Military Family Investing

Make Passive Income

Make Passive Income: All Day Every Day

—

by

kingmarine
in

I was 38 years old when I came across the term “passive income.” I was 20 years into my career in the Marine Corps, and my finances were in shambles.

My wife and I weren’t big spenders. We didn’t drive brand-new cars or renovate our homes. We simply did not have the financial information we needed to make wise decisions.

However, in June 2019, we decided to start our journey toward financial security and freedom. We learned about dividends, options trading, real estate, cryptocurrencies, and business; we were well on our way.

Baby Bonds vs. Treasury Bonds

In June 2020, I decided to begin documenting our financial journey via my blog site, MilitaryFamilyInvesting.com. As of January 13, 2025, I have posted 1,583 articles on our journey. I will continue to post until I can no longer physically do it.

The magic of writing. I love the concept of writing. I can gather information from real-world scenarios and convert it into something someone else can disgust—it’s rather exciting.

However, it would be tough for someone to digest 1,500 articles without a guide. Luckily, I solved that problem years ago.

I create a book in the “Don’t Gamble with Retirement” series every 100 or so articles. The book contains all the preceding articles in one easy-to-read book or PDF.

  1. Don’t Gamble with Retirement 1, Kindle Unlimited, February 13, 2021.
  2. Don’t Gamble with Retirement 2, Kindle Unlimited, April 20, 2021.
  3. Don’t Gamble with Retirement 3, Free PDF, June 18, 2021.
  4. Don’t Gamble with Retirement 4, Free PDF, August 30, 2021.
  5. Don’t Gamble with Retirement 5, Free PDF, December 3, 2021.
  6. Don’t Gamble with Retirement 6, Free PDF, March 5, 2022.
  7. Don’t Gamble with Retirement 7, Free PDF, May 31, 2022.
  8. Don’t Gamble with Retirement 8, Free PDF, September 10, 2022.
  9. Don’t Gamble with Retirement 9, Free PDF, December 14, 2022.
  10. Don’t Gamble with Retirement 10, Free PDF, March 23, 2023.
  11. Don’t Gamble with Retirement 11, Free PDF, July 30, 2023
  12. Don’t Gamble with Retirement 12, Free PDF, March 7, 2024
  13. Don’t Gamble with Retirement 13, Free PDF, November 6, 2024

But if you truly want to follow my journey, you should read my “The Biggest Book on Passive Income Ever!” series.

  1. The Biggest Book on Passive Income Ever!, Amazon, June 27, 2021
  2. The Biggest Book on Passive Income Ever 2!, Amazon, March 6, 2022
  3. The Biggest Book on Passive Income Ever 3!, Amazon, December 16, 2022
  4. The Biggest Book on Passive Income Ever 4!, Amazon, March 15, 2024

Each of these extraordinary books holds over 300 articles. The best part is that you can see how my mind worked five years ago when I didn’t have the resources I do now.

Getting my work to the people. “The Biggest Book on Passive Income Ever” series is expensive on Amazon because of all the artwork.

The bigger your manuscript’s file size, the higher the cut Amazon takes. Therefore, a 1,200-page digital book full of artwork and pictures needs to cost $40.

But don’t fret; I have a solution. Every word I write is available for free on my website. I created the “Web Edition- The Biggest Book on Passive Income Ever!” series to gather the weblinks to all the articles.

  1. Web Edition- The Biggest Book on Passive Income Ever!, Amazon 
  2. Web Edition- The Biggest Book on Passive Income Ever 2!, Amazon 
  3. Web Edition- The Biggest Book on Passive Income Ever 3!, Amazon 
  4. Web Edition- The Biggest Book on Passive Income Ever 4!, Amazon 

I then created the “Art Edition- The Biggest Book on Passive Income Ever!” so that you can see the artwork for each article, followed by the weblink.

  1. Art Edition- The Biggest Book on Passive Income Ever!, Amazon 
  2. Art Edition- The Biggest Book on Passive Income Ever 2!, Amazon 
  3. Art Edition- The Biggest Book on Passive Income Ever 3!, Amazon 
  4. Art Edition- The Biggest Book on Passive Income Ever 4!, Amazon 

Passive Income is for everyone! What have I learned over the last 5.5 years about building passive income? I learned that passive income is for everyone.

It’s easy to follow the masses and say that the rich hoard all the wealth, but that is simply not true. The rich also don’t hoard all of the information.

The most valuable piece of information I can give you today is that money is an exchange of value. Nobody owes you anything.

Dividend Investing 106: Building a 60/40 Portfolio

The more people you serve, the richer you become. Wealth is having excess income over expenses. All of these things lead to the creation of passive income.

What can you do today? The first thing you must do is take stock of your current assets, including your experiences and brain power.

What do you have that someone else might find valuable? I served 24 years in the Marine Corps and know people would value my experiences.

I could create a YouTube channel, podcast, or ebook series on my experiences with leadership and responsibility. However, the pursuit of passive income is more interesting.

Did you serve in a corporate environment or as a college professor? Are you a doctor or lawyer? Are you a trash collector or mail person? These are all popular careers people want to learn about and follow.

Debt is Your Birthright

Do you possess a specific skill set, such as that of a tax professional or certified accountant? Are you a real estate agent or a car salesman?

You can coach others to help them prepare for their future careers. I learned that mentorship is rare in the workforce and even rarer in real life.

Many young people have grand dreams but don’t know what steps to take to get to the final destination, i.e., working for the government or a large corporation or starting a business.

Dividends are the true prize. I tell everyone who listens that it doesn’t matter what you do in life (as long as it is legal). The ultimate prize is having a large income investing portfolio that can sustain your lifestyle. In fact, that is the only prize outside of having a family.

Suppose a taxi driver retires with a $1 million dividend portfolio that pays him $80,000/year. On the other hand, we have a surgeon who retires in debt and depends on social security. Who would you rather be?

Dividend Investing 105: Safe Options Trading

Regardless of your current station in life, dividends will improve it. However, dividends don’t create themselves; you must budget, save, and invest.

Passive income is the ability to convert the difference between income and expenses into more income. It also refers to the ability to convert time between work and leisure into more income.

Real estate can help. Do you own a home? If so, you are on excellent footing for the future. However, owning a house has never been more expensive.

Every homeowner should consider getting a roommate to help with expenses and generate additional revenue, which they can invest in dividend stocks.

My wife and I have a roommate who pays us $1,000/month. This money is used to invest in cryptocurrencies and cover random expenses, such as renewing our passports.

Should you get a rental property? Rental properties take a while before they are profitable, but they will become a massive source of passive income.

My Secret Formula to Determine Housing Affordability

If your income is less than the designated annual limit (roughly $150,000 for a couple), you can write off $25,000 in passive real estate losses. This is for people who keep real estate on their personal taxes.

If you create an LLC for your rental property, it’ll be a loss leader on paper. That’s because of maintenance, repairs, and depreciation. However, you could be cash flow positive in real life.

Options trading for those with the willpower. A great way to earn passive income is from options trading; however, it is not for the weak.

You will need nerves of steel to trade long strangles. However, you can sell covered calls and cash-secured puts if you have the resources to do so. These options contracts carry less risk and more predictable gains.

Dividend Investing 104: Building a Dividend Payment Schedule

Creating content is the way. If you don’t have any resources but have time, you can become a content creator. It’s a long road, so give yourself 10 years before arriving at the desired numbers.

I love creating content, and it gives me great joy to talk about money every day. My Amazon account, website, and Medium generate income for me every day. It’s not a lot, but I created something tangible for free.

Conclusion. My wife and I made roughly $15,000/month in passive income at the end of 2024. I didn’t work full-time in 2024 for the first time since 1997.

Is Homeownership Still the American Dream?

I retired in October 2023 with $275,000 in my bank accounts, and I finished December 2024 with $363,000. My accounts increased 32% without me holding a job. That is the magic of passive income.

Read the books listed above to learn about passive income or my journey to a Happy Cash Flow Retirement. 

Time is the most valuable resource in the world, so don’t waste it. If you want to live the life of your dreams, passive income is required. Good Luck!

  1. PDF of the Month: Don’t Gamble with Retirement 13 (Free 460-Page PDF)
  2. Free PDF Downloads: Download FREE PDF LIST here
  3. Financial Mindset: Become CEO of Yourself 2 (Free 196-Page PDF)
  4. Retirement Planning: Your Retirement Planning Guide 2 (Free 255-Page PDF)
  5. Investing: How We Plan to Retire on Dividends 4 (Free 139-Page PDF)
  6. Cryptocurrencies: Counting on Crypto 2 (Free 159-Page PDF)
  7. Real Estate: Financial Independence through Real Estate 4 (Free 112-Page PDF)
  8. Business: Retire Rich, Retire Comfortable with a Business 4 (Free 149-Page PDF)
  9. Latest DGWR: Don’t Gamble with Retirement 11 (Free 410-Page PDF)
  10. Everything!: The Biggest Book on Passive Income Ever 4! (book)(Web Edition)(Art Edition)
  11. Writer’s Comparison: M1 Macbook Air vs. GalaxyBook3 Pro 360
  12. Read My Books for Free: Free Kindle Books Schedule
  13. Book Design: Design Tips on YouTube
  14. Kindle Unlimited: Why I Finally Subscribed Kindle Unlimited (learn more)
  15. Book Reviews: 505 Takeaways from 101 Books (pdf)
  16. Writing: The Publishing Chronicles (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5)
  17. Best REIT- Fundrise: Fundrise vs. US Treasuries (Join Fundrise)
  18. Follow us: On our Facebook Page and Join our Facebook Group
  19. Support the Channel on Cash App: $Kingmarine1981
  20. For more detailed analysis, join my Youtube: MFI YouTube Channel

PDF of the Month: Don’t Gamble with Retirement 12 (Free 460-Page PDF)

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. All Right Reserved Military Family Investing

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