5 Passive Income Streams for Retirees To Build Wealth

Retirement can be expensive, and if you haven’t quite reached your long-term financial goals, it may be time to start cooking up some short-term passive income ideas. Worry not, as there are plenty of ways to make money that don’t require much effort.

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Generally speaking, you’ll need to put some time and elbow grease into getting these income streams set up, but then you can sit back and watch the money come in. Talk about some smooth financial planning. Here’s a look at five passive income streams retirees can use to make extra cash this year.

One of the easiest ways to generate passive income is to open a high-yield savings account. This can allow you to rack up interest payment earnings with almost zero effort. Simply choose a bank, open your account, transfer funds into it and collect interest each month for a boost to your cash flow.

There’s no shortage of banks offering high-yield savings accounts, but most are online banks. Each bank has different rules regarding specific account features — i.e., account minimums and fees — so conduct research before opening an account.

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You don’t have to invest in real estate investment trusts (REITs) or rental properties to make money off of stuff you own. If you have a shed full of tools, rent them out to earn extra cash. You can list them, as well as other types of gear or even heavy equipment, on sites like Rent My Equipment, and start cashing in.

Just create a listing, set your price — considering fuel for any gas-powered tools and equipment — and wait for people in your local area to rent them. Rental sites generally charge a commission fee for rentals, but you’ll get the rest.

Now that you’re retired, your household might not need more than one vehicle. However, if you still have at least two, consider putting any extra cars to work on platforms like Turo or Getaround. As opposed to other types of investments, this is passive income you can earn off of something you already have.

You can rent your car out on a schedule that meets your needs. Both Turo and Getaround provide hosts with insurance and 24/7 customer support, so you can feel both protected and supported.

If you are looking to earn money in retirement, this can allow you to bring in a serious amount of cash. The average annual income with one car is $10,868, according to Turo.

If you enjoy taking photos and posting them on social media, turn this hobby into a passive income stream. There’s no shortage of stock photo sites that will allow you to post your pictures and sell them.

For example, Adobe Stock pays 33% royalties to contributors, iStock pays 15%-45% royalties, and Shutterstock pays 15%-40% royalties. Typically, the more photos you post, the more you earn, so take and upload as many high-quality images as possible.

If you’ve always wanted to write a book, retirement may give you time to do so. This can also be a fun way to earn passive income, and it pays dividends in creative fulfillment and intellectual property.

Opting for an e-book is an easy way to get published quickly, efficiently and affordably. You might want to use your years in the workforce to write a career-minded book about your field, but you could write about anything.

When you finish your book, publish it on a platform such as Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing. On this site, you’ll get two options for standard royalty rates — 35% or 70% — allowing you to choose the best fit for your book.

This can generate a profit that adds up over time. For example, under the 70% royalty rate, you would earn $3.35 per e-book sale on an 8-megabyte book priced at $5.99, according to Publishing.com.

Caitlyn Moorhead contributed to the reporting for this article.

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