Here it is.

So, as far back as when I was in high school, I new I needed freedom. I knew that strict scheduling would annoy me. Then when I started working, it confirmed everything. I thought back to my eighth grade reading class and how my teacher, Mr. Glionna told us about buying houses and renting them out. How that we should eventually own multiple investment properties and sell them or transfer ownership as needed. I didn't know it then, but he planted a seed in my head.

In high school, I read up on investment properties and basics of how to be a landlord. I knew that I wanted to own these properties. I loved how it gave me the idea that I could eventually "work" for myself. I went through college and found out more about passive income. I read Robert Kiyosaki's "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" (a book that eventually left me frustrated, but that's another story). One of my professors and eventual martial arts mentor further solidified my desire to own investment property and create other forms of passive income. But like every other American out there, I racked up debt and graduated from college in the red. I grabbed an entry level job and joined the 40-hour a week workforce. My dreams of owning property would have to wait.

Then when I was 23, I took a job for a residential management property. One good thing I did pick out of Kiyosaki's book was that I "should work to learn." And I took the job to gain experience in how to manage rental properties. I figured that when I was financially able to own properties I would have the know-how for it. I was right. I learned a tremendous amount of information and real estate laws during my 2.5 years, the last two as an assistant property manager. I eventually burnt out from the high demands of luxury apartment tenants. While there I learned a bit about asset management (one step above property management). I tried finding jobs relating to asset management, but they passed over me due to my lack of "analyst" experience. And now here I am, an accountant. Working to learn.

As I learned my duties and responsibilities of my new job, the 40-hour work week was beginning to bug me as it has for all my jobs. Compared to my managerial job before, this job required less thought and decision-making. I liked the freedom, but it wasn't enough. I wanted to be free to manage my schedule. I wanted to be free to make my own money. My buried desires of living on passive & portfolio income came back. I re-evaluated my goals and decided I need to dust out my road map and get back on course. And it has led me here.

This is a blog about my attempt to create a decent cash flow from passive and portfolio income (I will refer to both as passive income for convenience). If successful, I would switch to a more enjoyable job and enjoy some freedom. After the accumulation of years of on-and-off research, I understand that this is not an overnight feat. I understand that this may take years to achieve, but if I can even create $1,000/month of passive income, then I know there can be more.

I've been pretty disappointed by the information that's out there for passive income (a lot of scams and pay for info sorts or just people saying they have it and it works, but no details of how they did it), so that's another reason for this blog. Here is where I am at from my previous dabbling in passive income:

Passive income:
epinions.com: I've been pretty inactive now, but you write reviews and get a share of the click traffic. I'm currently at below $1/month. Please see my profile for my reviews: http://www0.epinions.com/user-truparad0x

cafepress.com: I've started an account there but never created enough work to place on the products for sale. It seems like a great place to sell your work on t-shirts, mugs, and stickers

Portfolio income:
sharebuilder.com: An investment site where you can also participate in dollar-cost averaging investing. It was great for me when I was in high school because I didn't have the capital or know-how to invest in the market. I still have it and ING recently bought it out, so "real-time" trades are cheaper now too. I haven't added to it much, and the market is crappy anyway. But even back then I knew to look for stocks that yielded dividends. I think I'm at $1 - $2/quarter.

ingdirect.com: Online banking. I started my savings account there fairly early. I saw rates go as high as 4.75%, but it's lower now due to the economy. Still beats any other brick-and-mortar banks. I'm getting $7.50/month.

prosper.com: Peer-to-peer borrowing and lending. You bid on loans and get a rate on the principal. Or you can be on the other side posting loans to be funded. I'm a lender with $100.00 in to test the waters. The site lists my average rate at 18.48%, but they do charge an origination fee and service fees, so I need to do more calculations to figure out the exact cash flow and rate of return. Based on the current payments I receive and the amount of time that's elapsed, a crude figure for interest earned would be $1/month. I just recently transfered another $50.00 to see if I can bid on another loan. As a note, though, borrowers can default on loans and you may lose the money you put in.

These all total to about $118/year. Nothing to really quit the ol' nine-to-fiver for. But I like to focus a bit more on my passive income and see what I can do. My long-term goal is still to own at least one investment property. I also desire to have a small business (I know, not passive income), but do not know what it would be yet. If anybody has any other ideas that work for them, let me know and I will consider doing it as well.