Imagine receiving a constant stream of cash every day while you do nothing except breathe.
YES, it’s highly possible. No, this isn’t a spammy ad. THIS IS NOT A DRILL!
Passive income is a way to build wealth without working long hours at the office.
Everyone wants to get rich overnight. But passive income, the art of building mechanisms that gives you great returns “while you sleep,” is not as easy or laidback as it sounds.
The reality is, to start off, building passive income channels takes a great deal of effort, skills and time. However, the idea is that the returns in the long run will be infinitely larger than the time and effort it takes to maintain these passive income sources, and you’ll definitely have to worry less about getting a 9/5 job.
The ideas below are just our concepts for creating a passive income stream. These are not guarantees or promises – rather sources of inspirations for you!
1. Start trading stocks
The stock market may seem like an extremely daunting place, especially if you don’t study finance. It takes as little as RM500 to get started with trading stocks, but the rewards are great if you know how to play the game well. If you are over 18, have no idea where or how to start investing in stock at Bursa Malaysia (the Malaysian stock market) and have a penchant for poker, here’s a mini three-step guide:
I. Open a Central Depository System (CDS) account at some banks or stockbroking companies.
II. At the same time, either:
A. Open a trading account with an experienced broker, or
B. Make an online trading account (there’ll be smaller fees and you won’t have to pay your broker, but if you have little experience this could go awry).
III. Find companies to buy shares from. Diversify your investments, and think long-term.
Once you start trading stocks and getting returns from your money, all your efforts will pay off. If not, buying stocks will teach you how to be resilient, think strategically and act opportunistically – and a great source of passive portfolio income if you continue in the long run.
2. Sell your things on Amazon, Lazada, eBay… with zero effort
Chances are that in your lifetime you’ve unconsciously collected a lot of things like books, CDs, cassettes, DVDs, Blu-Rays, toys, clothes, electronic parts, etc. Anything with intrinsic worth can be potentially sold online: there will always be a niche market, and you can get good bidder prices for these collectibles, especially if they are unavailable elsewhere.
All you have to do is have things to sell. This might sound like active income, but if you partition your manpower right and calculate your costs correctly, it is a 100% passive income. Hire a personal assistant (like an online freelancer, or your freshly unemployed best friend) to sort out your goods, put the products online, find buyers to bid while still making a profit out of your items by measuring your costs well.
3. Rent Out Your Property to Students
If you have spare property – even an extra guest-room might suffice – you can, instead of outright selling, rent out your property via an online platform. You can start listing your property on websites like HostelHunting so there’s a greater channel for you to get renters! 😉
This step requires almost no capital (unless your ‘spare property’ is a dilapidated house resembling a bird’s faeces), no effort and no time spent on building your income stream at all. The returns of your rental go straight into your pocket.
4. Get cashback on your credit card
This is probably the easiest way to gain passive income, because all you have to do is register for a cashback credit card and spend on what you usually need to buy anyway – and you’ll automatically get a percentage (usually 0.05%) of what you spent every month. While this isn’t encouragement to go crazily out of your means to shop, it’s good incentive to spend while saving more money with every additional ringgit you spend.
Stay tuned next week for more #adulting101 tips!