Traveling During Retirement: 10 Ideas for Generating (Mostly) Passive Income

When asked what they plan to do with their time during retirement, most couples will say that they’d like to travel. At long last, you have the time to explore the world and experience the people and places you’ve always dreamed about. However, although you have the time, you may worry about whether you have the money.

Having enough money to travel to your heart’s content during retirement is a two-part equation:

• • Spending less while traveling
  • Making money while retired

The focus of this article will be on the second part: establishing an income. Though you’re retired and have put your prime money-making years behind you, you can still make some money without dedicating your time to work (and while traveling!).

To do this, you’ll need to set up one or more streams of passive income.

What is passive income?

Simply stated, passive income is any income that you receive without actively working for it. Traditionally, this referred to owning rental property and involvement in a limited partnership. The term is now used more loosely to describe any project or venture that produces income without regular maintenance, upkeep, or investment in time.

Some avenues of passive income are more active than others. For example, blogging requires the regular publication of articles, but once your blog becomes big enough, readership of older articles will continue to generate revenue.

The following ten passive income streams can either be done part-time while traveling (think something to occupy your time on long train rides between destinations) or at home between trips.

1) Start a blog

Running a blog is one of the best ways for travel nuts to generate income. It can be done from anywhere in the world, costs next to nothing to produce, and passively generates a respectable income when you grow your audience and gain a loyal following.

Whether you’re interested in blogging about the benefits of travel for mental health or have another interest outside of travel entirely, there’s undoubtedly something you can write about.

To start a successful blog, there are a few things you’ll need:

• • A website. Wix and Squarespace are great for those without website design experience.
  • A niche. To be successful, you won’t want to write about anything and everything. Pick a specific niche to attract a targeted audience.
  • Enjoyment of writing. If you hate writing, you’re unlikely to keep up with regular posts. If you enjoy writing but aren’t sure you’re good enough at it, don’t be discouraged! Practice makes perfect, and there are tons of grammar correcting software programs out there, like Grammarly.

2) Invest in rental property

Though renting out a house or flat isn’t entirely hands-off, it’s pretty close. To do this, you’ll of course need the cash to purchase property. Once you’ve found tenants, you’ll be able to rely on a regular monthly income.

Not everyone will be comfortable with sharing their space with others, but if you don’t have the means to purchase property, you can rent out your own home when you’re not there. List your entire home on Airbnb, or rent out a single room when you’re both away and at home.

Alternatively, if you have the financial means somewhere in between these two options, you can build an annex in your garden and rent this out to travelers. While there will be construction and permit costs associated with this, you’ll spend less than you would on a full-sized home purchase and you’ll be able to separate your own private home from Airbnb travelers.

3) Create a digital product

Digital products describe anything that can be purchased with an instant download. This could be a course, book, business cards, planning materials, or templates.

Unlike blogging, digital products require a greater initial time investment, but less ongoing investment. You may choose to update your products every now and then, but you do not need to make regular contributions to keep sales up.

Another advantage to digital products over blogging is that some endeavors require less writing. For example, if you’re an Excel wiz you may choose to make budget templates. If you’re a prolific cross-stitcher, you can design and sell patterns.

4) Rent out your equipment

If renting out a rental property or your own home just isn’t for you, consider renting out some of your belongings. If you have tools or equipment that were expensive out-of-pocket purchases, you could make money on these by renting them out to people who have a one-time need for them.

Construction and carpentry equipment such as a table saw and hardwood floor finisher appeal to those doing a one-off home DIY project. If you own a bicycle or other sports equipment, people getting into sports for the first time will be willing to pay a fee to use them. You won’t get rich off this endeavor, but the pocket money will add up.

5) Sell your photographs

If you love traveling, chances are you love taking photographs of the incredible sights you encounter on your trips. With a little practice and the right camera equipment, you can make a profit off these photographs.

Post your photographs on your own website or a platform like Etsy and sell prints. To set yourself apart from the crowd, you’ll want to think about how you can bring a unique perspective to the object you’re photographing. We’ve all seen the Eiffel Tower a thousand times – how can you make it look special?

6) Keep investing

Just because investing looks different when you’re retired, it doesn’t mean you should stop thinking about your financial future entirely. To keep income flowing in retirement, switch from high-risk to low-risk investments.

High-risk investments are only rewarding in the long-term, but low-risk investments that produce dividends (that you can then reinvest) will help ensure your money is still working for you – even in retirement.

7) Affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing refers to marketing a company’s product(s) on their behalf. You – the affiliate – will market a company’s product and in return receive compensation. Compensation can be received in three different ways:

• • Pay per sale. You receive a portion of the sale that you facilitated.
  • Pay per lead. You receive compensation after getting the consumer to complete a specified action (not necessarily a sale) such as signing up for a newsletter.
  • Pay per click. You are compensated every time you lead a consumer to visit the company’s website.

Affiliate marketing can work for you regardless of your ethics. You can promote anything and everything, or stick to one or two companies that you truly believe in and feel passionate about.

8) Use cashback sites and reward-based credit cards

As one of the most passive options, using cashback sites and taking advantage of credit cards with rewards will allow you to make money by simply going about your day-to-day life.

Cashback sites such as Rakuten allow you to shop online at hundreds of stores, make a purchase, and receive cash back on that purchase via PayPal.

As long as you don’t have any credit card debt, you can take advantage of credit cards with rewards programs. Whether you choose a card that gives cash back, Scene points for movies and other purchases, or travel credits, you’ll end up with more money in your pocket simply by making your regular purchases.

9) Start an e-commerce business

Like creating a digital product, starting an e-commerce business can require a lot of time investment at the beginning. If you have a great idea for a product, this may be the passive income option for you.

First, you’ll need to create your product. Once your sales are up and running through your online store, you’ll be able to pass over the logistics to a third-party and virtual assistant. Setting up live chat for your website will also take care of the customer service side of things.

10) Pay off all your debt now

If you’ve chosen to retire, you’ve hopefully already paid off all your debt. If you haven’t, you need to do this prior to worrying about setting up a passive income stream.

The reason? The interest you are paying on debt will likely just cancel out the gains you’d make through passive income. Sure, it’s possible your digital product sales could take off, but there are no guarantees. The safest option is, without a doubt, getting rid of debt first and pursuing passive income avenues second.

Sit back and relax

Now that you’ve taken the time to get your passive income strategy up off the ground and running, all you have left to do is curl up on the beach with a mojito and a good book. Remember that passive income is meant to be just that – passive. Don’t spend too much time trying to make money that you don’t need.

The goal in this stage of life is to take it easy. Make just enough money to allow you to do the things you want to do without worrying about running out of money and no more. You’ve earned this phase in your life, so enjoy it!

We are happy to present this collaborative post to offer valuable information to our readers.