“The Passive Income Myth”, by Joseph Hogue, is my favorite pick for people who want to begin their passive income journeys. The book talks about 4 different passive income strategies, all strategies that I consistently preach about. In fact, if I were going to write a book about passive income strategies, this is the book I would write. The four different passive income types that he writes about are 1) rental income 2) blogs/online business 3) dividend stocks 4) bonds. Along with working as an employee, these 4 income methods will make you a well-rounded money maker. This book is a great starting point for each of these topics because it is simple enough to understand but also deep enough to give you ideas on how to go more in-depth, if need be. He also talks about different ideas inside each of the income methods and gives his rating on how truly passive the income is. This book is a must-have, and I wish this were the second book I ever read, after “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”. With that, let’s get into my five takeaways.
1) Real Estate Investing- The author talks about two types of real estate investing, direct and indirect investing. Direct investing would be buying a single-family, multi-family, or commercial property and renting to tenets, hopefully for a profit. Direct investing also includes flipping homes. He talks about the pros and cons of both. Indirect investing concerns investing in Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) on the stock market. Personally, I lump these into the stock market investing, but I can understand those who consider them separately. Either way, it is good to invest in real estate. I also like to throw a nod to my favorite real estate investing type, renting rooms!
2) Blogs- Blogs are not the passive income stream that people think they are. They take work. Work that most people do not like. I personally love it. I control my own schedule. It forces me to be creative. There is a method to becoming a great blogger. I don’t want to be a huge blogger. That is not my intent. I just want something that I can do for an hour a day and get a good amount of money. But it takes time to build an audience. That’s okay, that is why I have a day job. The book goes into ways to make your blog successful. I think that everyone needs to have either a blog, YouTube, Facebook group, or Pinterest. Or a combination of these. This is the way of the future. Big brands are great, but people want to buy things from people they trust, not companies they do not trust.
3) Online Store- Online stores via Amazon and Shopify are also the wave of the future, however, you need an audience. How do you get an audience? You build one. That is the part that most people do not want to do. You can do it via Facebook, Youtube, etc… But you need content in order to sell products. This goes hand-in-hand with blogs. Whatever you decide, get out there and keep growing an audience. It will pay off eventually.
4) Income Investing- He splits income investing into two categories, dividend investing and master limited partnership (MLP) investing. Dividend investing is something I champion regularly. I love dividend investing. You can check out my series on dividend investing (here). Dividend investing takes more research than index fund investing, so proceed with caution. MLPs are like REITs but for energy companies. They usually pay good dividends and have certain tax benefits. I haven’t looked into these before, however, now I am going to invest some money into them.
5) Bonds- Bonds are the boring guys in the bunch, however, they are also extremely important. They anchor your income when the stock market goes crazy. You need some stability in a hectic world. I invest in bonds via TreasuryDirect and also I use electronic traded funds (ETFs) to invest. You can also buy bonds directly for companies, as well as baby bonds on the stock market. There are many ways to buy bonds, but the takeaway is “don’t forget to invest in bonds.”
Passive Income is everyone’s dream. To be able to live on the beach with money incoming is a dream. Hell, it’s my dream. But you have to understand what you are investing in. You have to be diversified, even within each category. My goal is to have passive income coming in from 4 different categories: retirement programs, income investing, real estate income, and business income. I want $6,000 a month from each of these categories. This forces me to think outside the box and ensure not all my eggs are in the same basket. “If you want more, you need to be more.” This means that in order to get to my goal, I will have to push myself past my limits. I cannot settle. “The Passive Income Myth” is an amazing step in the right path to direction if you want to live on the wealth that you create. Using these strategies, you will be able to supplement any retirement plan. I recommend this book to anyone who wants more and therefore has to be more.
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Disclosure: I am not a financial advisor or money manager, and any knowledge is given as guidance and not direct actionable investment advice. I am an Amazon Affiliate. Please research any investment vehicles that are being considered. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it. I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
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