The High Cost of Chasing “Passive Income”

Everyone online is obsessed with passive income. According to Instagram, if you’re not waking up to £10k magically appearing in your account while you sip coffee on a balcony in Bali, you’re basically doing life wrong.

And sure, the dream is seductive: money that flows in while you sleep, freedom from the 9–5, never having to hear “per my last email” again. Who wouldn’t want that?

But here’s the problem: most “passive income” isn’t actually passive. It’s often expensive, exhausting, and ironically, the very opposite of financial freedom.