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Creating a Retirement "Paycheck"

Since retiring in 2007, we typically have withdrawn funds monthly from our taxable accounts to pay for living expenses.   Last year, I decid...

Saturday, August 16, 2025

Retirement Income - Are they really passive?

There is a lot of discussion on the Internet about Passive Income.   IMHO, there is not such thing as completely passive (zero effort) income. Rather, there a sliding scale of effort or initial investment versus zero.

Here's how I rank them on a scale of 1-10, where 10 is full time work and 1 is no effort at all.

Social Security:   After retiring and collecting:  1.   While working:  10, it takes 35 years to get maximize benefits.

Pension:   After retiring and collecting: 1-2.  While working:  10 it takes 30+ years to maximize one's pension.

Rental.  After retiring and collecting: 3-7 because one still needs to deal with tenants..  While working:  3-7.

Dividend and Interest: After retiring and collecting:   3-7 because need to monitor investments.   While working:  3-7 because need to monitor investments.   

Side Hustles:  After retiring and collecting:  3-10,  since a side hustle is really a job. While working:  5-12 since there is no "no effort" side hustle.

I don't believe in "passive" or zero effort income.   Yes, there are lower effort income, but YMMV.

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This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

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