GoldenBoy I read those two links you posted.
Like I stated in another thread I am a huge fan of therawness, and his article on the hustle mentality clearly explains the get rick quick mentality that sacrifices long term financial health for short term gains.
I have my reservations on the article posted on residual income. In theory, it actually makes sense and you can't really argue with the fact that the paradigm of exchanging time for money is limited as opposed to creating work that is timeless, in which you receive money for a significant period of time after its completed.
In other words residual income is what self-help and internet marketers refer to as passive income. The examples of passive income shown in that article are basically mainstream advice: real estate, capital markets (stock, bond, etc. markets), money market accounts (deposits and earning interest), residual income businness opportunities (internet marketing and referrals), and finally creating work like an artist, writer or inventor.
For each of those options presented in that article, there are tons of caveats that need to be discussed that cannot be reduced to simply saying: hey this is an option you might pursue for residual income and it's better than the traditional exchange your time for money method. It's not that simple. They all require an investment and certain degree of risk, in which any particular person who is not educated on any of those options stands to lose significant amounts of time and money.
In order to present such option, you have to take into account why most people prefer to trade their time for money. It could be a number of different reasons including: comfortability, established norms in society, lazyness, etc. But fundamentally, you have to explore the risks of both options and present them in a way where the average person can then decide if it matches his/her personality and needs (e.g. security and emotional stability, not having to stomach long periods of time without generating much money at all).
The truth is we only get to hear about those people who are successful with passive income opportunities when this argument is made, yet we have to investigate how many people actually fail and how viable this option is for someone who is not that open to risk as an entrepreneur might be. For every one of those success stories including Donald Trump and the scammer Kiyosaki, there are tons of others who don't make it who have a good level of skill. As an investor, you need to know the average expected return of an endeavor.
Case in point: if you know little about real estate and get into that market odds are you will stand to lose against others in the industry who have been at it for a long time and have built the necessary skills to thrive. This is especially dangerous for the type of work in industries where competition is intense and your income depends on fighting others for clients.
I am not saying this to justify not getting into residual income business opportunities, rather having a clear view of the landscape and demystifying the whole fantasy about passive income as it is usually portrayed.
Be sure I DON'T speak from experience on passive income and show you the link which made me gain millions.
I just remembered the article and thought it could be beneficial.
My (future) source of income :
1.5 ha of agricultural land in natural farming.