Residual income is a stream of income that persists from one work project or investment.
Residual income is also known as passive income, and is income which comes from an investment of money or work in the past, where minimal or no additional money, work, or maintenance is required. Residual income could come from investments such income-generating real estate, or work completed such as a published book or acting in a commercial.
Some jobs are popular for their potential to collect residual income from work completed in the past, such as insurance sales and investment advisory work. Types of residual income might be compared based on whether the money is taxed at short or long-term capital gains. Most of it will be short-term.