Do you have any goals? How do you set your goals? Any important part of being successful in life is to set goals. Without them, you may find yourself wandering back and forth between a project or task with no clear direction.

Goals can come in all different forms and not all of them are positive. Just because you create a list of objectives you want to achieve, does not mean that they will help you get to where you want to be. For example if you want to lose weight, saying “I want to be skinnier” does not really give you any guidance into obtaining that goal.

So how can we set goals that will actually help us? Establishing SMART Goals is one strategy that can help you design a set of guidelines that give clear direction. If you are interested in learning more about smart goal setting, I urge you to keep reading. There are 5 key attributes that make up a SMART goal that are defined below.

SMART Goal Setting

Specific – Any goal that you set should be a clear statement that describes what you plan to accomplish and defines an outcome. The goal should also state why this is important to you and how you plan to achieve it. Setting vague and unclear goals will not give you clear direction and will make it hard for you to meet your objectives.

Tip - Try answering Why?, What?, and How? in order to have a Specific goal. It is important to use action words in your smart goal setting such as – “Lead a project …”, “Manage a group of employees …”, “Create new revenue streams …”, etc.

Measurable – A successful goal needs to be quantified or “measured” in order to let you know if you have succeeded. If a goal can’t be measured, then how will you know if you have met it? Be sure to establish criteria that can be used to achieve a desired result.

Tip - Measurable goals should include attributes like quantity, quality, and cost. It may also benefit you to break down your goals into smaller shorter term measurements or milestones. This will help to keep you focused and on track.

Attainable – Is your goal achievable in the amount of time that you define? Setting a goal that is too far out of your reach because of lack of resources and time will probably not be attainable. It is very important not to over commit yourself if you know a goal will be hard to reach. If you continually set goals that you cannot attain, it may do yourself more harm than good. Having a sense of accomplishment from meeting a goal is a huge motivator.

Tip - Try taking a larger goal and breaking it down into smaller parts that may be more attainable. For example, instead of saying – “I plan to lose 50 lbs. by the end of next year”, try saying “I plan to lose 5 lbs. this month”. Once you have hit that achievable goal, set another one that is attainable.

Relevant – Creating goals that are not realistic or relevant to you are worthless. This doesn’t mean that you can’t think big and set a goal to reach your dreams. As long as you “believe” you can achieve something, then it is a realistic goal. It is only when you don’t believe in yourself that the goal becomes unrealistic.

Tip - Decide if you have the time, money, skills, and resources available to achieve your goal. If you don’t, then think about how you can get these resources to make your goal more realistic and achievable.

Timely – Every SMART goal should include a reference to time. Without this attribute, you may not meet your goal as you have not defined when it needs to be accomplished by. Having a set deadline to your goal will make it clear and give you a target to work from. Having no deadline to a goal will allow you to continuously put it off so that it may never be met.

Tip - Try answering When? you plan to reach your goal by in order for it to be Time Bound. For example, a time frame for a goal could look like – “… in 1 year…”, “… by the end of the third quarter…”, “… before the age of 40…”.

Setting SMART Passive Income Goals

Smart goal setting is often used by businesses to help their employees meet objectives. These objectives not only help the employee with their professional development and career building, but SMART goals can also align with a companies overall objectives and strategies.

SMART goals can also be used by those who run their own business. This can include individuals who create passive income streams. If you can set realistic and attainable goals centered around your passive income building, then you will have a plan and guide to work from which will lead to success.

Be sure to check back for a list of my passive income SMART Goals I will be publishing very soon!

Do you set SMART Goals for your at home business? What about your passive income streams?

The month of October has come to an end and things are looking very bright for eHow. I have logged my 14th month as an eHow writer and continue to be inspired by the potential of this passive income tool. If you live in the United States and are interested in starting an alternative income stream, I strongly suggest you check it out.

During the past month, I hit an important milestone in my short eHow career. I officially passed $1,000 in total earnings which is a wonderful feeling! The great thing about this is that I only spent a few hours in October working on this income stream as I pushed passed this mark.

eHow Dollars per Hour Earnings

I enjoy tracking my eHow dollars per hour earnings each month to show the power of passive income. While this number varies from month to month depending on the number of articles I publish, it is still a great motivator.

I wrote 4 new articles in October, which took me about 2 hours to complete (30 minutes per article). Based on my October earnings (see below), I earned $126.92 per hour for the time I spent during the month. For every hour that I spend now building this passive income stream, the more dollars per hour I will earn in the future.

I have been asked many times – how can I write eHow articles in just 30 minutes. I always tell people it just seems to come with experience. Some of the first articles I ever wrote took me over an hour to complete. There are also a few tools that I try and leverage in order to increase my efficiency. One of these tools is the Micro Niche Finder. This tool has really helped me to quickly narrow down topic and keyword ideas and is well worth the investment!

October Updates

As I begin focusing on building other passive income streams, the amount of time dedicated to writing for eHow has dropped. I was still able to sweak out 4 new articles during the month and saw a 13.4% increase in earnings compared to September. Seeing my earnings growing by double digits while only writing a few articles is a wonderful feeling. This is what passive income is all about!

Here is the breakdown of my eHow earnings from the past 14 months -

• October (2009)
  • Earnings – $253.84
  • Articles Published – 4
• September (2009)
  • Earnings – $223.79
  • Articles Published – 12
• Year #1
  • Earnings – $656.48
  • Articles Published – 224

GRAND TOTAL (14 Months)

• Earnings – $1,134.11
• Articles Published – 240
• Articles Deleted from eHow – 10

Are you looking for a free way to start increasing your income? If so, eHow is one option that allows you to accomplish this goal. There are people just like you earning over a $1,000 each month on a recurring basis just by writing “How To” articles. If you are new to eHow, one place to start is by checking out a great resource called – How to Earn Passive Income on eHow.com: Maximize Your Online Earnings. I purchased this resource several months ago and have made my money back within the first month using the guidelines laid out.

100 Article eHow Challenge – October Results

Back in August I conducted the 100 Article eHow Challenge, where I had a goal to accelerate my earnings to the next level. I didn’t end up finishing 100 articles, but published a respectable 72 instead. To show how successful this challenge has been and what it has meant to my eHow earnings, I have decided to track the results each month.

Here are my earnings from the 100 Article eHow Challenge -

• August – $119.48
• September – $113.95
• October – $75.47

Total Earnings – $308.90

As you can tell, my earnings from these articles are trending downward. Once these articles get a bit older I fully expect to see the earnings shoot back up very soon.

How are your eHow earnings coming along? Are you seeing increased earnings each month?

My 5-year old son just completed his first season of flag football. Over the 12 game season he learned a lot about the sport and about socializing with kids his own age. Believe it or not, I actually learned a lot as well from watching he and his teammates play.

As an avid football fan, I didn’t learn anything new about the rules of the game. Instead, I learned several lessons that can actually be translated into starting a home business. Sounds a little strange I know, but you would be amazed at what 5, 6, and 7 year old boys can teach you.

Here are 5 lessons I learned from watching my son play flag football that can be used to start a home based business.

1. Always Play by the Rules

It is hard to believe (at least for me) but there were some kids on my son’s flag football team who didn’t always play by the rules. In some cases, it was kids just making mistakes and holding onto the shirts of their opponents. In other cases, it was kids tackling the opposing ball carrier instead of pulling their flag. In any case, each time a player did not play by the rules, the entire team was penalized.

A home based business is no different. In order to establish credibility with your customers and suppliers, you need to play by the rules. Operating a business that is not ethical can lead to fines and possible criminal charges. Even if you are not breaking the law, you should still follow best business practices in your operation.

2. Teamwork is Critical to Your Success

As the old saying goes – “there is no I in team”. Football is a team sport and requires 11 players (or 9 in the case of our flag football team) in order to function properly. While there may be individual players who stand out more than others, they still must rely on their teammates to win.

Operating a home based business is no different. Teamwork is absolutely necessary in order to survive. Even if you are running the business by yourself and have no employees, you still need to rely on others to succeed. Networking with others, hiring virtual assistants, getting support from your friends and family are all important. Believe it or not these people are also part of your team and you need their help to succeed.

3. Have Fun and Enjoy What you Do

As I sat through the 12 game flag football season, I noticed one thing each time. Every kid on both sides of the ball were having fun. The smiles and laughter were a pleasure to see. Parents, coaches, and players were there to have fun and enjoy playing and watching a football game.

If you decide to start a home business in something you have no interest in, there is a good chance it will fail. Even if the money to big to pass up, more than likely at some point you will fail with your business. In order to build a solid and long lasting business, you need to have fun and enjoy what you are doing!

4. Building a Solid Playbook is Crucial

The game of football requires a solid playbook in order to successfully operate an offense. Having no playbook or plan that the team can follow will give the opposition the advantage. Can you imagine how ugly it would be to have the offense of your favorite football team not have any preset playbook?

Running a home based business is no different than a football team. You need to have a playbook or master plan. In most businesses it is required to have a business plan in order to seek loans and other financial backing. Even if your business does not require a formal business plan, having a guide or plan is critical to your success.

5. Don’t be Afraid to Learn New Things

My son was very hesitant to play flag football this year. None of his friends were playing and it was a sport that he knew nothing about. After a little coaxing, he decided that he would give it a try and ended up loving it. Even though he was afraid to play at first, he ended up really enjoying it and made a lot of new friends along the way.

In order to start a home business, you need to be willing to try new things. Having the ability to change and adapt is critical to your success. For example, ignoring the latest technological advances can give your competition the upper hand and leave your business in the dust. Businesses that are willing to learn new things and adapt are much likelier to be around in 10 years as opposed to one that does not.

It is amazing how many life lessons you can learn just from watching an every day event. What other daily events do you follow to learn things about starting a business?

Would you pay someone to have them promote your company through their Twitter account? What about getting paid to tweet about products or services from advertisers through your account? There are plenty of services that offer these advertising opportunities today.

Sponsored Tweets is a new way to advertise your company using one of the fastest growing media outlets – Twitter. It is also a way for tweeters to earn income by tweeting advertisements out to their followers. I have been doing a lot of research lately on how Twitter can be used to build passive income. Getting paid for tweets seems like a potential opportunity to leverage the popularity of Twitter and one that I will be looking to capitalize on.

Is Sponsored Tweeting Legitimate?

As I investigate new opportunities to make money online, it is very easy to come across questionable practices that are not legitimate ways to make money. Let’s face it – there are a ton of scams out there just waiting to take your hard earned money.

So is Sponsored Tweets a legitimate money making opportunity? I believe it is for 2 reasons.

1. IZEA – IZEA is the parent company of Sponsored Tweets and is a legitimate operation. They also run SocialSpark (their social media marketing platform) as well as PayPerPost. I have used both of these services in the past and have been pleased with how they are run.

2. Pay Per Tweet Ethics – Sponsored Tweets requires 100% disclosure on any tweet that is sent through their service. Full disclosure has become very important to me, especially after the new FTC guidelines came out. Using the Disclosure Engine provided through this service helps tweeters easily add full disclosure to any tweet they may be receiving compensation for.

Building My Twitter Followers

I don’t know if getting paid to tweet will be a viable and sustainable passive income stream. What I do believe is that Twitter is around to stay and that I would be losing money if I did not try and take advantage of what it has to offer.

As a result, I plan to work to build my Twitter followers. There are a few things I have already done on this site like add the twit this button to the end of every post. I also have a few other updates that I plan to make as a way to attract more followers.

Outside of this site, I am working on several activities aimed at signing up more legitimate followers. As my followers grow, so will my opportunities to leverage Twitter as a passive income tool. I will be sure to keep everyone updated on my progress!

Since becoming an eHow writer, I have learned many tips and tricks that have helped me build a solid passive income stream. Many of these tips have come from eBooks, learning from other writers, and first hand knowledge of publishing content on the site. Leveraging these tips has allowed me to earn well over $100 each month in passive income!

Besides learning “How To” write for eHow, I have also learned what not to do as an eHow author. There are plenty of questionable or unethical activities that can get you into trouble as an eHow writer. If you are interested in learning what NOT to do when publishing content on eHow, be sure to check out my list of The 7 Deadly Sins of eHow listed below.

The 7 Deadly Sins of eHow

1. Lust – Articles of a sexual nature (see lust) can only be educational if posted on eHow. If your articles around this topic are not instructional, then keep them off of eHow. The same goes for any pictures used in your articles. Pictures used in articles should match the topic of the post and should not be offensive to others.
2. Gluttony – Having an excessive desire for money (a sign of gluttony), can become an issue when publishing articles on eHow. There is nothing wrong with using eHow to earn money. However, having the desire to earn money on eHow that overwhelms you can become a problem. For example, slamming keywords into an article so it becomes unreadable can hurt your credibility on eHow and get your content deleted very quickly.
3. Greed – Submitting cloned articles for your own greed is an easy way to get content deleted from eHow. Publishing several posts on the same topic using “cut and paste tactics” (as stated by eHow) will force eHow to remove these articles. While you may be tempted to reproduce multiple articles on your highest paying topics, it can saturate eHow with duplicated content which is not good for the overall site.
4. Sloth – Do you validate all the content in your articles is accurate? Maybe you take the lazy or “sloth“ way out and post inaccurate details? For credibility sake, you want to make sure that your content is as accurate as possible. Remember that there are readers out their looking for your help and will come across your articles. Make sure you are giving them quality content.
5. Wrath – Don’t use eHow as a platform to take out your anger. Writing offensive articles on eHow is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. If you feel that you need to express your feelings that may be termed “offensive”, then there are other places to take out your wrath. Just don’t use eHow as your medium!
6. Envy – Stealing others content and republishing it on eHow is unacceptable. Having envy towards another writer and stealing any part of a published article is unethical. This goes for stealing any eHow content as well as other published content in any form. It is simple – don’t plagiarize and steal from others for your own profit!
7. Pride – There is nothing wrong with having pride in your work and promoting your content. After all, if you are devoting your time and effort on building great articles that can benefit others, being prideful of your work will be a strong motivator. Unfortunately some writers take their self promotion a little too far by spamming their friends on eHow. Instead of always promoting your own stuff, why not recognize the work of other talented writers?

Making Money Online – The Ethical Way

There are plenty of other unethical tactics that can get you in trouble on eHow that are not listed above. If you need further clarification, be sure to check out the eHow Article Submission Guidelines that can help you determine what is accepted and what is not.

The 7 deadly sins listed above can apply to many other online money making opportunities, not just eHow. Do you run your own blog? Maybe you are writing an eBook? The number of possible money making opportunities from writing is endless. There are several different platforms, tools, and media that can be used to build profitable income streams as a writer.

The next time you are writing an article or the next chapter in your latest eBook, remember to use ethical practices. Keeping the list of 7 Deadly Sins in your mind will help remove any temptation you may have to do the wrong thing!

What other unethical practices have you seen on eHow or any other online site?

Have you heard the news? The Federal Trade Commission has finalized a guide to crack down on bloggers who do not properly disclose their affiliates. The rules and guidelines created are actually much more complicated (and confusing I may add) than that. If you are currently profiting from any online affiliates or advertisements, it may be a very good idea to check out the FTC Guidelines (not that it will make any sense) to protect yourself.

May I point out that the new guidelines are not just for bloggers, but for advertisements in many different media outlets. Since I use affiliate marketing and advertisements on several online sites, that is my main concern.

So how does this actually impact my online income streams? That is a very good question that I am not sure I can answer yet. In fact, I have been reading up on what others are saying and it seems there is plenty of confusion going around. It seems that some of the details and guides are a little vague. Here are a few articles from some well respected individuals on the matter.

• Pot Pie Girl writes – Who is the FTC After?
• ShoeMoney writes – What You Don’t Know About The New FTC Rules On Disclosure

After reading through all the materials I have found myself with more questions then when I started. Here are a few questions I have that could have an impact on me.

• Will I need to disclose affiliate links on my eHow articles?
• How does this impact affiliate marketing on Twitter? Since you can only post 140 characters, it seems difficult to add in a disclosure as well.
• Do I need to go back and disclose links already published on Ezine? What about HubPages and Squidoo?
• Is a generic disclosure statement enough, or do I need to be specific in how much money I get if you purchase something through my site?
• What about AdSense?

Maybe some of these questions are out of scope from the new FTC guidelines? If they are, how can I be sure? These and many questions I still have to answer.

Building Your Online Business the Right Way

In my opinion, regardless of the FTC guidelines, I believe it is good practice to disclose information whenever you can. Including disclosures and using best practices in the online world is just good business.

I know there are a lot of people out there making a ton of money online marketing questionable products (i.e. weight loss pills). I personally don’t have an issue if that is how others want to earn their income. It just isn’t for me. I believe in karma and doing the right thing, so profiting off of products that I would never use will never be included in any of my online income streams.

Additional Actions I Have Taken

As to my point earlier, I think the most important thing to keep in mind is to use best business practices whenever possible. There are a few things that I have actually updated on PFI to disclose certain information. I have added a Disclosure Policy page to my site where I point out that I do receive compensation for various articles and advertisements on this site.

I have also added some special coding that will display a “disclaimer” box in the footer of every post I publish. There is also a link included in the statement that references the sites disclosure page. You can check out the information in the footer of this post to see what I am referring to.

While the disclaimer statement and page are generic throughout the site, I think it is a best practice that I will begin adding to other online income streams.

How are you planning to disclose information on your site based on the new FTC guidelines?

Will passive income make you rich? That all depends on your definition of “rich”. My plans for building passive income will make me and my family rich one day. But it is not necessarily the kind of rich that is monetary. It is a different kind of rich that is more meaningful and rewarding than money.

Establishing recurring revenue streams as a result of passive income will no doubt increase our wealth. Even more important though is the side effects that generating this type of income will bring. Those “side effects” will make our lives simpler.

Time and freedom are the two side effects that I am referring to. Creating recurring income streams that can cover our monthly expenses allows my family to make changes from our current situation. It allows me to break free from my current job and find one that is much less demanding. It will also allow my wife more time to herself to explore more of her interests. Our children will also benefit as they will have their father around more than they currently do.

Please keep reading to see a few reasons why I am passionate about building passive income and the side effects it can bring!

10 Simple Reasons Why I am Building Passive Income

My reasons for building passive income are not to become a millionaire (although I wouldn’t turn it down) or have expensive toys. It is reaping the side effects that come along with the income – most notably time and freedom. Here are 10 random reasons and motivators as to why I am working so hard to create passive income.

1. Coach My Son’s T-Ball & Flag Football Teams
2. Get More Sleep (more than six hours that I get now)
3. Have Morning Coffee with My Wife Every Day
4. Take Weekend Trips with My Family to see New and Exciting Things
5. Learn how to Cook the Right Way and Prepare Healthy Meals for My Family
6. Drop My Kids off and Pick Them up From School
7. Have Lunch with My Oldest Son Once per Week at His School
8. Start a Weekly Date Night with My Wife
9. Begin a Training Program and Qualify to run in the Boston Marathon
10. Help my Children Learn to Read, Write, Add, and Subtract

This list may actually seem a little funny to some, but are very important to me. I do have the time to do some of these things today. However, I don’t have the freedom to do them all, nor do I have the freedom or choice to do them everyday.

Daily Life Changes

As you can tell from the list above, my reasons for building passive income are really very simple. I want to have the time and freedom to participate in these daily and weekly activities. As the sole income earner for our family, I don’t have these luxuries based on my current job. Passive income is my solution for changing this!

What motivates you to create passive income?

The ultimate strategy of anyone trying to make money online should be to own your content. Normally this means purchasing and maintaining a website or blog. While the cost of running a website for a year can cost as little as $50, it takes an initial investment to get started. This cost may not always fit into your personal budget.

There are some alternatives to making money online that actually don’t require a your own website and are usually FREE to start. If you are looking to start earning some extra income and don’t have a budget to build your own content, I suggest you keep reading for some no cost alternatives.

8 Ideas to Make Money Online With No Website

The following list of ideas are legitimate ways to make money online without having your own website. I have actually made money using each of these strategies (some better than others).

1. Affiliate Marketing – Affiliate or internet marketing is one of the most lucrative opportunities to make money online. There are many experts in this field, but if you are interested in learning more, I would suggest checking out PotPieGirl’s One Week Marketing guide to learn more about this potential income stream.
2. eHow – To date, eHow is my most successful way to make money online. I currently earn over $200 each month in passive income earnings that continue to grow over time. Check out the following resource for more helpful information – Earn Passive Income on eHow.
3. HubPages – Writing Hubs on this revenue sharing site is another free opportunity to start earning some additional income. An author of the site can add money making advertisements like Google AdSense and Kontera to their published content.
4. eBook – Publishing an eBook does not necessarily require your own website. As long as you can market your product to other website and blog owners, you don’t need your own internet real estate. If you want to know more about the details of creating your own eBook, I suggest the following FREE resource to get started – How to Write and Publish an eBook. I am actually using this guide to publish my first ever eBook and would be lost without it!
5. Twitter – What can I say about Twitter that most people don’t already know? If you are creative enough, there are plenty of really cool ways to make money online using Twitter. There are no costs involved for creating a Twitter account, so there are little risks other than your time.
6. swagbucks – Using swagbucks as your search engine is another opportunity to earn a little extra cash for not really doing very much at all. While you won’t get rich from using swagbucks, you can generate enough money each month to make it worth it. There are no costs for using this service.
7. Xomba – Xomba is another site (similar to HubPages) that can be used to supplement your income just by publishing content.
8. RedGage – I have recently added RedGage to my list of ways to make money online. This site allows you to share pictures, videos, documents, links, etc. with others. Over time as your content grows and becomes more popular, RedGage will pay you based on page views.

Need Extra Income?

Each of the money making ideas listed above does not require your own website and are usually FREE to start.

All of these resources could be great tools to add to one’s income portfolio. Maybe you are out of work looking to make some extra money to get by until you can find full time employment? Why not look to start earning a little extra income from one of these sources?

Are you a stay at home parent or recent college grad? Each of the items listed above could be great ways to supplement your income in your spare time. Since there are no costs involved (except for the eBook), the only risks involved is your time.

Retire Early?

No, chances are if you use any of the identified ways to make money online without a website, you won’t be able to retire early. However, using several of these sources (and others not listed) can help you diversify your income. Each little bit of income can really add up and be worth your time and effort!

How do you make money online without using your own website?

One of the most common arguments that married couples tend to have is over financial matters. Let’s face it, a marriage should not be dictated by money, but that isn’t always the case. Whether it be lack of communication over the family finances, struggling to pay the monthly bills, or over spending and going into debt – a couples finances can be a huge factor in the success or failure of a marriage.

There are some opportunities however that couples can take to help improve their marriage when it comes to money. One way to help improve your marriage is to create passive income. You may be thinking to yourself – How can passive income help improve my marriage? It doesn’t seem like the logical solution, but it really can help.

If you are interested in learning more, check out a few of the ways that passive income can improve your marriage listed below.

1. Spend More Time with Each Other

One of the most common reasons a marriage fails is a result of not spending enough time together with your spouse. This can be caused by many factors including work. In order to survive and pay the monthly bills, at least one of the partners in a relationship is usually spending a lot of time at their job. In many cases, both partners are working, sometimes different shifts!

Establishing solid passive income streams takes some of the pressure off of working so much. While this type of income may not allow married couples to completely quit working, it can allow one or both to reduce hours at work. It may also allow one or both members in a relationship to take a less demanding job. All of this extra time can really go a long way to improving your relationship with your spouse.

2. Raising Children

Anyone who has children can tell you the raising kids can get very expensive. Buying diapers, saving for college, and paying for day care are just a few extra costs involved with having children. These extra expenses can really put a strain on a couples marriage, as financial matters tend to cause many couples to split up.

Earning additional income through recurring passive income streams can help offset expenses associated with raising children. Even setting up an income source that can be put into a 529 College Savings Plan or help pay for day care can make a huge difference in your personal finances. Alleviating any concerns around paying for these costs can go a long way in improving your marriage.

3. Gifts, Surprises, and More!

Do you ever surprise your spouse with gifts or special weekend getaways? Sometimes a nice long weekend getaway is just what a marriage needs. Unfortunately it isn’t always in the budget to account for these special gifts or occasions.

Earning passive income is one way to help supplement your income that can be used for these special times. While money should not dictate any marriage, giving small little gifts and surprising your spouse can improve your marriage.

4. Simplify Your Life Together

Bills, bills, and more bills. Does it seem like every time you get finished paying off your monthly bills, the next ones start coming in? Earning passive income can actually help you and your spouse simplify your finances and daily life.

As a test, identify a monthly bill that you receive every month. This could be a car payment, cable or cell phone bill, credit card statement, etc. Just think how much simpler your life could be if you had enough passive earnings coming in each month that could make your monthly car payment. Making your personal finances simpler will no doubt have a positive impact on your marriage!

5. Retire Early and Enjoy Life

Planning for your retirement may not always be the first thing that comes to mind in a marriage that is in jeopardy. However, if both you and your spouse can set some realistic financial goals that involve the planning of your future (including retirement), you will both be on the same page. Communication is one of the most important parts of marriage and can make or break its success.

Passive income can play a huge role in any retirement or financial planning between you and your spouse. Sit down with your spouse and create a financial plan that includes the building of passive income streams. Communicating and planning with your spouse can go a long way in improving your marriage and help with your personal finances.

Can Passive Income Save Your Marriage?

Telling someone that passive income can save their marriage probably seems like a strange statement. A marriage should not be dictated by financial matters at all. If two people truly care about each other, then money should never cause any conflict. Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case, as financial issues can cause stress and problems in a marriage.

Since money matters tend to cause conflicts in a marriage, taking actions to avoid these concerns can really help the relationship between you and your spouse. Generating consistent passive income is just one opportunity couples can take to improve their relationship and marriage by taking money issues out of the picture!

There are many stock investors today who earn their income by trading options. These investors have several different options trading strategies available to them that are considered low to moderate risk. One of these low risk methods for trading options is known as “writing covered calls”.

The main requirement of writing a covered call is that the investor must already own at least 100 shares of a stock. The term “covered” means that you already own the shares of the security and can transfer it to the buyer if the contract is “called”. There are many more details involved in trading covered call options, which we don’t have time to cover here. If you are interested in trading options, please do some research on your own before you get started.

The great thing about trading these types of options is that you can earn covered call income just from owning a stock. There are some valid concerns that you need to be aware about, but overall it is one of the least risky options trades you can make.

Depending on your investment strategy, some investors earn a steady monthly income just from selling covered call options. These are seasoned traders who understand the stock market as well as the positions and companies that they own. Some dividend investors can even “double dip” and earn a steady income from monthly or quarterly distributions made by the company as well as income generated from selling covered calls against the same position.

All of this sounds great? What better way to build passive income then to start buying up dividend paying stocks and selling covered call options against those positions every month?

Can covered call income be considered a viable passive income stream? Let’s take a look.

Passive Income Basics

There are plenty of different definitions of passive income depending on who you talk to. To most people, the term refers to a form of revenue or income source that requires very little effort or time once established.

There are some people who believe that passive income does not exist, while others tend to exaggerate the definition a little too far. Regardless your opinion, I think we can all agree that building income streams that require as little additional work as possible on your part is something everyone wants.

I tend to believe that there are many forms and levels of passive income. The key is to continuously look for improvements to reduce the time and effort it takes to maintain an income source while maximizing your returns.

For additional information, be sure to check out – What is passive income?

Is Covered Call Income Passive?

Based on the information outlined above, I would say that selling covered calls is NOT passive income. While in many cases, covered call income can be a great way to increase the value of your stock portfolio, there is just too much time required to make it passive.

Those who trade covered call options spend a lot of time researching existing stock positions and covered call contracts. They also need to be aware of what is going on in the stock market and global economy. Once an existing covered call contract expires (if it is not called), then the investor must spend the time to identify a new covered call contract to sell in order to keep the income stream flowing. All of this activity is way to much time and effort for this to be considered passive.

Important Disclaimer

I enjoy trading options in general and use them to help build my portfolio income. While I believe that options trading is a viable way to earn money, I recognize that it is a difficult stretch turning it into anything that resembles a passive income stream.

If you are interested in learning more about selling covered call options, I would recommend the following eHow article as a place to start – How to Sell Covered Call Options. I would also be happy to discuss topics around options trading with anyone interested.

Are there any forms of portfolio income that you consider passive? What are your thoughts on earning covered call income?