Introduction to Passive Income Streams for 2026
Overview of the Five Income Ideas
This article breaks down five passive income streams for 2026. These are options that investors are either already exploring or planning to start in 2026 because research suggests they offer a pretty good return on investment.
Defining Passive Income
Passive income is essentially not trading time for money like a traditional job, but rather putting money into something and having that grow over time or getting a return back, or creating something once and then selling it multiple times over.
Of course, there is no such thing as passive where one has to do exactly zero. But these are ideas where investors can essentially set and forget or do it once and then it compounds over time. This content is not financial advice. These are simply ideas that some investors are considering for 2026.
Idea #1 Shares and Exchange Traded Funds
Understanding ETFs and How They Work
The first idea is shares or exchange traded funds. What is an ETF? It is essentially where investors work with a bigger company. For example, platforms like Comsec Pocket, which is part of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, give investors a range of set options to invest in. There could be a technology ETF, health, property, or a high dividend one.
Benefits of Diversification
Essentially, these bigger organizations have experienced professionals finding companies that investors can invest in. The key benefit is that they already diversify. So instead of putting all money into one company and riding the highs and lows of that company, investors are putting it into an exchange traded fund, which includes a little bit of every single company.
Performance and Accessibility
It’s sort of like a fruit salad. Instead of buying a whole watermelon, in an ETF, investors get a bit of an apple, a bit of an orange, a bit of a watermelon. So even if one does really well or does really poorly, the others balance it out. This is considered a nice, easy strategy to get started when it comes to shares and investing. Historical data shows that some investors have achieved about a 50% return over five years.
Low Barrier to Entry
Another advantage of using ETFs is that there is a really low barrier to entry. With traditional share investing, there is typically a minimum of around $500 that investors need to put in. With ETFs or micro investing, one can start with as little as 50 bucks in a lot of cases. There are also some platforms that let investors invest literally the pocket change of transactions.
Building Confidence Over Time
This is considered a nice way to have a toe in the water when it comes to shares and investing, without overindexing or putting too much in, especially for first-time investors. Once investors gain confidence with ETFs, they can stay with it or decide to take a hundred bucks, a thousand bucks, whatever it is, and invest directly in a company that they are really passionate about.
Why ETFs Remain Appealing
ETFs remain appealing because they have a really low barrier to entry. There are other people managing the portfolio, and many investors have had positive experiences so far.
Idea #2 Real Estate Investment Trusts
Barriers to Traditional Property Investment
Another option gaining attention in 2026 is real estate investment trusts. Property can be a fantastic way of building wealth and getting a great return on investments over time. But the money outlay to start buying investment properties is quite high. There’s a very big barrier to entry, especially in expensive markets like Sydney, Australia.
Costs and Challenges of Ownership
Investors not only need a really large sum of money to buy their first investment property, but then they have to pay their mortgage, stamp duty, any repairs and things like that. It can be quite daunting and really hard to break into, which is where the idea of real estate investment trusts becomes quite appealing.
What Is a Real Estate Investment Trust
What exactly is a real estate investment trust? It can be thought of as a fractional property platform. This could be something like Brick X where investors are buying portions or small pieces similar to an ETF or a share in a bigger company. Another option is the Vanguard REIT.
Vanguard Property Exposure
The Vanguard REIT is essentially an Australian property security index fund where instead of investing in a full property where one has to buy a house or an apartment or a business, investors can invest in already established organizations. For example, this fund includes holdings in Goodman Sachs, Center Group, Stockland and other business corporations in Australia.
Flexible Property Investing
This approach allows investors to start investing in the property market and business capital without having to invest $100,000 or $200,000 or take out a mortgage. Investors can invest as little or as much as they want. This is considered a nice way of having money put into property, without overindexing.
Idea #3 YouTube as a Passive Income Source
Long Term Content Revenue
Another option for 2026 is content creation on platforms that offer long-term revenue opportunities. The benefit of creating content is that if it reaches a lot of people, creators can continue making revenue from that for years. Some content that is 3, 4, or 5 years old continues to get views today.
Creating Once Earning Over Time
It may take an hour, 2 hours, or 3 hours to create and post content, but then once it’s online, it is there indefinitely. As people continue to consume that content, creators continue to get ad revenue back from the platform, which is an attractive feature. The challenge is obviously starting and knowing what to create content about.
Consistency and Growth
In terms of a passive income idea, content creation can be effective because there are times where creators take a break for a couple of months, but their content still brings in income every month. The concept is creating something once and then building on it.
Balancing Effort and Enjoyment
Creators could pause and then just let it run its course. But as they continue to invest in their content platform, build more subscribers and followers, their views will increase and then the revenue from that will increase as well. The challenge is that unlike other passive income options where it’s set and forget, content creation requires ongoing effort, though many find enjoyment in the process along with the revenue potential.
Idea #4 Affiliate Marketing
Leveraging a Social Media Presence
If one has a social media presence, and it doesn’t have to be massive—micro influencers who sell or advertise products to their audience can explore affiliate marketing and sponsorships.
How Affiliate Marketing Works
Affiliate marketing is essentially where someone works with a brand and promotes their product using a promo code or a link. For example, content creators often share Amazon links where their audience can purchase recommended products, and the creator receives a small commission from that.
Long Term Value of Affiliate Links
The advantage is that as people engage with content, they’ll click on links and the creator gets paid every time someone uses that. It’s typically a small percentage, 1 to 5%, but it does add up over the years. Once the link is set up, it can be pasted in any content and requires minimal ongoing effort.
Idea #5 Sponsorships
Working Directly With Brands
On the flip side of that, there are sponsorships. There are platforms like impact.com that allow creators to reach out directly to brands to be part of their campaigns, or they could reach out to brands directly themselves.
Selective Partnerships
Many content creators are selective about affiliate marketing and sponsorships, preferring to work only with brands they know, trust, and genuinely want to promote. Sponsorships offer another way of generating passive income. For example, content creators can sell advertising spots where a company might pay $100 to promote their product or feature.
Wrap Up and Final Thoughts
Summary of Passive Income Ideas
These are five passive income ideas for 2026. A quick summary includes using shares and ETFs, real estate investment trusts, creating content on platforms that offer monetization opportunities, using affiliate marketing and sponsorships, and potentially creating a brand or course to sell online.
Closing Remarks
Digital or physical product creation hasn’t been covered in detail here as it requires significant effort and specific expertise. These five ideas represent accessible options for those exploring passive income opportunities.
