The 5 Income Streams Millionaires Use — And How You Can Join Them

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Unless they inherited their wealth without doing diddly-squat, most millionaires have seven things in common: where their money comes from. And while each millionaire has a unique set of assets, we know they never put all of their eggs in one basket.

And the best part about these income streams? None of them are secrets or tricks. Instead, we can consider them a checklist to get you to millionaire status.

So, how many of these income streams do you have so far? And which can you get started on today?

1. Earned Income From a Paycheck

Oh, millionaires. They’re just like the rest of us. At one point — maybe even still — they earned a paycheck. It’s a consistent stream of income, and while it’s one of seven for them, it might be the only one us regular folks have (so far).

That being said, when you’re trying to get over the paycheck-to-paycheck hump and become a millionaire, the quickest method might be to make more money.

We get it, though: You already have a job — maybe two — and you’re exhausted. This doesn’t have to be a forever thing, though, and luckily there are plenty of ways to earn extra cash, even if you only have an hour to spare.

Here’s one we like: An app called Doordash will pay you to pick up and deliver food on your own schedule. All you need to get started is your preferred mode of transportation and your smartphone.

You’ll deliver things like coffee from Starbucks or food from Chipotle, Chick-fil-A or Five Guys. You set your own hours and work as much or little as you want, meaning how much you make is up to you.

You’ll earn money for each delivery, plus tips.

If you sign up for Doordash now, it’s possible to get your first paycheck this week.

Or Create Your Own Pay Day

Sometimes you can’t depend on anyone else to give you a paycheck — you have to take things into your own hands. Be the boss of your own free time, and use it to make some money.

Lots of us already play Solitaire on our phones for fun or just to pass the time. Did you know you could make money for doing that?

There’s a free iPhone app called Solitaire Cash that lets you play for real money. You could get paid up to $83 per win.*

You might be thinking: There’s got to be a catch. This is definitely one of those spammy apps, right?

Wrong. There really isn’t a catch. Sure, you can pay to play in some higher-stakes tournaments, but there’s no pressure. And, in fact, there aren’t even any annoying ads.

With each game, you’ll battle it out against at least five other players. Everyone gets the same deck, so winning is totally a matter of skill. The top three players who solve the deck fastest can win real money — anywhere from $1 to $83.

Over on the App Store, it has over a million downloads and more than 15,000 ratings, averaging 4.7 stars (out of 5).

To get started, just download the free app and start playing your first game immediately.

2. Profit Income From Owning a Business

We know that not all of us are cut out for the CEO title, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still own a business. And while this sounds like a stretch, hear us out — there’s another way to own a business without actually having to run one.

An app called Stash lets you be a part of something that’s normally exclusive to the richest of the rich — on Stash you can buy pieces of other companies for as little as $1.

That’s right — you can invest in pieces of well-known companies, such as Amazon, Google, Apple and more for as little as $1. The best part? If these companies profit, so can you. Some companies even send you a check every quarter for your share of the profits, called dividends.1

It takes two minutes to sign up, and it’s totally secure. With Stash, all your investments are protected by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) — that’s industry talk for, “Your money’s safe.”2

Plus, when you use the link above, Stash will give you a $5 sign-up bonus once you deposit $5 into your account.*

A wealthy man looks back as he gets on a private jet.
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3. Earning Dividend Income From Owned Stocks

The stock market is all over the place these days, but historically, it will make you about 7% over time if you ride it out. Millionaires earn tons of income from the stock market — likely because so many of them own tons of shares of different companies.

But if you feel like you don’t have enough money to start investing, you’re not alone. But guess what? You really don’t need that much — and you can even get free stocks (worth up to $500!) if you know where to look.

Whether you’ve got $5, $100 or $800 to spare, you can start investing with Robinhood.

Yeah, you’ve probably heard of Robinhood. Both investing beginners and pros love it because it doesn’t charge commission fees, and you can buy and sell stocks for free — no limits. Plus, it’s super easy to use.

What’s best? When you download the app and fund your account (it takes no more than a few minutes), Robinhood drops a share of free stock into your account. It’s random, though, so that stock could be worth anywhere from $5 to $500 — a nice boost to help you build your investments.

4. Invest in Multi-Family Real-Estate (Even if You’re Not Filthy Rich)

A couple stand outside of a large home.

The uber wealthy 1% have access to exclusive, lucrative real estate investments that seem totally out of reach to the rest of us.

But not anymore.  A company called CalTier lets you invest in commercial real estate — specifically, multi-family apartment complexes across the country — for as little as $500.

Traditionally, you’d need a six-figure income or a million-dollar net worth to invest like this.

Instead, CalTier lets you invest like the big wigs in the real estate world, even if you’re not rich. Investments in multi-family housing have outperformed the S&P 500 for the last 20 years* — and it’s expected to grow another 33% this year alone.

CalTier also gives you a 30 day money-back guarantee. And if you have any questions along the way, you can talk to a real human to get them answered.

Ready to join the ranks of wealthy and institutional real-estate investors? It’s easy to open a free account and get started here.

5. Royalty Income From Selling the Rights To Something You Create

Did you know Mariah Carey has made more than $60 million just in royalties from her song “All I Want For Christmas Is You”? Every year, the dollars stack up for work she did a couple decades ago. She’s set for life, if she decided to never work again.

That being said, there are ways to make royalty income without being a pop star. You can write a book and sell it with a Kindle Direct Publishing account. Or you can sell photos you take on your iPhone as stock images for companies to use.

What are your skills or hobbies? There might be a royalty out there for you!

*Solitaire Cash: Real Money tournaments are not available in the following states: AZ, IA, IN, LA, ME, MT, SC, WA

1Not all stocks pay out dividends, and there is no guarantee that dividends will be paid each year.

2To note, SIPC coverage does not insure against the potential loss of market value.

For Securities priced over $1,000, purchase of fractional shares starts at $0.05.

*Offer is subject to Promotion Terms and Conditions. To be eligible to participate in this Promotion and receive the bonus, you must successfully open an individual brokerage account in good standing, link a funding account to your Invest account AND deposit $5.00 into your Invest account.

The Penny Hoarder is a Paid Affiliate/partner of Stash. 

Investment advisory services offered by Stash Investments LLC, an SEC registered investment adviser. This material has been distributed for informational and educational purposes only, and is not intended as investment, legal, accounting, or tax advice. Investing involves risk.

An offering statement regarding this offering has been filed with the SEC. The SEC has qualified that offering statement, which only means that the company may make sales of the securities described by the offering statement. It does not mean that the SEC has approved, passed upon the merits or passed upon the accuracy or completeness of the information in the offering statement. You may obtain a copy of the offering circular that is part of that offering statement here:

You should read the offering circular before making any investment.

There is no guarantee of success, and there is a potential for loss of your investment.

*https://www.caltierrealtyfund.com/strategy