‘4-Hour Workweek’ Author Tim Ferriss’ 3 Top Passive Income Ideas

Tim Ferriss

Tim Ferriss became a New York Times bestseller based on the idea that you can work actively for just four hours a week and earn enough to live comfortably through mostly passive income. And Ferriss is someone who practices what he preaches.

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Here are the three passive income streams Ferriss has used to build his own wealth.

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Start Your Own Business — Then, Outsource the Work

When Ferriss started his own supplement company, BrainQUICKEN, it was not a source of passive income.

“I was running on caffeine, working 15-hour days, and constantly on the verge of meltdown,” he wrote on LinkedIn.

Ferriss eventually realized he could keep scaling up his business while scaling way back on the active work he did. He began checking emails just once per week, and outsourced the majority of his tasks to virtual assistants overseas.

This new way of mostly passive working — the principles behind his book “The 4-Hour Workweek” — allowed him to go from making $40,000 per year and working 80 hours per week to earning $40,000 per month and working four hours per week.

Invest In Other Companies

Ferriss increased his wealth through his investments. He was an early-stage investor in Uber, Facebook, X, Alibaba, Shopify, Duolingo and others. While this can be a lucrative source of passive income, Ferriss said it’s essential to put in the work upfront to ensure your investments are likely to pay off.

“If you want to play in early-stage tech investing (or anything high-risk, high-reward), ensure you have a plan for developing an ENORMOUS informational advantage,” he wrote on X. “Aim to develop new skills and relationships through portfolio companies so that you can win over time, even if you ‘fail’ with many bets going to zero. Only bet what you are comfortable losing and what you can recoup in other ways. Though my angel investing snowballed, I began with $10K checks and advising for sweat equity.”

Create a Book, Course or Other Form of Intellectual Property

While it can take a lot of work upfront to write a book or create an online course, once it’s out in the world, you can continue to reap the financial benefits of its sales.

Ferriss has written a number of books, which all add to his cash flow. In addition to “The 4-Hour Workweek,” which has sold 2.1 million copies, Ferriss is the author of “The 4-Hour Body,” “The 4-Hour Chef,” “Tools of Titans” and “Tribe of Mentors.”

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