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In a televised address to the nation on Dec. 17, President Donald Trump unveiled a surprise Christmas bonus for one group of Americans.
“I am … proud to announce that more than 1,450,000 military service members will receive a special, we call ‘warrior dividend,’ before Christmas,” Trump said (1).
The amount, he added, carries symbolic weight.
“In honor of our nation’s founding in 1776 we are sending every soldier $1,776,” he said, noting that the checks “are already on the way.”
The Department of War has issued a news release clarifying exactly who qualifies (2): “Active-duty service members in the pay grades of O-6 and below as of Nov. 30, as well as reserve component service members on active-duty orders of 31 days or more as of Nov. 30, are eligible for this one-time payment.”
As for how the nearly $2.6 billion payment will be funded (3), Trump credited one of his signature policies: tariffs.
“We made a lot more money than anybody thought because of tariffs and the bill helped us along,” he said. “Nobody deserves it more than our military and I say congratulations to everybody.”
Tariffs have been generating meaningful monthly revenue.
In November, customs duties totaled $30.76 billion (4) — slightly below October’s $31.35 billion (5) — and Trump has floated several ideas for how to use that money.
He has, for instance, suggested that he may cut income taxes “completely” because tariff revenue would be “so large.” However, critics quickly countered, arguing that replacing income tax with tariff revenue is “mathematically impossible.”
Trump has also promoted the idea of giving low- and middle-income Americans a “tariff dividend,” writing on Truth Social in November that “a dividend of at least $2,000 a person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone.” He did not revisit that proposal on Wednesday.
While it remains to be seen how Washington will ultimately use tariff revenue, you don’t have to wait for Uncle Sam to deliver a windfall — savvy investors have long built their own passive income streams. Here are three simple ways to get started.
So what’s a dividend, anyway? In the investing world, it’s a slice of a company’s profits that gets paid back to shareholders — typically on a quarterly basis.
Owning dividend-paying stocks allows you to collect passive income without selling your shares — and it can be surprisingly satisfying. As John D. Rockefeller, one of the richest Americans in history, once said, “Do you know the only thing that gives me pleasure? It’s to see my dividends coming in.”
While stock prices can rise and fall, companies with a strong track record of paying — and growing — dividends offer investors a steady cash flow. Over time, those increases can compound into a powerful income stream.
If you’d rather not pick individual stocks, dividend-focused exchange-traded funds (ETFs) offer a simple alternative. These funds hold a basket of dividend-paying companies, providing instant diversification across industries.
Their platform also offers both a traditional IRA and a Roth IRA, so you can benefit from tax-efficient retirement investing.Even better, new Robinhood customers can also get a free stock curated from top American companies once you sign up and link your bank account to the app.
Real estate is another popular way to generate recurring income. When you own a rental property and tenants pay rent, you earn a steady monthly cash flow.
It’s also a popular hedge against inflation, as property values and rental income tend to rise alongside the cost of living.
However, while real estate investing has clear benefits, being a landlord comes with its own challenges. Managing a property involves finding and screening tenants, collecting rent and handling maintenance and repair requests (out of your own pocket) — and that’s assuming you can save enough for a downpayment and get a mortgage to buy the property in the first place.
The good news? You don’t need to buy a property outright — or deal with leaky faucets — to invest in real estate today. Crowdfunding platforms like Arrived offer an easier way to get exposure to this income-generating asset class.
The process is simple: Browse a curated selection of homes that have been vetted for their appreciation and income potential. Once you find a property you like, select the number of shares you’d like to purchase and then sit back as you start receiving any positive rental income distributions from your investment.
Another option is Mogul, a real estate investment platform offering fractional ownership in blue-chip rental properties, which gives investors monthly rental income, real-time appreciation and tax benefits — without the need for a hefty down payment or 3 a.m. tenant calls.
Each property undergoes a rigorous vetting process, requiring a minimum 12% return even in downside scenarios. Across the board, the platform features an average annual IRR of 18.8%. Offerings often sell out in under three hours, with investments typically ranging between $15,000 and $40,000 per property.
You don’t need a massive investment portfolio to build passive income. Even your spare cash can work harder for you — earning competitive yields instead of sitting idle.
One of the simplest ways to put that money to work is by moving it into an account that actually rewards you. High-yield savings accounts (HYSAs) won’t make you rich overnight, but they do offer a low-risk way to earn interest on money you may need to access at any time.
And the difference can be significant. While the national interest rate average on savings accounts is an APY of 0.39%, online banks can offer you much more competitive returns — in some cases up to 10 times more.
