From Active to Passive: 6 Ways to make Easy Money in 2021

The financial world is changing rapidly, but it’s not too late to get involved. In this blog I list 6 passive income ideas to earn money in a passive way. Which of these are you planning to try?

*** Update: some of the below methods are not possible anymore / possible at a lower return. Please have a look at my latest posts to read about new ways to make easy money. ***

1. Register on Cake (€3/month)

Cake is a mobile app that gives an overview of your bank accounts and transactions. Users get a clear view on incoming and outgoing cashflows, segmented in different categories: groceries, medical, etc. Cake makes a profit by selling your spending data (in an anonymous way). The difference with traditional banks (that also sell users’ data) is that Cake shares its revenues with its customers. This makes it a must-have app for people located in Belgium: you don’t just get an overview of your personal finances, you even get paid for it.

As a cherry on top, users get discounts at partnering shops such as AVA, Hans Anders and Mealhero. The app is rapidly closing in on 60.000 users, each earning about €3/month.

2. Invest in dividend stocks (5% return)

When companies make a profit, they sometimes distribute part of this back to the shareholders in the form of “dividends”. Ahold Delhaize (€22/share) and Telenet (€33/share) are two examples of companies that pay out dividends. To become a shareholder of a listed company, you need to buy stocks through a broker. DEGIRO is generally considered as the best European online broker to buy stocks and ETF’s. The platform’s low costs allow users to maximize their returns. Due to high inflation and fees at traditional banks, a lot of people are finding their way to online brokers. DEGIRO’s online platform is well on its way to achieve 1 million customers this year.

Examples of non-listed companies that pay out dividends are Argen-Co and Incofin. While the dividend yield is lower for these firms, both provide Belgian shareholders with additional benefits such as discounts at certain shops or tax cashbacks.

On the topic of taxes: keep in mind that if you live in Belgium you have to pay 30% taxes on almost all the dividends that you receive. However, these do not have to be paid when you receive less than €800/year in dividends. Assuming an annual dividend yield of 5%, you would need to invest €16.000 to fully capture the benefits of this tax-exemption. Use my referral link when creating a DEGIRO account and save up to €50 in transaction fees.

3. Give your opinion (€60/hour)

Before a new product launch, companies often hire a company such as intrinsiQ to do market research. The market research firm then reaches out to consumers to get feedback on new ideas. For example: I recently did a 1-hour phone call about investing, and was remunerated €60 for this. Pre-Covid I was also paid generously to attend a yoghurt-tasting session.

While the money you make with this technically does not qualify as “passive” income, I still wanted to include it in today’s list because it’s an easy and fun way to occasionally earn some extra money.

4. Become a liquidity provider on Binance (15% return)

The money circulating in crypto currencies recently reached 2 trillion euros. As adoption grows and volatility goes down, even institutional investors are now entering the blockchain space. At the current inflation levels nothing is more harmful for your purchasing power than keeping fiat money on a regular bank account.

A good way to get your crypto adventure started is not to buy “real” crypto such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, but to buy stablecoins like USDC, USDT or DAI. Stablecoins are digital currencies that are pegged to their fiat equivalents. For example: each USDC is backed by a United States dollar, and each TCAD is backed by a Canadian dollar.

With record levels of incoming customers, all crypto platforms are trying to gain market share. Competition for customers is fierce, resulting in impressive promos and high interest rates. Multiple platforms offer more than 10% interest on stablecoins. Currently you receive +- 15% in interest and fees when providing USDT and DAI liquidity on the Binance platform. As a liquidity provider, your deposited stablecoin pair (for example USDT/DAI) will be used to facilitate other users’ trades. Each time someone buys or sells USDT for DAI, Binance rewards you with part of the trading fees. Binance is closing in on 15 million users. Use my referral ID 51713859 to sign up on the platform and receive a fee discount.

5. Deposit your savings on Celsius (13% return)

While Binance offers unique functionalities, it’s definitely not the most user-friendly platform out there. Celsius and Crypto.com are two platforms that are easier to use. One of the easiest and cheapest ways of converting fiat to stablecoins is to buy TrueCAD (TCAD) via the Crypto.com app and sending these to your Celsius wallet.

Celsius is an online crypto bank that allows users to earn interest and apply for loans. 80% of the earnings of this English fintech company are reportedly distributed back to the users, resulting in high interest rates. Today, the app has more than half a million users, all earning interest rates from 2% to 18% depending on the currency. For example, TCAD yielded 12.65% this week and Bitcoin 4.40%.

6. Pay your expenses with a Crypto.com card (€21/month)

Even though the Cake discounts at the partnering shops are lovely, I would recommend not to use a traditional debit card for daily purchases. By signing up on Crypto.com and temporarily locking up €350 in the CRO token, you are eligible for a Ruby visa debit card. This prepaid card is just one of the cards offered by Crypto.com. It provides you with an instant 2% cashback on most of your expenses and a 100% cashback on Spotify. To illustrate this, my dad always uses his Ruby prepaid card when grocery shopping at Albert Heijn and has made over €100 by doing so. Meanwhile, the value of his CRO stake has only increased, and he receives monthly payments from the people that he shares a Spotify Family account with.

Assuming you spend €500/month and you also use your card to pay for Spotify, this results in €21 of monthly cashbacks. The metal card offers additional benefits such as perfect exchange rates when paying abroad, free ATM withdrawals, etc. Because of its simple app design, the crypto.com app is perfect to buy your first (stablecoin) cryptos, to potentially send these to your Celsius wallet, and to apply for a cashback prepaid card. Not surprisingly, Crypto.com is showing amazing growth, reaching 10 million users in February 2021. Use my referral code tx8sfdy8zr when signing up on the app and get an additional $25 as a welcome gift.

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Disclaimer | Investing involves risk of loss. I am not a financial advisor.

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