Passive Income Experts: 4 Passive Income Opportunities for Retirees To Generate Wealth
Just because you’re done with the 9-to-5 daily grind doesn’t mean your income stream has to come to a screeching halt. These days, many retirees are focused on creating multiple sources of passive cash flow to supplement their hard-earned retirement savings. After all, a little extra money coming in never hurts when you’re living on a fixed income.
Find Out: How To Generate Passive Income With Just $1,000
Try This: 5 Unusual Ways To Make Extra Money (That Actually Work)
GOBankingRates consulted financial experts across the board to get the scoop on the top passive income opportunities available to today’s retirees. Whether you’re looking to put your investment portfolio to work or leverage skills and assets accumulated over a lifetime career, you’ll find a variety of lucrative strategies for keeping your retirement flush with extra cash.
Guaranteed Income Streams
Paul Tyler, chief marketing officer at Nassau Financial Group, highlighted how retirees can turn to annuities for guaranteed passive income. “Higher guaranteed interest rates from multiyear guaranteed annuities can turbocharge retirement savings accounts over a long period of time,” he said. “Guaranteed income checks from fixed indexed annuities can take an enormous amount of stress away from figuring out how to pay everyday bills.”
Nothing beats the appeal of getting paid just for owning a piece of a profitable company, said John Stevenson, CFF, an expert contributor at Annuity.org. Investing in stocks that pay dividends from established blue chip corporations allows you to collect recurring payouts simply for holding the shares in your portfolio. However, dividend investors need to watch out for rate changes and suspended payments during lean times.
Aside from stocks, investment funds, like mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, can pay dividends and distribution income, providing another source of passive cash flow for retirees — as long as retirees calibrate the risk levels to their post-work lifestyle. After all, retiring doesn’t mean you retire from managing your money wisely.
Learn More: How To Make Passive Income Just By Moving Money in These Ways
Real Estate Investments
Real estate is a classic passive income generator, and Scott Lieberman, founder of Touchdown Money, noted the rent potential of unused property for retirees. “If you own property that you won’t be using, renting it out can be a great way to give yourself another income stream,” he said. “You’ll have to spend a little to keep it clean, but you’ll more than make up for it in rental fees.”
Stevenson agreed, stating that buying a rental property and collecting monthly rent checks can lead to a nice passive income stream in retirement.
But being a landlord also comes with major potential headaches, like dealing with nightmare tenants, costly repairs and periods of vacancy that disrupt your cash flow, so proceed with caution.
A New Breed of Lender
In the age of peer-to-peer lending, you don’t need to be a bank to make money by lending out money and collecting interest payments, Stevenson said. Today’s retirees can join platforms that connect them directly to individual borrowers or small businesses in need of capital.
But make sure you thoroughly vet any platforms you plan to use.
Monetizing Skills and Knowledge
Retirement opens the door for passion projects that can pay dividends, Lieberman said. “Just because you’ve retired doesn’t mean that you have no other ways to make money,” he explained. “If you’ve got time on your hands, writing a book can set you up for passive income once you’ve published it. If your book sells, you’ll receive royalties from every copy, which can add up with no limit.”
Another option is creating video courses based on areas of expertise. “If you have specific knowledge, you can capture it and share it for profit,” Lieberman said. “Create the course once, and you can get paid no matter how many times it gets downloaded.”
Stevenson added that once the upfront investment in production is made, these goods can continue generating sales for years down the line with minimal additional effort.
For retirees who have authored books, composed hit songs or produced any other valuable intellectual property over the years, the royalty checks can keep rolling in for decades after the initial hard work is done. What could be more passive than cold, hard cash for your past creative genius?
From stocks and real estate to money lending and creative works, retirees have a wide range of paths for establishing multiple streams of income that can keep paying out long after the initial work is done. With smart planning, you can turn hobbies and existing assets into self-sustaining cash flow sources to supplement your retirement savings.
More From GOBankingRates
Don't Buy a House in These 3 Cities Facing a 'Climate Change Real Estate Bubble'
This is One of the Best Ways to Boost Your Retirement Savings in 2024
Here's How to Add $200 to Your Wallet -- Just For Banking Like You Normally Would
This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Passive Income Experts: 4 Passive Income Opportunities for Retirees To Generate Wealth
