I am not looking for stock advice or anything like that. I am just curious who here does it or knows someone that does, and how well it performs.

Everything I read online says investing is one of the easiest avenues to passive income assuming you have the money to invest and you know what you are doing.

I considered cypto but that is more of a risk IMO.

Unless you have money that you don't need, don't bother with crypto.

As for stocks, there are so many ways to invest now it would take ages for me to even try to explain it. This is why people tend to just do 401k's. You don't have to think about it or learn anything with stock markets.

On 8/24/2026 at 9:06 AM, TJW1984 said:

Unless you have money that you don't need, don't bother with crypto.

I wouldn't say this is 100% true. While yes, investing money you need isn't a good idea, investing money you'd otherwise be spending on stuff they can wait on is another story. If you focus on the big 5, the safer more established cryptos, you can make good profits. A friend of mine invested $8k and ended up withdrawing at $22k. So he made a $14k profit. I think this was over the course of 16 or so months.

I am trying to get into stocks and trading. It is a lot to learn so I do it mostly on the weekends. There are tons of options there days, I am currently looking into AI automated investing that allows the AI to do all the work for you. You just set up a wallet, put some money in it, and watch over it as the AI makes the best trades for you.

This is probably the best avenue for passive income as anyone can do it and you can invest at any level. The trouble with this though is it not a guarantee. So where you may not earn from other passive income sources, you aren't losing anything either. With stocks, you can lose.

23 hours ago, GZip29 said:

The trouble with this though is it not a guarantee.

Yup. Stocks, even safer ones, are still a gamble. Even if you invest wisely, you can see your profits go up and down. Plus, you tend to invest and not touch it so it isn't truly passive income in the sense that it is for later not right now.

On 8/24/2026 at 9:06 AM, TJW1984 said:

Unless you have money that you don't need, don't bother with crypto.

You can say the same for stocks. I know some people that got wealthy from crypto. One really recently. Some coin went live and up nearly 4000% in just a day. He managed to make over 2 million on it. His previous high was something like $700k. But this is like a full time thing for him and I am in no way saying this is easy for everyone.

Just saying if you know what you are doing, you can make money doing it.

If you can really invest time into learning stocks, it is worth it. I just don't have the time at the moment. My brother is a day trader and he has made a living off it. He quit his job in 2017 and makes 3 times the money now almost 10 years later. It is a lot of stress though. I can tell you his hair is like 50% gray now and he is only 3 years older than me haha

On 9/1/2026 at 10:54 AM, xJamesQ said:

You can say the same for stocks. I know some people that got wealthy from crypto. One really recently. Some coin went live and up nearly 4000% in just a day. He managed to make over 2 million on it. His previous high was something like $700k. But this is like a full time thing for him and I am in no way saying this is easy for everyone.

Just saying if you know what you are doing, you can make money doing it.

Even when you know what you are doing, it is still gambling. I have heard of people making a lot of money too but for most people, they lose and they lose a lot!

I only do the standard stock investments for retirement. My husband does this as well, has a 401K through his company. I am not informed enough to be trading on my own! haha

On 9/12/2026 at 12:03 PM, amberb94 said:

I only do the standard stock investments for retirement. My husband does this as well, has a 401K through his company. I am not informed enough to be trading on my own! haha

This is how most people approach it and it is the safest form of stock investing. Unless you have the money to hire someone to manage stocks and trades for you personally, this is the second best option. Most people do not have the time or know-how to do proper investments.

On 9/11/2026 at 9:48 AM, TJW1984 said:

Even when you know what you are doing, it is still gambling. I have heard of people making a lot of money too but for most people, they lose and they lose a lot!

It depends on what your approach is. People out there trade as a living. They invest where they get a steady stream of income each month and then they mess around with other stocks. I get what you are saying but when you know what you are doing, the risk isn't nearly as high.

I would never attempt to have stocks be a passive income UNLESS I won the lottery or something. Like if I won 2 million, I would pay odd debts and put the rest in stocks. I wouldn't put money I need or earn into stocks outside of my 401K.

Stocks is more of a passive investment than a passive income.

Unless you are a day trader or someone that makes a living from stocks, you aren't going to be pulling out money to spend. You are going to let it sit in there and build wealth over time.

On 9/18/2026 at 9:36 AM, xJamesQ said:

It depends on what your approach is. People out there trade as a living. They invest where they get a steady stream of income each month and then they mess around with other stocks. I get what you are saying but when you know what you are doing, the risk isn't nearly as high.

I would say the risk is higher. Not to butt heads on the topic, I don't want to get into an argument or anything... But if you trade for a living, your odds of making a riskier call go up.