The fastest way to build wealth is to increase your income. Yes, people who make $50k/year can build wealth eventually but that is not the fastest way to get there. it’s easier to build wealth on a $200k/year income than it is on a $50k/year income. There’s no doubt about it.
The thing that I highly disliked the most in the online personal finance space is how much they talk about how great saving and investing really is. While it is great, that doesn’t mean that it’s the best way to get there. The ones who built the real wealth are the ones who increased income.
I have a 27-year old friend who makes $300k/year. He is easily building wealth by buying as much real estate that he possibly can. He doesn’t work 80 hour work weeks, either, he works something like 40 hours per week. That’s where the real money is built.
Using 9-5 income to invest so that he makes even more than $300k/year thereafter. The fastest way to build wealth is to increase your income. It’s mountain times easier to build wealth on $200k/year income than it is on $100k/year income.
Saving money just becomes much easier. When you increase your income by $100k/year and decrease expenses by $5k/year, building wealth is inevitable. Especially more so if you invest the leftover money in real estate, stocks, and the like.
You will be amazed just how much money you can build up.
Fastest Way to Build Wealth: 9 Ways to Get There
Below are the 9 fastest way to build wealth. You can literally buy income to move up in the world!
1) The Fastest Way to Build Wealth is to Increase Income
This can be through anything. It can be through side hustles, changing jobs, asking for a raise, getting a promotion, and anything of the kind. If you can increase income, everything falls into place. People don’t feel poor because of low net worth. People feel poor because of low income.
Increasing income is by far the fastest way to build wealth.
When I raised my income from $80k to $110k through my salary negotiation example, that’s when my net worth started to skyrocket faster. Income doesn’t just have to be salary. It can be through other means like taking advantage of employer sponsored benefits.
If you don’t contribute up to the 401k match, it means you got a pay cut. If you didn’t contribute to your HSA for the employer match, it also means you got a pay cut. When more money comes in, the better your life becomes. It’s just a game.
Too many people think they are powerless in growing their income until they actually get a life-changing job offer one time. It will make a huge difference.
2) Lower Expenses
Another strategy in the fastest way to build wealth way is to lower expenses. I’ve seen it time and time again. The one who makes $300k/year spends $200k/year. Therefore, they only have $100k/year to invest their money with.
I invest more than $100k/year even though I make less than $300k/year. Therefore, even though I make a whopping six figures less than my counterparts, I still build wealth faster than them. It’s nothing to do with my intelligence, it has everything to do with my behavior.
Even small amounts like an additional $100/month makes a huge difference by the 30th year. When you stop spending frivolous amounts of money and trim the fat, you’ll see just how much money that you’re wasting on a monthly basis.
There’s no need to spend $20/month on Netflix if you don’t use it in the first place. Your life will be just fine without it.
3) Increase Investments
Your life changes once you realize that you can literally buy income. If you’re making $100k/year, you should be investing ~$50k/year which should get you an additional $4k/year. So then in the second year, you should be making $104k/year and investing $52k/year.
Then so on and so on. The fastest way to build wealth is to invest in high quality assets like real estate and the stock market. Those two asset classes are proven asset classes to build wealth. It’s made many millionaires and it’ll continue to make many more millionaires down the road.
Stocks have been the greatest reason for my wealth building efforts. It’s why I’ve been able to build a $400k net worth at the age of 27. I have no plans to slow down and I believe $1million by 30 is a real possibility. Through promotions and side hustles, I hope to get there in the next couple of years.
Investments will do good for your life in building wealth.
4) Start a Lucrative Side Hustle
Not real estate investing. Real estate investing is that it requires capital. It requires more capital than people think and give it credit for, too. You can’t easily start real estate investing with just hustle alone. You need money and time to start one.
So then it’s not a good side hustle to get into. The key is to start a lucrative side hustle that generates an additional $2k – $5k/month after 3 – 5 years passively. Without risking a large sum of money. Things like blogging, YouTubing, podcasting, social media influencing, and the like are all lucrative ventures to get into.
The fastest way to build wealth is to increase income. What better way to increase income than to start a side hustle that pays for 100% of your lifestyle? Then you can invest 100% of the paycheck from your day job and then some if there’s leftover money from the side hustle.
The lucrative side hustles and the ones that are worth your time are out there. You just have to find it and put in effort in doing so.
5) Work Weekends and Nights
Too many people go home after work only to watch TV and do nothing after. That’s not the way to live if you want to get ahead. The fastest way to build wealth is to leverage your weekends and nights towards making more money and saving more money.
I haven’t taken a single weekend off in the past two years. I’ve been so busy creating content, both in my blog and my Twitter. Do I earn any money from my efforts? Nope. However, I love doing so and wouldn’t ever see myself stopping.
One day, I know my efforts are going to pay off. Until it does, I don’t mind providing my knowledge and efforts for free for the world to enjoy. While my coworkers and friends are sleeping and traveling around, I’m having fun creating content and making my way into the world.
Hard work is a great tool to use to get ahead. Too few people take advantage of it, which is great for you.
6) The Fastest Way to Build Wealth is to Take Action Faster
There’s no need to second guess. If you want to start a blog, there’s no need to dwell about the name, how perfect the logo is, and how imperfect the layout of your website is. What matters is what content do you have for readers to enjoy and gain value from?
Don’t second guess. Just go, go, go. The fastest way to build wealth is to focus on the things that your customers and readers care about. There’s no point in thinking about your website layout when your readers don’t even care about that.
All they care about is your content and what value can you content bring to them. There’s no need to care about how you present yourself to a potential customer. What matters is, does the customer transfer their hard earned money from their wallet onto yours?
If that’s a yes, then your customers want and care about the value you provide. That is all that matters.
7) Learn How to Sell
Selling is the greatest skill that will ALWAYS be valued, even in a recession. If you can sell, your company will never get rid of you. Why would they get rid of you when you are a profitable employee? The fastest way to build wealth is to learn how to sell.
One business idea that I had is to approach companies and offer to save them $1,000,000, depending on the size of the company. If I can save them $1mil, I wanted $500k from the savings. That would be the easiest sale in the world if I can get in front of the right people.
However, I haven’t gotten that idea off the ground because I haven’t the knowledge. If I had known how to sell that idea, business would be running well. As a personal finance fanatic, I know a little about knowing how to save money. However, I haven’t been able to sell the idea to others yet.
Sales will be your greatest asset during any economic cycle and can be used to build wealth anywhere, anytime.
8) Sacrifice for a Few Years
The fastest way to build wealth is to sacrifice for 3 – 5 years. I don’t know anyone who built wealth without sacrifice. They either had to work long weekends or didn’t eat out to save money. They even didn’t hang out with family or friends that often.
There’s nothing wrong with disappearing for a few years while you work on yourself and build your goals. I personally don’t see a lot of my friends often unless it’s a special occasion. I went to weddings, reunions, and if my out of town friends were in town, I would see them.
Otherwise, I’m too busy working on myself, my business, and everything else that I haven’t a lot of time to devote to them. The fastest way to build wealth is to sacrifice for a few years. It will all have been worth it by the end, once you gain results.
Your true friends will remain and still be your beloved friends down the line. They will understand and give you leeway to work on your goals.
9) Review Your Progress Quarterly
Are you reaching your goals? What do you need to change? What isn’t measured can’t be improved. The fastest way to build wealth is to review your progress quarterly and at see if you’re making progress. You don’t want to end up nowhere after putting in that much effort and work.
I review my blog’s progress on a monthly basis to review my progress. I review my net worth on a quarterly basis to see if I’m trending in the right direction. When you review your progress and goals, you will progress faster than if you weren’t doing so.
Whatever your measure of wealth is, whether it’s a certain net worth figure or a certain cash flow figure, measure it. Then figure out a way to optimize and make it more efficient than what you are doing right now. There’s always a way to improve your life to be as optimal as you want it to be.
Your finances can always be improved. You can’t build wealth if you don’t know where you’re going.
The Fastest Way to Build Wealth is Achievable
Building wealth slowly is completely OK. However, this post is for those who tried to build wealth slowly for 5 years and want to go a little faster. The fastest way to build wealth is to increase income, first and foremost. Then there are additional strategies on top to get there.
What’s more shocking is that the fastest way to build wealth is achievable. Too many people have a mental barrier preventing them from earning $200k/year. It’s more than possible. When you actually start making $200k/yr, you are going to ask yourself, “did that just happen?”.
If you’re trying to get there through a job change, it’s going to happen in one stroke. It can happen with just one job change to get there. When it happens, you are going to feel a sense of accomplishment. Even if you don’t do it through a job change, you can do it through side hustles.
There are many side hustles earning $100k/year. Then add in a $100k/year job, then everything becomes much easier. Your wealth building efforts just accelerate. The fastest way to build wealth is to make as much money as you can so you have the tools to grow your wealth with.
There is nothing wrong with being economically motivated. There are many people who see you as greedy for wanting to make more money to take care of your family. That’s OK. All you need to do is ignore them and take the fastest way to build wealth steps all the way to the bank.
Your own family will love you for it.
The Fastest Way to Build Wealth: 9 Shortlist Ways
- The fastest way to build wealth is to increase income
- Lower expenses
- Increase investments
- Start a lucrative side hustle
- Work weekends and nights
- The fastest way to build wealth is to research faster
- Learn how to sell
- Sacrifice for a few years
- Review your progress quarterly
