Top 10 'Avocado-Toast-Funding' Passive Income Streams to try for Millennials to Build Wealth Without the Boomer Scolding - Goh Ling Yong
Let's be honest. If you've heard "just stop buying avocado toast and lattes" one more time, you might just launch your sourdough starter into the sun. The traditional, boomer-era financial advice often feels out of touch, scolding us for small joys while ignoring the tectonic shifts in the economy, from stagnant wages to the crushing weight of student debt. It’s a narrative of scarcity, one that says the only path to wealth is through extreme, joyless deprivation.
But what if there's a different way? What if, instead of cutting back, we focused on building up? Imagine a world where your brunch isn't a financial sin but a small, delightful expense easily covered by an income stream that works for you, even while you’re sleeping, scrolling, or—yes—enjoying that delicious avocado toast. This isn't a fantasy; it's the power of passive income.
The goal isn't just to get by; it's to build genuine, sustainable wealth on your own terms. It’s about creating systems that generate money, freeing up your time and mental energy to live a fuller life. Forget the scolding. In this post, we’re going to explore ten practical, millennial-friendly passive income streams that can help you fund your lifestyle and build a robust financial future.
1. Dividend-Paying Stocks & ETFs
The Classic Wealth Builder, Modernized. Think of dividend stocks as the gift that keeps on giving. When you own a share of a dividend-paying company, you're not just betting on the stock price going up; the company also pays you a portion of its profits, typically every quarter. It’s like being a landlord of a tiny piece of a massive corporation and collecting your rent.
For beginners, diving into individual stocks can be intimidating. That’s where Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) come in. A dividend ETF is a basket of hundreds of different dividend-paying stocks, giving you instant diversification. This approach smooths out the risk, so if one company has a bad quarter, it doesn’t sink your entire portfolio. You get the benefit of passive income without the stress of picking individual winners.
- Actionable Tip: Open a brokerage account and look into popular dividend ETFs like the Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD) or the Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF (VYM). Most importantly, turn on the Dividend Reinvestment Plan (DRIP). This automatically uses your dividend payouts to buy more shares of the ETF, creating a powerful compounding effect that builds your wealth exponentially over time.
2. High-Yield Savings Accounts (HYSAs)
Your Emergency Fund's Superpower. Leaving your savings in a traditional bank account is like letting your money take a nap. With interest rates often below 0.1%, it’s actually losing value to inflation. A High-Yield Savings Account (HYSA) is the simple, no-brainer first step into the world of passive income. These are online-only savings accounts that offer significantly higher interest rates—often 20 to 25 times the national average.
This is the perfect place to park your emergency fund, down payment savings, or any cash you need to keep safe and accessible. While it won't make you a millionaire overnight, it ensures your cash is working for you, not against you. The income is completely passive; you set it up, deposit your money, and watch it grow a little bit each month.
- Actionable Tip: Compare HYSAs on sites like NerdWallet or Bankrate. Look for accounts with no monthly fees and a competitive Annual Percentage Yield (APY). Setting up automatic transfers from your checking account each payday is a great way to build your savings effortlessly.
3. Real Estate Crowdfunding
Become a Landlord, Minus the Tenants. For most of us, buying an entire investment property is a huge financial hurdle. Real estate crowdfunding platforms have completely changed the game, allowing you to invest in large-scale commercial and residential real estate projects (like apartment complexes or office buildings) with as little as a few hundred dollars.
You pool your money with other investors to fund a project. In return, you receive a share of the profits, either from rental income (dividends) or the property's eventual sale (appreciation). It’s a way to get the benefits of real estate investing—a tangible asset and potential for high returns—without the headaches of being a landlord.
- Actionable Tip: Explore platforms like Fundrise or Crowdstreet. Do your due diligence: understand the fees, the investment timeline (your money is often tied up for several years), and the type of investment (debt vs. equity). Start with a small amount you're comfortable with to learn the ropes.
4. Affiliate Marketing on a Niche Blog or Social Account
Get Paid to Recommend What You Love. If you have a passion—whether it's sustainable fashion, vintage gaming, or homebrewing kombucha—you can turn it into an income stream through affiliate marketing. The concept is simple: you recommend a product or service to your audience, and when someone makes a purchase through your unique link, you earn a commission.
The key is authenticity. This isn't about spamming links; it's about building a trusted brand around your niche. You can do this through a blog, a dedicated Instagram account, a YouTube channel, or even a TikTok profile. By creating genuinely helpful and engaging content, you build an audience that trusts your recommendations. One of the core philosophies I emphasize on the Goh Ling Yong blog is that value creation must always come first; the income will follow.
- Actionable Tip: Start by creating content about something you're an expert in. Once you have a small audience, apply to affiliate programs like Amazon Associates, ShareASale, or directly with brands you use and admire. Write a detailed review of a product you love or create a "Best Gear for X" guide and include your affiliate links naturally.
5. Creating and Selling Digital Products
Build It Once, Sell It Forever. This is where your unique skills can truly shine. A digital product is anything you create and sell online that can be downloaded or accessed instantly. The beauty is the scalability: you do the hard work upfront to create a high-quality product, but you can sell it an infinite number of times with almost no overhead.
The possibilities are endless. Are you a design wizard? Sell Canva or Lightroom templates. A fitness expert? Create a downloadable workout plan PDF. A whiz with spreadsheets? Build a personal finance tracker and sell it on Etsy or Gumroad. An online course, an e-book, a set of stock photos, or even a musical track can all become sources of passive income.
- Actionable Tip: Identify a problem you can solve for a specific audience. What do people in your hobby or profession always ask about? Create a simple, high-value solution. Use platforms like Gumroad, Podia, or Teachable to host and sell your product without needing to be a web developer.
6. Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Lending
Be the Bank. Peer-to-peer lending platforms cut out the traditional middleman (the bank) and allow you to lend money directly to individuals or small businesses who are seeking loans. As an investor (lender), you can fund small portions of many different loans, diversifying your risk. In return, you earn interest on your money as the borrowers make their monthly payments.
This is a more active form of "passive" income, as it requires you to select the loans you want to fund based on risk profiles. However, once the loan is funded, the income is passive. It's an alternative to the stock market that can offer attractive returns, but it's crucial to understand the risks involved—namely, the risk of a borrower defaulting on their loan.
- Actionable Tip: Platforms like Prosper and LendingClub are major players in the US. Before investing, read up on the platform's grading system for borrowers. Diversify your investment across dozens, if not hundreds, of different loans to minimize the impact of any single default.
7. Starting a "Set It and Forget It" YouTube Channel
Turn Your Knowledge into Ad Revenue. Not all YouTube channels require you to be a daily vlogger. You can create a channel based on "evergreen" content—videos that remain relevant and searchable for years. Think tutorials, product reviews, educational explainers, or even ambient soundscapes (like "rain sounds for studying").
You create a library of high-quality videos, and they continue to attract views and generate ad revenue long after you've uploaded them. Once your channel meets the monetization requirements (e.g., 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours on YouTube), you can turn on ads. Your old videos become a team of tiny digital employees, working 24/7 to earn you money.
- Actionable Tip: Pick a niche you know well and that people are actively searching for. Use a tool like Google Trends to see what topics have long-term interest. Focus on creating high-quality, helpful videos. A channel with 50 excellent tutorials will be far more passive and profitable than a channel with 500 low-effort vlogs.
8. Renting Out Your Assets
Monetize What You Already Own. You likely have valuable assets sitting around that could be earning you money. The sharing economy has created platforms that make it incredibly easy to rent out your stuff, turning idle possessions into income-generating machines.
Your car can be a prime example. If it sits unused during the week or on weekends, you can list it on a platform like Turo. Live in a city with limited parking? You might be able to rent out your empty parking spot or garage. Other examples include renting out camera equipment on ShareGrid, a spare room on Airbnb, or even your backyard pool on Swimply.
- Actionable Tip: Take an inventory of your possessions. What do you own that other people might want to use temporarily? Research the appropriate platform, take high-quality photos, and write a clear, honest description of your asset.
9. Staking Cryptocurrency
For the Tech-Savvy and Risk-Tolerant. This one comes with a big disclaimer: cryptocurrency is volatile and high-risk. But for those comfortable with the space, staking offers a way to earn passive income on your crypto holdings. In simple terms, "staking" is the process of participating in a cryptocurrency network to help validate transactions.
By "locking up" a certain amount of your crypto, you help secure the network. In return for your service, the network rewards you with more of that cryptocurrency. It's conceptually similar to earning interest in a savings account, but with the potential for much higher (and much riskier) returns.
- Actionable Tip: Only invest what you can afford to lose. If you're interested, start with well-established "Proof-of-Stake" cryptocurrencies like Ethereum (ETH) or Cardano (ADA). Many major exchanges like Coinbase and Kraken offer simple, one-click staking services, making the process accessible even for beginners.
10. Licensing Your Creative Work
Sell Your Art on Autopilot. If you have a creative hobby like photography, videography, or music production, you can license your work for passive income. Stock media websites are massive marketplaces where businesses, marketers, and filmmakers go to buy content for their projects.
You simply upload your high-quality photos, video clips, or music tracks to platforms like Adobe Stock, Shutterstock, or Pond5. Every time someone downloads and pays for your content, you receive a royalty payment. A single, popular photo or video clip can be sold hundreds or thousands of times, generating income for years from a one-time effort.
- Actionable Tip: Focus on quality and commercial appeal. Think about what kind of images or footage businesses need: people working in an office, diverse groups of friends laughing, aerial shots of cities, or generic product backdrops. The more commercially viable your content, the better it will sell.
Your Wealth Journey Starts Now
Building wealth isn't about shame or sacrifice. It's about empowerment, strategy, and creativity. It’s about designing a life where your money works for you, funding your goals and yes, even your avocado toast, without a hint of guilt.
The ten ideas above are just starting points. The key is to take action. Don't feel overwhelmed by the need to do everything at once. Pick one stream that excites you the most or best fits your current skills and resources. Start small, learn as you go, and build momentum. Your future self will thank you for it.
Now, it's your turn. Which of these passive income streams are you most interested in trying? Share your thoughts or questions in the comments below
About the Author
Goh Ling Yong is a content creator and digital strategist sharing insights across various topics. Connect and follow for more content:
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