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A lifestyle filled with abundance is what most people dream of. Abundance for me might look different than abundance for you. Whatever the case may be – an abundant lifestyle typically goes hand-in-hand with a healthy amount of passive income to help fuel that lifestyle. More passive income equals more abundance. That is the equation. The formula is simple… create as much passive income as possible to increase your lifestyle of abundance.
Step 1 – Formulate a Passive Income Plan
Your lifestyle of abundance may look very different from mine or from others. As you develop your passive income plan, you’ll have to consider many variables, including, but not limited to…
- Your age – how old are you
- Your current wealth status – how much do you currently have in savings or passive income
- Your resources available – do you have more time or more money to invest
- Your interests (or passions) – what passive income strategy excites you
- Your risk tolerance – how much risk are you willing to stomach
All of these things, and probably more, should be considered as you begin to formulate your plan to create passive income for your abundant lifestyle.
Matt’s Passive Income Plan
As an example, I will tell you my specific plan, based on some of the variables listed above (and others)…
- I am currently 46 years old, so I still have plenty of time before retirement and/or death.
- I have several hundred thousand dollars saved in my retirement savings (401k, IRA’s, and Roth IRA’s), and I am on track to retire comfortably if I were to do nothing else but continue to work my day job as a truck driver.
- I currently have very little ‘extra’ passive income rolling in monthly since I sold my software business recently
- I don’t have a ton of extra time or money to invest – but I do have a little of each that I can put toward the passive income strategy that I choose
- Learning various ways to ‘make money online’ has been a passion of mine for the past decade
- Real estate also interests me – but my wife is dead set against it
- I have a very high risk tolerance – but I am married to somebody who does not
- It is extremely important to make financial decisions together as a married couple
Given all of my variables, I am continuing to work my day job as a truck driver while investing aggressively in retirement savings. Even if my other passive income efforts don’t pan out in the meantime, I will still retire with an abundance of wealth in my retirement savings.
Learn how you can save millions for retirement, just like an average truck driver!
In the meantime, I’ve chosen blogging as my personal favorite strategy to create passive income for an abundant lifestyle before I get to retirement age. Blogging isn’t for everybody – but it’s something that I really enjoy. It isn’t easy to create a website or blog that generates enough income to be considered abundant – but I am confident in my abilities as I’ve learned SO much about SEO, website optimization, and blog monetization over the last 10+ years.
I’m also investing a small amount of money into my account at Fundrise – which is a crowdfunding real estate platform. This is a perfect fit for me as it allows me to dip my feet into the real estate game without the hassles of trying to buy a property on my own and then dealing with the added nuisance of dealing with tenants. Plus, Fundrise is perfect for investors with a small amount of money to invest (you can start with as little as $10!).
Bottom line: With the little bit of time that I have to invest, I’m working on growing my blog. With the little bit of money that I have to invest, I’m growing my Fundrise portfolio.
Action Plan: Write down your plan based on the variables above (and others). It’s important to write it down. If you don’t yet know which passive income idea is right for you, keep reading.
Step 2 – Educate Yourself on Passive Income
The great news is that you are already on the right track because you’re reading a passive income blog! There are lots of other great passive income and personal finance blogs out there as well. If you love reading, as I do, this is a great place to start.
However, the BEST way to educate yourself on passive income in general or on a specific passive income strategy is to read books. Reading books is a very inexpensive and convenient way to learn about literally anything you want! You can start and stop as you please, and you can read on a timeline that works best for you.
Reading a well-written book on a specific topic is, in my opinion, better than taking a college class on a similar topic. Reading several related books is, in my opinion, better than getting an entire college education! You’ll spend FAR less on several books than you would on a college education, and you’ll likely walk away with more and better knowledge – targeted specifically to whatever it is you’re interested in.
Passive Income Books for Timeless Inspiration
I put together an exhaustive list of the best passive income books to inspire and motivate you. Much of the information and advice within these books is considered timeless. You’d be doing yourself a favor if you continually read books like these that teach you about financial freedom concepts and generating passive income.
31 of the Best Passive Income Books for Timeless Inspiration
Here are the main categories of passive income books included in that post…
- Money Mindset Books for Passive Income
- Entrepreneur Books for Passive Income
- Business Books for Passive Income
- Internet Business Books for Passive Income
- Dropshipping Books for Passive Income
- Real Estate Books for Passive Income
- Investing Books for Passive Income
- Trading Books for Passive Income
- Cryptocurrency Books for Passive Income
- Lifestyle Books for Passive Income
- Personal Development Books for Passive Income
- General Passive Income Books
Matt’s Top Suggestions
I highly recommend that you start with money mindset books. Without your money mindset being in the right place, it will be very difficult (if not impossible) to achieve the passive income abundance that you are striving for.
My #1 top suggestion of all time is Rich Dad Poor Dad, by Robert Kiyosaki. If you haven’t read this book already, I demand that you pick it up immediately and start reading it as soon as possible.
A close #2 is Think and Grow Rich, by Napolean Hill. This one is a timeless classic that will never go out of style.
Action Plan: Pick up at least one book today and begin (or continue) your lifelong journey of continual learning through reading books.
Step 3 – Choose a Passive Income Strategy
Now that you’ve formulated your overall plan and you’ve chosen a few books for ongoing education – it’s time to pick a passive income strategy that fits for you!
If you have lots of time to invest, perhaps starting a business would be the best fit for you. This isn’t entirely passive, especially at the beginning. But, if done right, it could lead to massive passive income riches in the future.
For most of us though, we’re looking for minimal time investment to create passive income. Passive income ideas will always require a little bit of time spent on them – but that’s the key thing, it’s a little bit of a time investment, not a lot.
Passive income allows you to earn money with a minimal amount of effort. It almost sounds too good to be true, right? But there are many ways you can start to earn passive income right away. Here is one of the most thorough and detailed lists of passive income ideas that you will find…
27 of the Best Passive Income Ideas for Everyday People
I won’t list out all 27 ideas here. You can click over to the post to see all of them. But I will share a few of my favorites…
Matt’s Favorite Passive Income Ideas
Some of these ideas I like, and others I’ve tried myself. I’ve been guilty of having too many irons in the fire myself – meaning I do too many things at once. These days, I’m focusing 100% on my blog in my spare time, in order to build up my passive income for my abundant lifestyle.
My tip for you would be to pick just one thing to focus on to start out. Once that one thing is up and running, you could choose to move on to another strategy. Here are a few of my faves…
- Dividend Stock Investing
- Rental Properties
- Crowdfunding Real Estate
- Invest in a Business
- Peer-to-peer Lending
- Rent out Your Storage Space
- Rent out Your Driveway or Land
- Print on Demand
- Buy or Start a Blog
Again, I recommend you read through our comprehensive list of 27 Passive Income Ideas for Everyday People to see what might be the best fit for you.
Action Plan: Choose one passive income idea and focus on it 100% until it’s working for you.
This simple 3-step process will lead to passive income riches for you IF you choose to implement it. I know… it’s not really that simple, and it’s kind of vague. But, the beauty of it is that YOU can choose to take this plan in any direction that you want. The sky is truly the limit!
Cheers to your abundance and mine!
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The 3 Main Types of Passive Income
Matthew Allen
Matthew Allen is a full-time trucker, part-time blogger, and imaginary entrepreneur. He's probably not the only trucker who calls himself a dumbass. But, he is the only known trucker who is blogging about passive income."Might be crazy, but I ain't dumb!" ~ Crazy Cooter (also Matt's CB handle) 
Matthew Allen
Matthew Allen is a full-time trucker, part-time blogger, and imaginary entrepreneur. He's probably not the only trucker who calls himself a dumbass. But, he is the only known trucker who is blogging about passive income."Might be crazy, but I ain't dumb!" ~ Crazy Cooter (also Matt's CB handle) Original Article