Creators

Passive income for creators: which income is really passive

Updated: 6 October 2026 Holdwise editorial team

Creators are the world's most targeted audience for passive-income fantasies, and well placed to build the real thing. The test is simple: passive income is money that shows up in a month you did zero work. Most of what wears that label fails the test. Here is what qualifies, and the repeated relocate that works. At Holdwise, we keep this answer up to date and change it when the rules change.

Income that is really passive

A broad index portfolio inside the holding. You get dividends and growth in value, with zero meetings. This is the most passive form of income. See index investing from your BV for the details.
Interest on company deposits and bonds. The amounts are small and certain, and you receive them with zero work.
Your back catalogue: old content for which you still receive ad and licence revenue. Almost every creator undervalues this asset. If the holding owns it and licenses it out, the holding receives regular licence income from it.

Semi-passive: a low-maintenance business

Courses and digital products: the margins are good, but you still need to update them, help customers and follow platform changes. That takes perhaps four hours a week.
Property: tenants, maintenance and empty periods all take work. Property is worth it once you have enough capital, from roughly the €500,000 level.
Licensing your brand to products that others run. This comes closest to passive income if the contract is well drafted.

Income that only looks passive

Dropshipping shops, automated agencies and AI side businesses sold through courses are all operating businesses. Over time, they need work and often staff. They can be good businesses. As a pension, they are unreliable.

The repeated relocate

The real creator play has one relocation, repeated: convert active peak income into owning assets, inside the structure, every single month. Channel earns → operating BV (besloten vennootschap, the Dutch private limited company) pays 19% → surplus rises tax free to the holding. The holding buys assets → the assets pay you in the years the channel goes quiet. This is the entire wealth strategy of this programme, and it starts at start here.

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Frequently asked questions

What passive income works for creators? +

A broad portfolio inside the holding, interest, and your licensed back catalogue. You receive income from these three even in a month with zero work. Courses and property are semi-passive, because they still need some work.

Is my old content really an asset? +

Yes. Old content for which you still receive revenue is intellectual property. If the holding owns it and licenses it out, you keep it even when you sell the operating company.

How do I turn creator income into passive income? +

One repeated relocate: peak income passes through the operating BV at 19%, rises tax free to the holding, and buys assets there every month. The assets fund the quiet years.