The following contribution is from MMD at MyMoneyDesign.com and IRAvs401kCentral.com; two blogs that are all about making more money and putting it hard to work so that you don’t have to.
One of the greatest things I’ve come to learn about growing my fortune is that you can greatly increase your chances of success if you just simply use the money you have NOW to do so. As a young man I thought that a high paying job or even a second job would be my only ticket to increase the amount of money I brought home every two weeks. Thankfully I was wrong and discovered there are a lot simpler money making opportunities out there that could enhance my ability for achievement.
Here are just a few of the highlights of ones you can start using today:
Personal Investing:
The first major investment I ever made was in a mutual fund. I recall researching and looking back at its past performance to see that since inception (1950’s) it made an average return of 8%. When you stop and consider how much value there is to an 8% compound return over that long of a time period, you can’t help but want to get in on the action and take advantage of this money making opportunity.
Even though a mutual fund, stock, or pretty much any major investment is NOT guaranteed, history has proven that over the long haul the majority of successful companies do prosper and so do their investors.
You don’t have to jump right into hardcore stocks in order to strike it rich. You can get your toes wet with investing by just merely buying shares of an index mutual fund. This is one of the easiest tricks to use when it comes to stock investing because you’ll simply be trailing the market average.
Retirement Funds:
It wasn’t long after I got into personal investing that I discovered my retirement fund options. In addition to the possibility of compound returns, these were even better because they offered tax sheltering incentives that my other investments did not.
In the U.S., the two most popular ones are the 401k (what you get at work) and the IRA (one that you set up yourself). Both plans offer versions where you can either pay your taxes now or pay taxes later when you finally retire. The result in both situations is that your money grows tax free!
With a 401k, the money making becomes even sweeter because your employer will often kick in some kind of matching contribution. How great is that to receive free money simply for just contributing to the plan?
Other countries such as Canada and England have their own versions of similar plans. If you aren’t participating in one, then I encourage you to talk to someone or get on the Internet to see what’s available to you.
Other Money Making Opportunities:
Investing is not the only way to make more money. There is a wealth of passive income ideas out there that you can start doing on the side to supplement or even replace your employment income. These would be things like:
- Earning advertising revenue from your blog
- Getting rental income from a property you own
- Receiving royalty income from your photos or music
- Using drop shipping to sell things on eBay
- And many more!
The best part about these opportunities is that you can do whatever fits YOU! You can do as many or as few of them as you feel comfortable with – the choice is yours.
Although they might seem like a lot of work in the beginning, over time as you automate them and get more efficient at maintaining them, you’ll begin to appreciate the dividends that they pay.
Readers – What kind of money making opportunities do you take advantage of?
This post was featured on the Geny Finance Journey, Budget and the Beach, thank you!
Nice article MMD. I agree with all of the money making methods, except for Dropshipping on eBay. That ship has come and gone. Unless you own the product, the fees are too expensive to really make any money on eBay with dropshipping. I tried this in the past and it is difficult, much more so now.
Debt Roundup recently posted…Money Multitasking – Concept and Execution
That’s very interesting that you gave drop shipping a run in the past. The 4-Hour workweek made it seem so simple, and I’m sure by now the market is saturated with ideas and cheap products that make it hard to compete. But I’m sure there are still some opportunities out there where money can be made. Think of the next big Apple or gadget product. Whoever is first to make an add-on or cover or holder or whatever will probably clean up for a short time.
Compounding is the way to go! While returns seem to be getting quite volatile, the reality is that over the long term, markets do exceed inflation by a nice amount. There is a reward for the risk of investing in equities, and its real value is shown through long-term investing and compounding.
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You’re absolutely right, and that is why I continue to invest in the markets through thick and thin. When you look at the macro view of decades of returns, it would be almost foolish not to try to take advantage of those percentages.
MMD @ IRA vs 401k Central recently posted…All the Great Things About Reaching Your Maximum 401k Contribution
I really, really like investing. It’s great to watch my investments go up knowing that I don’t have to do anything to get that extra money. Plus, like you said, if you look at compound interest it’s tough to not want to invest. Even a little bit now can add up to a lot later on.
Jake @ Common Cents Wealth recently posted…I’m Joining the Yakezie Challenge!
Investing is the ultimate in passive income. Dividends arrive in my account with no effort from me. My 401k increases with only one tweak a year. It really is fascinating how much additional money you can make with the money you have now as long as you’re willing to park it in the right places.
MMD @ IRA vs 401k Central recently posted…All the Great Things About Reaching Your Maximum 401k Contribution
I agree and use the iDRiP app for iPhone to track all my dividend stocks so I can retire as early as possible.
I definitely think it’s a good idea to get different income streams going. My wife and I are working on that now. It’s pretty exciting to think about the possibilities.
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The younger you start and the more things you give an honest try, the higher the potential that you will eventually land on something that will strike it big. What kinds of things do you think you will use?
MMD @ IRA vs 401k Central recently posted…All the Great Things About Reaching Your Maximum 401k Contribution
My wife already has a part-time practice that’s started bringing in some nice income. I’ve got ideas for making money either directly from my blog or from services I can offer as an offshoot. Obviously investing is a big part of our plans. We’re still really in the early stages of thinking this way so there’s still a lot to be fleshed out.
Matt Becker recently posted…When Does it Make Sense to Shop for Insurance?
My favorite side income is earning money through my blog, mainly because it’s not time consuming at all! I really miss my 401k! 🙁
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I’m sure with a PR4 you can probably command a pretty nice fee from advertisers. I would have never imagined that people are willing to pay you as much as they do from advertising. Nothing beats a hobby that gets you paid while you’re at it!
MMD @ IRA vs 401k Central recently posted…All the Great Things About Reaching Your Maximum 401k Contribution
Fantastic, MMD! I was just having a peek at Vanguard’s index funds today. Hmmmm.
I have and IRA with them already. But I am looking into making money through our blog too. I totally assumed none of these opportunities were for me. My parents just worked long, hard hours and made it clear that the same was expected of me. I love “working” on my guitar skills, my guitar studio, blogging and fitness, but that is not what they meant;)
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The older generation doesn’t approve of what they don’t understand. That’s how they did things because the opportunities were different back then. No matter what decade you’re in, I think there is always something going on that is hot and full of income potential right now. It may not last forever, but its great to cash in while you can.
I’ve had a lot of talks with my Dad about how much side income my sites bring in. About a week later he called me up to tell me he bought a URL. 🙂
MMD @ IRA vs 401k Central recently posted…All the Great Things About Reaching Your Maximum 401k Contribution
It’s definitely fun to look at the lifelong ways to make money. I have rental income from our basement rental unit, make money from my blog, and invest in my retirement fund. Besides that I just do the regular 9-5 grind.
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Running my own business for maximum income and using that income to buy equity investments and rental properties has worked wonders for me. Even though not everybody wants to be self-employed, anyone can create an investment portfolio and profit.
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I’m doing what you said above which it to advertise on my website. I’m not earning that much today but I believe that there would be a day that I will be. I’m also planning to invest by next year after I build up my emergency fund.
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I also prefer the investing route, but you can typically get much better than 8% returns if you’re willing to put in the work to run your own business!
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