Knowing how to make passive income online is like knowing how to grow money on trees. If it were truly easy to make a passive income stream, everyone would quit their day jobs and never have to work a day in their lives. But in reality, this is not the case.
The truth is, making income without trading your time for money, i.e. working, is not easy. Short of starting your own business (which almost always has a high upfront cost), there are far fewer ways to make passive income than you might imagine. Gary Vaynerchuck, the entrepreneurial motivational speaker, says there are two types of passive income: income from investments in the stock market and investments in real estate.
For the most part, I think this is pretty accurate. Thankfully, we live in a digital age, and it’s possible to invest in real estate and the stock market with automated services that won’t take up any of your time. Because, remember, if you spend your time focusing on the stock market or real estate to turn a profit, you’re technically working, and the idea here is to make money without working. Even if you only earn 2% annually, it’s 100% better than earning 0%.
This is a table of the best online services to earn passive income in 2019. From online real estate to impact investing, these services are highly rated and will set you on the right track to earning passive income.
Top Passive Income Methods
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List of Passive Income Methods for 2019 |
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Passive Income Method |
Best Choice |
ROI |
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Online Real Estate Investing |
6.08% $500 minimum |
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Online Real Estate Investing |
12% (accredited investors only) |
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Money Market Account |
1.85% guaranteed |
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High Yield CD |
2.05% with 1yr lockup |
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Online Surveys |
Must do manual surveys |
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Selling Unused Items |
Depends on items |
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The most obvious way to earn passive income online is with a high yielding bank account. Traditional savings accounts at mainstream banks like Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase pay virtually zero interest on client balances and charge outrageous monthly fees, yet millions turn a blind eye.
The Best Option for Earning Passive Interest
Online only banks, however, like CIT Bank, pay very healthy interest on all balances over $100. CIT’s Money Market Account (full review here) pays a whopping 1.75% interest that compounds everyday. Without question, this is the best way to earn truly passive income. Plus, there are never any maintenance, inactivity, or monthly fees with any CIT Bank accounts.
CIT Bank’s High Yield CD is also a very popular choice for earning as high as 2.05% APY. Keep in mind, with a CD, if you withdraw your money before the term is over (typical terms range form 12 to 36 months), you can face a penalty where your interest is diminished. This is why we prefer the flexibility that a money market account offers, and there is still no risk of loss since all CIT accounts are FDIC insured.
Online Surveys – An Alternative
Although this form of income is not truly passive, you won’t have to answer to a boss and you can set your own hours. In fact, completing online surveys from home is a clever way to earn anywhere from $50 to $500+ every month.
Survey Junkie is the best website to get started with online surveys. They pay promptly in cash via PayPal, and you’ll even earn a few dollars just for signing up and completing the 1 minute questionnaire.
Selling Unused Items
We count selling unused items as a form of passive income, because once you take a picture of an item and post it for sale on Craigslist, 95% of the work is done.
The hard part is finding and/or having the items to sell. Going through your closet to find unused items is not as daunting as it sounds, and this is an easy way to make a few hundred dollars every month. After you take a photo of your item, create a compelling Craigslist post advertising your item for sale, all you have to do is sit back and wait for someone to send you an email with an offer to buy!
Online Real Estate Investing
The best way to invest in real estate is with an online service called Fundrise. There is only a $500 minimum, and you’ll gain access to lucrative private real estate deals. This is a far more efficient way of investing in real estate and earning passive online income.
There is also a service called PeerStreet that invests in real estate mortgages, but the catch is that you must be an accredited investor to join. Since investing in real estate debt is deemed risky by the SEC, you’ll need to make over $250,000 a year or have a net worth of over $1 million to use this form of passive income.
If you are eligible, you can expect a return of 6 to 12% annually on the money that you give PeerStreet, which is then used to finance various mortgages and real estate loans. It’s a great way to diversify from stocks and tap into the housing market without doing any of the legwork, but we still prefer Fundrise because of the lower barrier to entry.
Final Thoughts on How to Make Passive Income
Sitting back and watching your money grow every month is one of life’s most satisfying pleasures, if you value wealth creation, that is. We do, and it doesn’t matter if you have $0 or $1 million, there are always ways to generate passive and additional income online without ever having to set foot in an office or traditional work environment.
If you don’t have any money to invest passively, a great place to start is by completing surveys with Survey Junkie. And if you do have some extra cash on the sidelines, and you want to earn a passive return, there are no excuses why you shouldn’t already be earning 1.75% with CIT Bank.
Earning passive income is totally possible, you just need to take action and actually make it happen. As crazy as it sounds, the truth is, most people are too lazy to even make passive income, and they’re content with 0.01% interest from their bank and would rather use their free time to watch TV and eat potato chips – don’t let this be you.