Passive Income Ideas

[james.hendrickson]

All - sharing a passive income win.

I picked up about 5,000 worth of the vanguards total bond market index and picked up a nice payment this month. It was just $15, but its better than nothing. Plus, I get the added safety and portfolio diversification of holding bonds.

[disneysteve]

All - sharing a passive income win.

I picked up about 5,000 worth of the vanguards total bond market index and picked up a nice payment this month. It was just $15, but it’s better than nothing. Plus, I get the added safety and portfolio diversification of holding bonds.

VBTLX has a YTD return of -3.20%. You would have been better off leaving that 5K in your settlement fund earning 5.27%. Even better, you could have put that 5K toward the CC debt you mentioned in another thread.

FTR I also own VBTLX but it’s been a lousy investment lately. I sold off about 26K worth last week in fact. I’ll probably unload more soon.

[srblanco7]

VBTLX has a YTD return of -3.20%. You would have been better off leaving that 5K in your settlement fund earning 5.27%. Even better, you could have put that 5K toward the CC debt you mentioned in another thread.

FTR I also own VBTLX but it’s been a lousy investment lately. I sold off about 26K worth last week in fact. I’ll probably unload more soon.

Agreed that it's been a lousy investment of late. Could you view buying it now as a contrarian play as I'd expect its NAV to increase as the Fed starts cutting rates?

[disneysteve]

Agreed that it's been a lousy investment of late. Could you view buying it now as a contrarian play as I'd expect its NAV to increase as the Fed starts cutting rates?

I think buying individual bonds (and CDs) is a much better way to go. Lock in a rate you’re happy with and hold til maturity. Rinse and repeat.

[srblanco7]

I think buying individual bonds (and CDs) is a much better way to go. Lock in a rate you’re happy with and hold til maturity. Rinse and repeat.

I’ve been doing similar with t-bills - buying at auction and holding to redemption - and am a fan. Don’t believe that’s an option for me (or for many folks) in their 401ks (noting as well that during accumulation phase, conventional advice would be to hold bonds in tax advantaged rather than brokerage accounts).

[disneysteve]

I’ve been doing similar with t-bills - buying at auction and holding to redemption - and am a fan. Don’t believe that’s an option for me (or for many folks) in their 401ks (noting as well that during accumulation phase, conventional advice would be to hold bonds in tax advantaged rather than brokerage accounts).

That's true regarding 401k plans. I don't think they typically have a brokerage option to buy your own securities. In that case, a bond index fund is your best bet if you feel you need fixed income in there. Personally, my 401k is 100% invested in a 60/40 balanced fund.

[james.hendrickson]

All,

Just throwing in some commentary here - totally unrelated to the last ten or so posts.

I've been selling my spare bandwidth and personal data online. Its been working, all be it at a low level.

for those who haven't been following my other threads, here is what's working for me in the last year and a half:

Datacy = sells your browsing data. Pays about $30 every three months.

Earnapp = sells your browsing data, pays about $2.49 per month

Honeygain = sells your spare internet bandwidth, $20 every 4 months.

Nielsen Mobile Panel = This is the digital version of the Nielsen TV panel. It pays about $5 per month

So, all of these have low dollar payouts, but they do work and they're mostly passive if you want some extra money.

[james.hendrickson]

Forums community - just bumping this up. I'm still in SMBX and its performing just fine.

I checked my email this morning and saw a nice stream of modest payments. So far the default rate has been really low - only 2 or so of the 60 plus bonds I've choosen to invest in.

[QuarterMillionMan]

[james.hendrickson]

Guys

Just showing up with an update here - SMBX is still going strong for me. I've gradually reinvested and added additional funds as I have spare cash available.

I like the small business bonds because they're likely not highly correlated with stocks or corporate bonds, and they're a good chance to do some direct investing in local businesses you know.

Plus I find getting emails notifying me of bond payments quite satisfying.