For most people, passive income is a financial freedom dream come true. Who wouldn’t welcome the opportunity to make money even when they’re asleep or on vacation? Sipping coffee in bed on a cold Monday morning and making money simultaneously sounds good. You’d also agree that drinking bottomless cocktails in the sun on a faraway beach in June and earning a profit while at the same time is incredible. When you make your money work for you, the possibilities are endless.
With the growth of the FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) movement in recent years, the concept of passive income has become a prevalent one. Most of our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents worked grueling hours well into their 60s and 70s. The work-dominated life is admirable, but it’s no longer necessary.
If you’re ready to work passive income streams into your life, we’re here to help. Whether you want more time to spend with your family and other loved ones or more time to pursue your true passions, passive income opens up an entire world of possibilities. Luckily, there are plenty of different types of passive income, ranging from making passive income online to generating passive income with dividends.
Below are the eight best passive income books today.
The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss
This #1 New York Times bestseller (The 4-Hour Workweek) is, without a doubt, one of the most famous and highly praised books ever written on passive income.
Timothy Ferriss is mentioned on many personal finance podcasts, in other books, and in many other places across the country. He speaks from experience and teaches his readers that the old concept of retirement that requires deferred happiness and fulfillment is better left in the past.
In the 4-Hour Work Week, Ferriss does an excellent job of explaining the key differences between active income and passive income.
Whether you want to get out of your high-pressure job, travel the world, earn consistent income without lifting a finger, or some combination of these things, this is your guide. Ferriss recommends information products as the ultimate passive income stream — you make them once and then sell them forever, and they’re all delivered digitally. This is one way to avoid doing any ongoing work.
Many people feel compelled to sell products online after reading this book, so if that sounds like it would be right up your alley, check this one out. It’s also great for digging into the overall concepts of passive income, retiring early, outsourcing, and determining when something is worthy of your time and attention. Many case studies are referenced in the book, and Ferriss speaks from real-world experience, so it’s easy to see that he knows what he’s doing.
Click Here To Get StartedRich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki
Rather than online passive income opportunities, Rich Dad, Poor Dad got famous for its real-world applications. You’ll find this one on any given list of books on setting up passive income streams. over the years, it has been translated into dozens of languages to sell all over the world. Kiyosaki covers many different money myths, passive income options, the importance of investing, and most importantly: what wealthy parents teach their children about money that poor and middle-class parents don’t.
This has remained one of the most popular personal finance books of all time over the 20 years since its release. One of the most important myths he debunked is that you need to earn a high income to be rich. Anyone who is a parent plans to be one, or wants some financial insight into their own parents’ money methods will enjoy this book.
Click Here To Get StartedThe $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau
His last name may be hard to spell, but his books are famously easy to read. FIRE followers, side hustlers, and eager millennials, among others, have been devouring The $100 Startup and praising its ability to help you change course. The extended version of the title says it all: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future.
Guillebeau speaks from the heart and as someone who has visited more than 175 nations before his mid-thirties without ever holding a real job, collecting a regular paycheck, or having his own business. Instead, his sweet spot is turning ideas into income and using passive income as an opportunity to take the time to pursue the things that we find truly meaningful.
He also includes 50 case studies where other individuals built businesses out of modest investments. Most of them found that their passions could be monetized as passive incomes streams, and that this allowed them to restructure their lives.
Click Here To Get StartedThe Book on Rental Property Investing by Brandon Turner
Rental property investing has become a popular method of collecting passive income over the last decade. If you’re wondering where you’ve heard the name before, Brandon Turner is also the co-host of one of the most popular personal finance podcasts: Bigger Pockets. The Book On Rental Property Investing provides in-depth advice, tips, mistakes to avoid, strategies to implement, and actionable ideas for successful buy-and-hold real estate investing.
Anyone who is a current or future investor in rental properties should add this book to their list. You’ll learn about many different aspects of rental property investing, from calculating your return on investment to the newly popular idea of house hacking. This book serves as a great starting point for people who want to make passive income on rental properties. As a bonus, when you’re done, you can listen to Bigger Pockets podcast episodes for more words of wisdom in the same or other financial areas.
Click Here To Get StartedSmart Couples Finish Rich by David Bach
This book is for couples who want to create wealth!
Many people find that the road to early retirement can sometimes be a lonely one. Quitting your day job, skipping happy hour, and passing on the expensive dinners are not things that most people understand yet. However, getting your significant other on board with your financial goals can help you get there faster and make sure you don’t feel like you’re alone.
In Smart Couples Finish Rich, Bach helps his readers create a financially sound life with their other half. There are easy-to-use tools and strategies that will help couples approach passive income investing, manage debt, loans, and credit cards, discuss long-term care needs, choose investments, and more.
He also details the importance of creating a personalized financial plan that outlines your family’s current and future financial needs, along with core values and dreams. This book is perfect for anyone looking to make more money and better their financial life at home.
Click Here To Get StartedClick Millionaires by Scott Fox
Click Millionaires is somewhat similar to The Four-Hour Workweek in the sense that both authors discuss the idea that information products/digital publishing are one of the easiest ways to earn money online. They differ in that Fox offers some alternatives, like blogging and podcasting.
This one provides a slightly more comprehensive view of the different options for earning online passive income. In addition, he gives actionable steps to creating an online business with a recurring revenue stream that allows you the freedom to decide how you spend your time.
Even better than offering alternatives to eBooks and e-mail marketing is how much time Fox devotes in the book to finding your idea. Rather than just presenting the options, he also focuses a couple of chapters on deciding which passive income business idea is best for you, individually, and suggests that you write down any ideas that come to you, no matter where you are. That’s what makes this one stick out, in my opinion, particularly for beginners.
Click Here To Get StartedStock Market Investing for Beginners by Darcy Malone
Many of the other books on this list touch on investing as a passive income strategy, but this one devotes itself to it. Stock Market Investing for Beginners is a quick start guide for beginners, as the name suggests. So if you want to invest but you’re not sure how, where, or when, this is an excellent place to start.
Malone provides guidance and advice to get her readers to invest intelligently, generate passive income, and travel down the road to achieving financial freedom. She’ll teach you how to choose, buy, trade, and monitor stocks, but what’s even better is that she’ll tell you why this is such a robust passive investing method. This is a powerful tool to get you started with one of the most popular passive income strategies today.
Click Here To Get StartedKaChing by Joel Comm
Last but not least on this list is KaChing. This book made the cut because it highlights one of the most relevant passive income strategies for today’s technology-based world. Comm teaches his readers how to earn passive income by taking advantage of membership sites, affiliate marketing, information products, search engine optimization, and more. The book makes generating passive online income seem easy.
Comm’s tried-and-true methods and strategies can often be applied to any niche or market, so it’s an excellent read for beginners and experts. He provides information on picking your niche and guides you through making what you have to offer to stand out. The case studies included are inspirational, and the comparisons and how-to guides make passive income a much more approachable topic.
Click Here To Get StartedOther Top Choices
Below we cover three other passive income book choices you can read to kickstart your passive income journey.
Quit Like a Millionaire: No Gimmicks, Luck, or Trustfund Required by Kristen Shen and Bryce Leung
Quit Like a Millionaire is a millennial’s guide to passive income freedom. Chen and Leung explain how they retired in their 30s using investments. Now, they run a Millionaire Revolution website where they offer advice on how to be a financial success. They explain how to retire early using numbers and well-founded strategies.
So, if you’re in your 20s and 30s and want to start earning passive income to help you retire early, read this book. You’ll find it isn’t hard to become financially independent and have a steady cash flow.
Click Here To Get StartedPassive Income Aggressive Retirement: The Secret to Freedom, Flexibility, and Retirement by Rachel Richards
This book is beyond having a passive income idea. Instead, Passive Income Aggressive Retirement delves into financial independence and how everyone can achieve it. Richards discussed creating passive income and retiring early, something she showed is possible with her personal experience.
This book is one of the best passive income books for anyone who wants to make money and retire without working long hours daily for years. Richards explained generating passive income and early retirement in a fun way. So if financial security and retiring early is your goal, read this publication.
Click Here To Get StartedThe Power of Passive Income: Make Your Money Work for You By Nightingale-Conant
In this passive income guide, Nightingale-Conant and the Entrepreneur Media Staff cover how to start making passive income and grow wealth. One unique thing about The Power of Passive Income is that it doesn’t just teach you how to build passive income; it gives you actionable steps to create the life you want.
Click Here To Get StartedIf you enjoyed reading our best books on passive income, check out our list of best personal finance tools.
