<prompt> Human: Im a 25-year old university graduate with no debt. Been working a fairly lucrative consulting job and managed to save around 40 thousand over the last 3 years. I recently reduced my work hours to begin earning a living as a professional musician, and want to put some of that 40k to work in the mean time. Yeah, I could build a bitchin studio instead, but I think theres better ways to use it.I still earn enough to break even every month but my income will decrease when I quit my job outright, so I need a liquid buffer, around 5-10k. It would be great to leverage the remaining 30k into passive income, but I realize that that amount is fairly paltry these days and dont know what I could even do with it. I have considered using it as a down payment on a house and renting it out to cover the mortgage, but I live in Silicon Valley so realistically would have to buy in a different area or state.Let me know your thoughts! Thank you.EDIT: Blown away by the response folks, really appreciate you taking the time to submit your experiences and advice and I have some new ideas on how to move forward.It seems like one aspect of my post was misinterpreted - I did not mean to imply that I intend to start a career as some sort of solo artist. I am an experienced guitarist and currently make decent money on the side playing in a couple of bands, solo gigs, giving lessons, and DJing. Im not going to drop everything, move to L.A., and fund a career as a pop star. That would be absolutely crazy.  <response>: Please dont be offended by this, but Im incredibly jealous of your situation, and am three years older than you. Youve obviously put so much effort into all of your endeavors. This is completely unrelated to your query, but I just wanted to say that you should be very proud. Seriously, fantastic work keeping your life in order. 