Everyone has their next portfolio size goal. But do you have a passive income goal for 2026?

How much do you bring in each month for work you didn’t do? Put another way, how much money is your money making for you?

Today, we want to walk you through the top opportunities for making passive income that we see in 2026.

Because we want to make the kinds of decisions in January that can make us smile by NEXT Christmas.

Let’s get started.

Not financial advice. Always do your own research, and past performance doesn’t guarantee future results.

In partnership with Vintage Funds

They remain one of the key affordable-housing sources nationally, have limited supply and high tenant retention (10-12Y). Investors can see tremendous upside with professionally-managed MHP portfolios such as Vintage Capital’s, which targets a 15-17% IRR and makes monthly distributions. Invest directly in individual deals or via a 10+ property fund. 1031s also available.

Visit the deal room now to get started.

Please support our partners!

Whether you’re looking to make $100/month or $10,000/month, you’ll be able to find options within these income streams to accomplish that goal.

This is the classic passive income play. You just buy quality companies that pay consistent dividends, reinvest those dividends (or take them as cash), and watch the income compound over time.

The appeal here is that blue-chip dividend stocks offer low volatility, reliable payments, and they also hold potential for dividend growth over time. Companies like Coca-Cola (KO), Walmart (WMT), and NextEra Energy (NEE) have raised dividends for 30+ consecutive years.

What you need: To generate $1,000/month ($12,000 annually), you'll need roughly $240,000-400,000 invested depending on yield (3-5% average).

The reality is that this takes significant capital and time to build. But it's one of the most proven wealth-building strategies in existence.

Read our full guide to building a $1,000/month dividend portfolio →

Real estate has always been a path to passive income, but you don't need $500,000 and a mortgage to get started anymore.

Options available:

The appeal: Real estate historically provides both income and appreciation. Farmland specifically has returned 11% annually since 1990 with lower volatility than stocks.

Each of these approaches has different risk profiles, liquidity constraints, and capital requirements. Physical property is the most work. REITs are the most liquid. Crowdfunding quality is hit-or-miss.

Read our full guide to real estate investing options →

Private credit has exploded to $1.7 trillion as an asset class. Retail investors can now access these returns through Business Development Companies (BDCs) and private credit platforms.

Here, you're essentially lending money to businesses that can't or won't use traditional bank financing. In return, you earn interest payments.

The appeal: Higher yields than bonds (often 7-12%) with less volatility than stocks. BDCs trade publicly and pay regular dividends.

You just need to remember that credit risk is real. If borrowers default, you lose money. Economic downturns hit private credit hard. This is higher risk than dividend stocks or Treasuries.

Read our guide to alternative investments including private credit →

If you want higher income than dividend stocks without picking individual positions, covered call ETFs might interest you.

Here’s how they work: These funds (like JEPI, QYLD, XYLD) own stocks and sell call options against them, generating up to 12-20% yields paid monthly.

Obviously, the appeal here is that you get higher cash flow than traditional dividend stocks, monthly payments, and professional management.

But the risk is that you're capping your upside; in bull markets, you massively underperform with covered call ETFs. QYLD has trailed QQQ by huge margins over the past decade despite the high yield. The income is also taxed as ordinary income, not qualified dividends.

The verdict: Great for retirees who need income now and don't care about growth OR as a small section of your portfolio to get consistent income. Bad for wealth building, though. You're explicitly trading long-term gains for current cash flow.

We know. T-bills are boring. They're the investment equivalent of oatmeal.

But we can't deny they work.

What happens is you lend money to the US government for short periods (4 weeks to 52 weeks) and earn interest. Currently yielding around 4-5%.

The great thing is that there’s virtually zero default risk. Liquid. Easy to set up through TreasuryDirect or your brokerage. No state income tax on the interest.

But the reality here is that this is cash parking, not wealth building. Inflation eats your real returns. Opportunity cost is real when stocks are up 20%. If rates fall in 2026 (likely), your yields drop when you reinvest.

The verdict: T-bills are fine for emergency funds or short-term cash you can't afford to lose. After all, you’d rather make 4% than 2% in your savings account, right? But Treasury bonds are lame for building actual wealth. If your portfolio needs some “lame and safe,” that’s totally fine.

Passive income isn't magic. It requires either significant upfront capital (dividend stocks, real estate) or accepting trade-offs (covered calls cap gains, T-bills barely beat inflation, private credit carries default risk).

But man, does it feel good when that income hits your bank account!

Shrewd investors might go for a mix: dividend stocks for growth and income, some real estate exposure for diversification, maybe covered call ETFs for extra cash flow if you're nearing retirement, and T-bills for the cash you actually need to stay safe.

There's no perfect strategy here. But there are some proven ones that work if you're realistic about the capital required and the time horizon involved.

Interested in sponsoring our newsletter and putting your brand in front of 100K+ readers?

Reach out to us here, we’d love to talk:

That’s all for today’s special edition. We hope you got value from it. Reply and let us know if you did. 

Until next week,

— Brandon & Blake