Articles

Filter by Category:

All Risk Sentiment Debt Retirement Mindset Geopolitics Bonds Investing Life

An Emergency Fund Will Save You

An Emergency Fund Will Save You

Seems like every time I turn around, I need to pay to fix something. These unforeseen expenses… we have no choice but to pay ’em.

Read more

3 Places to Park Your Cash Amid Banking Crisis

3 Places to Park Your Cash Amid Banking Crisis

It's not good to have all your money in the same place.

Read more

How to Volatility-Proof Your Portfolio

How to Volatility-Proof Your Portfolio

Asset allocation is the most important thing in the world. Yet most investors spend zero time thinking about it.

Read more

Top 3 Ways to Make More Money

Top 3 Ways to Make More Money

Most people want more money. Far fewer are willing to do what it takes to get it.

Let’s start with the obvious ways:

  • Work longer: Work more hours or get a second job.

  • Work more productively: Get more done in the time allotted and maybe get a raise.

  • Illegal stuff: Drugs/prostitution/whatever. I hate to bring it up, but this is a path that some people take (at the cost of their character, health, safety, etc.). Walter White did it. You should not.

  • Win the lottery.

  • Sell platelets.

There are also some non-obvious ways to make more money:

Any high school teacher who wants to get rich needs to get a different job. Realistically, that could mean becoming a real estate agent and potentially making two to four times a teacher’s salary.

But most people don’t want to change jobs. They define themselves by what they do. “I am an educator. I help children.” Doing something different would blow up their identity.

Most teachers/nurses/civil servants derive some non-monetary benefit from their jobs. They make sacrifices, so a certain amount of prestige comes with the job.

That prestige is worth something. You could quantify it by asking people how much money it would take for them to do something different.

Another non-obvious way to make money:

  • Start income investing (real estate, etc.)

You could save up some money, buy a piece of property, and rent it out. If you do it right, you are cash flow-positive. You can borrow more money and do it again and again.

I want to emphasize something here: Borrowing money is dangerous. But you can make a lot of money doing this if the economy works in your favor.

RV parks, dental offices, and other businesses also spit out income. I know plenty of people who make a good living off the income from their investments.

  • Hands down, the best way to make money is to start a business.

Just about everyone has sat around drinking beer and dreaming up a business idea. My wife thinks tattoo removal would be a great business, especially here in Myrtle Beach. She might be right, although I don’t think people around here are capable of regret.

Anyway, an idea for a business, even a good idea, is virtually worthless without execution. You have to research tattoo removal machines, get certified to do it, rent office space, put a sign on the door, and form an LLC. All that just to remove tattoos.

And what if someone opens one up next door? There’s a lot of risk involved.

Most people, deep down, don’t start a business because they are afraid of the risk.

It’s good to have a healthy fear of risk. If you start a business with your own money and fail, it blows up your personal finances. You could go bankrupt.

If you start a business with other people’s money and it fails, you have to deal with angry people.

But if you want to get really rich, it’s the best way to do it. Why? Because you are investing in yourself.

Money Is a Choice

You can do any or all of these things. You can work harder or longer, get a different job, fool around with real estate, or start your own business.

Most people do none of those things. They are content with what they have, which is an economic choice.

Or their self-image is tied up in not being rich, which is another economic choice. They like to identify as an average Joe. And that’s fine! But you can’t do that and then gripe about not having money. You can’t have it both ways.

If you want more money, try doing the things that people with money do. Lose the cargo shorts. Stop watching The Learning Channel. Hang out where rich people hang out.

Most of all, get ready for lots and lots of hard work. Sure, there is easy money to be made sometimes. But most of the time, it’s a grind. And there are no shortcuts.

Yes, it gets easier after a while. And when you see someone who has money, they probably make it look easy. It’s a bit like an iceberg, though—you’re only seeing the top 10% of it. Underneath is a whole lot of sweat and toil.

The reality is, making money is hard. It is also worth it.

You’ll know what I mean when you get there.

Jared Dillian
Jared Dillian

 

Let Jared Help! Depending on your comfort level, we suggest picking one of these four options to get started:

  1. How Do I Start Investing? FREE Course: The thought of learning how to invest can seem intimidating. But it doesn’t have to be.

    With the right approach, you can kickstart your investing journey with the certainty you’re getting exactly what you need. How Do I Start Investing? is the perfect guide for when you’re ready to dive in.

  1. Jared Dillian’s Strategic Portfolio: Get access to Jared’s stress-free portfolio with this monthly newsletter.

    Timely, actionable investment ideas on exchange-traded funds that can help you mitigate volatility and build a resilient and profitable core portfolio, protecting you in bad times while prospering in good times. Yearly subscriptions available.

  1. The Daily Dirtnap: Jared’s macro newsletter for investing professionals. This daily letter takes a top-down approach, looking at the various asset classes, including stocks, bonds, currencies, and commodities. Join over 4,000 readers who read his market insights every weekday.

  1. Street Freak: As the most active of Jared’s portfolio products, Street Freak is an aggressive stock-picking newsletter. It’s written for astute investors who crave creative, fresh macro analysis and forward-looking trade ideas so they can invest more opportunistically, without much hand-holding along the way.

    Adjusted for risk, of course. But this is not for the faint of heart. Jared and his readers are trying to make a lot of money here.

 
Teenagers Should Get a Job to Develop These Skills

Teenagers Should Get a Job to Develop These Skills

So much of what we know about money we learn at a young age.

Read more

‹ First  < 13 14 15 16 17 >  Last ›