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Online tutoring

Teaching a subject that you’ve spent years learning, or a skill that you’ve organically developed, could be a relatively easy side hustle.

Complex subjects like physics, chemistry and the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) are particularly lucrative, says ZipRecruiter, but not so easy unless you have a passion for the subject.

If that’s not an option, consider teaching languages like English to kids from wealthy families in other countries. English teachers can make up to $5,000 a month in countries like the United Arab Emirates. And with remote learning, this can be done from the comfort of your home.

Kiss your credit card debt goodbye

Millions of Americans are struggling to crawl out of debt in the face of record-high interest rates. A personal loan offers lower interest rates and fixed payments, making it a smart choice to consolidate high-interest credit card debt. It helps save money, simplifies payments, and accelerates debt payoff. Credible is a free online service that shows you the best lending options to pay off your credit card debt fast — and save a ton in interest.

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Executive virtual assistant

Virtual assistance is another lucrative gig. But it’s best to focus on high-value tasks for C-suite executives to come away with big money. If you can ace jobs like project management, web development and IT problem-solving, you could be charging clients $50 an hour and up, according to Upwork.

Meanwhile, a freelance marketing assistant could make $50 to $200 an hour and business coaches can bring in up to $500 an hour.

Real estate

Unlike other gigs on this list, real estate is perhaps the most passive way to generate income. The gross rental yield for properties across the U.S. is 6.1%. You could generate that with just a few hours of work every week. Those hours could be trimmed further if you hire a contractor for maintenance and an accountant to deal with payments and taxes. In fact, if you hire a property management company you could generate returns completely passively.

Owning commercial property also gives you the option to deploy a triple-net lease, which means the company renting the office or retail space from you has to pay all the expenses on the property, like real estate taxes, building insurance and maintenance (this is on top of rent and utilities.) The benefit of a setup like this? The tenant is responsible for all things property management, leaving you more time to focus on your day job.

Good rental yields for commercial properties in the United States — anything that falls between 5% and 10% per year — are significantly higher than those generated from residential spaces, which usually sit around 1% to 3%. It’s a lucrative option and a fairly passive income source, yes, but it’s also capital-intensive. So keep in mind: it might not work for everyone.

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Vishesh Raisinghani Freelance Writer

Vishesh Raisinghani is a freelance contributor at MoneyWise. He has been writing about financial markets and economics since 2014 - having covered family offices, private equity, real estate, cryptocurrencies, and tech stocks over that period. His work has appeared in Seeking Alpha, Motley Fool Canada, Motley Fool UK, Mergers & Acquisitions, National Post, Financial Post, and Yahoo Canada.

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