Nowadays, many Singaporeans have become more aware and cautious of handling and growing their finances. Yet, knowing that time is more valuable than money, they’d want ways to grow their money without wasting precious time. An excellent and appealing way to do this is through building a passive income.

Passive income has become a sought-after approach to building wealth and escaping the paycheck-to-paycheck lifestyle. It could also be the end to a non-rewarding 9-to-5 job for some by securing retirement funds earlier. In reality, it is also one of the affluent’s ways to grow their assets and become even more prosperous.

So, If you want to work less and make more, then this post is for you. We’ve listed the best and easiest ways for you to earn passive income in Singapore this

Things to Consider Beforehand

Creating new income sources involves careful consideration to ensure that your investments and plans yield successfully. While there are many ways to generate passive income, finding the perfect fit is not easy.

So, before heading to that, let us look at the many essential things to consider when building your passive income portfolio.

1. What Are Your Skills And Resources?

Building a new source of income stream will also require some skills and resources. With passive income, initially, you will need to invest in monitoring and updating resources you plan to use in the process.

An example of sources that will need skills is the creation of digital products like e-books, templates, and courses. On the other hand, some that will require resources are income, stocks, and real-estate investments. Read more on how to invest in Singapore.

2. How Much Time Will This Require From You?

In the initial stages, building the source will take some time. But, once built and established, it won’t consume much time. Additionally, you can find many ways to make a passive income stream online. This method is perfect for those who want to build one that is not location-dependent, further allowing you to save time on travel.

3. How Much Effort Will This Require From You?

Unlike a conventional job that requires full attention, you don’t need to sweat it hard to generate passive income. Usually, this type of income requires little-to-no effort and can earn you money while you sleep.

4. How Much Upfront Capital Will This Require From You?

The upfront capital will depend on your chosen source of passive income. If you already have properties you plan to rent out, you don’t need not spend much on capital. However, if you invest in stocks to earn dividends, you’ll have to invest a certain amount of money to buy some shares.

How To Earn Passive Income In Singapore

Earning income while sleeping or doing nothing sounds like a dream. But anyone can make it happen with the proper knowledge and serious commitment. And, if you’re looking for great ideas with minimal effort to earn more money, you’re in the right spot. Below are some proven ways to build passive income in Singapore:

1. Start A Dropshipping Store

Many Singaporeans use the internet to search and shop for products, making online selling and advertising through social media a big trend. With this, sellers found dropshipping an excellent alternative way to do online business and earn money.

One advantage of dropshipping is that you won’t have to invest in a physical inventory of your products. This business model involves e-commerce, and your primary role is to market and sell orders. On the other hand, your supplier will take charge of the stocks and the packing and delivery of orders.

Other benefits from choosing dropshipping as a way to earn are:

• Low start-up costs
• Low overhead expenses
•  Location-independent business
• Easy-to-scale business

You can also start your dropshipping business with only a few easy steps.

1. Find a niche and dropshipping suppliers. Choose a reliable supplier that can cater to the market’s demands.
2. Build an e-commerce store from a reputable hosting platform. Some popular platforms in Singapore are Shopify and Oberlo.
3. Market and sell to potential customers. Focus on building a customer base, market your products, and close sales.
4. Pass the sales order to your supplier for fulfillment. Usually, the supplier will also handle customer service concerns and product returns.

Singapore’s e-commerce market revenue is projected to reach US$ 7,M this year. With Singapore’s flourishing growth in e-commerce, now is the right time to engage in dropshipping.

2.  Invest Your Money In Dividend Stocks And Mutual Funds

You can also generate passive income through a dividend portfolio or a mutual fund. And for those with capital to support, these could be the simplest ways to generate an income passively through dividends.

By purchasing stocks, you will regularly receive cash or dividends from these. These dividends are instantly credited to your bank account. You can also choose to withdraw shareholders&#; dividends or re-invest them to get additional shares and earn more through compounding interests.

To protect your investment, choose blue-chip stocks from top companies with good records of paying out to investors and high dividend yields. You also need to pay attention to the economic trends as this could also affect prices in the stock market.

• Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs)

ETFs are an excellent alternative to individual stocks and a perfect fit for busy lifestyles. ETFs track the market as a whole and are a safer choice for those who cannot commit to studying and monitoring individual stocks.

To start, you’ll just need to invest a lump sum and find a bank that can do the work for you. Note, however, that while ETFs are more passively managed, they can earn lower fees than individual stocks.

Still, both these types of income investments will require you to monitor performance from time to time. Watching the prices will also be helpful if you want to buy or sell your shares at any time.

3. Buy High-Quality Bonds

Bonds come with lower risk factors than stocks and funds mainly because of market volatility. With bonds, the borrower will pay you back a fixed interest amount after a specific time, depending on the agreement.

Singapore Savings Bonds (SSB) is the best example of a high-quality bond. With SSB, you’d be signing a contract with the most credible institution in Singapore, which is the government. Thus, there is a zero risk of getting defaulted.  It also guarantees the total return of capital which you can withdraw anytime with no penalty.

Indeed, government bonds like SSB provide Singaporeans with a safe and flexible option to passively grow their money. Bonds are issued every month through the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). The holding period is ten years, and the minimum investment is S$

SSB provides an opportunity for income investing and allows you to focus on generating income from your investments. However, income investors tend to find other sources to consider because of low rates.

4. Deposit Your Money With High-Yielding Savings Deposit Accounts

Bank interests can also earn you passive income. However, your savings accounts usually only yield small interest amounts depending on your bank. These interest rates are so low that you can’t even consider them a reliable source of passive earnings.

Some banks could get you as high as more than 2% if you research further. However, this method is only beneficial for those who have considerable amounts in their savings account with this rate.

Here are a few high-yielding savings accounts and their corresponding interest rates:

•       Maybank Save Up – % to %
•       SCB Bonus Saver – % to %
•       BOC Smart Saver – % to %
•       DBS Multiplier &#; % to 1%
•       CIMB Fast Saver – % to 1%

Additionally, rates will also be applicable under certain conditions, such as minimum deposits or transactions.

5. Create And Monetize On Your Social Media Or Blog Content

Another way to create passive income online is through starting a blog or growing your social media account. You can monetize both by earning from affiliate links, sponsored ads, and selling products and services.

Start by finding an affiliate program and review their program or payment overview. Next, choose products or services that might be relevant to your blog’s content. Affiliate marketers get paid every time they drive a sale through their blog or social media accounts. So, promote affiliate links actively on your site and earn a portion of the sale.

Creating a successful blog site does not happen overnight, and it will require upfront work to generate audience traffic. But don’t worry, as many tools can help you build organic traffic. In no time, you will be enjoying a long-term income stream by just working a few hours or so a month.

6. Buy And Rent Out A Real Property

Like the other methods, buying and renting out property also involves upfront work at the start. Creating passive earnings through a real estate investment can be through:

You can earn rental income from real-estate properties by following these steps:

• Select a suitable property. Choose one that is located in a reputable area or neighborhood. Properties near schools and public transportation are always an ideal choice.
• Advertise and choose the right tenants. Try to find responsible tenants with an excellent financial background as well.
• Proper rental management. Includes choosing a reputable insurance company. It also ensures that rentals cover maintenance, renovations, property insurance, and mortgage.

If you play your cards right, your rental income will allow you to have a steady stream for years to come. However, if you start using loan money, you need to be more cautious in handling this type of investment.

• Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)

You can also earn passively by investing in REIT companies. With a REIT, you don’t have to physically purchase and manage the property. Generally, REITs also yield higher dividend rates because they distribute a large portion of their taxable income yearly.

However, REITs are traded like other stocks, so they are also subject to market volatility and fluctuations.

Conclusion

Many of us desire to enjoy a comfortable life without working hard until our senior years. And having additional passive income streams is a great way to achieve this. So, start building your passive income today and enjoy life without having to worry about finances in the future.

Key Takeaways:

• Creating multiple income streams can give you a sense of security and peace of mind.
• For beginners, find the right investment fit by consulting financial experts.
• Income from passive sources has the potential to grow more than regular savings.

Do you need extra cash to grow your investments? Instant Loan can help you find the perfect match for your financial needs. Try our loan comparison service today and solve your financial worries by finding the best loan deals in Singapore.

Who doesn’t want to make more money by earning passive income in Singapore? Imagine watching extra cash flow in, month after month, without having to lift a finger!

However, there’s no one-size-fits-all way to generate passive income. We are all different; one person’s idea of “passive” is not going to be another’s cup of tea.

The key is to play to our strengths, whatever they are. Here are 8 diverse passive income ideas in Singapore for different personalities. Find the one that fits you best.

#1 Invest in high-dividend stocks 
#2 Be a lazy landlord with REITs
#3 Robo-advisors or ETFs
#4 Buy bonds like the Singapore Savings Bond
#5 Sell stock photos, videos, or music online
#6 Create content on YouTube
#7 Share your expertise
#8 Rent out a spare room 
 

#1 Invest in high-dividend stocks 

Suitable for: Financially-minded types who have an appetite for stock-picking.

Let’s start with an obvious way to get some extra money: investing in high-dividend stocks on the Singapore stock exchange.

You basically buy a small slice of a big company, and a little bit of its earnings gets paid out in the form of dividends a few times a year.

Investing in stocks does take a bit of capital and effort, though. You’ll need to set up an investment brokerage account first. Ideally, you’d want to buy stocks with at least $5, to $10, to start with, because brokerages usually charge a minimum commission fee.

Since there are tons and tons of stocks to choose from, you’ll also need to do quite a bit of research. The ability to decode annual reports is a big plus as well. Depending on how much you like researching, this can either be fun or decidedly not-passive.

Once the groundwork is done, though, you can hang on to your stocks forever and just earn dividends from them.

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#2 Be a lazy landlord with REITs

Suitable for: Those who believe fervently in real estate.

Want to be a landlord without having to fork out a million bucks for an investment property? The passive way to do this is with a real estate investment trust, or REIT, which is a subset of stocks.

Similar to how stocks make you part-owner of companies, REITs let you be part-landlord for properties, such as shopping malls and office buildings. Then, sit back and collect the “rent” in the form of dividends.

REITs are very popular in Singapore because they are legally required to re-distribute their earnings, meaning investors can collect high dividends passively.

To invest in REITs, you’ll also need a brokerage account and (ideally) $5, or more to start. There are fewer REITs than company stocks in Singapore, so it is relatively easier to pick what to invest in. 

If you do not have thousands of dollars upfront, certain robo-advisors specialise in Singapore REITs with low or no minimum investment.

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#3 Robo-advisors or ETFs

Suitable for: Truly lazy investors, or people who suffer from analysis paralysis.

Don’t feel you personally are up to scratch when it comes to buying stocks? Then leave it to the experts (or an algorithm) by investing in index-tracking exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

ETFs are “fun packs” of stocks packaged to track a certain benchmark, such as the Straits Times Index, which compiles the 30 top-performing Singapore stocks.

The appealing thing about ETFs is that, if company X flounders and falls off the index, the ETF will automatically adjust. So it’s very passive as far as investments go. Also, putting your eggs in so many baskets reduces the risks of investing.

You can buy ETFs on any stock market with an investment brokerage. Another great way to invest in ETFs is with a robo-advisor. Most robo-advisors focus on ETFs, and have low or no minimum investments.

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#4 Buy bonds like the Singapore Savings Bond

Suitable for: Conservative types with low risk appetite.

Did you know that when you invest in a bond, you’re actually lending money to whoever issued the bond?

That means when you invest in a Singapore Savings Bond, you’re lending to the Singapore government.

High-grade government or quasi-government bonds, like SSBs or Temasek bonds, are considered low-risk alternatives to stocks.

The interest rate and repayment schedule is agreed upon from the start, and these are credible borrowers with very low risk of defaulting on their loans.

The bond issuer pays you interest every 6 months or so, which results in passive income for you. At the end of the bond, or whenever you decide to withdraw, you can collect your capital.

Bond interest rates are currently low. However, since there’s no lock-in, you can buy SSBs now (with as little as $), then sell and repurchase if the rates increase in the future.

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#5 Sell stock photos, videos, or music online

Suitable for: Artistic, creative types.

Many Singaporeans have gone through a shutterbug phase at some point. If you have terabytes of high-resolution holiday photos from back then, don’t delete them! Try selling them to stock photo websites first.

You can even dust off your DSLR and make money from your photography hobby. Authentic stock photos with natural-looking models are always in demand, as are specialised niche subjects and photos depicting new trends.

It’s not exactly “passive”, but if you make extra money by pursuing your hobby, it won’t feel like work either. Plus, the content stays on the platform for a long time after you have finished creating it and as people download or watch them, you get income!

If you are a videographer or music creator, the same advice applies. Go ahead and sell your drone shots of Singapore as B-roll stock footage, or license your tracks to stock music agencies. A quick Google search will show you the top stock website for each media format. 

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#6 Create content on YouTube

Suitable for: Those who are not camera shy.

If you are a regular social media junkie who’s always hamming it up for the camera, a great way to generate passive income is by hosting your own shows on YouTube.

They don’t need to be intensively edited either. There are tons of low-effort video ideas like mukbang videos, “study with me” sessions, narrating stories, guided meditations, make-up tutorials, or even uploading videos of your pets.

YouTube makes money by advertising, so if you turn on ads on your videos, you get paid a small amount for every view. The more views your video has, the more money you can make.

This can be passive income in the sense that your video can continue earning money for months or years after you put it up.

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#7 Share your expertise

Suitable for: Subject matter experts who are keen to share knowledge.

If you are a subject matter expert of some sort, don’t keep your musings to yourself. Consider publishing them on Medium and Substack.

Both are paid (written) content platforms that pay when users view and love your content. This works particularly well if you can write interestingly and engagingly about your area of expertise/interest.

Medium pays writers based on how much readers engage with your content, while Substack allows you to charge for your email newsletter.

If you are willing to put in effort to make an educational video, you can put it up on online learning platform Skillshare. Subscribers pay to learn, and you get paid for every minute they watch.

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#8 Rent out a spare room 

Suitable for: Anyone with room to spare.

Finally, here’s a tried-and-tested way for Singaporeans to earn more money with minimal hassle: renting out a spare room.

All it takes is an extra room and a few minutes to post it on Carousell or co. Some have even found tenants at their workplace. You will need to draft an agreement when you find a suitable tenant, but once you do, then the monthly rent is yours to keep.

However, not everyone likes to share their home with others. If that’s the case, you may consider a less invasive way to generate passive income, like renting out storage space. You can check the market rates for that on Carousell.

Another option is to rent out your room for pet boarding! Of course, taking care of pets is far from “passive” — but if you love animals anyway, why not? You may list these services on a pet marketplace like Pawshake or advertise directly on pet interest groups.

As you can see, passive income isn’t really free income. You still need to put in some effort at the beginning to get things going. But after that, you can see the income trickling in long after you have put in the investment or uploaded a piece of content on a paid platform. It’s not impossible to find one that suits your personality and financial situation to supplement your main income. Good luck!

Passive income is never really passive. 

Although it gets touted as easy money, most passive income streams are the result of hard work: building an audience, optimizing paid ads, and delivering a great experience and a superior product. However, as a current or aspiring business owner, you’re not afraid to put in the time to do all of those things, and you might already have all three checked off your list.

Adding passive income streams to your existing business can create a revenue source with markedly different underlying economics. Typically, these income streams will have higher profit margins and can scale more easily than services or physical products—giving you more flexibility overall in your business.

And if you're just getting started, a high-profit-margin product can be a great way to build your business and earn money to invest in your next phase, as long as you go into it with the understanding that even though it’s called passive income, there will be work involved.

11 best passive income ideas to build wealth

Whether you’re running a service provider trying to stop selling dollars for hours or a product business looking to add a stream of revenue that doesn’t involve the logistics of sending out physical products, you can use the brand and audience you’ve built to add passive income streams to your business.

Start a dropshipping store

Upfront investment (time): 🕒🕒

Upfront investment (money): 💸

Passive income potential: 💰💰💰

Dropshipping is one of the best ways to start earning from wherever you are, even if you don’t have plenty of cash flow. Some dropshippers report making upward of $, per year. Dropshipping is not a get rich quick scheme, however, it takes some upfront investment of time.

This business model involves creating an ecommerce store where customers browse and buy products. What’s interesting about dropshipping is that you don’t have to see the products you sell physically. 

With dropshipping, your supplier handles everything from manufacturing to packaging to fulfillment. And since you don’t need to send money to your supplier until your customers pay, there’s limited cash risk.

Another risk you get to avoid is the one that comes with investing in a product that doesn’t have a market. You can use a platform like the Oberlo marketplace to find trending products in different niches to sell in your store.

Depending on the product you choose and your pricing, you can earn solid passive income and learn how to run an ecommerce business. 

Resources:

Free Webinar:

How to Get Started with Dropshipping in

Learn how to find high-margin products, add them into your store, and start selling—fast.

Register now

Create a print-on-demand store

Upfront investment (time): 🕒🕒🕒

Upfront investment (money): 💸

Passive income potential: 💰💰💰

If you’re an artist, designer, or entrepreneur, print on demand can be a profitable passive income idea and monetize your creativity. It involves working with suppliers to customize white label products like t-shirts, posters, backpacks, or books and selling them on a per-order basis. 

Similar to dropshipping, you only pay for the product after you sell it. There’s no buying in bulk or inventory needed. Print-on-demand stores are a good passive income stream because:

• You can create products quickly and put them up for sale in minutes
• Shipping and fulfillment is taken care of by your supplier
• Once your store is set up, you can automate many marketing and sales processes

With a print-on-demand company like Printful, you can easily create products to sell in your Shopify store quickly. Overall, print on demand is a low risk, simple business idea you can get up and running with fast. 

Free Webinar:

How to quickly start a profitable print-on-demand store

In our free minute video workshop, we’ll get you from product idea to setting up an online store to getting your first print-on-demand sale.

Register now

Sell digital products

Upfront investment (time): 🕒🕒

Upfront investment (money): 💸💸

Passive income potential: 💰💰💰💰

Digital products are assets or pieces of media consumers can’t touch physically. These include downloadable or streamable files such as Kindle books, templates, plug-ins, or PDFs. 

Digital products are great passive income streams because they have high profit margins. You only have to make the asset once, and you can sell it repeatedly online. There’s no storage or inventory needed. 

You can sell as many digital products as you want. Many creators scale their passive income by selling kits, printables, files, and other assets professionals can use. UX Kits, for example, sells personas, flowcharts, and wireframes to assist the design process. 

The brand has sold its products to more than 10, customers in over countries and continues to sell these lucrative products online today. 

Resources:

Teach online courses

Upfront investment (time): 🕒🕒🕒🕒

Upfront investment (money): 💸

Passive income potential: 💰💰💰

It’s easier than ever for educators to sell courses online. Whether it’s marketing, illustration, or entrepreneurship, you can create courses and start selling with few limitations. Similar to digital products, you can sell online courses repeatedly without holding any inventory or stock. 

Teaching online requires some upfront investment in time. You’ll need to outline your course, record it, and make downloadable assets like templates for students to walk away with. 

Take Yegi Saryan, founder of Yegi Beauty, for example. After creating an online beauty brand selling eyelash extension products, she created an educational branch called Yegi Academy. Her lash classes help entrepreneurs around the world jumpstart their beauty careers, offering both online and on-site training. 

As an online educator, you can choose the class size and length. You could offer one-on-one tutoring or masterminds if you prefer small groups, or offer training sessions and live courses if you enjoy working with big groups. Don’t want human interaction? No problem. You can create fully downloadable courses that students can finish at their own pace. 

Whichever way you look at it, teaching online is a profitable passive income stream with low startup costs—just an investment of your time.

Resources:

Become a blogger

Upfront investment (time): 🕒🕒🕒🕒

Upfront investment (money): 💸

Passive income potential: 💰💰💰

Starting a blog can be a challenging venture, but the blogging business model is only becoming more successful as a passive income stream. You don’t need to be an internet celebrity anymore to earn money online. All you have to do is find your people on one or two platforms, then send them to your website. 

It takes a little bit of time to build a blog. But if you create quality content and promote it through your platforms, you’ll build an audience big enough to monetize. 

You could earn passive income from blogging by:

• Selling affiliate products
• Creating sponsored posts
• Selling your own products 
• Running ads through Google AdSense

The best part? You don’t need any design or coding skills to start a blog. With a content management system and hosting service like Shopify, you can get a blog up and running in no time. 

You’ll need to invest time into creating an SEO marketing strategy and producing and promoting the content. Know that your efforts will be rewarded: the return on investment can be upward of $30, per month, depending on how you monetize your blog. 

Resources:

Sell handmade goods

Upfront investment (time): 🕒🕒🕒

Upfront investment (money): 💸💸💸

Passive income potential: 💰💰💰💰

There’s never been a better time to sell stuff online. With over billion people connected to the internet today, the opportunity to build and scale an online business is massive. 

There are hundreds of online sites you can sell on. Some have specific niches, like video games or handcrafted goods, while others let you sell whatever you want. 

Some popular online selling sites include:

• Your own online store
• Handshake
• Amazon
• eBay
• Ruby Lane
• AliExpress

The upfront investment is two-fold. You’ll need to invest in materials and time to make and sell DIY goods like pottery or clothing. You’ll also want to create an online store to house your products.

According to our research, the top 10 products consumers plan to buy post-pandemic include:

Selling from your own store reduces the amount of fees you pay on each sale, plus, you can create a brand for yourself. The benefits of building a brand compound over time as you build an audience and connect with more customers. It’ll help you sell more over time and make money online.

Resources:

Run an affiliate marketing business

Upfront investment (time): 🕒🕒🕒🕒

Upfront investment (money): 💸

Passive income potential: 💰💰💰

Affiliate marketing involves recommending a product or service to an audience. It’s a great source of passive income because you earn a commission whenever someone uses your referral link to buy the recommended product or service.

It’s also a growing industry. Statista estimates that the affiliate marketing industry will reach $ billion by Online entrepreneurs become affiliate marketers for a few key reasons:

• It’s easy to execute. You just handle the marketing side of things. The brand will develop products and fulfill orders. 

• It’s low risk.There’s no cost to join an affiliate program. You can sell established profits without any upfront financial investment. You’ll have to invest time in creating traffic sources so more people click on your links. Once that’s set up, you can earn relatively passive income through commissions. 

• It’s scalable. Affiliate marketers typically don’t hire extra help. You can introduce new products to an audience and create campaigns while your past work makes money in the background. 

Earning money with affiliate marketing can be a rewarding way to add new revenue streams to your business. All it costs is your time. Once the hours are invested, you can reap the rewards continually.

Resources: 

Sell stock photos online

Upfront investment (time): 🕒🕒🕒🕒

Upfront investment (money): 💸💸💸

Passive income potential: 💰💰

One of the biggest drawbacks to running a service-based business like photography is that you get paid for your time. You must be at an event or photoshoot to make money with photography, which, even if you’re making a killing, can be tiring after a while. 

If you’re a full-time photographer or own a good camera, you can create an extra revenue stream by selling photos online. Stock photo sites like Pexels, Shutterstock, and other online media houses will pay for high-quality photos and videos. 

There’s no inventory to keep around the house besides your camera and laptop. These websites do the marketing for you, so once you load your photos onto the platform, getting your work out there and selling it is done for you. 

If you run your photography business on Shopify, you can also easily tie in digital products like prints or print-of-demand products like shirts and hats, giving you even more passive income streams so you can work less and make more. 

Resources:

Become an Instagram influencer

Upfront investment (time): 🕒🕒🕒🕒

Upfront investment (money): 💸

Passive income potential: 💰💰💰

$1 million: That’s how much Dwayne “The Rock” ‘Johnson makes per Instagram post. While you may not have chiseled abs or over million social media followers, you can still earn passive income on Instagram as an influencer.

To become an Instagram influencer—someone who can sway another person’s buying decisions—you’ll need to build a community of people who enjoy similar topics. 

Are you a comics fan? You can create an Instagram account and start posting consistently about the latest Marvel and DC shows. The same applies if your interest is in sports, scuba diving, home decor, or even general culture. 

Some influencers like Alex Lange run sponsored posts for brands like Tinder. 

If you have an engaged audience, you can find many different ways to make passive income from them. You can partner with large and small businesses to promote their products to your followers. Or you can make money through selling your own merch.

Buy a rental property

Upfront investment (time): 🕒🕒🕒

Upfront investment (money): 💸💸💸💸

Passive income potential: 💰💰💰

Real estate investing is one of the oldest ways to build long-term wealth. 

If you have enough money, you can buy and rent out apartment buildings or some other form of real estate. But since the job of being a landlord is pretty active, you can hire property managers to manage tenants and collect monthly payments or rent. 

What if you don’t have money to own entire apartment buildings? Can you still earn rental income? Yes, you can. 

With a minimum investment of $, you can use a real estate investment trust (REIT) platform like Fundrise to invest in different real estate assets—and earn passively when the assets appreciate. 

Invest in the stock market

Upfront investment (time): 🕒🕒🕒

Upfront investment (money): 💸💸💸

Passive income potential: 💰💰💰

Although the stock market might have a steep learning curve and can be confusing, it’s a great way to build lasting wealth. A common mistake most people make with stock investments is thinking short-term instead of playing the long game. 

The goal for investing in stocks is to diversify your portfolio and reduce risk. You can do this through investing in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and high-dividend stocks that earn you income slowly over time. To start investing in the stock market, you need to open up a brokerage account and fund it. 

Resources:

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4 passive income ideas for extra cash

These side hustles are good for making quick cash. They may help you reach short-term financial goals, but they are not passive income strategies that build wealth.

Rent out your spare room

Upfront investment (time): 🕒🕒🕒

Upfront investment (money): 💸💸💸💸

Passive income potential: 💰

Do you have an extra room in your apartment? Or are you going on a three-week road trip and don’t want to leave your house empty? You can partner with a rental company like Airbnb to put your free space up for rent.

Airbnb connects homeowners with people who are looking for their next getaway. Many people prefer Airbnbs because they’re usually cheaper than hotels, meaning a high demand for your free space as an Airbnb host. 

If you want to make even more income from Airbnb, you can buy apartments for the sole purpose of renting them out. You should note, though, that renting your space out often requires work upfront. You might have to furnish or renovate your free room before putting it up for rent.

Rent out your car

Upfront investment (time): 🕒🕒🕒

Upfront investment (money): 💸💸💸💸

Passive income potential: 💰

Your free space is not the only thing you can use to earn passive income. You can also offer your car up for rent with a service like Turo. If you already use your car for Uber, you can sign up with platforms like Carvertise or Wrapify to earn extra money as you take trips around town. 

Another option is to look for someone who needs a car for Uber or Lyft. So instead of actively driving around in your free time, you can pull up a Netflix show while your car works for you.

Peer-to-peer lending

Upfront investment (time): 🕒

Upfront investment (money): 💸💸💸

Passive income potential: 💰

Have a lot of cash that’s not working for you? Try Peer-to-peer lending. P2P lending involves lending money to borrowers or small businesses. 

To make the process easy, you can sign up on a website like LendingClub, Prosper (for individuals), and Worthy (for businesses) that connects borrowers with lenders. 

These sites usually host loan requests along with interest rates based on the borrower’s history. The return on these loans is usually around 5%–6%. 

Cashback reward sites

Upfront investment (time): 🕒🕒

Upfront investment (money): 💸

Passive income potential: 💰

Cashback reward sites like Swagbucks, MyPoint, and Rakuten allow you to earn money when you shop online. After signing up, you don’t have to do anything extra, aside from shop, to make money from these sites. 

The more you shop online, the more points you gain. And the more money you can make.

As a note of caution, don’t exceed your monthly spending budget or max out your credit card in a bid to earn some reward. 

On the road to financial freedom

There is only so much time in a day, and finding ways to scale your income in more efficient ways can give you flexibility in your business to hit the next level. That level might be “taking a vacation, ever” or “hiring more help” or “ordering new inventory,” but whatever it is, adding streams of income with different underlying economics can give you the freedom to explore it.

S$5, a month in passive income is a dream for many Singaporeans. Here’s how you can build your own passive income portfolio today, so that you can sit back and relax in the years to come. 

Passive income is income you earn from doing close to nothing — hence the term passive. 

However, passive income doesn’t just fall into your lap. You have to set the wheels in motion first, in order to enjoy the fruits of your labour in the future years. 

But first, why do people want (or need) a passive income portfolio? 

With passive income, you no longer rely on your job for income. You work not because you need the money to get by, but because you want to. This also gives you the option of early retirement.

However, having a few hundred dollars in passive income is hardly enough. Here, the goal is to have sufficient passive income such that it is able to cover your monthly expenses entirely. 

Here’s how you can grow your passive income portfolio in Singapore. 

6 ways to build your passive income portfolio

#1 Earn rental income through property ownership

One straightforward way to earn passive income is to rent out your home (or rooms in your home). 

The amount you bag in rental income would depend on the current demand in the property market, as well as factors such as the type of property, condition of the home, location and more. 

Keep in mind that rental income isn’t immediately profit-generating. You have to factor in your home loan payments as well as the cost of stamp duty and home renovations or repairs. Over the long-haul, your profits will grow after the rental income has compensated for all the costs incurred. 

To become an ace at investing in property, check out our guide to property investing here. 

#2 Dividend income from stocks 

Buying a million-dollar home isn’t something you can do the very next day. But what you can do is invest in stocks that give out dividends.

Companies pay their shareholders dividends each year. However, not all companies pay dividends and nor are they obliged to do so.

So, what counts as a high dividend yield? A good gauge would be 4% returns and above. To build a passive income portfolio, there are two main types of stocks to consider: Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and blue chip stocks. 

REITs are known to have high dividend yields of 4% to 8%, because it is compulsory for them to distribute at least 90% of their taxable income each year. When you invest in a REIT, you are investing in a company that is essentially a landlord, collecting rent and distributing the rental income back to shareholders as dividends. 

Blue chip stocks refer to large and established companies that retail investors would easily recognise. Think along the lines of DBS, OCBC, CapitaLand, Sheng Siong, Dairy Farm, Singtel and more. Over in the U.S., blue chip stocks include Apple, Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, McDonald’s, Berkshire Hathaway and more. These blue chip stocks have a history of rewarding shareholders with handsome dividends. 

These dividends are paid out periodically — this could be once a year, semi-annually or even four times a year. Some companies also offer scrip dividends, where you receive dividends in the form of shares. The payment date varies from stock to stock and you can find the dividend payout date based on the information found on their site.

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#3 Dividend income from Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)

If you’re not comfortable selecting a single stock, or a handful of stocks to make up your dividend portfolio, you can instead consider investing in ETFs. ETFs are a basket of securities, offered at an affordable price, that seek to track an index. Like stocks, ETFs are listed on the stock exchange and can reward their unitholders with dividends. 

For example, Nikko AM STI ETF and SPDR STI ETF both track the Straits Times Index (STI) — an index comprising of the top 30 stocks in Singapore. Such ETFs gives you exposure to the top 30 companies in Singapore while reaping dividend income each year. In , Nikko AM STI ETF gave S$ per security. This means that if you hold 10, units of Nikko AM STI ETF, you’d get a total of S$1, in dividends that year. 

When investing in dividend-yielding stocks or ETFs, the sooner you add them to your portfolio, the faster you can tap on the power of compounding to grow your wealth. This is particularly so in your younger years, when you don’t rely on the dividends for income, but reinvest them instead.

#4 Receive regular coupon payments by purchasing bonds 

Bonds, or fixed income products, are considered to be one of the safer investment options. 

When you purchase a bond offered by a company, you are effectively lending your money to the company, in return for coupon payouts of a fixed amount. With bonds, you have greater certainty and visibility over your coupon payouts as well as the date of payouts. 

Let’s take the wildly oversubscribed Astrea VI bonds, for example. If you were successfully allocated Astrea VI bonds, you’ll receive 3% of your principal amount semi-annually, on 18 March and 18 September each year. Your principal amount can be redeemed at the end of five years, or up to 10 years.

A popular low-risk bond is the Singapore Savings Bonds (SSBs) that offers historical returns ranging between 1% to 2%, at little to no risk. 

However, there is less liquidity when it comes to bonds. Although they can be bought and sold on the open market, there could be a lack of buyers willing to purchase the bonds you’re holding. Also, you have to be prepared to hold the bond till maturity. With the Astrea VI bond, bondholders have to be prepared to hold it for at least five years. 

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#5 Generate income via a fund or robo-advisor

Besides ETFs, there are also mutual funds or unit trusts that you can purchase. This can be purchased through an investment platform, robo-advisor or insurance company. 

A handful of robo-advisors also have income-generating portfolios available. 

For example, StashAway’s Income Portfolio aims to generate income by investing in ETFs that consist of bonds, REITs and dividend stocks. This is also their only portfolio with a minimum investment requirement of S$10, With the dividends this portfolio generates, you can opt to reinvest the dividends or have the payouts sent to your bank account or SRS account. 

More recently, MoneyOwl has launched Fullerton MoneyOwl WiseIncome, a fund that aims to help secure your retirement by providing you with a steady stream of passive income.

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#6 Monthly payouts with an annuity plan

Besides building your own passive income portfolio, if you’re looking for monthly payouts during your retirement, you can consider purchasing an annuity plan. 

Annuity plans are retirement plans which you can purchase from insurance companies in Singapore. 

When you purchase an annuity plan, you can opt to pay a single premium, or regular premiums, for a fixed period during your working years. Upon reaching the retirement age, this plan will give you monthly payouts for the number of years stated in the plan, or for your lifetime, depending on the policy you purchased. 

Sounds familiar? This is what CPF LIFE (our national retirement annuity scheme) offers and annuity plans can be the additional layer on top of what we receive from our CPF LIFE. Check out some of the best annuity plans in Singapore here. 

How much passive income do you need?

How much money do you need to get by each month? That’s the amount that you’ll require in passive income, in order to enjoy financial independence and retire early. 

According to this article by SCMP, you’ll need US$ million (S$ million) in order to achieve financial freedom in Singapore.

This amount in passive income would differ from person to person, as it depends on your lifestyle and your idea of a dream retirement. For example, someone with plans to travel overseas frequently would require more money to buffer for those expenses. You would also need to factor in the financial obligations you have to fulfil, such as funding your child’s education and paying off your mortgage.  

However, your monthly passive income doesn’t need to be a huge amount if you plan to lead a simple and frugal lifestyle. 

Once you’ve figured out how much passive income you require, you can then work backwards to calculate how much you need in investments (or the amount of rental you need to generate) in order to get there. 

For example, if you need S$4, a month (S$48, a year), investing in a stock that gives S$ per share in dividends annually would require you to be holding 96, shares. If the share price is trading at S$10, that is equivalent to having S$, invested in that company. 

If you know you’ll drag your feet while figuring out your next course of action, one way to reduce the opportunity cost and make your money work in the meantime is to invest with a robo-advisor. This will help you grow your money while you take the necessary steps to build your passive income stream.

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Read these next:
DBS, OCBC or UOB: Which Bank Gives You The Greatest Dividend Yield?
Guide To Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), And Whether You’re Ready For It
Uniquely Singaporean Things We Do To Accumulate Wealth
DBS, SIA & Sheng Siong: Beginner’s Guide To Blue Chip Stocks In Singapore
Guide To Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS) And Tips To Maximise It

By Ching Sue Mae
A flat white, an adventure-filled travel and a good workout is her fuel. This Manchester United fan enjoys sharing knowledge on personal finance while chasing the dream of financial independence. 

As a student living in Singapore, a monthly allowance of S$ just isn’t enough. You could easily spend it all in one afternoon at a restaurant or shopping for a pair of sneakers. Many of your friends may work part-time jobs, like tutoring or babysitting to supplement their allowances. If you’re busy with school and an internship, there are other ways to multiply your allowance. Here are eight tips to earn passive income as a student in Singapore.

1. Invest in STI ETF

ETF stands for exchange traded fund, which are listed and traded on a stock exchange. By buying shares of the ETF, you have small ownership of the total fund. Typically, an ETF tracks a stock index, and Singapore has its own called the Straits Times Index (STI). The STI tracks the performance of the top 30 companies listed on the stock exchange in Singapore.

For beginners who are just getting started on their investment journey, STI-ETF is a low cost, low-risk way to invest your money in top-performing local companies with a regional presence. You’ll have a diverse portfolio of ETF in companies across different industries in Singapore. If you’re 18 years old and above, you can start investing in STI ETF with major banks in Singapore such as POSB/DBS, OCBC, UOB. These banks offer investment savings plans which you access to blue-chip ETFs from as low as S$ a month with up to 3% p.a returns. While you’ll only see significant gains in 3 to 5 years, this helps to grow your savings long-term, and also protects your money against Singapore’s yearly inflation rate of ~%.

2. Invest in cryptocurrency

Bitcoin (BTC) is the world’s first digital currency without a central bank. As the oldest and largest cryptocurrency in the world, its value has continued rising over the past decade. After an announcement that Tesla purchased US$ billion worth of Bitcoin (BTC), the cryptocurrency has since reached its all-time high of US$58,, as institutional and corporate investors have also started pouring money into the crypto sphere. While it may be unachievable for retail investors to own one whole Bitcoin at the moment, you can still own a small fraction of it for a few hundred dollars. Bitcoin has been touted as a store of value in the digital era, and could even hit US$, at some point. With Apple Pay now supporting Bitcoin payment, signs point to mass adoption of the cryptocurrency in the future.

Besides Bitcoin, there’s also Ethereum (ETH), which also recently hit its all-time high of US$ ETH serves as a means of payment for crypto transaction fees between exchanges and wallets. There are hundreds of cryptocurrencies out there, and some are backed with solid projects with real-world usage, such as Aave (AAVE), a peer-to-peer lending platform on Ethereum, Binancecoin (BNB), a token launched by Binance online exchange, native to the Binance blockchain which reduces transaction fees on the exchange.

For beginners, invest and dollar cost average a fraction of your savings into safe and stable cryptocurrencies like BTC and ETH. In your spare time, study trading and practice without real money using demo accounts like eToro, TradingView, Plus just to name a few.

When you’re more financially stable in the future after earning a regular salary, you’ll have the knowledge to analyse charts, start trading and form strategies. The crypto market is very volatile and like with any investments, there are risks involved, and it’s important to do your due diligence and research on the product before putting your money in it.

3. Invest in personal development

As a student, the most important investment you can really make is in yourself. With education and skills in fields with high growth and salary potential such as IT, UI/UX design, investment banking, law, or medicine, you’ll be able to set aside a bigger capital for future investments, giving you greater returns. You can also acquire hobbies that have the potential for monetisation so that you can make money doing something fun.

4. Invest with a robo advisor

For a low-cost alternative to traditional financial advisors, stash your money with robo advisors for small investments which doesn’t charge you a fee if you’re investing less than S$50, Alternatively, you can also invest with DBS’s digiPortfolio with a minimum initial investment of S$1,, or Saxo’s Regular Savings Plan which gives you access to managed portfolios with a monthly investment of just S$ and minimum initial investment of S$2, However, note that most robo advisors charge an annual fee between % to 1%, so pick one with the lowest annual fee according to how much you can afford to invest.

5. Make use of your existing skills

If you already have existing skills, you can monetise them and earn passive income on streaming platforms like Twitch, where gamers livestream themselves playing games while their viewers/followers donate money, essentially paying the streamers for content of themselves having fun. However, with thousands of streamers out there, you have to carve out a niche and play to your strengths. Whether you’re a good looking charismatic gamer girl or a funny guy with impressive gameplays, identify your niche and build an audience around it.

There are also other online platforms to earn passive income off of. You can become a Youtuber or Instagrammer with comedy, dance, music, cooking, cooking, mukbang, or tutorials. Granted, coming up with and executing content ideas as well as cutting and editing videos take effort, but when your old videos start gaining eyeballs as you create new ones, that’s when the passive income starts rolling in. Even if you stop uploading videos, you’ll still earn passive income as long as your existing videos continue gaining views.

6. Sell digital art on NFT platforms

Are you an artist or art hobbyist? Sell your digital art on digital art marketplaces, where your art will be tokenised and linked to Non-fungible tokens (NFT) that contain unique ownership data that is easily verifiable and can be traced back to you. Built using one of two Ethereum token standards (ERC and ERC), NFT platforms are opportunities for you to accumulate Ethereum by selling your art.

Without an auction house or art gallery taking a cut of your profits, NFT platforms also allow you to keep a bigger portion of your earnings. Buyers can also sell, trade or hold the art as long term investments. According to Coindesk, “there has been a total of S$ million spent on NFTs” since , and the NFT space will only grow with the continued rise of cryptocurrency awareness.

7. Don’t fall prey for get-rich-quick schemes

As a young impressionable student without much income, it’s easy to fall for scams that promise you wealth in a short period of time. These exist in the form of multilevel marketing (MLM) companies selling seemingly harmless products like beauty and skincare products, spa packages and health supplements.

These companies make money by recruiting salespeople who are paid solely through commission. The salespeople or members usually pay a fee upfront for their products and are then told that they could cover the fee from commissions by recruiting new members. Watch out for these red flags and never get involved in these schemes.

8. Earn free cryptocurrency

If you’re not ready to invest, there are several risk-free and cost-free ways to accumulate cryptocurrencies. Game sites, crypto exchanges, and price tracking sites offer opportunities to earn crypto while learning about crypto. On Coinbase Earn, all you have to do is watch a video explaining how a project works, answer some questions about it and earn about US$30 in different cryptocurrencies. Similarly, you can also earn free crypto on CoinMarket Cap Earn by finishing courses on different projects to earn their coins.

A more fun way to earn free coins is to play games like WeNano (similar to Pokemon Go), NanoQuakeJs, MyCryptoHeroes, DeCentraland, and Brave Frontier Heroes. If you’re using the Brave browser, you can also earn its native coin BAT just by browsing and seeing ads.

Conclusion: There’s no passive income without capital

Before you can earn passive income, you have to put in the work, be it through monetising your hobbies, learning, personal development or using existing savings as capital for investments. While some of the suggestions on this list require a fair amount of time and passion, this is non-monetary capital that will give you greater returns in the long run.

Besides capital, you’ll also need patience as you wait for your money to grow passively. If you’re starting to invest in riskier markets like cryptocurrency, make sure you do your research before diving in. Never invest your entire life savings and only invest what you can afford to lose.

Continue learning how to make smarter financial decisions by reading our personal finance blog.

Looking For Ways To Make More Money? Here Are 6 Ways You Can Make Passive Income In Singapore ( Update)

Written by 1AP Credit on January 19,

Anyone who is looking to be financially free in the future would have heard of passive income.

Most people imagine that passive income is just money that they can generate without necessarily doing anything. What they forget is that they have to build a right financial foundation first, which will then allow them to have a reliable system of making money.

It takes wisdom to create sources of passive income. In fact, before it can come in large enough amounts that one can sit back and relax and wait for the money to come in, he or she will need to work hard to acquire the right assets. They need to have enough money and emergency funds before beginning their investment journey. With the high cost of living in Singapore and the growing inflation, almost every Singaporean is thinking of ways to earn passive income.

1AP Capital has observed a growing interest in investments among individuals and specially designed financial products that can help all clients. These include low interest personal loans, speedy fast cash loans and home renovation loans.

After research, here are the 6 common sources of passive income in Singapore:

To ensure that one can invest in stocks that will throw off an income in the form of dividends, it is important to first research on businesses that are stable. Usually, these are telcos and retail REITs. They make more sense to investors because they are not easily affected by market cycles. That said, one will have to really build up their investment over time, which takes prudence and discipline.

An example is investing $1 million in the stock market.  It will take a lot of time to do so, but with a 4% dividend, the investor is able to make a decent $40, a year in dividends. As he or she continues to compound their dividends, the returns can become a lot higher. Of course, one doesn’t always have to start with $1 million. They can always start with a smaller amount for stock investment.

Dividend stocks have the following major advantages:

• No tax. Since dividends are paid once the company has paid its corporate tax, dividends are non-taxable. This is because Singapore has a one tier tax system. This means that one has tax advantage and over time, can create a lot of non-taxable dividend income.
• Faster returns. Dividends are a faster way of seeing money come into one’s bank account than capital gains. Impatient investors will often be discouraged by having to wait a long time to see any capital gains.
  

There are government bonds and corporate bonds. A government bond would be the SSB, Singapore Savings Bond which is giving a slightly better interest rate today. Corporate bonds are usually offered to institutional investors since they require a high investment of even around $, Retail bonds tend to be an exception. Government bonds are usually risk free and one can invest smaller amounts. Do note that smaller risks will naturally bring smaller returns.

There are several advantages of investing in bonds as follows:

• Principal guarantee. Whereas stocks do not guarantee that the principal will be returned to the investor should things not go as anticipated, bonds do. This is not to say that bonds are not volatile. Usually, bond prices fluctuate up and down before they mature, but the amount invested will be paid back after it matures. In addition, one can purchase bonds at half their face value when purchasing through the secondary market, and still be able to sell them at % once they mature.
• When profit sharing, bond holders will be paid before shareholders are.
• Like dividends, stocks are non-taxable in Singapore.

With bonds, there are specific disadvantages as well.

• Fixed income. Whereas stocks can enjoy growing dividends and even generate appreciation of capital gains, bonds offer a fixed income.
• Low yield. Bonds usually yield 3% interest which is considered low. The government’s SSB has interest rates of % p.a. to % p.a. which varies yearly.
• Few options. Bonds have very few options, since there are less than 20 corporate bonds listed in the Singapore stock market.

Leveraging loans is what makes this investment so lucrative. One can purchase a house or flat with 20% down and a loan to cover the remaining 80%. If one rents out the home for a good rate and still has positive cash flow once they have deducted costs and the loan repayment, this becomes a good source of passive income.

For those who may already have a house and needs money for financial emergencies, renting out a room can bring in some passive income as well.  This is common practice in Singapore by those who are looking for extra income to make ends meet, but it can be used as a means to earn money that can go into savings and then into investments.

This is income that come from ones intellectual content or property such as movies, music, and books. Usually, the amount one earns is based on how much their content sells or intellectual property sells. This is not the easiest way to make money, but if he or she happens to have a chart topping song, a best seller, or block buster movie, the person can earn a decent amount of money every year.

In Singapore, this type of lending is gaining ground quickly.Basically, the lender pools his or her money with other like-minded people and loan the money to companies that need the money. The companies are usually startups and SMEs who may not be able to qualify for traditional loans. The best way to do this is to work closely with peer to peer lending platforms that will have already screened the companies.

These companies will often provide all the necessary information about their business and their company, including their business plan and financial projections. One then reviews the documents and makes a decision on which company to loan to. Some of the platforms offer a % &#; % interest every month, while others offer % &#; 20% every year. This can be a great addition to one’s passive income portfolio.

These come into play once the investor gets to retirement age. One must pay out money to an insurance company in their active years and then when they go into retirement, they will be getting a fixed payout on a regular basis from the insurer. As the money is paid out from month to month, he or she is sure of income.

One of the best things that anyone can do is to start investing in such products from a young age. Savings plans, health plans, life plans and more. It allows for more years of compounding interest to grow that nest substantially. This is a product for people who are conservative in investment, or those who do not have enough knowledge in investing to go out and risk their money on other more volatile investments. There are definitely less risks.

The one thing to note is that the investor cannot surrender their policy midway. If he or she does, it means that he will be foregoing quite a large amount of money, and this can derail his or her retirement plans quite a bit.

The effort that one needs to put into creating a means of passive income must be deliberate. This means that he or she must work to save the money and then invest it to gain the necessary returns. This process takes time. This is true for stocks and bonds, as well as for real estate investing where often, he or she will be required to put up a down payment. It often calls for financial discipline, sacrifice, and good financial management skills. Without these, it will not be possible to create sources of passive income.

When it comes to royalties, one must leverage their creativity and innovation to come up with ideas that will result in passive income. They can include a franchise, a product, a system, and so much more. It is amazing what the mind can come up with. If it resonates with the target audience, success can be achieved over time.

For investments, one must have enough capital first to begin with. If you require more funds or is in debt, 1AP Capital can help you. 1AP Capital is a licensed moneylender in Singapore that offers a wide range of financial solutions at affordable rates.

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Who doesn’t want to make more money by earning passive income in Singapore? Imagine watching extra cash flow in, month after month, without having to lift a finger!

However, there’s no one-size-fits-all way to generate passive income. We are all different; one person’s idea of “passive” is not going to be another’s cup of tea.

The key is to play to our strengths, whatever they are. Here are 8 diverse passive income ideas in Singapore for different personalities. Find the one that fits you best.

#1 Invest in high-dividend stocks 
#2 Be a lazy landlord with REITs
#3 Robo-advisors or ETFs
#4 Buy bonds like the Singapore Savings Bond
#5 Sell stock photos, videos, or music online
#6 Create content on YouTube
#7 Share your expertise
#8 Rent out a spare room 
 

#1 Invest in high-dividend stocks 

Suitable for: Financially-minded types who have an appetite for stock-picking.

Let’s start with an obvious way to get some extra money: investing in high-dividend stocks on the Singapore stock exchange.

You basically buy a small slice of a big company, and a little bit of its earnings gets paid out in the form of dividends a few times a year.

Investing in stocks does take a bit of capital and effort, though. You’ll need to set up an investment brokerage account first. Ideally, you’d want to buy stocks with at least $5, to $10, to start with, because brokerages usually charge a minimum commission fee.

Since there are tons and tons of stocks to choose from, you’ll also need to do quite a bit of research. The ability to decode annual reports is a big plus as well. Depending on how much you like researching, this can either be fun or decidedly not-passive.

Once the groundwork is done, though, you can hang on to your stocks forever and just earn dividends from them.

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#2 Be a lazy landlord with REITs

Suitable for: Those who believe fervently in real estate.

Want to be a landlord without having to fork out a million bucks for an investment property? The passive way to do this is with a real estate investment trust, or REIT, which is a subset of stocks.

Similar to how stocks make you part-owner of companies, REITs let you be part-landlord for properties, such as shopping malls and office buildings. Then, sit back and collect the “rent” in the form of dividends.

REITs are very popular in Singapore because they are legally required to re-distribute their earnings, meaning investors can collect high dividends passively.

To invest in REITs, you’ll also need a brokerage account and (ideally) $5, or more to start. There are fewer REITs than company stocks in Singapore, so it is relatively easier to pick what to invest in. 

If you do not have thousands of dollars upfront, certain robo-advisors specialise in Singapore REITs with low or no minimum investment.

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#3 Robo-advisors or ETFs

Suitable for: Truly lazy investors, or people who suffer from analysis paralysis.

Don’t feel you personally are up to scratch when it comes to buying stocks? Then leave it to the experts (or an algorithm) by investing in index-tracking exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

ETFs are “fun packs” of stocks packaged to track a certain benchmark, such as the Straits Times Index, which compiles the 30 top-performing Singapore stocks.

The appealing thing about ETFs is that, if company X flounders and falls off the index, the ETF will automatically adjust. So it’s very passive as far as investments go. Also, putting your eggs in so many baskets reduces the risks of investing.

You can buy ETFs on any stock market with an investment brokerage. Another great way to invest in ETFs is with a robo-advisor. Most robo-advisors focus on ETFs, and have low or no minimum investments.

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#4 Buy bonds like the Singapore Savings Bond

Suitable for: Conservative types with low risk appetite.

Did you know that when you invest in a bond, you’re actually lending money to whoever issued the bond?

That means when you invest in a Singapore Savings Bond, you’re lending to the Singapore government.

High-grade government or quasi-government bonds, like SSBs or Temasek bonds, are considered low-risk alternatives to stocks.

The interest rate and repayment schedule is agreed upon from the start, and these are credible borrowers with very low risk of defaulting on their loans.

The bond issuer pays you interest every 6 months or so, which results in passive income for you. At the end of the bond, or whenever you decide to withdraw, you can collect your capital.

Bond interest rates are currently low. However, since there’s no lock-in, you can buy SSBs now (with as little as $), then sell and repurchase if the rates increase in the future.

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#5 Sell stock photos, videos, or music online

Suitable for: Artistic, creative types.

Many Singaporeans have gone through a shutterbug phase at some point. If you have terabytes of high-resolution holiday photos from back then, don’t delete them! Try selling them to stock photo websites first.

You can even dust off your DSLR and make money from your photography hobby. Authentic stock photos with natural-looking models are always in demand, as are specialised niche subjects and photos depicting new trends.

It’s not exactly “passive”, but if you make extra money by pursuing your hobby, it won’t feel like work either. Plus, the content stays on the platform for a long time after you have finished creating it and as people download or watch them, you get income!

If you are a videographer or music creator, the same advice applies. Go ahead and sell your drone shots of Singapore as B-roll stock footage, or license your tracks to stock music agencies. A quick Google search will show you the top stock website for each media format. 

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#6 Create content on YouTube

Suitable for: Those who are not camera shy.

If you are a regular social media junkie who’s always hamming it up for the camera, a great way to generate passive income is by hosting your own shows on YouTube.

They don’t need to be intensively edited either. There are tons of low-effort video ideas like mukbang videos, “study with me” sessions, narrating stories, guided meditations, make-up tutorials, or even uploading videos of your pets.

YouTube makes money by advertising, so if you turn on ads on your videos, you get paid a small amount for every view. The more views your video has, the more money you can make.

This can be passive income in the sense that your video can continue earning money for months or years after you put it up.

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#7 Share your expertise

Suitable for: Subject matter experts who are keen to share knowledge.

If you are a subject matter expert of some sort, don’t keep your musings to yourself. Consider publishing them on Medium and Substack.

Both are paid (written) content platforms that pay when users view and love your content. This works particularly well if you can write interestingly and engagingly about your area of expertise/interest.

Medium pays writers based on how much readers engage with your content, while Substack allows you to charge for your email newsletter.

If you are willing to put in effort to make an educational video, you can put it up on online learning platform Skillshare. Subscribers pay to learn, and you get paid for every minute they watch.

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#8 Rent out a spare room 

Suitable for: Anyone with room to spare.

Finally, here’s a tried-and-tested way for Singaporeans to earn more money with minimal hassle: renting out a spare room.

All it takes is an extra room and a few minutes to post it on Carousell or co. Some have even found tenants at their workplace. You will need to draft an agreement when you find a suitable tenant, but once you do, then the monthly rent is yours to keep.

However, not everyone likes to share their home with others. If that’s the case, you may consider a less invasive way to generate passive income, like renting out storage space. You can check the market rates for that on Carousell.

Another option is to rent out your room for pet boarding! Of course, taking care of pets is far from “passive” — but if you love animals anyway, why not? You may list these services on a pet marketplace like Pawshake or advertise directly on pet interest groups.

As you can see, passive income isn’t really free income. You still need to put in some effort at the beginning to get things going. But after that, you can see the income trickling in long after you have put in the investment or uploaded a piece of content on a paid platform. It’s not impossible to find one that suits your personality and financial situation to supplement your main income. Good luck!

S$5, a month in passive income is a dream for many Singaporeans. Here’s how you can build your own passive income portfolio today, so that you can sit back and relax in the years to come. 

Passive income is income you earn from doing close to nothing — hence the term passive. 

However, passive income doesn’t just fall into your lap. You have to set the wheels in motion first, in order to enjoy the fruits of your labour in the future years. 

But first, why do people want (or need) a passive income portfolio? 

With passive income, you no longer rely on your job for income. You work not because you need the money to get by, but because you want to. This also gives you the option of early retirement.

However, having a few hundred dollars in passive income is hardly enough. Here, the goal is to have sufficient passive income such that it is able to cover your monthly expenses entirely. 

Here’s how you can grow your passive income portfolio in Singapore. 

6 ways to build your passive income portfolio

#1 Earn rental income through property ownership

One straightforward way to earn passive income is to rent out your home (or rooms in your home). 

The amount you bag in rental income would depend on the current demand in the property market, as well as factors such as the type of property, condition of the home, location and more. 

Keep in mind that rental income isn’t immediately profit-generating. You have to factor in your home loan payments as well as the cost of stamp duty and home renovations or repairs. Over the long-haul, your profits will grow after the rental income has compensated for all the costs incurred. 

To become an ace at investing in property, check out our guide to property investing here. 

#2 Dividend income from stocks 

Buying a million-dollar home isn’t something you can do the very next day. But what you can do is invest in stocks that give out dividends.

Companies pay their shareholders dividends each year. However, not all companies pay dividends and nor are they obliged to do so.

So, what counts as a high dividend yield? A good gauge would be 4% returns and above. To build a passive income portfolio, there are two main types of stocks to consider: Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and blue chip stocks. 

REITs are known to have high dividend yields of 4% to 8%, because it is compulsory for them to distribute at least 90% of their taxable income each year. When you invest in a REIT, you are investing in a company that is essentially a landlord, collecting rent and distributing the rental income back to shareholders as dividends. 

Blue chip stocks refer to large and established companies that retail investors would easily recognise. Think along the lines of DBS, OCBC, CapitaLand, Sheng Siong, Dairy Farm, Singtel and more. Over in the U.S., blue chip stocks include Apple, Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, McDonald’s, Berkshire Hathaway and more. These blue chip stocks have a history of rewarding shareholders with handsome dividends. 

These dividends are paid out periodically — this could be once a year, semi-annually or even four times a year. Some companies also offer scrip dividends, where you receive dividends in the form of shares. The payment date varies from stock to stock and you can find the dividend payout date based on the information found on their site.

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#3 Dividend income from Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)

If you’re not comfortable selecting a single stock, or a handful of stocks to make up your dividend portfolio, you can instead consider investing in ETFs. ETFs are a basket of securities, offered at an affordable price, that seek to track an index. Like stocks, ETFs are listed on the stock exchange and can reward their unitholders with dividends. 

For example, Nikko AM STI ETF and SPDR STI ETF both track the Straits Times Index (STI) — an index comprising of the top 30 stocks in Singapore. Such ETFs gives you exposure to the top 30 companies in Singapore while reaping dividend income each year. In , Nikko AM STI ETF gave S$ per security. This means that if you hold 10, units of Nikko AM STI ETF, you’d get a total of S$1, in dividends that year. 

When investing in dividend-yielding stocks or ETFs, the sooner you add them to your portfolio, the faster you can tap on the power of compounding to grow your wealth. This is particularly so in your younger years, when you don’t rely on the dividends for income, but reinvest them instead.

#4 Receive regular coupon payments by purchasing bonds 

Bonds, or fixed income products, are considered to be one of the safer investment options. 

When you purchase a bond offered by a company, you are effectively lending your money to the company, in return for coupon payouts of a fixed amount. With bonds, you have greater certainty and visibility over your coupon payouts as well as the date of payouts. 

Let’s take the wildly oversubscribed Astrea VI bonds, for example. If you were successfully allocated Astrea VI bonds, you’ll receive 3% of your principal amount semi-annually, on 18 March and 18 September each year. Your principal amount can be redeemed at the end of five years, or up to 10 years.

A popular low-risk bond is the Singapore Savings Bonds (SSBs) that offers historical returns ranging between 1% to 2%, at little to no risk. 

However, there is less liquidity when it comes to bonds. Although they can be bought and sold on the open market, there could be a lack of buyers willing to purchase the bonds you’re holding. Also, you have to be prepared to hold the bond till maturity. With the Astrea VI bond, bondholders have to be prepared to hold it for at least five years. 

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#5 Generate income via a fund or robo-advisor

Besides ETFs, there are also mutual funds or unit trusts that you can purchase. This can be purchased through an investment platform, robo-advisor or insurance company. 

A handful of robo-advisors also have income-generating portfolios available. 

For example, StashAway’s Income Portfolio aims to generate income by investing in ETFs that consist of bonds, REITs and dividend stocks. This is also their only portfolio with a minimum investment requirement of S$10, With the dividends this portfolio generates, you can opt to reinvest the dividends or have the payouts sent to your bank account or SRS account. 

More recently, MoneyOwl has launched Fullerton MoneyOwl WiseIncome, a fund that aims to help secure your retirement by providing you with a steady stream of passive income.

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#6 Monthly payouts with an annuity plan

Besides building your own passive income portfolio, if you’re looking for monthly payouts during your retirement, you can consider purchasing an annuity plan. 

Annuity plans are retirement plans which you can purchase from insurance companies in Singapore. 

When you purchase an annuity plan, you can opt to pay a single premium, or regular premiums, for a fixed period during your working years. Upon reaching the retirement age, this plan will give you monthly payouts for the number of years stated in the plan, or for your lifetime, depending on the policy you purchased. 

Sounds familiar? This is what CPF LIFE (our national retirement annuity scheme) offers and annuity plans can be the additional layer on top of what we receive from our CPF LIFE. Check out some of the best annuity plans in Singapore here. 

How much passive income do you need?

How much money do you need to get by each month? That’s the amount that you’ll require in passive income, in order to enjoy financial independence and retire early. 

According to this article by SCMP, you’ll need US$ million (S$ million) in order to achieve financial freedom in Singapore.

This amount in passive income would differ from person to person, as it depends on your lifestyle and your idea of a dream retirement. For example, someone with plans to travel overseas frequently would require more money to buffer for those expenses. You would also need to factor in the financial obligations you have to fulfil, such as funding your child’s education and paying off your mortgage.  

However, your monthly passive income doesn’t need to be a huge amount if you plan to lead a simple and frugal lifestyle. 

Once you’ve figured out how much passive income you require, you can then work backwards to calculate how much you need in investments (or the amount of rental you need to generate) in order to get there. 

For example, if you need S$4, a month (S$48, a year), investing in a stock that gives S$ per share in dividends annually would require you to be holding 96, shares. If the share price is trading at S$10, that is equivalent to having S$, invested in that company. 

If you know you’ll drag your feet while figuring out your next course of action, one way to reduce the opportunity cost and make your money work in the meantime is to invest with a robo-advisor. This will help you grow your money while you take the necessary steps to build your passive income stream.

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Read these next:
DBS, OCBC or UOB: Which Bank Gives You The Greatest Dividend Yield?
Guide To Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), And Whether You’re Ready For It
Uniquely Singaporean Things We Do To Accumulate Wealth
DBS, SIA & Sheng Siong: Beginner’s Guide To Blue Chip Stocks In Singapore
Guide To Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS) And Tips To Maximise It

By Ching Sue Mae
A flat white, an adventure-filled travel and a good workout is her fuel. This Manchester United fan enjoys sharing knowledge on personal finance while chasing the dream of financial independence. 

Being able to generate passive income is always a great idea! This is especially so during the COVID pandemic where job losses and pay cuts have become the norm. Having an additional source of income can come in extremely handy during such unprecedented times.

If you’re like most Singaporeans, a passive income may be your dream-come-true. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to reach that dream today.

How Can I Earn Passive Income In Singapore?

The advantage of a passive income source is a minimal effort in the long-term. However, some of these solutions require good planning abilities and time until the cash flow starts rolling.

While side jobs can also afford us with quite a steady flow of income, having a source of passive income can be benefitial in the long run as minimal effort is required.

Poor investments, on the other hand, will never bring you profit even if you’re doing everything right. Lucky for you, we&#;re here to prevent that. We’ll tell you all about the best opportunities so that your passive income can help you achieve financial independence. Keep reading!

1. Investments

Investing is a good way to make passive income, especially if you know what to choose. As such, you can focus on:

• If you want to minimise your risk, consider the Singapore Saving Bonds or other types of government bonds. These may not bring you a huge profit, but they’re not volatile. Remember that bond prices increase when interest rates increase. As the saying goes, a small step goes a long way!
• Dividend stocks. You can buy stocks in big companies with recognised brand names, which have steady increases. You can also consider Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) if you’re too busy to look into individual stocks. ETFs also have the advantage of being less fickle.
• Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) are a reliable source of rental income because they share more than 90% of their yearly income to unitholders. Besides, you’ll be paid biannually and a professional fund manager will take care of your investment. That way, you won’t have to do much research.
• Unit Trusts need even less time from your part because they’re also managed by experts who do all the research. Besides, you can find the right type and share class depending on your needs and pay for it either with cash, SRS, or CPF. Another advantage is that you can diversify your risks better than with stocks at different companies.

2. Blogging

You may not know this, but having your blog can bring a lot of passive profit your way. However, you should be prepared to invest in it at first and nurture your blog until you can see significant cash flow.

Besides, you need to have good planning skills to produce a profitable blog. You should start by choosing a profitable niche, such as parenting, finance, healthy lifestyle, or travelling. Ideally, you should have a lot of insight into the niche you’re choosing if you’re writing the blog posts yourself.

After you choose your niche, settle on a unique selling proposition. What makes your blog different than the competition? For instance, if you choose the health niche, you can follow peer-reviewed journals and explain their findings to the common reader. Just make sure your posts are relevant and engaging to your audience.

3. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing can be the next step after opening your blog. However, this strategy also works if you have your website or are very visible on social media.

Then, you can start recommending various products to your viewers. Make sure you remain relevant through your articles, videos, or infographics. You should focus on why a certain product can solve some of your customer’s needs to determine more people to click on a certain link.

Sometimes, you&#;ll get a commission just by having someone click onto the link. However, if they end up buying that product through your website, your commission is bigger.

However, you have to make sure that the products you’re endorsing are high-quality and that their companies are trustworthy.

4. Peer-to-peer Lending

You probably know that banks in Singapore don’t lend you money if you have a poor credit score. As such, many people who have to weather emergencies easily fall prey to loan scams.

A more reliable solution when they don’t qualify for loans is to pick a peer-to-peer platform. You too can register on one these Singaporean P2P platforms and lend people money. The advantages are that you can charge a big interest rate and that everything is legal. The disadvantage is that you have to double-check everyone before lending your money so that you won’t lose your investment.

You can also loan money to small ventures or start-up companies if they don’t meet the banks’ eligibility requirements. However, this option is riskier because a company that doesn’t qualify for a loan is less credible than an individual with a poor credit history.

5. Renting

You may not realise it, but you probably have plenty of things to rent that are just in your house. For instance, you may have an elliptical machine you never use, a wedding gown, or your kids’ Halloween costumes from when they were little.

Renting these things is more profitable than selling them because you’ll get more money out of them in the long-term. Besides, people may be more into renting an expensive item than buying it. After all, why buy a $3, elliptical which you’re not sure you can use if you can try it for $20 per week?

The disadvantage, though, is that some of your customers may damage your property. To avoid this, you should consider contracts, especially for valuable items.

You can also rent an extra room in your house, but you&#;ll have to ensure your tenant is likeable and dependable.

6. Book Writing

Unlike a few decades ago, writing a book or an e-book today couldn’t be easier. You don’t need a lot of money and you also don’t need to have lots of contacts.

You can do all your research on the Internet and publish the book yourself. The Internet also gives you wider access to people, especially if you have your website or lots of social media followers.

Remember that you should do your research first to ensure there’s a market for your book. You don’t have to write a witty novel; you can write children’s stories or even a collection of your own witty jokes!

You can even publish excerpts of your book to get Patreon donations. The more publicity your book has, the more profit it will bring you.

7. Drop-Shipping

Dropshipping is an advantageous way to generate passive income. You’ll have to build your website on a certain niche, and then advertise products from different companies. When someone places an order for a specific product, you’ll buy that product from the manufacturer and fill in their address as the shipping destination.

Each time someone makes a purchase, you make a profit without having to worry about things like transportation and inventory.

Make sure to find out which products your audience prefers, first. You should also research for a trustworthy supplier that can deliver the products neatly and timely.

8. YouTube Videos

The rise of social media platforms have resulte in serious addiction for some. However, social media have also opened up numerous opportunities and jobs for others.  Influencers with millions of views attract more companies that will give them money to create certain content. Besides, YouTube also gives you a neat sum once you reach a certain number of viewers and every time an ad appears, money goes in your pocket.

However, you need a lot of people to watch your videos so that your profits can increase. Interesting and relevant videos are one way to go, but history has shown us that controversial videos work best. Either way, you need to choose relevant and current topics to keep your audience engaged.

9. App Building

If you’re tech-savvy, you can consider building an app. Let’s face it, everyone uses apps today so why not develop yours if you have programming skills?

It can be anything from a food recommendation app, virtual interior designer app, receipt management app or customized restaurant app! You can also talk to business owners about your app propositions to see if they&#;re interested in providing you with the capital to start!

Stock Photos

If you have a knack for taking photos and you have a professional camera, you should consider stock photos. A lot of companies will pay good money for your photos and there are plenty of platforms where you can publish your work.

Each time someone downloads one of your photos, you’ll earn a commission. Make sure you build a diverse portfolio, with pictures from different walks of life. A bigger portfolio increases your chances of being noticed so that you can increase your cash flow.

Credit Cashback/ Rewards

Credit cards are a great source of passive income if you know how to use them correctly. That’s because credit cards come with plenty of rewards and cashback on your expenses.

For instance, you can gather air miles with your shopping or receive significant discounts from certain providers. Now here’s the catch. This reward system is supposed to have you buy more things even if you don’t need them.

That’s why you have to be smart. Instead of buying useless products, you can pick up the check when you’re having dinner out with your friends. You’ll pay with your credit card, and they’ll pay you back with cash. You can also do this when organising trips with a larger group.

Annuities

Annuities can also be technically included in the investments category, but the thing is you’ll only use them when you grow old. That’s because annuities are money you get from an insurance company after you retire.

The longer you hold the policy, the more money you’ll receive. Of course, the amount you’ll receive also depends on how big your instalments are now. So, if you want to have an increased regular income in your golden years, annuities are a risk-free solution.

Looking For Additional Financial Help Amidst The COVID Outbreak

This COVID pandemic has rendered many Singaporeans jobless or caused some to suffer pay cuts. While some of us are grateful that we have a source of passive income, others might not be as lucky.

There are still bills to pay and mouths to feed. How does one then find the extra cash to solve these pressing issues? Instead of falling prey to loan scams by unlicensed moneylenders, one can always take a loan from a licensed moneylender.

CreditMaster is a licensed moneylender under the Ministry of Law. This means that we abide by the rules set by the ministry and do not condone unscrupulous and unlicensed money lending activities. We understand that the COVID pandemic has resulted in many Singaporeans requiring urgent financial help, fast. This is why we have streamlined our online loan application processso much so that it only takes 5 minutes. If everything goes well, you can even receive your cash within the hour. It&#;s that simple!

Looking For Ways To Make More Money? Here Are 6 Ways You Can Make Passive Income In Singapore ( Update)

Written by 1AP Credit on January 19,

Anyone who is looking to be financially free in the future would have heard of passive income.

Most people imagine that passive income is just money that they can generate without necessarily doing anything. What they forget is that they have to build a right financial foundation first, which will then allow them to have a reliable system of making money.

It takes wisdom to create sources of passive income. In fact, before it can come in large enough amounts that one can sit back and relax and wait for the money to come in, he or she will need to work hard to acquire the right assets. They need to have enough money and emergency funds before beginning their investment journey. With the high cost of living in Singapore and the growing inflation, almost every Singaporean is thinking of ways to earn passive income.

1AP Capital has observed a growing interest in investments among individuals and specially designed financial products that can help all clients. These include low interest personal loans, speedy fast cash loans and home renovation loans.

After research, here are the 6 common sources of passive income in Singapore:

To ensure that one can invest in stocks that will throw off an income in the form of dividends, it is important to first research on businesses that are stable. Usually, these are telcos and retail REITs. They make more sense to investors because they are not easily affected by market cycles. That said, one will have to really build up their investment over time, which takes prudence and discipline.

An example is investing $1 million in the stock market.  It will take a lot of time to do so, but with a 4% dividend, the investor is able to make a decent $40, a year in dividends. As he or she continues to compound their dividends, the returns can become a lot higher. Of course, one doesn’t always have to start with $1 million. They can always start with a smaller amount for stock investment.

Dividend stocks have the following major advantages:

• No tax. Since dividends are paid once the company has paid its corporate tax, dividends are non-taxable. This is because Singapore has a one tier tax system. This means that one has tax advantage and over time, can create a lot of non-taxable dividend income.
• Faster returns. Dividends are a faster way of seeing money come into one’s bank account than capital gains. Impatient investors will often be discouraged by having to wait a long time to see any capital gains.
  

There are government bonds and corporate bonds. A government bond would be the SSB, Singapore Savings Bond which is giving a slightly better interest rate today. Corporate bonds are usually offered to institutional investors since they require a high investment of even around $, Retail bonds tend to be an exception. Government bonds are usually risk free and one can invest smaller amounts. Do note that smaller risks will naturally bring smaller returns.

There are several advantages of investing in bonds as follows:

• Principal guarantee. Whereas stocks do not guarantee that the principal will be returned to the investor should things not go as anticipated, bonds do. This is not to say that bonds are not volatile. Usually, bond prices fluctuate up and down before they mature, but the amount invested will be paid back after it matures. In addition, one can purchase bonds at half their face value when purchasing through the secondary market, and still be able to sell them at % once they mature.
• When profit sharing, bond holders will be paid before shareholders are.
• Like dividends, stocks are non-taxable in Singapore.

With bonds, there are specific disadvantages as well.

• Fixed income. Whereas stocks can enjoy growing dividends and even generate appreciation of capital gains, bonds offer a fixed income.
• Low yield. Bonds usually yield 3% interest which is considered low. The government’s SSB has interest rates of % p.a. to % p.a. which varies yearly.
• Few options. Bonds have very few options, since there are less than 20 corporate bonds listed in the Singapore stock market.

Leveraging loans is what makes this investment so lucrative. One can purchase a house or flat with 20% down and a loan to cover the remaining 80%. If one rents out the home for a good rate and still has positive cash flow once they have deducted costs and the loan repayment, this becomes a good source of passive income.

For those who may already have a house and needs money for financial emergencies, renting out a room can bring in some passive income as well.  This is common practice in Singapore by those who are looking for extra income to make ends meet, but it can be used as a means to earn money that can go into savings and then into investments.

This is income that come from ones intellectual content or property such as movies, music, and books. Usually, the amount one earns is based on how much their content sells or intellectual property sells. This is not the easiest way to make money, but if he or she happens to have a chart topping song, a best seller, or block buster movie, the person can earn a decent amount of money every year.

In Singapore, this type of lending is gaining ground quickly.Basically, the lender pools his or her money with other like-minded people and loan the money to companies that need the money. The companies are usually startups and SMEs who may not be able to qualify for traditional loans. The best way to do this is to work closely with peer to peer lending platforms that will have already screened the companies.

These companies will often provide all the necessary information about their business and their company, including their business plan and financial projections. One then reviews the documents and makes a decision on which company to loan to. Some of the platforms offer a % &#; % interest every month, while others offer % &#; 20% every year. This can be a great addition to one’s passive income portfolio.

These come into play once the investor gets to retirement age. One must pay out money to an insurance company in their active years and then when they go into retirement, they will be getting a fixed payout on a regular basis from the insurer. As the money is paid out from month to month, he or she is sure of income.

One of the best things that anyone can do is to start investing in such products from a young age. Savings plans, health plans, life plans and more. It allows for more years of compounding interest to grow that nest substantially. This is a product for people who are conservative in investment, or those who do not have enough knowledge in investing to go out and risk their money on other more volatile investments. There are definitely less risks.

The one thing to note is that the investor cannot surrender their policy midway. If he or she does, it means that he will be foregoing quite a large amount of money, and this can derail his or her retirement plans quite a bit.

The effort that one needs to put into creating a means of passive income must be deliberate. This means that he or she must work to save the money and then invest it to gain the necessary returns. This process takes time. This is true for stocks and bonds, as well as for real estate investing where often, he or she will be required to put up a down payment. It often calls for financial discipline, sacrifice, and good financial management skills. Without these, it will not be possible to create sources of passive income.

When it comes to royalties, one must leverage their creativity and innovation to come up with ideas that will result in passive income. They can include a franchise, a product, a system, and so much more. It is amazing what the mind can come up with. If it resonates with the target audience, success can be achieved over time.

For investments, one must have enough capital first to begin with. If you require more funds or is in debt, 1AP Capital can help you. 1AP Capital is a licensed moneylender in Singapore that offers a wide range of financial solutions at affordable rates.

Continue Reading

5 Tips On How To Save More Money Everyday

Foreigner Loan for Expats in Singapore ( Update)

11 Things To Buy From Taobao To Lower The Costs Of Your Home Renovation

4) Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency is the newest investment vehicle in town. Although they are mostly volatile, we've found that stablecoins, a subclass of cryptocurrencies can allow investors to unlock higher yields and to create a stream of passive income. 

In fact, our ERM trainer Christopher Ng has tested it with his own money and now shares how you can employ the same strategies to generate a new stream of passive income and grow your money. You can join him at his next webinar to learn more.

5) Royalties/Intellectual Property

Royalties are income generated from intellectual property or content such as books, music, movies etc.

Creating an award winning book, a chart topping song or a blockbuster movie allows you to own income streams from royalties.

Writing books is the most common route. You can pen down your thoughts and knowledge or imagination and get it published. After which, you will get paid with every book that is sold in the bookstore. The amount you earn depends on how well your book sells.

Despite the many possibilities of generating passive income, we think that investing in stocks, bonds and crypto are the easiest ways to create a passive income. (that's why we are an investment blog and finance educators)

Before we delve any deeper into the topic of passive income, you should understand:

Is Passive Income The Right Goal For you?

With so many varying advice on passive income out there, it’s little wonder that retail investors are confused. And investors no longer know what they want. In fact, investors stop asking themselves what they are trying to achieve through investing or trading. They resort to listening to gurus who they feel are most convincing.

Sadly, that is not the way to go. The guru’s investment goal may be greatly different from yours. Not knowing your investment goal is like not knowing where your target is as an archer. Without a target, where shall you aim or shoot? You cannot shoot at a target that does not exist.

It’s time to bring the emphasis back to your investment goal:

2 Main Types of Investment Goals

There are 2 main types of investment goal. They are Cashflow and Capital Gain.

For example:

• Cashflow Goal – I want to make $5, a month in 3 years’ time.
• Capital Gain Goal – I want to have $1m in 10 years’ time.

Is your Investment Goal Realistic?

Another common problem is that investors do not have a realistic returns to benchmark themselves. The strategies and their corresponding returns are stated below.

These are what I deem as reasonable returns, some of you may argue the returns should be higher. But hack, let’s be more conservative for once;

• Value Investing – 12% per annum (capital gain + dividends)
• STI ETF – 8% per annum (capital gain + dividends)
• Dividend investing – 5% per annum (dividends only)

How To Check The Viability Of Your Investment Goal?

Cashflow Goal: Assuming you want to have a cashflow goal of $5k per month, you can choose Dividend Investing.

1. You can go for dividends and invest $m for $60, per annum aka 5% yields.

This is relatively safer as you are not required to time the market. You just need to buy and hold for the dividends. The downside is that you need a sizeable capital which most people do not have.

Another way is to break up the goal into 2 steps. Invest for capital gain first, ie, buy low and sell high and aim for a return to hit your $m target. Thereafter, you can achieve $5k per month by investing for dividends.

Capital Gain Goal: Let’s assume you want to achieve $1m in 10 years. You can go two ways.

1. Invest in stocks with the intention to buy low and sell high, and not to hold forever. Each investment period can last a few years. With 12% returns per annum, you need to invest $k to achieve $1m in 10 years.
2. If you are not interested to pick your own stocks or trade the market, you can choose to invest in an index fund like STI ETF. In this case, you will need $k to invest for the next 10 years to achieve your $1m dollars.

Many people expect trading to make money faster than investing. It is not true after we take a larger sample size of the results, and factor the transaction costs. In general, it is reasonable to assume 12% returns as a target.

Let’s not be overconfident to believe that we can achieve 30% per annum and sustain such returns for 10 years.

If you think you do not have the skills or interest to do either, go with passive investing in an index fund.

Know Your Target

To conclude, you need to know what you want to achieve, so that you know which strategy is suitable, and what is the reasonable returns to expect. Of course, the other consideration is whether you have the skills and efforts required for each strategy to work.

Now that you understand the debate between capital gains and cashflow, you should be able to decide which option you should be building at your current situation.

If you are ready to start building a passive income, read on because;

At this point…you’re probably asking; “How do I know if I should pursue a particular passive income investment?”

Well, here’s a quick 3 point checklist to help you decide if you should go for it:

3 Things You Want In A Passive Income Investment

i) Safety

Before looking at the potential dividends you will receive, always make sure that the stock you invest in is safe.

Do your due diligence. Find out the financial health of the company. Find out how the company sustains their dividend payout.

The last thing you want to happen is to have the company you invested in fold.

ii) Ability to Grow

A good investment should ideally become more valuable over time because the business is doing well and the management knows what they are doing.

iii) Diversified

To ensure that your portfolio can withstand market movements and changes in the economic cycle, make sure that your portfolio is sufficiently diversified.

Having 10 stocks that produces $10, in dividend would mean that on average, each stock is responsible for about $1, of dividend. While owning 2 stocks that produces $10, in dividend means that each stock provides an average of $5, of dividend income.

It is easier to find stocks to replace the one that is responsible for $1, dividend compared to the one that provides $5,

Conclusion: Track Your Portfolio Annually

Deciding your investment goals and building your portfolio to provide passive income are just the initial steps to owning a passive income vehicle.

You will need to constantly monitor your portfolio to ensure that it is working according to plan. (remember our initial definition of passive income?)

A good frequency is to do an annual check up. Set a specific time each year to review your portfolio. Can’t decide on the date? Just use your birthday, it’s easier to remember.

Go through your current investments and analyse them. Make sure they’re still offering you growth, diversification and safety. The time you take to do this is a small price to pay for your peace of mind.

If you’re looking for a place to start, join us in our Personal Finance Masterclass where we equip you with everything you need to succeed financially.

And, for the motivated investors who want to shortcut your way to Early Retirement via Dividend Investing/Passive income, check out Christopher Ng Wai Chung. Full disclosure, he's our early retirement masterclass trainer. And the reason why we think he's the only person qualified to teach it is because he retired at 39 with a passive income of $6, - $8, per month.

Any questions? Let us know!

Being able to generate passive income is always a great idea! This is especially so during the COVID pandemic where job losses and pay cuts have become the norm. Having an additional source of income can come in extremely handy during such unprecedented times.

If you’re like most Singaporeans, a passive income may be your dream-come-true. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to reach that dream today.

How Can I Earn Passive Income In Singapore?

The advantage of a passive income source is a minimal effort in the long-term. However, some of these solutions require good planning abilities and time until the cash flow starts rolling.

While side jobs can also afford us with quite a steady flow of income, having a source of passive income can be benefitial in the long run as minimal effort is required.

Poor investments, on the other hand, will never bring you profit even if you’re doing everything right, how to make passive income in singapore. Lucky for you, we&#;re here to prevent how to make passive income in singapore. We’ll tell you all about the best opportunities so that your passive income can help you achieve financial independence. Keep reading!

1. Investments

Investing is a good way to make passive income, especially if you know what to choose. As such, you can focus on:

• If you want to minimise your risk, consider the Singapore Saving Bonds or other types of government bonds, how to make passive income in singapore. These may not bring you a huge profit, but they’re not volatile. Remember that bond prices increase when interest rates increase. As the saying goes, a small step goes a long way!
• Dividend stocks. You can buy stocks in big companies with recognised brand names, which have steady increases. You can also consider Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) if you’re too busy to look into individual stocks. ETFs also have the advantage of being less fickle.
• Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) are a reliable source of rental income because they share more than 90% of their yearly income to unitholders. Besides, you’ll be paid biannually and a professional fund manager will take care of your investment. That way, you won’t have to do much research.
• Unit Trusts need even less time from your part because they’re also managed by experts who do all the research. Besides, you can find the right type and share class depending on your needs and pay for it either with cash, SRS, or CPF. Another advantage is that you can diversify your risks better than with stocks at different companies.

2. Blogging

You may not know this, but having your blog can bring a lot of passive profit your way, how to make passive income in singapore. However, you should be prepared to invest in it at first and nurture your blog until you can see significant cash flow.

Besides, you need to have good planning skills to produce a profitable blog. You should start by choosing a profitable niche, such as parenting, finance, healthy lifestyle, how to make passive income in singapore, or travelling. Ideally, you should have a lot of insight into the niche you’re choosing if you’re writing the blog posts yourself.

After you choose your niche, settle on a unique selling proposition. What makes your blog different than the competition? For instance, if you choose the health niche, you can follow peer-reviewed journals and explain their findings to the common reader. Just make sure your posts are relevant and engaging to your audience.

3. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing can be the next step after opening your blog. However, this strategy also works if you have your website or are very visible on social media.

Then, you can start recommending various products to your viewers. Make sure you remain relevant through your articles, videos, or infographics. You should focus on why a certain product can solve some of your customer’s needs to determine more people to click on a certain link.

Sometimes, you&#;ll get a commission just by having someone click onto the link. However, if they end up buying that product through your website, your commission is bigger.

However, you have to make sure that the products you’re endorsing are high-quality and that their companies are trustworthy.

4. Peer-to-peer Lending

You probably know that banks in Singapore don’t lend you money if you have a poor credit score. As such, many people who have to weather emergencies easily fall prey to loan scams.

A more reliable solution when they don’t qualify for loans is to pick a peer-to-peer platform, how to make passive income in singapore. You too can register on one these Singaporean P2P platforms and lend people money. The advantages are that you can charge a big interest rate and that everything is legal, how to make passive income in singapore. The disadvantage is that you have to double-check everyone before lending your money so that you won’t lose your investment.

You can also loan money to small ventures or start-up companies if they don’t meet the how to make passive income in singapore eligibility requirements. However, this option is riskier because a company that doesn’t qualify for a loan is less credible than an individual with a poor credit history.

5, how to make passive income in singapore. Renting

You may not realise it, but you probably have plenty of things to rent that are just in your house. For instance, you may have an elliptical machine you never use, a wedding gown, or your kids’ Halloween costumes from when they were little.

Renting these things is more profitable than selling them because you’ll get more money out of them in the long-term. Besides, people may be more into renting an expensive item than buying it. After all, why buy a $3, elliptical which you’re not sure you can use if you can try it for $20 per week?

The disadvantage, though, is that some of your customers may damage your property. To avoid this, you should consider contracts, especially for valuable items.

You can also rent an extra room in your house, but you&#;ll have to ensure your tenant is likeable and dependable.

6. Book Writing

Unlike a few decades ago, writing a book or an e-book today couldn’t be easier. You don’t need a lot of money and you also don’t need to have lots of contacts.

You can do all your research on the Internet and publish the book yourself. The Internet also gives you wider access to people, especially if you have your website or lots of social media followers.

Remember that you should do your research first to ensure there’s a market for your book. You don’t have to write a witty novel; you can write children’s stories or even a collection of your own witty jokes!

You can even publish excerpts of your book to get Patreon donations. The more publicity your book has, how to make passive income in singapore, the more profit it will bring you.

7. Drop-Shipping

Dropshipping is an advantageous way to generate passive income. You’ll have to build your website on a certain niche, and then advertise products from different companies. When someone places an order for a specific product, you’ll buy that product from the manufacturer and fill in their address as the shipping destination.

Each time someone makes a purchase, you make a profit without having to worry about things like transportation and inventory.

Make sure to find out which products your audience prefers, first. You should also research for a trustworthy supplier that can deliver the products neatly and timely.

8. YouTube Videos

The rise of social media platforms have resulte in serious addiction for some. However, social media have also opened up numerous opportunities and jobs for others.  Influencers with millions of views attract more companies that will give them money to create easy ways to make money on the internet content. Besides, YouTube also gives you a neat how to make passive income in singapore once you reach a certain number of viewers and every time an ad appears, money goes in your pocket.

However, you need a lot of people to watch your videos so that your profits can increase. Interesting and relevant videos are one way to go, but history has shown us that controversial videos work best. Either way, you need to choose relevant and current topics to keep your audience engaged.

9. App Building

If you’re tech-savvy, you can consider building an app. Let’s face it, everyone uses apps today so why not develop yours if you have programming skills?

It can be anything from a food recommendation app, virtual interior designer app, receipt management app or customized restaurant app! You can also talk to business owners about your app propositions to see if they&#;re interested in providing you with the capital to start!

Stock Photos

If you have a knack for taking photos and you have a professional camera, you should consider stock photos. A lot of companies will pay good money for your photos and there are plenty of platforms where you can publish your work.

Each time someone downloads one of your photos, you’ll earn a commission. Make sure you build a diverse portfolio, with pictures from different walks of life. A bigger portfolio increases how to make passive income in singapore chances of being noticed so that you can increase your cash flow.

Credit Cashback/ Rewards

Credit cards are a great source of passive income if you know how to use them correctly. That’s because credit cards come with plenty of rewards and cashback on your expenses.

For instance, you can gather air miles with your shopping or receive significant discounts from certain providers. Now here’s the catch. This reward system is supposed to have you buy more things even if you don’t need them.

That’s why you have to be smart. Instead of buying useless products, you can pick up the check when you’re having dinner out with your friends. You’ll pay with your credit card, and they’ll pay you back with cash. You can also do this when organising trips with a larger group.

Annuities

Annuities can also be technically included in the investments category, but the thing is you’ll only use them when you grow old. That’s because annuities are money you get from an insurance company after you retire.

The longer you hold the policy, the more money you’ll receive. Of course, the amount you’ll receive also depends on how big your instalments are now. So, if you want to have an increased regular income in your golden years, annuities are a risk-free solution.

Looking For Additional Financial Help Amidst The COVID Outbreak

This COVID pandemic has rendered many Singaporeans jobless or caused some to suffer pay cuts. While some of us are grateful that we have a source of passive income, others might not be as lucky.

There are still bills to pay and mouths to feed. How does one then find the extra how to make passive income in singapore to solve these pressing issues? Instead of falling prey to loan scams by unlicensed moneylenders, one can always invest google stock a loan from a licensed moneylender.

CreditMaster is a licensed moneylender under the Ministry of How to make passive income in singapore. This means that we abide by the rules set by the ministry and do not condone unscrupulous and unlicensed money lending activities. We understand that the COVID pandemic has resulted in many Singaporeans requiring urgent financial help, fast. This is why we have streamlined our online loan application processso much so that it only takes 5 minutes. If everything goes well, you can even receive your cash within the hour. It&#;s that simple!