I think the safest passive income is real estate b/c that's what i've done my whole life and understand the best. Some people own cash cow businesses that truly operate without them. Others own huge numbers of franchises. dividend income can be described as passive as well, or bonds but those are extremely low right now and I don't like those because when yield goes up your principal is eroded, sometimes very quickly. Again, I only see what I see b/c of what I do for a living. Royalties, that's another passive income stream but there's usually a timeframe or life to those and then they die out. If you underwrite a real estate deal properly and budget for capital expenditures, tenant turnover, leasing commissions, proper management, and everything else then it's the gift that keeps on giving. Pay too much for it, choose the wrong location, figure the expenses wrong and you're dead - the risk is in knowing how to do it correctly. www.promanas.com I should have made my user name Promanas.