The final and most recent piece of the creator triad is monetization. Being a creator is hard and often unforgiving work. One study found that reaching the top 3.5% of YouTube channels—which means about 1 million views each month—only nets you $12,000 to $16,000 a year, around the federal poverty line.

If you had a million dollars invested at 6%, the million dollars would give you $60,000 a year in cash flow, without ever touching the million dollars. (Six percent of a million is $60,000.) If you divide that $60,000 by twelve months, it would give you $5,000 a month. So if you had a million dollars invested at 6% you could live off that interest.

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