The challenge when looking to make an extra income is that most people earn a living by trading their most precious resource; time.
The truth is, whether you stack shelves in a supermarket or perform open heart surgery – in both instances, you are swapping your time for money. Admittedly, an open heart surgeon is able to charge a lot more for their time than someone stacking shelves due to the value of their knowledge but both are restricted in the same way (i.e. there’s an earnings ceiling plus there’s only so many hours in a day you can really work).
The amount you are able to trade for your time is contingent on the value you provide; an attorney will often charge more for an hour of their time than a janitor – because the service they provide has a higher perceived value; which is not to say they have more value as a human – it just means they are creating more value in the sense of the outcome they are providing.
The challenge, even if you are a highly paid attorney, is that if you want to earn an extra income there are only so many hours in the week that you can trade your time for money – and there’s also a ceiling that people are willing to pay. Similarly, presuming you value your life beyond work – you need time to enjoy life.
Here are three ways you can start to have your money work for you – rather than you having to work for it.
INVEST IN BITCOIN
You don’t need to be Chris Pivik to know the recent boom in the value of cryptocurrency has seen many people kicking themselves for not investing a few years back. Whilst the value can shoot up or come crashing down, investing in a currency that is likely to appreciate in value over time, is a great strategy to start having your money work for you rather than you having to work for it.
INVEST IN THE STOCK MARKET
There’s a number of online stock market trading courses you can take to get your head around the logistics, but in reality, it’s reasonably simple and there are some low-risk strategies to protect your downside.
HIGH-INTEREST BANK ACCOUNT
Admittedly, you need money to start with but if you were to have $100,000 in a high-interest bank account, some of which will pay up to 20% interest in countries such as Turkey and India – that would be $20,000… which is a decent yield given the money invested is not at risk; unlike in the two options above.
In summary, there are several ways you can start making money work for you – meaning you are leveraging the money you have as an asset that starts generating passive income; rather than you having to work for it in the sense of having to trade your time for money. This is the best strategy for being truly wealthy in the standard definition of financial freedom.
Contributors
