Hi I’m very new to all of this and am a little scared of making a mistake that could end in my data being collected/sold, hacking, info breaches, etc etc. probably dangerous things I haven’t even thought of!
Can anyone recommend the safest passive income methods for a little baby egg like me? Thanks kindly!
Dollar cost average on SP500.
Morgan said:
Dollar cost average on SP500.
Investing is really the only truly passive income.
You’re taking money you already have, dropping it into an account, and watching it grow (mostly).
Almost anything else really just falls into a side hustle category, or do a job upfront and (hope) you get paid over time instead of being paid hourly / upfront.
I think folks should learn some of the differences between passive income, side hustle, and scalable incomes because the three are often incorrectly used interchangeably.
For instance, a blog isn’t passive income, it’s scalable income from a side hustle.
A lawn care business is scalable, but it’s not passive (unless eventually you sell the business or have its management done some day entirely by someone else while you still make some money from it).
You should be very cautious about sites that want your info in exchange for a few dollars. It’s why I avoid sites like that totally. Don’t aim so low. For the same amount of work, you can earn so much more.
I would suggest you follow what I did. I now live off my passive income from investments. But to get there, I needed to earn money to invest.
Start with a good job/career. That is a solid foundation. You can build wealth just doing that if you earn enough and invest regularly.
I wanted to fast-track my wealth building, so I built multiple side hustles. I used the income to invest. Many side hustles I sold because I liked having bigger chunks of money to invest.
I’ll link to my side hustles below. Some may suit you. But it’s important to try side hustles that suit you.
Whatever you try, just take action. So many ask me for advice but won’t even take the simplest of steps to get started. Too many fear failure. Failing doesn’t matter. Just try stuff until you find what works for you.
Here’s what I did that worked for me… https://old.reddit.com/user/sidehustle2025/comments/1f2egac/the_side_hustles_that_made_me_750000/
It took me 20 years to go from debt to $1 million. I plan to get to $2 million in 5-10 years.
Good luck
Something that’s easy and you can start today - write on Medium. Only $5 to join. Very easy to make that back. Fairly easy to make $100+ a month. Many make $1,000+. You can start today. Probably no one reading this will start. They’ll all have an excuse. People don’t seem to actually want to succeed.
Selling on eBay is also pretty easy.
As someone else said, the good stuff isn’t sexy. It’s safer and long term. 2 books I recommend to people wanting to learn more: 1. Richest Man in Babylon - an easy-to-read tale breaking down financial basics. 2. I Will Teach You to be Rich - a very tangible and realistic way to put these things into action. The best time to start was yesterday, the second best is today!
Churning and rebating.
Vero said:
Churning and rebating.
I’ve seen several recommendations about churning. Can you elaborate?
Vero said:
Churning and rebating.
I’ve seen several recommendations about churning. Can you elaborate?
No op but r/churning might be a good spot to start lurking.
Vero said:
Churning and rebating.
I’ve seen several recommendations about churning. Can you elaborate?
I’ll message you.
Vero said:
Churning and rebating.
This seems like it could tank your credit score??
Vero said:
Churning and rebating.
This seems like it could tank your credit score??
Churning well depends on what you’re churning; bank accounts and credit cards can slightly. Crypto? No, rebating? No.
Zion said:
HYSA.
Remember I said I’m completely new to this? Can you explain what this is?
Zion said:
HYSA.
Remember I said I’m completely new to this? Can you explain what this is?
High yield savings account, a place to stash your money and hopefully get ~4% back per year, depends on rates which do change.
I’m new to these passive income threads; a lot of people get lots of upvotes for recommending investing in growth funds (open a brokerage account and invest in an S&P 500 ETF which is the top 500 tech companies in the USA arranged in an electronically traded fund, so your money grows with them) or putting high yield savings accounts. This isn’t sexy month-to-month income, but there isn’t much potential to lose money here. The market will go up and down, but you should expect 7-9% growth per year, hopefully more. It’s very easy to lose money in things that people hope become passive income and I think that is the rationale for the upvotes to things like high yield savings account and stuff like that.
@Luca
Agreed, better than HYSA, and HYSA is already barely beating inflation. As interest rates decrease, HYSA will drop below inflation once again. They’re only really good when rates are high.
Zion said:
HYSA.
Remember I said I’m completely new to this? Can you explain what this is?
High Yield Savings Account. Without knowing your financial situation or goals, it’s hard to give much advice. Being new to this stuff, basic advice if you have any money sitting around, a HYSA is a good place to keep it. It won’t make you life-changing returns, but it’s better than 0 and gets better the longer it’s there.
@Zion
Thank you so much! It’s something at least, so good idea!
Zion said:
HYSA.
Remember I said I’m completely new to this? Can you explain what this is?
High yield savings account.
Go with HYSAs. They are a secure way to grow your money compared to traditional savings accounts with 0.3% APY. The rates with HYSAs are around 4% APY right now. Capital One offers 3.90% APY, no minimum balance, and no fees. Discover also has 3.90% APY with similar terms. Both are federally insured, so your savings stay safe. If you want to shop around, you can always check out aggregator sites. Ideally, look for accounts with no fees and competitive rates to make the most of your savings.
If you’re worried about that, freeze your credit until you need to use it.