Hey there, Tom here.

Now yesterday, I sent out WiFi Wealth Insider members a pretty cool and niche side hustle opportunity. If you missed that one, definitely search your inbox for it because it’s a juicy one!

But today, I wanted to share something a bit less flashy but incredibly important for building real wealth…

💵👉 Fixed-income investing.

This is honestly the easiest way to put your money to work for you. It’s also the fastest way to create a new income stream while fighting off the pain of inflation.

The best part?

You don’t need to be rich to get started.

In fact, you can try out several fixed-income investing methods as soon as today.

Here are some of the most popular methods, plus actual companies paying top interest rates right now 👇

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A HYSA is my favorite fixed-income investment and how I think everyone should start.

You deposit money in a HYSA and earn a fixed interest rate. These rates can change, but you can always move your money around to better HYSAs if your bank drops rates.

Banks also have FDIC-insurance of up to $250,000 in the US, so this is a very safe place to park your money.

Right now I'm using Current Bank for my side hustle income. It doesn't charge fees and pays 4% APY right now on up to $6,000 which is pretty solid.

CIT Bank is another solid one and can get up to 4.10% APY currently. VIO Bank hovers around 4% APY generally, and there's a lot of regional banks or online-only banks that have decent rates too.

💸 Pro Tip: If you're opening a high-yield savings account somewhere, see if you can get a sign-up bonus from that bank for doing so. Reward apps can pay you for doing this too. For example, you can often get $100 to $300 when you open a bank account with a company like Kashkick which is pretty easy money 😎

CDs are savings accounts that pay you a fixed interest rate on your deposit for a fixed period of time. When your CD reaches maturity/the end of the term, you get your money back.

Loads of banks and financial institutions offer these.

Many CDs are in terms like 3-months, 6-months, 12-months etc. But you can find CDs lasting years. Importantly, you can also find no-penalty CDs that don't penalize you if you withdraw your money early, which many normal CDs do.

Lots of options here too 😎

Companies like Bread Savings have some at around 4%. Quontic Bank has a nice 3-month CD that pays 3.60% APY. Synchrony is another solid one historically, and you can search for rates online to find what's highest at a given time.

Bonds are one of the most classic fixed-income investments out there.

When you buy a bond, you're essentially lending money to a government, municipality, or corporation. In return, they pay you interest over a set period of time and then return your principal when the bond matures.

Generally speaking, government bonds are considered safer but pay lower yields, while corporate bonds tend to offer higher returns in exchange for taking on more risk.

You can buy individual bonds through many brokerage accounts, but honestly, I think bond ETFs are the easiest route for most people. Funds like BND or AGG give you exposure to hundreds or thousands of bonds at once instead of betting on a single issuer.

Not the most exciting investment in the world, but there's a reason retirees and conservative investors love them.

Okay, this one isn't technically fixed income, but it scratches a similar itch 😅 It's also something I'm dabbling with more now.

There are real estate crowdfunding platforms, private lending platforms, and debt-focused REITs that aim to generate relatively predictable income streams from real estate projects.

For example, some private real estate debt funds lend money to developers and investors and then pass a portion of the interest income on to investors.

There's also real estate crowdfunding companies out there where you buy shares of income-generating real estate and then earn monthly income from the rent these properties produce.

For example, Ark7 lets you buy shares of income-generating rentals starting at $20. I'm starting to use it now with a small deposit, and it's an income stream I want to build. Arrived Homes is similar but has a $100 minimum.

The catch? These investments usually aren't as liquid as stocks, savings accounts, or bonds. They can also carry significantly more risk depending on the platform and project.

I wouldn't consider this "safe" fixed income, but for investors looking for higher yields and some diversification, it's an interesting category to research 😎

Money market accounts are kind of like a hybrid between a checking account and a high-yield savings account.

You deposit cash and earn interest while still having relatively easy access to your money. Many money market accounts also come with debit cards, checks, or transfer features that make them more flexible than CDs.

I’m actually keeping a lot of my savings here right now. I want my money to earn something while it sits on the sideline, so a MMA works great for this purpose.

The yields are usually pretty competitive with high-yield savings accounts, although rates vary depending on the bank and interest rate environment.

I personally view money market accounts as another good place to park an emergency fund or cash you're planning to use within the next year or two. Similar to a HYSA.

They're not going to make you rich, but they can help your cash earn something while staying liquid.

Treasury Bills (T-Bills) are short-term debt issued by the U.S. government.

They're sold in terms ranging from a few weeks up to one year and are generally considered one of the safest investments available since they're backed by the U.S. government.

One thing that's cool about T-Bills is that you don't actually receive traditional interest payments. Instead, you buy them at a discount and receive the full face value when they mature.

For example, you might buy a $1,000 T-Bill for $960 and then receive $1,000 when it matures.

Lots of people have been using T-Bills over the last few years because yields became surprisingly competitive compared to savings accounts and CDs.

You can buy them directly through TreasuryDirect or through many brokerage accounts.

Annuities are basically contracts with insurance companies.

You give the insurance company a lump sum of money (or make ongoing contributions), and they agree to pay you income in the future according to the terms of the contract.

Some annuities provide guaranteed payments for a certain number of years, while others can provide income for the rest of your life.

The biggest advantage is predictability. If your goal is creating a paycheck-like income stream in retirement, annuities can help accomplish that.

The downside is that annuities can be complicated, expensive, and often come with fees, surrender periods, and restrictions that many people don't fully understand.

Personally, I'm not a fan of annuities. But wanted to include them in this list since some people like them.

There’s more niche examples of fixed-income investments out there. But these are some of the most popular strategies to get started.

I’d also love to know 👉 Are you mixing fixed-income investing into your portfolio right now? Or do you stick to the general market, dividend stocks, ETFs, and other asset classes? Let me know!

BUT like I promised, I want to share a pretty niche way to turn your data into rewards, completely on autopilot 😎👇

I’ve tested out some pretty weird ways to earn online over the years 😅

But earning data dividends and rewards is probably one of the strangest.

HOWEVER…It turns out a lot of market research companies are willing to pay you for your data. They want information about the ads you see online and how your internet experience goes, essentially.

If you stack several data reward apps, you can earn about $200 to $300 per year in my experience. Nothing that will make you rich, but a nice ‘set-and-forget’ kind of side hustle.

Currently, these are the 3 main data reward platforms I’m using:

Again, you have to be comfortable with sharing your data with market research companies for this hustle to make sense. However, once you set these apps up, they run passively, so it’s pretty hands-off after the initial sign up process.

I’ve been doing this for years without issues. But this won’t be everyone’s cup of tea 😅

But if you’re looking for some easy data rewards. I’d start with these 3 companies.

I also cover another 10+ data reward apps on my blog, The Budget Diet, if you’re interested in this space.