TNFG Passive Income Tracking for the 3rd Quarter of 2023

Tracking TNFG’s QTR 3 2023 Passive Income Progress

The third quarter numbers are in. It’s not that good. Gone are the $20,000 quarters from 2020; they are damn near hieroglyphics at this point. Now, our casual base efforts are settling near $4,500 per quarter (or $1,500 per month). Unfortunately, prices are up more than 3.7% year over year with interest rates pushed over 5%.

Times are definitely harder. With price inflation up, a rough global recession is all but certain (again). All of this will be particularly challenging in 2024.

Our primary mission for the 4th quarter is to close out the year on a high note. Time to focus on health and travel while doing final touch-ups on the home. There are a few opportunities brewing like the Financial presentation for Yale in October and a Lunch & Learn for my job.

Rebrand and Refocus post Student Loan Forgiveness.

As always, no matter the challenge, I lean toward Gratitude. Our personal and household growth is not centered on one number. Instead, it’s about the journey and documenting the process for the future. By sharing our challenge, we hope to equip you with experience and solutions along the way.

Final total: $7,072.83 (Up 33.51% from Q2)

Table of Contents

Almost non-existent consulting in QTR 3 – $727.35

Wow. We went from two consultation side hustles to zero. And I’m still tired. Her passive position was way more consistent until she quit.

I guess it’s all about the family, our dog, and travel. However, we definitely need to innovate since a recession is coming in shortly.

Time to get creative and record lessons online. All of this added work is not giving passive income vibes. Next year, I’m heading back to college for the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) accreditation.

Maybe that will bring in more money? My wife, on the other hand, is looking for a bigger payday with better flexibility. We are sticking to traveling and our net/max financial plan.

See how the Business Cycle is Tracking based on Fidelity’s Q3 estimations:

**Source:** Fidelity Q3 2023 Market Update

Passive Income Producing Side Hustles: $4,900

Unfortunately, I didn’t knock out the goal to create a couple of e-books. We’ve been traveling and I’m being extremely lazy.

I seriously need to get my priorities in order but I get sidetracked by Anime and Age of the Empires IV.

Book revenues could be as low as $500 per month, but it would still be nice. An investment of $500 per month at 8% can turn into $1M in 34 years.

That’s easy money.

Additionally, I think it gives creatives like me more credibility if I became an author even though I’ve written over 500 blog posts.

This passive income is proving to not be that passive at all.

Rental Income: $4,900.00

Our Rental RE income brings in $1,400 per month, with an early payment of $700 in late September. However, I didn’t talk about the expenses which totaled $4,150. This includes $775 on the mortgage; $290 for the homeowners’ association fee; and, $110 for Xfinity. Plus about $2,500/yr to ready the unit for the new semester (prorated $625 per quarter).

Net result about +$750 for the 3rd QTR.

Definitely better than nothing, or about $3,000 per year. All this to say, it’s not that sexy to be a real estate investor. Nor are your efforts that passive, however over time this should improve. Once the rental mortgage ($50k remaining) is paid off, it would add nearly $10,000 in income per year.

Read, “How To Build Wealth by Investing in Rental Properties.”

Real Passive Income through Investing for Dividends: $1,445.48 (+60% from Q3 2022)

In total, we brought in nearly $1,445.48 worth of dividends in the third quarter through our five investment vehicles.

These vehicles include one M1 account for our after-tax portfolio, two ROTH IRAs, one HSA, one traditional IRA, and one Health Savings Account (HSA). Well, that part that’s invested. See the link to our real-time investment tracking on Google Sheets.

This represents a 63.42% increase from the third quarter of 2022.

This included companies like $MAIN, $XOM, $NVDA, $HD, $MMM, $JEPI, $SBUX, $VTI etc. Our biggest payout was $600.46 in September. The last month of the QTR will always be huge. We are on track toward our retirement goal of at least $30,000 per year in dividends. That’s a nice chunk of change to augment my pension of $40,000 per year.

Read “How to Make Money from Dividends: 7 Ways to Profit.”

Blog Promotion, Growth, and Passive Income Potential?

For the quarter, there was over 3.4k in organic search traffic based on my keywords with over 292.8k in total impressions. Authority Score is 30 but the audience is growing (Up 56.77% YTD). The visibility increased by 11% as well. Post-traveling, I’ll have to carve out a better time schedule for weekly blog post releases that I can keep up with.

I like the element of being consistent no matter who’s looking or not. Wildly, I received inquiries from people who think we are making money off the blog. If only they understood that this is a losing proposition. My wife calls it my expensive man hobby. At least, it’s not a big-ticket item purchase.

It’s all about putting out quality and meaningful content for the time being. However, I’m not sure how I will feel now that we reached millennial millionaire status. The next phase is to grow our investments to $1M (currently sitting around $625k).

To close out the year, we are headed to Argentina and Brazil.

Blog Statistics to Build on Passive Income Weaknesses

The website’s average position is 20.5 (down 10.42%). Turns out wealth or specifically average Black wealth is not trendy. People who spend a lot of money are way more popular than those who teach how to have a lot of wealth. Or, they simply don’t like me. That part is definitely way more plausible.

People buy into people they like.

With that said, I have a lot of work to do in regard to ranking keywords. This is among the things that I needed to learn in my 20s as well as better branding. Building a following isn’t what it used to be. High-quality photos and engagement are how some people get clicks and likes.

I’ll keep trying but I’m honestly happier with our focus on Early Retirement.

3^rd QTR 2023 Progress Report – Final Thoughts

Blogging is very difficult and it’s ultimately not very passive. I put in way too much work for little to no payout. And the wifey doesn’t like it either. Turns out, she doesn’t like the podcast too. She just wants me to hang out with her all the time.

However, I have a feeling that years from now; it will be a treasure trove. However, every bit helps. Read how that went here:

In regards to increasing our passive income streams, I’m strongly leaning toward just making more money in my day job and focusing on owning more Real Estate for rental revenue and investing for more dividends.

I really favor consistency which RE and dividends dish out in spades. For 2025, I’ll pour into a Certified Financial Planner certification and instruction. In the end, there are multiple ways to build wealth and some ways might not be a great fit for you.

Check out the Financial Griot Podcast where we chat all things Financial Literacy and Life. Or link with me on Instagram.