Retire early by building passive income.

Residual income is revenue earned from an activity you are not involved in.Developing streams of residual income can allow you to work less hours.While generating sources of residual income involves a lot of work and planning, eventually you may find yourself with enough free time and income to enjoy an early retirement.Residual income can be generated by investing in the stock market, selling information, or buying real estate.

Step 1: Find out what you are good at.

Take stock of your strengths.Some people are good at investing and others are afraid of the market.Talented people are also writers.People would be willing to pay for a skill or knowledge that others possess.How can you combine your interests and skills to make money?A writer can write, a musician can play, and a finance buff can clean up the market.Don't be afraid to try new things.There is no need to stick to one area of expertise.You could make some money selling e-books, and then invest some of it.

Step 2: A financial goal can be set.

Determine the amount of money you want to make.Think about where you want to live, what living expenses you will have, and how much it will cost to make you happy.This will tell you how much money you need to make a living.Depending on the nature of your passive income revenue stream, you may need to work a certain number of hours a week.To be able to retire at 40 and live the way you want, you need to earn $200,000 per year in residual income.You may need to work a few hours a day to maintain your revenue stream if you are writing and investing.

Step 3: You have to make a commitment.

Discipline and commitment are required to build reliable streams of residual income.To get started, you need to control spending and save as much money as possible.You have to promise yourself that you won't spend your money.Making it harder to liquidate will help you with this.To keep your income stream viable, you must devote more time in the beginning than in later years.

Step 4: Invest in dividend stocks.

You own shares of the company's dividends.You are paid your share of the profit in dividends.Many companies pay either annually or quarterly, and some pay a fixed amount per accounting period.Once you are paid your dividends, you can either cash them out or reinvested them, which will allow you to own more shares and earn more dividends.You can invest in dividend stocks through mutual funds or exchange-traded funds.You want to know more about the companies you invest in.There are dividend stocks that pay high yields.Think about investing in companies that will pay high yields in the future.

Step 5: Peer to peer lending can be participated in.

Peer to peer lending is when a group of people lend money to each other.Prosper and Lending Club are popular P2P lending platforms.The platforms act as a middleman between you and the borrowers.They vet the borrowers to make sure they are legit.You can choose who you want to lend to.It is possible to hedge your risks by lending small loans to different borrowers.The interest rate you can get with Prosper is between 5.48 percent and 10.78 percent.

Step 6: There are fixed income securities.

Purchase a certificate of deposit or a variety of corporate or government bonds.Buying bonds or CDs that mature at different times in the future would be involved.The risk of fluctuations in the interest rate is spread out over time, so this strategy protects your principal.A CD ladder is an investment strategy in which you divide the amount you want to invest into equal amounts and buy different maturities of CDs.As the CD matures, it provides you with a steady income.The maturity date is when the interest payments stop and the principal is paid back to you.CD's can mature in six months, one year, two years, etc.See how to invest in bonds.

Step 7: Invest in a annuity.

A reliable stream of income is the goal of an annuity.You can purchase an annuity from an insurance company.You can either make a lump-sum payment or a series of payments.The insurance company repays you in regular disbursements that can begin immediately or at some point in the future.Your gains on your contributions are tax-deferred, meaning you don't pay income tax on them until you receive disbursements during retirement.If your annuity is an IRA or 401(k), your contributions may be pre-tax.You will pay a penalty if you withdraw from this type of annuity before the age of 59.5.Disbursements can be received for a fixed amount of time or until your death.A small amount of interest is earned by fixed annuities.The amount of your disbursement is based on your annuity balance.Variable annuities are riskier.Your disbursements are based on the performance of your investment, as your contributions are invested in a mix of mutual funds.A hybrid of fixed and variable annuities is called an indexed annuity.You will receive a minimum payment.Your disbursement is linked to the performance of the market.

Step 8: An e-book is something to write.

You can self-publish an e-book on a variety of platforms.Market research can be used to find a topic that will sell.It is possible to identify what people are buying.Look for gaps in the market by reading reviews.You can either write the book yourself or hire a ghostwriter.A compelling cover for your book can be created with the help of a graphic artist.You can get a ghostwriter from sites like Upwork for between $2 and $4 per word.You can use an app to format your document.Check for plagiarism with a site.Barnes and Noble's PubIt is one of the popular e-book publishing platforms.

Step 9: Stock images can be used to sell.

You can sell your photos on micro stock websites.The websites that charge customers for using the images pass a portion of the payment back to you.The average payment for an image is $1 for small images and $2 for larger images.iStockphoto.com is a popular site.You make 15 percent of the sale in the beginning, but the percentage may increase as you sell more images.There is a plan to build a diverse portfolio of images.A large number of images is the key to being successful.A small amount is made per image.The more images you sell, the more they add up.If you want sharp images, invest in a digital SLR camera.Don't include any brands in your photos.If you are using people, you need a signed release to use their image.

Step 10: There is a course on Udemy.

You can use Udemy to create and sell online courses.The course prices range from $47 to $197.The course can be as short as 30 minutes or as long as three hours.The average instructor makes a lot of money from a course.It depends on how you market the course.Those with large social media followings can market to a large audience and make more money.

Step 11: Permission is granted to play music.

You can license and sell your own music if you can write it.Copyrighting the music is the first step.This protects the composition.If the music has been recorded, you need a master copyright, which protects the recording.You have to pay $35 to register with the Library of Congress.You can use different ways to make money from your music once you have a copyrights.A television show can use your music.The license is called a television synch license.The music supervisor would have to pay for the use of the master and song copyright.There would be a separate fee for each.Your music may be recorded and performed by a recording artist.The artist can record and release your song with a mechanical license.You would make money from the sale of albums or singles.Sell your music to a library.There are collections of instrumental music that are used as background music on television, in film, on the radio, and in documentaries.Micro-sync fees can be earned when someone uses your music to play in a video game or film.There is a free sync licensing program for CD Baby.

Step 12: Purchase shares in the trust.

A Real Estate Investment Trust is a company that owns and operates commercial real estate.You can earn a share of the income from these commercial buildings if you invest in a real estate investment trust.You can buy shares from a broker.Publicly-traded shares are listed on a major stock exchange and regulated by the SEC.

Step 13: Become a landlord and live in it.

Purchase rental properties that make money.You can either manage the properties yourself or use a real estate team to fill vacancies and hire a property manager.You can buy a house, hire a contractor to fix it, and find tenants.Turn-key properties that are already rented can be purchased.

Step 14: Private money can be used to invest in other people.

You can lend money to other investors.A Deed of Trust can be used to secure the loan.The property's legal title is transferred to a neutral third party who holds the property as security for the loan.You can make a lot of money on these loans.

Step 15: Invest in loans and notes.

Mortgage notes are usually mortgage-backed securities.They can be performing or not.The borrowers are making payments on performing notes.A non-performing note is one where the borrower is behind on payments.Non-performing notes can be purchased for a fraction of their original value.You have the option of offering a loan modification, allowing a short sale, or foreclosing on the loan, which means selling the property for less than the debts still owed on it.You stand to make money because of the discount you received when you purchased the note.