In 2007, I made what seemed like a risky decision and dropped out of college despite owing about $50,000 in student loans. 

Fast forward to today, and I run a thriving business that generates about $18,000 a month in passive income — according to my calculations from a recent month’s deposits — while working just four hours a day.

Building passive income isn’t about finding a get-rich-quick scheme. It’s about creating valuable content and products that continue generating revenue long after the initial work is done.

Everyone starts somewhere. I began with a college dropout’s determination and a love for creating videos. My journey from there to successful entrepreneur and coach taught me valuable lessons about building sustainable passive income. 

Here are my top four tips for anyone looking to start their own passive income journey.

Many aspiring entrepreneurs get caught up in the excitement of “scaling” their business before they’ve proven a single successful business model. I fell into this trap early on after listening to many thought leaders talk about diversifying your revenue. It’s a recipe for distraction and mediocrity.

My own breakthrough came when I decided to focus entirely on one revenue stream until it worked.

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I began with a social media marketing agency and nailed that process before I started on my first passive income idea — a course. The course wouldn’t have been possible if not for the work I’d done in my agency to learn the material well enough to teach it.

I gleaned invaluable lessons about:

• What my audience truly wanted
• How to create and market digital products
• How to set the right pricing strategy
• How to automate delivery and support

Only after I had a proven, profitable system did I consider expanding into other revenue streams. This patient, methodical approach meant each new venture had a stronger foundation built on real experience and success.

So don’t rush to diversify. Take the time to work through the challenges of creating your first successful revenue stream. The skills and insights you gain will make you much better at launching and growing any future income streams.

My best business decisions came from listening to my audience. When my community repeatedly asked for a book about video content strategy, I wrote the book “Vlog Like a Boss.” When readers wanted more morning routine guidance, I created “Good Morning, Good Life.”

These products weren’t just random ideas — they were direct responses to market demand. “Good Morning, Good Life” later inspired a paper planner, which added another significant revenue stream to my business.

Your audience will tell you what they want to buy. Your job is to listen and deliver.

The secret to working only four hours a day isn’t working less — it’s working smart. Each video I create takes about two hours total: one hour for preparation and one hour for filming. But once published, it continues earning indefinitely.

I’ve created more than 1,000 videos about productivity and brand-building. While that sounds overwhelming, it’s the result of consistent, systematic content creation over time. Each piece of content serves as a building block in my passive income architecture.

For example, one video I made last year is called “How To Plan a Productive September (That You Actually Look Forward To!)” It has brought in more than $1,100 in ad revenue to date, and it also promotes one of my most successful, high-profit-margin passive income products, the “Good Morning, Good Life” digital planner. 

This video continues to drive sales and ad revenue more than a year after publication. It’s not just content — it’s a systematic sales engine.

Despite dropping out of college, I never stopped learning. Every stage of my business required new skills:

• Video editing for YouTube
• Writing for books
• Product development for planners
• The ability to stay motivated for persevering through it all

While you can learn many things through trial and error, getting guidance from smart people can accelerate your progress significantly. That’s why I invest in myself and hire coaches in my life and for my business that continue to make me better. 

Coaching my own clients in turn is one of the most fulfilling things I do. I love showing people how to skip all the mistakes I made and go straight for the blueprint that builds a business they love.

Amy Landino is a personal brand coach and the award-winning creator of AmyTV on YouTube. She is an instructor in CNBC’s online course How to Earn Passive Income Online. Follow her on Instagram.

Want to make extra money outside of your day job? Sign up for CNBC’s online course How to Earn Passive Income Online to learn about common passive income streams, tips to get started and real-life success stories.

When it comes to retirement savings, residents of one state are leading the pack: Massachusetts.

The average household retirement savings balance in Massachusetts is $448,500, according to an October study by DepositAccounts. That’s the largest amount out of all the states reviewed in the study.

The personal finance site analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2022 Survey of Income and Program Participation, the latest available, to determine the average amount households in each state have saved for retirement. The totals include balances of 401(k)s, IRAs, Keogh plans and thrift savings plans.

A couple of reasons may explain why Massachusetts residents have the highest average balances. At $80,330 a year, Massachusetts workers earn the highest average salaries in the U.S., according to a recent analysis by Empower.

On top of that, Massachusetts implemented the first state-level program to help workers outside of the corporate workforce grow their retirement savings. In 2017, the state launched its CORE program, which helps small nonprofit organizations offer 401(k) benefits to employees. As of May, over 200 organizations were enrolled in the program, per the state’s website.

On the other hand, Americans in Louisiana and Mississippi have the lowest average household retirement savings of $128,900 and $131,500, respectively. And Florida, a popular retirement destination, ranks 19^th with average savings of $287,200.

But remember, while averages can provide an interesting snapshot of retirement data, they don’t always tell the whole story. The presence of a few high or low account balances can skew the results.

Here are the average amounts households have saved for retirement by state, according to DepositAccounts. No 2022 data was available for Alaska, Delaware, the District of Columbia, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming.

• Alabama: $165,500
• Arizona : $365,300
• Arkansas: $143,600
• California: $301,500
• Colorado: $321,200
• Connecticut: $351,800
• Florida: $287,200
• Georgia : $214,500
• Hawaii: $433,700
• Idaho: $190,600
• Illinois: $298,000
• Indiana: $190,700
• Iowa: $228,900
• Kansas  $316,600
• Kentucky: $278,800
• Louisiana: $128,900
• Maryland: $368,700
• Massachusetts: $448,500
• Michigan: $297,900
• Minnesota: $368,400
• Mississippi: $131,500
• Missouri: $203,800
• Montana: $270,900
• Nebraska: $251,100
• Nevada: $286,600
• New Jersey: $376,700
• New Mexico: $169,200
• New York: $275,700
• North Carolina: $294,400
• Ohio: $315,900
• Oklahoma: $222,900
• Oregon: $299,300
• Pennsylvania: $255,500
• South Carolina: $274,500
• Tennessee: $201,200
• Texas: $278,600
• Utah: $270,800
• Virginia: $307,600
• Washington: $330,900
• West Virginia: $174,200
• Wisconsin: $310,700

Remember, reaching your retirement savings goal is more of a marathon than a sprint. While it can be tempting to focus solely on growing your retirement account balance, there’s another number you should keep in mind: your retirement savings rate.

Your retirement savings rate is the percentage of your annual income you put away for the future. Fidelity Investments recommends a savings rate of 15%, inclusive of any employer match.

While 15% may seem high, you don’t have to hit it all at once. One way to get there is by automatically increasing your retirement contributions by 1% each year until you reach your target savings rate.

“Saving for retirement may seem like a steep mountain to climb, but the climb doesn’t have to be as steep as it looks,” Ann Dowd, vice president at Fidelity, said in a July report. “Small steps now can turn into big strides later.”

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For anyone who finds investment markets daunting, especially younger millennials and Gen Zers, Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman has a three-word piece of advice: Learn by doing.

It’s her most important money advice for all investing newcomers — including her own children, Friedman told CNBC Make It on Tuesday while speaking at the Fortune Global Forum 2024.

“Learn by doing — with small amounts of money, or even on platforms where you don’t actually have to use real money,” said Friedman. “As you get more engaged and more educated, you can start to take more risks … and then get more confidence.”

Friedman has two sons in their mid-to-late twenties, she said — one of whom took it upon himself to play around with a stock event marketplace app, which lets users track and trade stocks from their phones. He only invests in small increments, roughly $10 at a time, Friedman added.

“He was taking different sides of the trade all night long on, like, what the temperature of New York was going to be overnight,” she said. “It was just fascinating … He didn’t even realize he was learning market structure.”

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Young people across the country are hesitant with their money right now: 42% of people aged 18 to 34 aren’t saving or investing at all, according to a recent CNBC and Generation Lab survey of more than 1,000 Americans. Thirty-two percent of Gen Zers say their fear of losing money holds them back, and 22% say they don’t trust the market, found Investopedia’s 2022 Financial Literacy Survey.

Experimenting with pocket money is a great place to start, because it helps you learn and get comfortable with the fact that your investment strategies can result in both wins and losses, said Friedman: “You have to be ready for any outcome.”

As you get your footing, you can start thinking about long-term investments that’ll impact your future, she added.

“That’s what’s going to make it so that you can afford your schools, or your children’s schools, afford a home, and afford to travel the world and experience the world,” Friedman said.

The earlier you can start investing, the better, added Barclays CEO C.S. Venkatakrishnan, another panelist at the Global Forum event.

“I think the most important thing for young people to understand [is] that investing in their future is really one of the biggest decisions they can make,” said Venkatakrishnan. ’They should start young from that first paycheck, have a really long term view, and the equity markets are a really important part of that.”

Other ways to get started include investing in an employer sponsored 401(k) for retirement, which lets you contribute pre-tax dollars, or contributing to a Roth individual retirement account, certified financial planner Douglas Boneparth told Make It in August. Roth IRA contributions are taxed upfront, so withdrawals in retirement are tax-free.

Later in life, you’ll thank yourself for starting early, said Friedman: ”[Investing] is a foundational element of wealth creation in this country.”

Want to earn more money at work? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Negotiate a Higher Salary. Expert instructors will teach you the skills you need to get a bigger paycheck, including how to prepare and build your confidence, what to do and say, and how to craft a counteroffer. Start today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 50% off through November 26, 2024.

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Matthew McConaughey knows that success can lead to making a lot of money, but the actor says that the two are not the same. 

Appearing on the Modern Wisdom podcast this week, the 55-year-old explained why he believes money and success are not interchangeable, despite people generally associating the two.

“Right now, money, fame, that’s the definition of success,” he said. “Whoever has more, you’re the winner.”

But McConaughey said he’s looking to make a “profit” in his life rather than in his bank account. 

“I think there’s a difference between success and profit,” he says. “Profit does pay you back.” 

“I love money. I’m all for it,” he continued. “I see a lot of one way tickets that are ‘You can be successful and have more money but not be making a profit in your life.’”

He added that he’s known “many very rich men who’ve chased that dollar to be successful and to be relevant for having the most money,” but who aren’t very happy in life. 

″[They] were bewildered. Lost. Had no relationships. They didn’t have purpose. They just chased the dollar,” he said. “They were good at it. They couldn’t necessarily say what they were good at, just good dealmakers who made the right calls.” 

Searching for fulfillment over money is something the actor has spoken about in the past. In 2012, McConaughey described his desire to stop doing romantic comedy films despite them padding his bank account. 

“I enjoyed them. They paid well; they were fun. I didn’t know if I wanted to do any more,” he told The Guardian at the time. “I decided to sit out, and I had to endure for a while. Another one comes with a big old paycheck; I had to say no. I was looking for something to be turned on by.”

McConaughey reportedly turned down a $15 million offer to star in a “Magnum, P.I.” film in 2008. Soon after, he agreed to do “Dallas Buyer’s Club” for less than $200,000. The role would go on to win him an Academy Award and kickstart a new, more fulfilling stretch of his career. 

McConaughey said he doesn’t regret not having the extra millions in his bank account. 

“Would I be any less happy if I had a 50th of what I have right now? No. There’s no way I’d be less happy,” he said. “The residuals decline on quality of life.”

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Housing costs are the biggest expense most people face, so knowing how much you can afford to spend can be key to staying on top of your budget. However, that amount is not always clear.

As a rule of thumb, financial planners commonly recommend spending no more than 30% of your gross income on housing, whether that’s mortgage or rent costs. This advice is often based on guidelines set in the 1980s by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which defined spending beyond 30% as “housing cost burdened.”

That means if you earn the U.S. median income of around $80,000, you should aim to keep your housing costs to $2,000 a month.

But with housing costs soaring over the past few years, a significant portion of Americans now spend more than 30% of their income on housing, including nearly half of all renters, according to a recently published U.S. Census report. Among homeowners, 21.1% of those with a mortgage and 11.5% without a mortgage exceed this threshold.

Considering that Americans are routinely spending more than 30% of their income on housing, the guideline can feel more like an ideal than a realistic rule of thumb.

Here’s a look at how much you can afford to spend on housing at different income levels if you’re aiming to stay within a 30%, 40% or 50% threshold.

The maximum amount you can put toward monthly housing costs without spending more than 30% of your gross income:

• $30,000 income: $750
• $40,000 income: $1,000
• $50,000 income: $1,250
• $60,000 income: $1,500
• $70,000 income: $1,750
• $80,000 income: $2,000
• $90,000 income: $2,250
• $100,000 income: $2,500
• $110,000 income: $2,750
• $120,000 income: $3,000

The maximum amount you can put toward monthly housing costs without spending more than 40% of your gross income:

• $30,000 income: $1,000
• $40,000 income: $1,333
• $50,000 income: $1,667
• $60,000 income: $2,000
• $70,000 income: $2,333
• $80,000 income: $2,667
• $90,000 income: $3,000
• $100,000 income: $3,333
• $110,000 income: $3,667
• $120,000 income: $4,000

The maximum amount you can put toward monthly housing costs without spending more than 50% of your gross income:

• $30,000 income: $1,250
• $40,000 income: $1,667
• $50,000 income: $2,083
• $60,000 income: $2,500
• $70,000 income: $2,917
• $80,000 income: $3,333
• $90,000 income: $3,750
• $100,000 income: $4,167
• $110,000 income: $4,583
• $120,000 income: $5,000

While the 30% rule is still a useful guideline, it’s not always practical — especially in urban areas where housing costs are often higher, says Melissa Caro, certified financial planner and founder of My Retirement Network.

For many, “flexibility is necessary,” but spending more on housing should still be done carefully, she says. That’s because other parts of a household budget, such as discretionary spending on things like entertainment, have some built-in flexibility, while housing costs do not.

“Rent or mortgage payments won’t adjust if you face a job loss, so carefully weigh what’s essential versus what’s ideal,” Caro says.

That said, spending 50% or more of your income on housing is a “red line” to avoid since it limits your financial flexibility, Caro says.

Other experts recommend sticking closer to 30%, if you can.

“The 30% rule is still a good starting point for housing costs,” says Emmanuel Eliason, a CFP in Colorado. However, in places with high housing costs “something in the range of 35% to 39% could be ideal for most families if they take proactive steps to revert back to the standard 30% housing budget allocation over time.”

Want to earn more money at work? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Negotiate a Higher Salary. Expert instructors will teach you the skills you need to get a bigger paycheck, including how to prepare and build your confidence, what to do and say, and how to craft a counteroffer. Start today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 50% off through November 26, 2024.

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