2023 was a record-breaking year for our passive income streams; however, we will make 2024 even more lucrative and exciting.
The magic of passive income is that it compounds itself every year. Once you get the income source going, it snowballs into a powerful stream that can change your life.
How did my individual passive income streams perform in 2023? What’s my plan to increase these streams in 2024? And most importantly, how can you start your own stream today? Let’s begin.
Being Broke Isn’t Cute Part II: Getting on the Right Path
Our 2023 income streams. Let’s take a quick look at how my streams fared this year. These are estimates because December hasn’t closed out yet.
As you can see, our passive income in 2023 is 38% higher than in 2022. We were able to replace the income from our roommates with options trading.
Having roommates served its purpose and allowed us to become debt-free and build a $240,000 dividend portfolio. But it’s nice to have the peacefulness of our home back.
My wife and I retired in 2023, making our passive income even more valuable. Luckily, we have a military pension that covers all of our expenses (and then some).
Income Investing vs. Inflation
Because of our retirement, we could not invest as heavily into our dividend portfolio. Plus, with interest rates rising quickly, some of our dividend payers could not fund their payouts.
Yet, our dividend income increased throughout the turmoil. Consistency is the magic of dividend investing. One stock may reduce its dividend, and two others may raise it. Overall, your dividend income will slowly tick upwards.
What’s our plan to increase our passive income in 2024? Although we could, my wife and I do not plan to stand by and passively watch our portfolio grow.
We want to continue adding more income to our portfolio to ensure it continues to outpace inflation. We will succeed in our mission if we keep an eye on growth.
The elephant in the room is options trading. We had a fantastic year trading options, considering we started in June.
However, we don’t want to increase our trading options goal because it is too volatile. The minute you try to aim for a certain income level is the minute you overextend yourself and fail.
Design Your Own Book Covers
The better idea is to find a way to increase the size of your operation. For example, my wife and I only trade one pair of long strangles at a time.
To increase our output, we may trade two pairs at once. To do this, we must research other suitable stocks that fit into this scheme.
We plan to use most of our options trading winnings for our dividend portfolio—to fund its growth. We have a few overseas trips planned, but we would like to cover those from cash flow and not option-trading winnings.
The rents in both of our properties are increasing in January 2024. However, the costs associated with these homes are also rising (taxes, insurance). We will make enough to increase our margins by a few dollars, which is acceptable.
Staying Debt-Free in Your 30s
My Amazon book sales have steadily increased each year. There isn’t much I can do without giving myself an advertising budget. Instead, I like to keep it a small operation. I truly enjoy pushing my content out on my schedule, with no requirements from anyone.
In summary, we just need to keep doing what we are doing. I plan to stay within my personal budget each month, allowing me to reinvest dividends and options income into our portfolio.
We aim to move to Turkey full-time in January 2026. It’s simply too expensive in America, and we can live better for 40% of the costs here. It’s a no-brainer, plus we would be with family.
All the passive income streams we build here are portable and can travel with us, which was always the plan. These are exhilarating times!
From Dirt to Dividends 5: Composting & Dividend ETFs
Moving on to your goals. What’s your New Year’s Passive Income Resolution for 2024? The year 2023 was challenging for most people. How can you turn the tables in 2024?
What income would still come into your bank accounts if you didn’t have your job? That is your passive income.
Imagine how much money you have without a job. Is it enough to sustain you and your family? If not, what can you do to increase this amount?
Perhaps the first thing you can do is get roommates. Finding a roommate can change your life completely. It’s far better money than options trading and dividends.
Real Estate Investing in Your 60s
The trick, of course, is finding a good roommate. I recommend tapping into your friends and family first. Ensure you set house rules and personal boundaries before agreeing to merge households.
Remember that you should also cater to them a little. This partnership can be quite lucrative if you make it work. Therefore, giving them your parking space or some cabinet space (in the kitchen) can go a long way to making them feel at home.
Become debt-free and build your dividend portfolio. Debt can hold you back from living your best life. I am not Dave Ramsey, and I don’t profess to stay debt-free your entire life.
Easter -Nest- Eggs: Build a Dividend Growth Portfolio
In fact, I like using my credit card much more than taking money out of my savings. I do this because having a credit card balance forces me to pay it off as quickly as possible. When I use money from savings, I don’t have the same pressing urge to replace the cash.
However, my wife and I have $300,000 in the bank and $6,000 on our credit card. I have a plan to pay that money back with a windfall I expect soon.
In essence, we are debt-free. How about your situation? Are credit cards and student loans ruining your cash flow?
If so, how will you pay off these toxic debt instruments? What is your debt payoff date (as Ramti Sethi would say)?
It’s Raining Money: How Dividends Can Change Your Life
Once you create a hardcore budget, start living on a personal allowance, and count every penny (incoming and outgoing), you’ll find some money to start investing.
There has never been a better time to start a dividend portfolio. You can simply open an account with Cash App or STASH and feed small amounts toward index funds (QQQ, SPY, DIA, VTI) or dividend ETFs such as Schwab High-Dividend (SCHD).
Your dividend portfolio, or money system, is the most crucial element toward your financial freedom. You should allocate any additional income toward growing your dividends.
Trust me; if I didn’t have my dividend portfolio, my wife and I probably would still be working nowadays (we retired at 42 and 38).
Build a High-Yield Emergency Fund
Get creative. Let’s not forget that you can earn money in the creator economy. Each day, the creator economy becomes more prominent and competitive.
However, there is only one “you” in this world. This makes you and your content unique. Everyone has a story to tell, so start sharing yours.
My advice is to aim “low” when creating content. This means setting a goal to make $1,000 monthly from blogging, YouTube, or TikTok.
Once you hit these extremely tough numbers, you can see how you want to proceed. Most people aim for the big bucks but give up when those numbers prove out of reach.
Happiness Isn’t Free 2: Pursue Money for Freedom
I have been writing for three years, averaging about $200/month in royalty income. My goal is to reach $1,000 per month, but it may be five years away.
I could make much more money by dipping into active income like freelancing, ghostwriting, or teaching others to produce books for Amazon.
However, I want to keep this income stream passive. I can make much more money from trading options without dealing with customers or clients. To each their own.
Become a Bonafide Investor 6: Debt vs. Equity
Conclusion. That was a look into my 2023 passive income streams, moving into 2024. Most will remain the same in 2024.
However, we are moving toward our eventual move to Turkey in 2026. This is the game changer as we can save over 70% on our retirement and passive income by living overseas.
We plan to have over $1 million in our dividend portfolio a few years after moving overseas. There just isn’t much holding us in America except our kids being in school.
Grant Cardone says we will become a renter nation where we can expect to have 100-year mortgages. I believe him and think the same way.
The In-Debt-ured Servent
So my question to you is, “What are you doing about your family’s financial situation to ensure they aren’t renting or struggling forever?”
I see the writing on the wall, and we are moving to where we can save much more than we spend. This difference between income and expenses is called cash flow.
We can return from Turkey in ten years with $2-3 million in the bank. This nest egg propels our family to a lifestyle where routine financial problems do not exist.
My wife and I are doing what it takes to get ahead and, more importantly, stay ahead. You should consider doing the same. Good Luck and Happy New Year!
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