A number of people have successfully generated passive income. One of the best-known examples is Pat Flynn, who founded the blog Smart Passive Income in 2008 and has since grown it into a dynamic education and training company. While these stories of massive success are certainly inspiring, they are also extremely rare.
If you dig a little deeper, you’ll find plenty of case studies (some featured on Flynn’s own blog) about people who have achieved passive income success on their own terms. These people are not necessarily getting rich or retiring at a young age, but they are leveraging their diverse passive income streams to boost their regular earnings, plan more effectively for the future, and make sure they are living the life that they want. Read on for some passive income success stories that are sure to inspire you.
Bob Lai, tech product manager and blogger
Bob Lai’s passive income stream of choice is high-dividend stocks (these are stocks that essentially pay shareholders a cut of their profits, typically on a quarterly basis). Lai now has enough invested in his portfolio that he receives $1,200 in dividend payments every month, and he uses this entire amount to buy more shares, which in turn increases the future dividends that he will receive. Naturally, Lai needed a certain amount of startup capital to begin investing, and he also spent a great deal of time researching and evaluating different investment options, but his efforts are quickly moving him closer toward his goal of financial independence, which he defines as having his earnings from passive income exceed his expenses.
Netiva Heard, financial educator, former Realtor, and rental property owner
Owning rental real estate is one of the most well-established ways to earn passive income, and Netiva Heard is taking full advantage of that fact. Together with her husband, she owns and manages seven single-family properties in Illinois and Indiana, which generate a net income of $6,500 per month. Heard purchased her first rental home in 2011 after saving for two years so that she could buy the property without a mortgage. Today, the passive income generated by her portfolio of rental properties has replenished Heard’s savings and now helps to finance other real estate projects, her and her husband’s retirement fund, and a college fund for their children.
Cat Coquillette, illustrator and designer
Cat Coquillette describes herself as “anything but a starving artist” thanks to her well-established passive income streams, which make up 90% of her monthly earnings. Her main way of earning passive income, to the tune of approximately $7,000 per month, is to license her art through print-on-demand companies. These digital firms print artwork and illustrations on products such as clothing, phone cases, and notebooks, and provide the artist with a percentage of each sale. As Coquillette explains it, the amount earned from a single sale may not be much, but if you have a lot of designs licensed, it can quickly add up. Coquillette also licenses her art through more traditional channels—such as a royalty arrangement with a consumer-facing brand—which brings in an additional $2,000 per month.
Nalin Chuapetcharasopon, crowdfunding consultant
Entrepreneur Nalin Chuapetcharasopon is an excellent example of someone who has built a successful business that generates both active and passive income. Crush Crowdfunding, her consulting company, is dedicated to helping people bring products to market via crowdfunding platforms such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo (since the company was founded in 2015, the entrepreneurs and businesses that Chuapetcharasopon has worked with have raised over $13 million through their crowdfunding campaigns). In order to maintain a work-life balance that she has increasingly come to value, Chuapetcharasopon offers one-on-one consulting services, and she also supplements those with two online courses. Having this passive income component as part of her business means that Chuapetcharasopon is not always directly trading her time for money, which allows her the freedom to pursue other activities and interests.
Corey Fick, nonprofit operations director and blogger
Corey Fick’s passive income story is all about making the most of what you have. His home in Boston, which he purchased with his wife in 2014, has two off-street parking spaces, which are a hot commodity in his neighborhood. As his family only has one car, Fick and his wife decided to rent out the second parking spot to generate some passive income. They don’t make a huge amount of money, but the $200 per month that the parking rental arrangement generates nearly covers their homeowner association fees, while requiring almost no effort on their part. As Fick himself puts it, “Honestly, it feels like free money.”