In a recent issue of Home Business Magazine the statement was made that ". . .you will never get rich, nor gain financial independence or financial freedom working for someone else! When you're working for someone else, you're making them rich, but not yourself."

The best definition of financial freedom I've ever heard was in a workshop I attended called "The Millionaire Mind" conducted by T. Harv Eker. He said:

"Financial freedom is being able to buy the things you want and live the lifestyle you desire without having work for it or rely on anyone else for money."

So you're probably asking "What sources of income can do this?" The list of possibilities could go on for pages but let me share a few just to give you an idea of what I'm talking about:

* Write a book or compose a song -- the passive residual income is the royalties you're paid. You work once and continue to get paid again and again every time your book or song sells even if you never write another book or another song for the rest of your life!

* Network marketing -- building a "downline business" is where the passive residual income comes from. As your team or business partners go to work you receive a commission from the work they do because you recruited and trained them even if you never recruit and train anyone else.

* Owning mortgages -- these mortgage notes are most often created in "for sale by owner" situations. When the seller of the property agrees to finance part of the purchase price for the buyer, a mortgage note is generated. When you buy one of these notes, the passive income is the monthly interest someone pays you on the note.

* Real estate rentals -- the passive income is the monthly rental fees your tenants pay you. Other than minor repairs which may be needed, and making sure the property is properly maintained, you don't have to do anything, as long at the property is rented.

* Investing in the stock market -- you invest your money once and it keeps paying you dividends. Of course you've got to keep your eye on the market so you know when (and if) to buy and sell. But once you're invested and the market is trending upwards, your money comes in without you having to lift a finger.

* Owning an ATM or vending machine -- once you've purchased the machine and have it set up in an appropriate place all you've got to do is make sure you have a reliable supplier to keep it stocked. You get a portion of any ATM transaction or anything sold via a vending machine.

* Internet marketing -- having a website that is selling a product or service people want can produce passive residual income 24/7, month after month. Once set up (and tested!) your site will just keep bringing in the money without you having to do anything other and some occasional "tweaking" of your websites.

* Membership website -- this is really part of internet marketing but it's so powerful I decided to discuss it on its own. When you have valuable content you have produced, you can deliver it to people over time when they pay you a small monthly membership fee. All you have to do is create the initial content, upload it to your membership site, and then automatically collect the monthly fees.

* Affiliate marketing -- this is another one that could be listed as a sub-category under internet marketing, but, like membership website, it's so powerful on its own I decided to list it separately. When you join a company's affiliate program you are paid a commission for selling their products to other people. There are some companies who will pay more than 50% commissions to their affiliates!

As I mentioned earlier, there are many, many more things that could be added to this list, but I wanted to give you a snap-shot of some of the possibilities.