As a nurse, you work tirelessly to care for others, but have you considered taking care of your financial well-being?
Building a passive income stream can provide you with the security and stability you deserve while still working your regular 9 to 5 nursing job. Or should I say your 7 to 7 nursing job?
What is Passive Income?
So, what exactly is passive income, and how can nurses achieve it? This is important because, based on my experience, most people (including nurses) don’t really understand what passive income is and isn’t.
First, let me talk about what passive income is NOT.
Passive income is not you getting free money without doing any work to get it. And unlike what those scammy videos and marketing gurus tell you, to start earning passive income does require some work.
In some instances, it could be a lot of work, and most of the time, it requires continuing maintenance (you’ll see what I mean below).
Example of Passive Income
For example, rental income from a property you own or interest earned on a savings account is considered passive income.
To get the money to invest into the savings account and earn interest, you need to make that money first.
The same is true for the rental property. You would have needed to earn that money first. Afterward, you can keep making rental money from that property even when you’re not actively dealing with it.
Importance of Passive Income for Nurses
Having passive income streams is essential for nurses for several reasons:
1. Financial Stability
Having multiple income streams helps ensure that you’re never relying solely on your nursing salary.
This can provide you more financial stability and security, especially if you can’t work due to an illness or injury. Or, as we’ve seen before if you get laid off from the hospital.
2. Flexibility
With passive income streams, you can work on your own schedule and at your own pace. This gives you more control over your life and allows you to pursue other interests or take time off when needed.
3. Reduced Stress
By having a passive income, you can worry less about money and focus more on your health and well-being. This can help to reduce stress and improve your overall quality of life.
Best Passive Income Ideas For Nurses
Below I’ll cover traditional passive income options, such as real estate rental income and stocks, and non-traditional options, like affiliate marketing and online course creation.
I’ll also discuss the key factors for success, so you can decide which passive income streams are right for you.
Non-Traditional Passive Income Options
Non-traditional passive income options are becoming more popular as people seek ways to earn money outside the traditional 9-5 job.
These options are often more flexible and require less upfront investment. These ideas are awesome for nurses who want to earn passive income with less upfront monetary investment.
1. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing involves promoting someone else’s product and earning a commission on sales through your unique affiliate link.
You can promote products through blogs, social media, or other online platforms. I’m sure you’ve seen articles like best shoes for nurses or best stethoscopes for nurses.
Those articles are doing two things. The first is that they are helping you solve your problem.
The second is if you click over and make a purchase using the links on that page, then affiliate income could be generated (i.e., the site owner, in this case, me, could get a commission on a sale).
To succeed with affiliate marketing, choosing products relevant to your audience and promoting them ethically and authentically is important.
You can go here to find some courses on affiliate marketing.
2. Renting Out Your Extra Storage Space
One of the simplest and most accessible passive income streams for nurses is through the website Neighbor.
This platform allows you to rent out any extra storage space in your home, such as a basement or garage, to individuals in your community who need storage.
Not only does this provide you with a steady stream of extra income, but it’s also a convenient way to put your unused space to good use.
By listing your available storage on Neighbor, you can earn money without leaving your home or putting in any extra effort.
The platform handles all the details, from advertising your space to managing the payment and communication with renters.
So, if you’re looking for an easy way to earn passive income, consider using Neighbor to rent out your unused storage space.
Rent Out Any Storage Space, No Matter the Size
Get paid to rent out unused space on your property. You can list only a portion of your space or an entire room.
Example of spaces you can rent:
Just to name a few.
3. Online Course Creation
Creating and selling online courses is another great way to earn passive income. You can create a course on a topic you know about and share your expertise with others.
You can sell your courses through platforms like Thrivecart or Teachable or build your own website and sell your courses directly to your audience.
To be successful with online course creation, it’s important to have a clear target audience in mind and to create high-quality content that provides real value.
Check out this course to learn how you can start making money by creating online courses.
4. Sell Digital Products
Selling digital products like ebooks, printables, or stock photos is another great way to earn passive income. You can sell your products through platforms like Etsy or your own website.
To succeed with this, it’s important to identify a market gap and create products that meet a real need.
One of the best tools for creating digital products is using the easiest design software around Canva.
Canva is a graphic design tool that makes it easy for anyone to create professional-looking designs, even without prior design experience.
Using Canva, you can create a wide range of digital products that can be sold for passive income, including templates, printables, ebooks, and more.
The sky is the limit. You can check out this video to learn more about creating graphics and digital designs.
5. Start a Dropshipping Business
E-commerce is a growing industry, and dropshipping is a popular way for people to get started.
Dropshipping is a retail fulfillment method where you sell a product, but you don’t keep any of the product in stock.
Instead, when a product sells, you purchase it from a third-party supplier who ships it directly to the customer. In this way, you act as a middleman between the customer and the supplier, facilitating the transaction without holding any inventory.
You don’t have to hold any inventory with dropshipping, as the supplier does all the shipping for you. You simply promote the products and profit from your sales after paying the supplier.
Think of it as you make the spread. The customer orders Product A from you for $100. You order Product A from a supplier for $50 and then make the difference ($100-$50).
Check out this course on dropshipping for more information.
6. Rent Out a Spare Bedroom
If you have an extra room in your home you don’t use frequently, consider listing it on VRBO to earn passive income.
If you don’t know what VRBO is, it’s a marketplace that allows people to rent homes, apartment spaces, and, yes, even spare bedrooms to travelers.
You can set your own rates and choose when you want to make your room available. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a good way to make money using a resource you already have.
See how much you can earn listing your space.
7. Start a Nurse Blog
A blog can be a great passive income stream for nurses who want to leverage their knowledge and experience.
Blogging gives you a platform to share your expertise, educate others, and build a following, all while generating passive income through advertising, sponsorships, and affiliate marketing.
I’ve written an article before on how to start a nurse blog. Check out that linked article for more information.
8. Start a YouTube Channel
Starting a YouTube channel can be a great passive income idea if you want to share your expertise and reach a lot of people.
Creating engaging and informative videos allows you to establish yourself as a thought leader and build a following.
As your channel grows, you can monetize it through advertising, sponsorships, and affiliate marketing, generating passive income without putting in much ongoing effort.
YouTube’s reach and popularity make it a powerful platform for building a personal brand. By tapping into the huge demand for health and wellness information, you can create a channel that educates and earns.
Check out this course on becoming a YouTuber.
9. Writing ebooks
Ebooks are a cost-effective and scalable way to reach a large audience and generate passive income.
By writing and publishing an ebook on a topic you know about, you can position yourself as an authority and build a following of readers.
Once the ebook has been written, published, and marketed, it can continue to generate passive income through sales.
With the rise of digital publishing platforms like Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, it has never been easier to write and publish an ebook and reach a worldwide audience.
Check out this course to learn how to start making money sooner by writing ebooks.
7-Day Ebook gives you the steps to create and publish your own unique, original books and ebooks in less than a week without being chained to your keyboard 18 hours a day for months on end.
10. Amazon FBA
With Amazon FBA, you can sell your products or source products from other suppliers and have Amazon handle the storage, shipping, and customer service.
By leveraging Amazon’s massive customer base, shipping network, and trusted brand, you can reach millions of potential customers and generate passive income through sales.
Additionally, by using Amazon’s fulfillment services, you can minimize the time and effort spent on logistics, allowing you to focus on growing your business and generating passive income.
At this point, you might be thinking is this the same thing as dropshipping?
Not quite.
While on the surface, they both might seem like they are the same thing, they are both very different.
Dropshipping and Amazon FBA offer different advantages and disadvantages, and the choice between the two will depend on the specific needs and goals of the business.
Most importantly, both can eventually be scaled to provide passive income.
Use this course to jumpstart your Amazon FBA passive income.
11. Investing in peer-to-peer lending platforms
Peer-to-peer lending platforms allow you to lend money directly to individuals or businesses and earn interest in return.
You’ll use an online platform like Prosper, where lenders are matched with borrowers seeking loans, and the lenders earn interest on the loans they provide.
The rates of return on P2P loans can be higher than traditional savings accounts or bonds, making it a potentially attractive option for those looking to earn passive income.
Investing in P2P loans does carry a risk of the borrower defaulting on the loan. But on the flip side, you can invest on some platforms for under $100. Given the higher rate of return, you’ll have to weigh the potential risk with the potential reward and see if it’s right for you.
Overall, P2P lending can be a good passive income idea for nurses looking for an investment option with the potential for higher returns.
12. Rent Out Your Car
If you have a car you don’t use frequently, consider renting it out on Turo to earn extra income.
Turo is a peer-to-peer car-sharing platform allowing individuals to rent their personal cars to others.
It is an alternative to traditional car rental services, offering a wider range of vehicles and a more personalized rental experience.
Think of it as what uber was to taxis. Turo is for like a Hertz. If you own a car you don’t use frequently, you can list it on Turo and earn money by renting it out to others.
Turo takes care of all the details, from insurance coverage to payment processing, so all you have to do is sit back and watch the money roll in. You can set your own rates and choose when to make the car available.
Some people even get really nice cars and then use Turo to help them afford the car payments for the nice car.
13. Developing and selling mobile apps or software
Developing a mobile app can be a good passive income idea for tech-savvy nurses who are passionate about creating innovative solutions to solve real-world problems.
Even if you’re not tech-savvy, development can be outsourced to developers found on platforms such as Upwork or Fiverr.
With the rise of smartphones and the increasing demand for mobile apps, there has never been a better time to develop and launch a successful app.
By identifying a gap in the market and developing an app that meets users’ needs, nurses can create a valuable and profitable product that can generate passive income.
Successful apps can generate income through various means, including
- In-app advertising
- In-app purchases
- Subscription model
If the app is successful and popular, it can be licensed to other companies or sold outright, providing a one-time payout that could be very lucrative.
14. Doing Voice-Overs
Doing voice-overs can be a good passive income idea for nurses with a clear and engaging speaking voice and an interest in pursuing a side hustle.
Voice-overs are in high demand for various applications, including commercials, corporate videos, e-learning courses, etc.
With the rise of digital recording and editing tools, it has never been easier to record and deliver high-quality voice-overs from the comfort of your own home.
Voice-over work can be done as a freelancer, allowing you to pick and choose the projects that interest you and fit into your schedule.
With the right skills, equipment, and marketing efforts, you can build a portfolio of voice-over work and generate passive income through repeat clients, new projects, and potentially royalty.
Check out this course to learn how to start making money doing voiceovers.
Traditional Passive Income Options
15. Real Estate Rental Income
Owning rental properties is a classic way to generate passive income. By buying a property and renting it out, you can earn money each month from the rent payments.
Of course, owning rental properties is not a get-rich-quick scheme and requires a significant upfront investment.
However, if you can purchase a property in an area with high demand for rentals, you can expect to receive a good return on your investment over time.
If You Don’t Have Thousands to Invest in a Rental, You Have Options
Investing in real estate doesn’t have to involve a hefty expense anymore. With a real estate investment trust (REIT), you can join forces with other investors to fund a pool of real estate investment managed by professional investors.
You invest your money into the REIT, which in turn purchases properties, and the profits are divided among the investors.
Moreover, you don’t have to worry about being a landlord as the management of the properties is handled by professional property managers.
The nice thing about a REIT is that you can get started in some of them for as little as $100 dollars. You can buy them by signing up for a brokerage account on a platform like WeBull or Robinhood.
⬇️⬇️⬇️Some Investing Options—–Keep scrolling below for the rest of the article.⬇️⬇️⬇️
Why Consider?
- It has commission-free investing.
- A fractional share option with no hidden fees.
- You can borrow against your portfolio.
Open on M1 Finance’s secure website.
Why Consider?
- A very modern approach to consider.
- The fee structure is very easy to understand.
- Good for investors who want to be on cruise control.
Open on Acorn’s secure website.
Another option is to use a platform like Fundrise. Fundrise is an online platform that provides individuals with access to real estate investment opportunities through a real estate investment trust (REIT).
Fundrise allows you to invest in a diversified portfolio of commercial and residential properties with as little as $500, thereby reducing the barriers to entry that have traditionally existed in real estate investing.
The company aims to make real estate investing more accessible, transparent, and convenient for individual investors.
With Fundrise, you can invest in a professionally managed portfolio of real estate assets without having to handle the responsibilities of being a landlord, making it a relatively passive investment.
16. Stock Dividends
Another traditional way to generate passive income is by investing in stocks that pay dividends.
When you invest in a dividend-paying stock, you’ll receive regular payments (usually quarterly) based on the company’s profits.
It’s important to note that stocks are subject to market fluctuations, so there’s always some risk involved. However, over the long term, stocks have historically provided solid returns for investors.
To make things even better, dividend-paying stocks tend to outperform stocks that don’t pay dividends.
You can start investing and earning those dividends by opening a brokerage account such as the ones offered by M1Finance or Robinhood.
17. Buy an Established Digital Business
If you want to skip the startup phase of starting a business, then consider buying an already established business.
While you could buy a brick-and-mortar business like a restaurant franchise, I’m going to recommend you buy a digital business.
Digital businesses typically require minimal physical involvement and can be run remotely, making it a perfect fit for busy professionals such as yourself who may not have the time or resources to actively manage a traditional business.
Additionally, a well-established and profitable digital business can provide a consistent, passive income stream with the potential for growth over time.
By buying an established business, you benefit from the knowledge and expertise of the previous owner, as well as the existing infrastructure, customer base, and revenue streams, providing a lower risk and more stable passive income source.
You can go to an online platform like Flippa to buy established digital businesses.
Buy an online business and start making passive income faster.
18. Bond Investments
Bonds are another way to generate passive income.
When you invest in bonds, you’re essentially lending money to the issuer (e.g., a government or corporation) in exchange for periodic interest payments.
Bonds are generally considered less risky than stocks, but they also offer lower returns.
19. Bank Interest
Opening a high-yield savings account is a simple and low-risk way for nurses to earn passive income.
High-yield savings accounts offer a higher interest rate than traditional savings accounts, allowing you to earn more on your money without having to manage it actively.
Additionally, savings accounts are FDIC-insured, providing a secure place to park your money.
By regularly depositing funds into a high-yield savings account, you can watch their money grow over time and earn a steady, passive income through the interest earned.
CIT Bank is one of the banks that offer high-interest yields.
Historically if someone wanted high-interest rates on money they want to save, they would have had to open up a CD (certificate of deposit).
It’s not the worst thing in the world, but the huge drawback was that the money would be tied up for the term of the CD.
Banks offering high-interest rates on savings accounts allow you to capture higher than usual interest rates while having the money more accessible.
Go here to open a high-interest savings account.
20. Invest in Alternative Asset Classes
I struggled with where to put this one.
On the one hand, it’s not the traditional stocks, bonds, and savings accounts. On the other hand, wealthy people have been investing in “alternative” asset classes for millennia.
In short, these are the asset classes that may be a little riskier but could potentially get some good returns. This would involve things like buying cryptocurrency through a platform like Robinhood or Coinbase.
It could also be buying works of art through a platform like Masterworks.
Start investing in works of art through Masterworks. Just keep in mind that like everything else, I would diversify.
Key Factors for Success
No matter which passive income stream you choose, there are a few key factors that can help you to be successful.
1. Diversification
Diversifying your income streams is important because it helps to mitigate risk. By having multiple streams of income, you can reduce the impact of any one stream performing poorly.
2. Automation
To truly achieve passive income, automating as much of the process as possible is important. This can include setting up automated payments, scheduling social media posts, or using software to manage your affiliate marketing.
3. Consistent effort
While passive income streams don’t require you to work full-time, they require consistent effort to set up and maintain. It’s important to be willing to put in the time and effort needed to get your revenue streams up and running and to keep them running smoothly.
4. Long-term focus
Finally, it’s crucial to have a long-term focus when building passive income streams. It takes time to see results, and you’ll need to be patient and persistent in your efforts.
Key Takeaways
It goes without saying having multiple income streams is essential for nurses who want to achieve financial stability and flexibility.
Whether you choose traditional options, like real estate rental income or stock dividends, or non-traditional options, like affiliate marketing or online course creation, there are many opportunities available.
The key to success is to be consistent and to remain focused on your end goal.
