Want Free Money? Look No Further Than These Passive Income Streams

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There’s no dream as universal as winning it big in the lottery — the appeal of free money is a draw like a moth to a porch light on a summer night. But your odds of winning the lottery are astronomically small. Maybe we need to set our sights a bit lower and aim for some free money you can actually get started earning today, with what you already have, and with no element of chance involved whatsoever.Alert: highest cash back card we’ve seen now has 0% intro APR into 2026
This credit card is not just good – it’s so exceptional that our experts use it personally. It features a 0% intro APR for 15 months, a cash back rate of up to 5%, and all somehow for no annual fee!
Click here to read our full review for free and apply in just 2 minutes. If you’re looking for better ways to make passive income, I hope you’ll consider my favorites: certificates of deposit (CDs), index funds, and Treasury bonds. All of these investments are safe, they’re reliable, and most importantly, they don’t require that you do much at all, so they’re perfectly passive income streams for people who just want to make money without a lot of effort.Certificates of depositCertificates of deposit are a great way to earn money with your money while doing literally nothing. All you have to do is decide how much time you have, and choose a CD that matches your needs. They usually don’t have fees, and you can buy them through almost any bank, making them easy and accessible savings vehicles.There is one thing to be cautious about with CDs, though. If you withdraw your money early, you may face stiff penalties, depending on the length of the CD and how early your withdrawal is. For some longer CDs, an early withdrawal can mean months or even a year of forfeited interest, so be sure to read the fine print.We’re really into CDs here, so much so that we keep a curated list of some of the best CDs we’ve found. You can take a look at our top choices by clicking here.Index fundsThinking about investing, but not sure where to begin? I’ll tell you exactly where to start — index funds. Index funds are baskets of stocks designed to follow specific indexes, like the S&P 500, Dow Jones, or even NASDAQ, the stock exchange most favored by young tech startups.You buy these funds just like buying stocks, using a brokerage account and by choosing the ticker of the index you prefer. For example, if you want a solid S&P 500 index fund, you might choose Vanguard’s S&P 500 ETF that goes by VOO on the New York Stock Exchange. Over the last five years, it’s grown almost 93%.Another great choice is Invesco’s QQQ Trust, QQQ on the NASDAQ. This is an index fund that follows the NASDAQ-100 Index. It’s grown 155% over the last five years, though it is likely to be a bit more volatile than VOO simply because the NASDAQ has more tech startups which can be subject to more price swings and volatility.If you don’t already have a brokerage that you like, why not take a look at this list of our favorite brokerage accounts? Most of the brokerages listed have no fees and allow you to buy fractional shares, so you can simply invest a set number of dollars.Treasury bondsTreasury bills, notes, and bonds are great investments for someone looking to stash their money in an interest-bearing vehicle for a little or a long time. All three of these vehicles are essentially the same, the only difference being the length of time for which you lock in and the interest rate you earn.When you buy a Treasury security, you’re making a loan to the U.S. government, so you can feel pretty secure in your investment. After all, if the U.S. government fails, you’ve got way bigger problems than whether or not your T-bills are going to pay their interest out on time.Treasury bills range in length from four months to a year; Treasury notes from two to 10 years; and Treasury bonds from 20 to 30 years. The rates for these investments are set at auction, and have a fixed interest rate. Right now, for example, 10-year Treasury notes are paying 3.875% and 30-year Treasury bonds are paying 4.250%.The other things you need to know about Treasuries are that they sell at less than face value and mature to their full price (for example, a $100 Treasury note might be sold to you for $95), and that you can resell your bills, notes, or bonds on the secondary market. It’s often better to just hold your investment until maturity, but sometimes you can come out ahead if your older bills, notes, or bonds are paying more than the current rates for new investments of the same type.Make your money make moneyIf you want to build passive income that lets you go about your day, CDs, index funds, and Treasury bonds are great solutions that require you do very little for the money you earn.They might not reward you with a lottery-winning-sized jackpot, but any money you can earn passively is good money.Alert: highest cash back card we’ve seen now has 0% intro APR into 2026
This credit card is not just good – it’s so exceptional that our experts use it personally. It features a 0% intro APR for 15 months, a cash back rate of up to 5%, and all somehow for no annual fee!
Click here to read our full review for free and apply in just 2 minutes. We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
Motley Fool Money does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from Motley Fool Money is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.Kristi Waterworth has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.”}]] [[{“value”:”

There’s no dream as universal as winning it big in the lottery — the appeal of free money is a draw like a moth to a porch light on a summer night. But your odds of winning the lottery are astronomically small. Maybe we need to set our sights a bit lower and aim for some free money you can actually get started earning today, with what you already have, and with no element of chance involved whatsoever.

Alert: highest cash back card we’ve seen now has 0% intro APR into 2026

This credit card is not just good – it’s so exceptional that our experts use it personally. It features a 0% intro APR for 15 months, a cash back rate of up to 5%, and all somehow for no annual fee!

Click here to read our full review for free and apply in just 2 minutes.

If you’re looking for better ways to make passive income, I hope you’ll consider my favorites: certificates of deposit (CDs), index funds, and Treasury bonds. All of these investments are safe, they’re reliable, and most importantly, they don’t require that you do much at all, so they’re perfectly passive income streams for people who just want to make money without a lot of effort.

Certificates of deposit

Certificates of deposit are a great way to earn money with your money while doing literally nothing. All you have to do is decide how much time you have, and choose a CD that matches your needs. They usually don’t have fees, and you can buy them through almost any bank, making them easy and accessible savings vehicles.

There is one thing to be cautious about with CDs, though. If you withdraw your money early, you may face stiff penalties, depending on the length of the CD and how early your withdrawal is. For some longer CDs, an early withdrawal can mean months or even a year of forfeited interest, so be sure to read the fine print.

We’re really into CDs here, so much so that we keep a curated list of some of the best CDs we’ve found. You can take a look at our top choices by clicking here.

Index funds

Thinking about investing, but not sure where to begin? I’ll tell you exactly where to start — index funds. Index funds are baskets of stocks designed to follow specific indexes, like the S&P 500, Dow Jones, or even NASDAQ, the stock exchange most favored by young tech startups.

You buy these funds just like buying stocks, using a brokerage account and by choosing the ticker of the index you prefer. For example, if you want a solid S&P 500 index fund, you might choose Vanguard’s S&P 500 ETF that goes by VOO on the New York Stock Exchange. Over the last five years, it’s grown almost 93%.

Another great choice is Invesco’s QQQ Trust, QQQ on the NASDAQ. This is an index fund that follows the NASDAQ-100 Index. It’s grown 155% over the last five years, though it is likely to be a bit more volatile than VOO simply because the NASDAQ has more tech startups which can be subject to more price swings and volatility.

If you don’t already have a brokerage that you like, why not take a look at this list of our favorite brokerage accounts? Most of the brokerages listed have no fees and allow you to buy fractional shares, so you can simply invest a set number of dollars.

Treasury bonds

Treasury bills, notes, and bonds are great investments for someone looking to stash their money in an interest-bearing vehicle for a little or a long time. All three of these vehicles are essentially the same, the only difference being the length of time for which you lock in and the interest rate you earn.

When you buy a Treasury security, you’re making a loan to the U.S. government, so you can feel pretty secure in your investment. After all, if the U.S. government fails, you’ve got way bigger problems than whether or not your T-bills are going to pay their interest out on time.

Treasury bills range in length from four months to a year; Treasury notes from two to 10 years; and Treasury bonds from 20 to 30 years. The rates for these investments are set at auction, and have a fixed interest rate. Right now, for example, 10-year Treasury notes are paying 3.875% and 30-year Treasury bonds are paying 4.250%.

The other things you need to know about Treasuries are that they sell at less than face value and mature to their full price (for example, a $100 Treasury note might be sold to you for $95), and that you can resell your bills, notes, or bonds on the secondary market. It’s often better to just hold your investment until maturity, but sometimes you can come out ahead if your older bills, notes, or bonds are paying more than the current rates for new investments of the same type.

Make your money make money

If you want to build passive income that lets you go about your day, CDs, index funds, and Treasury bonds are great solutions that require you do very little for the money you earn.

They might not reward you with a lottery-winning-sized jackpot, but any money you can earn passively is good money.

Alert: highest cash back card we’ve seen now has 0% intro APR into 2026

This credit card is not just good – it’s so exceptional that our experts use it personally. It features a 0% intro APR for 15 months, a cash back rate of up to 5%, and all somehow for no annual fee!

Click here to read our full review for free and apply in just 2 minutes.

We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
Motley Fool Money does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from Motley Fool Money is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.Kristi Waterworth has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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