Through any form of paid work. Selling stock etc. doesn't count, but returns from a business do.
Edit to add: if from a business, this will count profit, not revenue (so costs are subtracted).
Edit to add: Since this is going to come up, I'll clarify that business "profit" will be whatever I end up counting as profit on my 2023 taxes. This may be more complex than revenue minus costs, because of IRS rules about amortizing capital costs over multiple years. I'll just say that my current uncertainty about tax law will be built into the market 🤷
@SeitaY not much! The business ended earlier than expected (the farmers market I was selling from canceled their fall season) and at this point it looks like I will be net negative for the year on that.
@ian I've been working on starting a business and had an increase in my estimate of upfront cost :-)
@Stralor It would have to be some sort of currency easily convertible to dollars, but I really don't anticipate being paid in any other currencies. If you mean barter, that doesn't count.
@PhatFree Thirty, have in the past made $many as a software engineer, have not been employed for the past couple years (and have no particular plans to go back to full-time work).