
Passive income is money generated without much effort or ongoing investment of time and attention.

Increasing residual income often involves generating more money from a job or other sources and may mean reducing expenses as well. Residual income, which is money left over after paying living expenses, is often carefully evaluated by lenders before granting credit. Residual income and passive income can be important considerations for anyone trying to increase financial stability and pursue long-term financial goals. You can collect more passive income by using residual income to invest in new income-generating investments or exchanging current investments for new ones that earn better yields. Some passive income activities require some attention and effort, such as managing real estate. Some of the most popular include investing in dividend-paying stocks, depositing money in interest-bearing accounts and investing in residential real estate. Passive income can come from many sources. People can cut costs to boost residual income by reducing entertainment subscriptions such as cable television, paying off a high-interest credit card, shopping for better rates or insurance or moving to a less costly home, perhaps in a different area. Reducing expenses can effectively increase residual income even if overall income doesn’t change or even declines modestly. Residual income can also be increased by generating passive income, such as by investing in dividend-paying stocks. To increase income, a wage-earner may request a raise from the employer, take a second job or sell unused assets such as excess furnishings. Increasing residual income involves either increasing overall income, reducing expenses or both. It can come from wages and salary from working at a job, passive income from dividends or savings or any other source.

Unlike passive income, the source of residual income doesn’t matter. If nothing else, having money left over at the end of the month supplies peace of mind. Residual income can also let someone pay down high-interest debts, build emergency savings or start investing. Having a healthy level of residual income is important when seeking credit since lenders want reassurance that a borrower has enough disposable income to make the loan payment. For instance, if someone receives $5,000 in monthly income from all sources and pays a total of $4,000 for all expenses including rent or mortgage, auto or other loans, food, utilities, etc., their residual income is $5,000 minus $4,000 or $1,0.00. Residual income can have different definitions in different areas of business but in personal finance, it refers to the amount of money an individual has remaining after paying for living expenses. Passive income can also reduce the risk of hardship due to interruptions to sources of earned income, such as wages and salary from a job. If passive investments produce enough money, an investor may be able to retire early. Passive income is highly valued by investors and retirement savers because it allows someone to increase their wealth without having to devote time, energy or funds to the effort.

Passive income can also come from royalties paid to an author, tuition fees charged to people who take an online course and interest in an I.O.U. Common sources of passive income include interest from savings accounts or bonds, dividends from stocks and rental income from real estate. Passive income is money earned without active involvement by the investor or owner of that money.
