapping photos of your shopping receipt from your phone! We have made hundreds of dollars using this app, and you can get started today. Also, if you sign up through my Ibotta $10 Sign-Up Bonus Link, you’ll receive a $10 sign-up bonus just for trying Ibotta!
Read my article Ibotta Review: Why you NEED This Money-Making App for more information about Ibotta!
25. Get cash back when you shop online.
Ebates gives you cash back just when you shop online through hundreds of vendors. Also, if you sign up through my Ebates $10 Sign-Up Bonus Link, you’ll receive a $10 sign-up bonus when you make your first $25 in purchases through Ebates.
Read my article Ebates Review: It’s Simply the Best Cash Back Website for more information about Ebates!
26. Get paid to watch TV.
Believe it or not, there is a company out there that will pay you to watch TV. This company is called Swagbucks, and you can get a $5 sign-up bonus if you sign up through my Swagbucks $5 bonus link!
27. Get paid to walk.
I just made $10 for walking, paid in cash via PayPal. It’s true!
There’s a new app, Sweatcoin, that will pay you for every step you take. It motivates me to go for more runs, take the stairs more often, and be an all-around more active person.
If you’d like to get paid to walk too, click here to sign up for Sweatcoin now!
And this isn’t even the only way I’m making money by exercising. I’m also getting paid $480 to lose weight! Learn more in my article I’m Going to Get Paid to Lose Weight with HealthyWage!
28. Get paid to go to stores.
Did you know that you can earn gift cards simply by walking into stores? It’s true! So whether you’re a mall rat or just somebody who gets out every now and then, click here to download Shopkick, the app that gives you gift cards for just going into stores.
29. Get paid to have an ad on your car.
You’re familiar with billboard advertising, yes? Someone buys or builds a billboard, and then people pay that billboard owner to put their advertisements there. Pretty sweet gig for the billboard owner, right?
Now, what if I told you that your car could be a billboard? It’s true. There are companies out there who will pay you to advertise on your car! However, you have to be very careful with some of these companies as a lot of them are scams. Basically, if any car advertising company wants you to pay them money up-front, run away!
However, there are some legit companies in this industry. Be sure to check out Carvertise, Pay Me for Driving, and Autowrapped.
30. Get paid to hang out.
People will pay you to hang out with them. No kidding! Whether it’s someone new in town or someone who has an extra ticket to an event or someone looking for a workout partner, there are plenty of people out there who are willing to pay for your companionship. The largest database of people looking for friends is called Rent a Friend, and you can sign up to be a friend by clicking here!
31. Get paid to lose weight.
If I reach my goal weight, I’m going to collect a cash prize of $1,272. And you can do it too. Some folks have won $5,000 and even $10,000!
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