Generating Profitable Passive Income While Schooling

When it comes to passive income, there are many methods which you can go about to attain it. If you do a simple search online, you can see blogs recommending you to do things such as selling stock photos, publishing an E-Book, buying dividend stocks and many more.

The key to passive income is to set them up, and once you do, you just stop managing it and it will provide for you passively, months after months after months even while you sleep.

My thoughts about passive income has also evolved throughout the years. When I first explored passive income as a 18 year-old JC student back in 2017 , I realised that in order to attain sustainable passive income, you either need to have a huge initial starting capital that can be deployed and earn a yield for you (such as dividend stocks investing) or you can hustle hard for a few months and reap the rewards later (such as stock photos or writing an E-Book).

While both methods are attainable depending on your current financial status, and it really does not matter if you are a student or working adult. The point here is: Creating multiple passive income streams is not only possible, but essential if one wants to attain financial freedom early.

For myself, I am currently getting passive income from 3 main sources which I will elaborate briefly below.

Passive Income Stream 1: Stock Photos Royalty

While I was still studying for A levels back in 2017/2018, I decided to get some passive income by uploading stock photos in a bid to boost my pocket money.

I started off with EyeEm, and started uploading photos which I have taken from my travels and photoshoots. I was really into photography during those times and even have a website and Instagram page documenting all my work and journey.

Some of the stock photos I uploaded on EyeEm

The photos took days to weeks to be uploaded completely as I have thousands of photos to be uploaded, and also to tag them correctly so that the right buyers can see them. So effort wise, it was pretty hefty and time consuming at the start.

I made a few huge sales initially, and even had massive single photo sales up to $450 USD per image.

Aside from EyeEm, I started uploading my stock photos to iStocks, Shutterstock and Getty Images. VSCO also managed to headhunt 4 of my images and bought them for roughly $500 USD each.

So the effort here is to upload the images to these sites diligently, and then reaping the rewards only months or years after the upload.

Also, not all uploaded images will have a sale. I have over 18,000+ photosuploaded in total and the initial few months saw literally $0 in sales, so you got to be patient before the passive income starts rolling in.

Overall, the stock images generated roughly $10,000 USD in total across 3 years, so it translates to roughly $556 USD in passive income per month. Not too bad for that initial effort and enjoying the fruits even years after the initial upload.

I also have paid wedding shoots and freelance work with GrabFood, FoodPanda and more, so photography really boosted my overall income when I was still schooling in JC. Even till today, I am still getting some stock photo sales every month even though it has dropped significantly since I have stopped uploading and moved on with other things instead.

Passive Income Stream 2: Crypto Yield Farming/Staking

This one is not as low barrier as my first passive income stream. This requires you to have some understanding of how crypto and blockchain works, and also a level of conviction and bullish-ness in the cryptocurrency space.

So if you don’t know what I am talking about, this income stream might not yet be suitable for you and you may want to check my other posts first.

If you are still reading this portion, I will assume you already know the basics of how crypto and blockchain work.

As most readers already know, I have recommended centralised crypto platforms such as Celsius, Nexo, Hodlnaut and Matrixport which allows crypto investors to earn interest on their idle crypto assets.

Generating Yield from your Crypto is like Dividend Yield in Traditional Finance

The idea here is, instead of letting your idle Bitcoin or Ethereum lie around while you buy and hold, you can park them in the lending platforms mentioned above and earn a yield from them. It is almost like getting a dividend yield so you get the idea.

Aside from centralised crypto platforms, I took on higher risk and went into DeFi yield farming. This is not for beginners, as it requires a deep understanding to how smart contract works, how to transfer crypto assets through different blockchains and more.

From yield farming, I can get higher APY (Annual Percentage Yield) on my crypto of up to 100% APY or more.

Staking Your Crypto Tokens to earn Yield

Aside from yield farming and parking them in lending platforms, I also have tokens which are being staked.

Staking just means you are locking up your crypto tokens onto the blockchain and as a reward for securing the blockchain, you get staking rewards in the form of interest. The APY is not as attractive as yield farming but it is a good way to earn a yield on tokens I am bullish about.

Overall, this income stream is able to generate 4-digit passive income (SGD) for me although the amount can be inconsistent every month due to price fluctuations of the underlying crypto tokens. This passive income stream is also riskier, so risk-reward ratio wise, only if you are able to withstand the price volatility, the passive income is real and waiting to be made.

Passive Income Stream 3: Axie Infinity Scholarships (In Progress)

For those who don’t know what Axie Infinity is, it is a Pokemon-inspired NFT strategy game which is built on top of Ethereum. The game is a pioneer of a new phenomenon known as “Play-To-Earn” or P2E. I wrote a post on the game before so you may want to check it out if you don’t know what is going on.

Essentially, you need 3 Axies (the in-game NFT creature) to start playing. At the point of writing, you need approximately $1200 USD to get started with a decent team of Axie.

This can seem like a hefty starting cost, but it really is not. Once you start playing, you will earn a reward token called Smooth Love Potion (SLP)which can be used either for breeding or sold off for fiat like USD. SLP is a ERC-20 token that can be traded on crypto exchanges and exchangeable for real money.

If you are able to earn at least 150 SLP per day (minimum requirement), that would be a total of 4500 SLP in a month. At current prices, that would translate to roughly $1350 USD, so you breakeven from just playing in your first month.

Of course, if you are not happy with the game, you can simply sell your Axies off and try and breakeven. But that is not the topic for today.

For me, I am currently breeding Axies together with my girlfriend. We pooled out resources together and launched a breeding farm and in about 2 days from the point of writing, we will be launching our Axie “Scholarship” programme and offering Filipinos on Discord a chance to earn an income during these difficult times.

Our goal right now is to onboard a total of 5 scholars and we are currently conducting interviews and sourcing for potential scholars for our programme. We have already onboarded 1 and are in the process of onboarding 4 more in the next few weeks.

How Scholarships Work

In simple terms, the scholar are like employees who trade their time and energy in return for monetary incentives (in this case, SLP). Scholars do not need to dish out any upfront capital to play the game and the SLP earned are profits for them to keep.

In return, scholarship managers are business owners that dish out initial capital (the 3 Axies) for scholars to start playing the game and earning SLP.

This symbiotic relationship means that both the scholar and manager are able to achieve mutual wealth creation since a portion of what the scholar earns will go to the manager, in return for the manager’s capital layout cost and soaking up the risk of Axie ownership.

Once we are able to get the right number of scholars onboard, it can hopefully create a viable and scalable income stream for my girlfriend and I. Also, scholarships are not just meant for profit generating purposes, but also providing meaning for low-income earners in the Philippines and giving back to the Axie Infinity community.

The community is filled with helpful individuals who won’t hesitate to help newbies out and there are tons of informative YouTube videos and gameplays made by fellow Axie gamers that helped me tremendously when I first started.

The spirit of giving and the amount of abundance from this community is incredible, and I am proud to be part of the community and also launching a Scholarship programme.

If we eventually can onboard 10 scholars or more as we scale, our passive income stream will shoot through the roof. You can do the math and see what I mean 😉.

Conclusion

Passive income is extremely powerful, but an underrated way to achieve financial freedom since most folks are too busy with their lives and can’t be bothered to explore new options.

Most media outlets, financial blogs and educational platforms are lacking behind in terms of innovating new methods of passive income generation, and I hope my post today broadened your perspectives as to what you can do in the world of crypto and use creative methods to achieve sustainable passive income.

You don’t need to own dividend stocks, REITs, endowments or bonds or spamming your spare cash into CPF for the 4% (only to enjoy it when you are old), because there are more ways to achieve passive income with lesser capital, more flexibility and higher scalability.

While I am not bashing traditional methods of passive income generation, but merely stating alternative passive income methods based on my own convictions and beliefs.

So at the end of the day, if you do not believe in the potential of blockchain technology or crypto in general, the passive income stream that I am utilising may not be suitable for you.

Please take my article with a pinch of salt, as I am after all just a guy on the Internet sharing my thoughts and strategies I personally use to generate passive income.

Everyone’s path is different. We all have different circle of competence and risk tolerance levels.

But I still hope that my post was able to shed some light into how you can create passive income streams from nothing and bolster you current active income stream further.

Finding meaning from your passive income

Like Warren Buffett said, “If you can’t find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die.”

Nobody could have said it better. Active income is what keeps you in the rat race. Passive income is what keeps you free.

Passive Income is earned even while you are sleeping

Financial Freedom is achieved when your passive income is more than your monthly expenses. When that happens, it means you no longer need to depend on your active income (or salary) to survive.

What this means is, you are no longer shackled by living pay check after pay check, and you will have more freedom and time to explore the things you truly love, or even start your own business without fear. That to me, is magical and I want to experience that one day, hopefully in my 40s or even 30s.

For now, I will continue to build up my passive income streams and maximise them by reinvesting them for the future. Who knows? I might retire earlier or later than my target age, but that’s what makes the future so exciting right?

What other passive income streams do you have that is supplementing your active income? Let me know in the comments below!

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For those who are already into Crypto

Want to learn how you can earn high yielding interest rates on your idle crypto assets in a secure, safe and easy manner?

Earn Yields on Those Crypto With These Platforms

You can read up more on my post here to learn more about Celsius and Nexo which give you interest on your crypto assets

Or read up more on Hodlnaut here which is a Singapore-based crypto lending platform with market beating interest rates

What is Bitcoin? Answers here

Or do your due diligence on Bitcoin in my post here where I debunk some of the myths regarding Bitcoin.

Gemini Exchange (My Favourite Crypto Exchange)

Also my crypto exchange of choice Gemini here if you are looking to buy your first crypto!

Too Many Crypto Platforms? Here’s a Crypto One-Stop Solution

If you think there are too many crypto platforms out there, here is a simple solution for you. An all-in-one app for you to earn yield, trade, invest or borrow crypto with high security and assurance. Check out my Matrixport review

What is Decentralised Finance (DeFi)?

Or do you want to learn more about DeFi in a simple to understand manner? Click here to learn more

How to Value Crypto Assets?

Learn more about how you can put a “fair value” on crypto such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and more here

Crypto Referral Links (Click and Sign Up)

Gemini Exchange: Deposits and buy US$100 or more crypto on Gemini and you will earn US$10 in BTC.

Coinhako Exchange: You can create an account by clicking the link and then enter promo code: COINGECKO when doing a buy/sell and enjoy 20% trading fees discount!

Binance Exchange: Create a Binance.com account here and trade the widest range of crypto pairings!

Hodlnaut: Earn US$20 in BTC/ETH/USDT/USDC/DAI for free with your first transfer of US$1000 or more in the corresponding crypto asset of your choice!

Celsius Network: Earn US$40 in BTC for free with your first transfer of US$400 or more in any crypto asset and wait for 1 month!

Matrixport: Get a $1288 free coupon trial to try their product and earn $20 in USDC when you sign up successfully and become a qualified client!

Nexo: No referral events at the moment 😦 Just sign up and enjoy this great product!

The Power of Low Fees (My US Broker!)

One huge advantage I have as an investor is paying very minute fees which can really eat into returns in the long run because I am using Firstrade to buy US Stocks which has absolutely $0 fees and extremely fast wire transfers for deposits and lightning fast trade executions.

Ever since I switch to Firstrade last year as my main investment vehicle, I saved up on a ton of fees and hence able to achieve way better returns than before. I saved up more than 5 times the fee paid in 2018, 2019 and 2020 this year due to the switch and I am really happy thus far.

Of my entire investments in 2020, fees only take up 0.1% of my entire portfolio! (2018+2019+2020 combined across all brokers)

Alright that’s it! For now, think long term, tune out the noise and avoid the temptation of gambling meme stocks, think of the companies that will do well in the long run simply find bargains/dollar cost into your positions. If you need some inspiration for companies to research, you can check out my post on 5 stocks to buy if the market crashes here.

Disclaimer:

The content here is for informational purposes only and should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice. It does NOT constitute an offer or solicitation to purchase any investment or a recommendation to buy or sell a security. In fact, the content is not directed to any investor or potential investor and may not be used to evaluate or make any investment.