10 Best Passive Income Books to Build Wealth

You’ve probably heard this Warren Buffett quote countless times already, but it rings true every single time - “If you don’t find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die.”

Sounds pretty grim, right? We have to admit that nowadays, it’s tough making ends meet with your fixed salary when prices are going up rapidly, and we still want to go out with friends from time to time.

We’ve already covered budgeting and financial planning, but sometimes we have to make more money to afford our lifestyle by generating passive income. If you're striving for financial independence and looking for passive income ideas, you might like Honeygain as an effortless way to earn extra money.

Of course, you can learn how to start earning with podcasts and movies, but nothing beats the classic - books. We gathered an extensive bibliography with the best books on passive income that make you money when you sleep. Be warned! These books might inspire you to earn extra money and build passive income streams to help you quit a tedious job and become an entrepreneur.

Table of contents

1. The Millionaire Real Estate Investor: Anyone Can Do It - Not Everyone Will by Gary W. Keller

2. Rich Dad’s Guide to Investing: What the Rich Invest in, That the Poor and the Middle Class Do Not! by Robert T. Kiyosaki

3. The Book on Rental Property Investing: How to Create Wealth and Passive Income Through Intelligent Buy & Hold Real Estate Investing! by Brandon R. Turner

4. Financial Freedom with Real Estate Investing: The Blueprint To Quitting Your Job With Real Estate - Even Without Experience Or Cash by Michael Blank

5. Affiliate Program Management: An Hour a Day by Evgenii Prussakov

6. The 40-Hour Work Week: Escape the 9-5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss

7. The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D. Wattles

8. Click Millionaires: Work Less, Live More with an Internet Business You Love by Scott Fox

9. Passive Income, Aggressive Retirement: The Secret to Freedom, Flexibility, and Financial Independence (& how to get started!) by Rachel Richards

10. Passive Income Ideas: 101 Passive Income Ideas Under $1000 by Frank Coles

1. The Millionaire Real Estate Investor: Anyone Can Do It - Not Everyone Will by Gary W. Keller

Published in 2005, The Millionaire Real Estate Investor: Anyone Can Do It - Not Everyone Will has remained one of the most notable books on building wealth from real estate in the last two decades! That’s around the same time many Gen Z’ers are walking this earth.

Don’t worry - Keller is not like a grandpa retelling a story from his childhood but rather a heaven-sent guru. Whether you’re a novice investor or a complete beginner, this handbook has everything you need to start without complex terminology. It has all tips and tricks in this niche, so you’ll learn from real (estate) pros!

Gary Keller is a renowned entrepreneur and founder of Keller Williams, the largest real estate company globally by agent count. His real estate business rakes up so many closed deals and units sold that it ranks as the second-best real estate company in the world! Being one of the most influential figures in the property-selling world, Keller is an excellent teacher to help you build a profitable passive income stream.

Were you born around the 2000s - the same time The Millionaire Real Estate Investor was published? You might like to read up on the different spending and saving habits of you, your parents, and your grandparents!

2. Rich Dad’s Guide to Investing: What the Rich Invest in, That the Poor and the Middle Class Do Not! by Robert T. Kiyosaki

If you haven’t heard about the iconic Robert Kiyosaki and his book Rich Dad Poor Dad, here’s a great introduction to achieving financial freedom. If your dad never taught you ways to start earning money while you sleep, Kiyosaki will fill in the gaps!

Rich Dad’s Guide to Investing covers everything you need to know about becoming an active investor with a passive income stream. Don’t know about investment risks? Kiyosaki has you covered. Don’t know what to do with earned profit? Kiyosaki says to reinvest it!

The author is a great teacher to every age group with different backgrounds. He understands the everyday struggle to make ends meet and, best of all, offers a solution to escape this toxic cycle. Yes, living paycheck to paycheck is a red flag, but Rich Dad’s Guide to Investing is surely a green flag!

3. The Book on Rental Property Investing: How to Create Wealth and Passive Income Through Intelligent Buy & Hold Real Estate Investing! by Brandon R. Turner

Have you ever wondered how people make six figures by owning an AirBnB? Do you want to achieve such financial independence? All of the rental property secrets are revealed in a 400-page handbook by Brandon Turner. It offers insights and strategies on building wealth through renting an apartment.

You’ve probably heard people say that it’s good to learn from your mistakes, but it’s even better to learn from others’ oversights. Turner provides you with a list of common investing mistakes and the best ways to avoid them for building wealth that lasts - quite literally - a lifetime.

This book is excellent because Turner considers new investors with small amounts of available cash. We can all agree that buying a fancy Parisian rental is pretty far-fetched for a regular 9 to 5 employee. But Turner proves us wrong! He provides clever ways of acquiring your future AirBnB apartment and building a passive income stream that can support you financially for years to come.

4. Financial Freedom with Real Estate Investing: The Blueprint To Quitting Your Job With Real Estate - Even Without Experience Or Cash by Michael Blank

Do you still think real estate investments are out of reach? Worry not, because Michael Blank will gear you up with even more tips and tricks. Once you learn the basics about real estate investing by Gary Keller, take a look at this new(ish) book published in 2018 about achieving financial independence, even if you have zero experience in this field.

The book focuses on the ultimate blueprint for investing in apartment buildings specifically. It takes you through every step to earn passive income from real estate investing. You’ll start with a strategy for raising money to get your first deal, tips on getting your offers accepted, and even ways to get the best proposals on the market.

Buying the whole apartment building does seem a bit surreal. Still, it’s worth it - imagine being a landlord you wished you had and earning the extra money that funds your extravagant lifestyle! This is one of the best passive income ideas to date. Blank helps countless people start their journey in real estate investing. Even if you don’t own the whole apartment complex, use the advice for your Parisian AirBnB rental.

Are you interested in other ways to make money work for you without buying real estate or rental property investing? Starweb shares some tips on budgeting and investing while inflation is raging on!

5. Affiliate Program Management: An Hour a Day by Evgenii Prussakov

You’ve probably heard about affiliate marketing programs and people building an amazingly profitable income stream online. The gist of affiliate marketing is you promote a business and get paid for each new customer you attract. Pretty simple, right?

Prussakov offers us a glimpse at how these affiliate marketing programs come to life. It’s the perfect way to upgrade the marketing techniques of your online business. If you’re not a business owner yet, you can still find valuable inside information to become a rockstar in affiliate marketing. Ready for your show? Read about the market research, payment models, and recruitment process for affiliates.

Those secrets will serve you well when you start earning money to achieve that financial independence. Perhaps you’ll be tempted to start an online business that offers affiliate marketing programs and build incredible wealth for the long run? The world is your oyster (or stage, whichever you prefer), so have fun earning money online!

6. The 40-Hour Work Week: Escape the 9-5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss

Life can be like the movies - swinging in a hammock under a palm tree with a laptop overseeing your income streams as you sip a virgin margarita. Timothy Ferriss probably prefers skiing in the Andes, but he’s the right man to come for advice on how to get your palm trees and hammock. The 40-Hour Work Week is an excellent handbook with a step-by-step guide to achieving a luxury lifestyle and learning from the best!

Ferriss shares his journey from earning $40,000 per year in his corporate job to making the same amount of money in a month. Yes, you read that right. Ferriss is an excellent example of the New Rich who optimizes their time and mobility to build passive income streams to fund exotic travels.

The fascinating thing about this book is the writing style. Ferriss perfectly portrays his unconventional ways of making money and building income streams. He covers topics like eliminating 50% of your work in two days - a technique suggested by some forgotten Italian economist. And that’s not even the craziest thing you can learn!

It’s one of the best passive income books you can find. It has enough extravaganza and humor to keep you entertained and help you build wealth, so the dream of those palm trees can come true.

7. The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D. Wattles

While the book doesn’t teach you strategies for building passive income streams, it has a monumental impact on people’s understanding of wealth creation. Wattles studied the works of renowned philosophers and put together a comprehensive guide for his readers.

Let’s be honest - not everyone can sit around and ponder what Diogenes, the Greek philosopher, had in mind when he lived in a barrel. Some would say the man was broke and anti-social. At the same time, some believe that he predicted our generation’s housing trends - studio apartments. Wattles spares us the trouble of understanding such thinkers. He gives his readers an easy-to-digest information package on transforming our worldview to build wealth.

Many of us are no strangers to self-doubt when achieving financial success. Wattles gave us a beautiful eye-opener on what it means to be wealthy and financially independent. You can reach any goal with the right mindset, including retiring in your 30s and having a profitable passive income stream to fund your worldwide travels.

8. Click Millionaires: Work Less, Live More with an Internet Business You Love by Scott Fox

Click Millionaires is a true staple for anyone wishing to start a business and make money online. It often lands on every list of the best passive income books.

The book was published in 2012 and changed hundreds of people’s lives in a decade. Some of the information might be outdated because, let’s be honest - the Internet rules change weekly. Still, it covers every basic principle you need to know before launching your business and earning money online.

Fox provides his readers with different case studies of corporate workers turned into business owners. Suppose these regular people trade the outdated “American dream” with cramped offices for online businesses, bringing in more profit. Why can’t you do the same? Everyone can start generating passive income with proper dedication.

Another great thing about Click Millionaires is that it helps you identify the niche you love. What do you want your future to look like in a year? If you’re having trouble imagining yourself being financially successful, read Wattles’ The Science of Getting Rich, then Click Millionaires.

You’re guaranteed to find your answer! Or see a fortune-teller to have your future described for you. Note: Honeygain is not responsible for any predictions made by third parties.

9. Passive Income, Aggressive Retirement: The Secret to Freedom, Flexibility, and Financial Independence (& how to get started!) by Rachel Richards

If your goal in life is to retire early, you’ll love this book. Rachel Richards is a renowned financial guru whose goal is to teach you everything you need to know about making money, achieving your financial goals, and getting closer to financial freedom than you ever thought possible.

The best part about this book is that it shows you a way to get a generous cash flow from investing without aggressively saving every penny. It’s a great guide on the different ways to make passive income and become one of the few people who have the financial freedom to do everything you want.

10. Passive Income Ideas: 101 Passive Income Ideas Under $1000 by Frank Coles

There’s a misconception that you need tens of thousands of dollars to build your business. Frank Coles comes in to bust this myth and show you that building a consistent cash flow is easy. The book includes some great passive income ideas starting with making money online to building a solid brand.

If you want to earn money in your spare time, try out a side hustle that this book suggests. You can get closer to achieving your desired financial freedom without much sweat and upfront costs!

Multiple Passive Income Streams Are the New Normal

The list is just the tip of the iceberg for the best passive income books that help create multiple passive income streams to build wealth. The global inflation rates in March of 2022 more than doubled as compared to the last year, and it seems it’s not the end of increasing living costs. If you strive for financial freedom, you need to start earning money and generating passive income.

Countless money-making opportunities await you, from rental property investing to starting an online business. The recommended list of books can spark some passive income ideas that you can try.