How to get rich
Content
Wealth: everyone wants it, but few people actually know what they need to do in
order to get there. Becoming rich is a combination of luck, skill, and patience.
You have to be at least a little lucky; you build on that luck with your skillf
ul decisions, and then you continue weathering the storm as your wealth grows. W
e're not going to lie to you
getting rich isn't easy
but with a little bit of pe
rseverance and the right information, it's definitely possible!
Method 1 of 5: Saving Money
Get Rich Step 1 Version 4.jpg
1Pay yourself first. This means before you go and blow your pay check on a new p
air of shoes or a golf club you don't need, put money aside in to an account tha
t you don't touch. Do this every time you get paid and watch your account grow.
Ad
Get Rich Step 2 Version 4.jpg
2Make a budget. Create a monthly budget that covers all of your basic expenses a
nd leaves a little bit of "fun" money aside. Do not go over this. Sticking by yo
ur budget and saving at least some money each month is the surest way of getting
rich.
Get Rich Step 3 Version 4.jpg
3Downgrade on your car and house. Could you make do with an apartment instead of
a house, or have roommates instead of your own place? Could you buy a used car
instead of a new one and use it more sparingly? These are all ways to save a ton
of money every month.
Get Rich Step 4 Version 5.jpg
4Cut expenses. Look at the ways you frivolously spend money and remove everythin
g. For example, avoid going to Starbucks every morning. That $4 you spend on des
igner coffee every morning comes out to $20 per week, or $1,040 over the course
of a year!
Get Rich Step 5 Version 4.jpg
5Spend your tax refund wisely. In 2007, the average American tax refund was $2,7
33.[1] That's a lot of money! Can you use that money to pay off debts or create
an emergency fund instead of blowing it on something that will lose half its val
ue the second you buy it? If you invest nearly $3,000 wisely, it could be ten ti
mes that much in as many years.
Get Rich Step 6 Version 4.jpg
6Break up with your credit card. Did you know that people who use credit cards f
or purchases end up spending more money than people who use cash, on average?[2]
That's because parting with cash is painful. Using a credit card doesn't create
that much of a sting. If you can, divorce your credit card and see how it feels
to pay with cash. You'll probably end up saving a boatload of money.
If you do maintain a credit card, do things to reduce its expenses. For example,
use one that needs to have cash already paid on it (a debit credit card) and pa
y off your credit card balance on time every time, to avoid interest.
Method 2 of 5: Reducing Living Expenses
Get Rich Step 7 Version 4.jpg
1Try extreme couponing. It's one of the best feelings in the world when you can
get paid to take home stuff you regularly use. Yes, you heard right. Done right,
you can actually get paid to coupon. At worst, you'll save a few extra bucks th
at you can tuck away for a rainy day. At best, you'll get tons of free stuff and
will be richer in the process.
Get Rich Step 8 Version 4.jpg
2Buy in bulk. It's not always the best way to shop, but it's usually the most ef
ficient. If you can borrow or buy into a membership to a bulk retailer like Cost
co, it can make real financial sense. In some cases, you can find brand-name pro
ducts for sale at pennies to the dollar.
If you're hungry and you like chicken, buy 4 pre-cooked Chickens at Costco at th
e end of the day, when they go on sale. Sometimes, they'll drop from $5 each to
$2.50 each, meaning that you get at least ten hearty meals for about $1 each! Fr
eeze any chickens that you don't eat immediately.
Get Rich Step 9 Version 5.jpg
3Learn to can foods. Up to 40% of food in America goes to waste before it is eve
r eaten. Succulent peaches, blueberries, and even meats can be canned and stored
for consumption later on. Be smart about the food that you buy and actually eat
it. Food wasted is money wasted.
Get Rich Step 10 Version 4.jpg
4Reduce your utility bills. Electricity, gas, and air conditioning can rack up a
sizable portion of money in your monthly budget if you let them. But you won't,
will you? You're about to get smart about ways to keep your home cool during th
e summer and warm during winter. You may even consider investing in or building
solar panels to channel the sun's natural energy into electricity. Keep your uti
lities low and watch the money that you can save start to ease upward, helping y
ou on your way to becoming rich.
Get Rich Step 11 Version 4.jpg
5Get a home energy audit. A home energy audit will allow you to find out how man
y dollars are seeping out of your home in the form of lost energy. Whether it's
cool air in the summer or hot air in the winter, it's generally a bad thing.
You can perform your own energy audit if you're the industrious type, but the ru
bber really hits the road when you hire a professional to complete the audit for
you. It should cost anywhere from $300 to $500, which isn't cheap.[3] At the sa
me time, if that means that you decide to re-insulate your home and save $750 ev
ery year, it's probably a worthwhile investment.
Get Rich Step 12 Version 5.jpg
6Go hunting or foraging for food. You may need to invest in gear and permits, bu
t if you already have this, this is an easy way to get your own food. If you're
ethically against the killing of animals, it's pretty easy to forage for food, d
epending on where you live. Just make sure to forage only for food whose origin
and properties you are sure of. Getting sick or poisoned is never any fun.
Go deer hunting, duck hunting, or turkey hunting
Go fishing or fly fishing
Choose edible flowers, pick wild mushrooms, or forage for food in the Fall
Start guerrilla gardening or build your own greenhouse
Method 3 of 5: Investing
Get Rich Step 13 Version 5.jpg
1Put money in the stock market. Invest money in stocks, bonds, or other vehicles
of investment that will give you an annual return on investment (ROI) great eno
ugh to sustain you in your retirement. For instance, if you have one million dol
lars invested and you get a reliable 7% ROI, that's $70,000 per year, less infla
tion.
Don't get enticed by day traders who tell you it's easy to make a quick buck. Bu
ying and selling dozens or stocks every day is essentially gambling. If you're c
which is unbelievably easy to do
you can lose a lot o
aught with your pants down
f money. It's not a good way to get rich.
Instead, learn to invest for the long run. Choose good stocks with solid fundame
ntals and excellent leadership, in industries that are primed for future growth.
And then let your stock sit. Don't do anything with it. Let it weather the ups
and downs. If you invest wisely, you should come away with a boatload of money.
Get Rich Step 14 Version 4.jpg
2Save money for retirement. Fewer and fewer people are squirreling away money fo
r retirement.[4] Whether or not retirement is going to be a thing of the past, y
ou should plan on trying to save for your future self. Retirement accounts are s
ometimes untaxed or are on a tax-deferred basis. If you save up enough money in
your various retirement account, chances are they'll maintain wealth for you in
your old age so that you can truly enjoy it.
Don't put all your trust in Social Security. While it's a good bet that Social S
ecurity will continue to work for the next 20 or so years, some data suggests th
at if Congress doesn't radically alter the system either by raising taxes or red
ucing benefits Social Security won't be available in its current form.[5] Make a
contingency plan in case you can't count on Social Security.
Invest in a Roth IRA. A Roth IRA is a retirement account to which working indivi
duals can contribute an annual sum of $5,500. That money is then invested and ga
thers interest and compound interest. If you wait until retirement age to take m
oney out of your Roth IRA, the money that you take out isn't taxed.
Contribute to a 401(k) account. A 401(k) account is an account set up by your em
ployer where pre-taxed contributions go and can be invested. If your employer ma
tches your contributions, meaning that for every dollar you invest out of your o
wn pocket, they invest one from their own pocket, contribute the maximum amount
you can afford. This is probably the closest thing you'll get to "free money" in
your life! Yes, it can make you rich.
Get Rich Step 15 Version 5.jpg
3Invest in real estate. Relatively stable assets like rental properties, or pote
ntial development land in a steadily growing area, is a good example. These are
likely to appreciate in value over time, but not guaranteed. For example, some p
eople think that an apartment in Manhattan is almost guaranteed to increase over
a five-year period.
Get Rich Step 16 Version 4.jpg
4Invest your time. For example, you might like having free time, so you give you
rself a few hours a day to do nothing. But if you were to invest those few hours
into getting rich, you could work towards having 20 years of free time (24 hour
s a day!) with early retirement. What can you give up now in exchange for being
rich later?
Get Rich Step 17 Version 4.jpg
5Avoid purchases that are likely to depreciate rapidly. Spending $50,000 on a ca
r is sometimes considered a waste because it's likely that it won't be worth hal
f that much in 5 years, regardless of how much work you put into it. As soon as
you drive a new car off the lot, it depreciates about 20%-25% in value each year
you own it.[6] That makes buying a car a very important financial decision.
Get Rich Step 18 Version 4.jpg
6Don't spend money on stupid stuff. It's hard enough making a living. But it's h
ard and painful when the things you spend your hard-earned cash on are financial
black holes. Reevaluate the things you spend money on. Try to figure out whethe
r they are truly "worth it." Here are some things you probably don't want to spe
nd that much money on if you plan on becoming rich:
Casinos and lottery tickets. The lucky few make money. The many lose it.
Vices such as cigarettes.
Insane markups like candy at the movie theatre or drinks at a club.
Tanning booths and plastic surgery. You can get skin cancer for free outside if
you'd like. And do nose jobs and botox injections ever look as good as promised?
Learn how to age gracefully!
First class plane tickets. What are you paying that extra $1,000 on? A hot towel
and 4 inches (10.2 cm) of extra leg room? Invest that money instead of throwing
it away and learn to sit with the rest of us!
Get Rich Step 19 Version 4.jpg
7Stay rich. It's hard to get rich, but it's even harder to stay rich. Your wealt
h is always going to be affected by the market, and the market has its ups and d
owns. If you get too comfortable when times are good, you'll quickly drop back t
o square one when the market hits a slump. If you get a promotion or a raise, or
if your ROI goes up a percentage point, don't spend the extra. Save it for when
business is slow and your ROI goes down two percentage points.
Method 4 of 5: Enrichment Through a Career
Get Rich Step 20 Version 4.jpg
1Excel academically. Whether it's a four year college or vocational training, so
me successful people pursue further education beyond high school. In the early s
tages of a career, your employers have little to go off besides your educational
background. Higher grades usually lead to higher salaries, though they don't al
ways.
Get Rich Step 21 Version 4.jpg
2Choose the right profession. Look at research survey salaries which indicate av
erage annual incomes for specific professions. Your odds of getting rich are dim
inished if your pursue a career in teaching as opposed to a career in finance. A
s of the time of writing, here are some of the highest paying jobs in America:
Doctors and Surgeons. Anesthesiologists make a whopping $200,000+ per year in in
come.[7]
Petroleum engineers. Engineers who work with gas and oil companies can make a ve
ry good living. In most cases they make upwards of $135,000 per year.[8]
Lawyers. Lawyers top out at just above $130,000 per year, making this a lucrativ
e field if you can put in the time and work your way up.[9]
IT managers and software engineers. If you're good at programming and a whiz at
computers, consider this very well-compensated field. IT managers regularly make
$125,000 per year.[10]
Get Rich Step 22 Version 4.jpg
3Choose the right location. Go where the good jobs are. If you want to pursue fi
nance, for example, there are far greater opportunities in big cities than in ru
ral, low-populated areas. If you want to build a startup, you'll probably want t
o consider going to Silicon Valley. If you want to make it big in Hollywood, go
to LA.
Get Rich Step 23 Version 4.jpg
4Get an entry-level job and work your way up. Play the numbers game. Apply to ma
ny places and conduct many interviews. When you get your job, stick with it to g
et the experience you need to advance.
Get Rich Step 24 Version 4.jpg
5Change jobs and employer. By changing your environment, you can increase your p
ay, experience different corporate cultures and reduce risk. Don't be afraid to
do this many times. If you're a valued employee, it's also likely your current c
ompany may offer you a raise or other benefits if they know you're looking at le
aving.
Method 5 of 5: Going Mortgage Free
Get Rich Step 25 Version 2.jpg
1Refinance your home mortgage. Refinance to a lower rate or to a 15 year loan in
stead of a 30 year loan. This way, you only pay a few extra hundred dollars but
you will save yourself hundreds of thousands of dollars in interest.
For example: A $200,000 mortgage on a 30 year loan will cost you another $186,50
0 in interest payment, so you are actually paying a total of $386,500 over the c
ourse of 30 years. On the other hand, if you are willing to pay a few extra hund
red dollars (for example, $350) a month by refinancing to a 15 years loan (usual
ly at a lower interest rate, for example, 3.5%), you would have paid your mortga
ge off in only 15 years and the best part is you would have save yourself a whop
ping $123,700 in interest; that's money in your pocket. So talk to a loan office
r about your options.
Ad
order to get there. Becoming rich is a combination of luck, skill, and patience.
You have to be at least a little lucky; you build on that luck with your skillf
ul decisions, and then you continue weathering the storm as your wealth grows. W
e're not going to lie to you
getting rich isn't easy
but with a little bit of pe
rseverance and the right information, it's definitely possible!
Method 1 of 5: Saving Money
Get Rich Step 1 Version 4.jpg
1Pay yourself first. This means before you go and blow your pay check on a new p
air of shoes or a golf club you don't need, put money aside in to an account tha
t you don't touch. Do this every time you get paid and watch your account grow.
Ad
Get Rich Step 2 Version 4.jpg
2Make a budget. Create a monthly budget that covers all of your basic expenses a
nd leaves a little bit of "fun" money aside. Do not go over this. Sticking by yo
ur budget and saving at least some money each month is the surest way of getting
rich.
Get Rich Step 3 Version 4.jpg
3Downgrade on your car and house. Could you make do with an apartment instead of
a house, or have roommates instead of your own place? Could you buy a used car
instead of a new one and use it more sparingly? These are all ways to save a ton
of money every month.
Get Rich Step 4 Version 5.jpg
4Cut expenses. Look at the ways you frivolously spend money and remove everythin
g. For example, avoid going to Starbucks every morning. That $4 you spend on des
igner coffee every morning comes out to $20 per week, or $1,040 over the course
of a year!
Get Rich Step 5 Version 4.jpg
5Spend your tax refund wisely. In 2007, the average American tax refund was $2,7
33.[1] That's a lot of money! Can you use that money to pay off debts or create
an emergency fund instead of blowing it on something that will lose half its val
ue the second you buy it? If you invest nearly $3,000 wisely, it could be ten ti
mes that much in as many years.
Get Rich Step 6 Version 4.jpg
6Break up with your credit card. Did you know that people who use credit cards f
or purchases end up spending more money than people who use cash, on average?[2]
That's because parting with cash is painful. Using a credit card doesn't create
that much of a sting. If you can, divorce your credit card and see how it feels
to pay with cash. You'll probably end up saving a boatload of money.
If you do maintain a credit card, do things to reduce its expenses. For example,
use one that needs to have cash already paid on it (a debit credit card) and pa
y off your credit card balance on time every time, to avoid interest.
Method 2 of 5: Reducing Living Expenses
Get Rich Step 7 Version 4.jpg
1Try extreme couponing. It's one of the best feelings in the world when you can
get paid to take home stuff you regularly use. Yes, you heard right. Done right,
you can actually get paid to coupon. At worst, you'll save a few extra bucks th
at you can tuck away for a rainy day. At best, you'll get tons of free stuff and
will be richer in the process.
Get Rich Step 8 Version 4.jpg
2Buy in bulk. It's not always the best way to shop, but it's usually the most ef
ficient. If you can borrow or buy into a membership to a bulk retailer like Cost
co, it can make real financial sense. In some cases, you can find brand-name pro
ducts for sale at pennies to the dollar.
If you're hungry and you like chicken, buy 4 pre-cooked Chickens at Costco at th
e end of the day, when they go on sale. Sometimes, they'll drop from $5 each to
$2.50 each, meaning that you get at least ten hearty meals for about $1 each! Fr
eeze any chickens that you don't eat immediately.
Get Rich Step 9 Version 5.jpg
3Learn to can foods. Up to 40% of food in America goes to waste before it is eve
r eaten. Succulent peaches, blueberries, and even meats can be canned and stored
for consumption later on. Be smart about the food that you buy and actually eat
it. Food wasted is money wasted.
Get Rich Step 10 Version 4.jpg
4Reduce your utility bills. Electricity, gas, and air conditioning can rack up a
sizable portion of money in your monthly budget if you let them. But you won't,
will you? You're about to get smart about ways to keep your home cool during th
e summer and warm during winter. You may even consider investing in or building
solar panels to channel the sun's natural energy into electricity. Keep your uti
lities low and watch the money that you can save start to ease upward, helping y
ou on your way to becoming rich.
Get Rich Step 11 Version 4.jpg
5Get a home energy audit. A home energy audit will allow you to find out how man
y dollars are seeping out of your home in the form of lost energy. Whether it's
cool air in the summer or hot air in the winter, it's generally a bad thing.
You can perform your own energy audit if you're the industrious type, but the ru
bber really hits the road when you hire a professional to complete the audit for
you. It should cost anywhere from $300 to $500, which isn't cheap.[3] At the sa
me time, if that means that you decide to re-insulate your home and save $750 ev
ery year, it's probably a worthwhile investment.
Get Rich Step 12 Version 5.jpg
6Go hunting or foraging for food. You may need to invest in gear and permits, bu
t if you already have this, this is an easy way to get your own food. If you're
ethically against the killing of animals, it's pretty easy to forage for food, d
epending on where you live. Just make sure to forage only for food whose origin
and properties you are sure of. Getting sick or poisoned is never any fun.
Go deer hunting, duck hunting, or turkey hunting
Go fishing or fly fishing
Choose edible flowers, pick wild mushrooms, or forage for food in the Fall
Start guerrilla gardening or build your own greenhouse
Method 3 of 5: Investing
Get Rich Step 13 Version 5.jpg
1Put money in the stock market. Invest money in stocks, bonds, or other vehicles
of investment that will give you an annual return on investment (ROI) great eno
ugh to sustain you in your retirement. For instance, if you have one million dol
lars invested and you get a reliable 7% ROI, that's $70,000 per year, less infla
tion.
Don't get enticed by day traders who tell you it's easy to make a quick buck. Bu
ying and selling dozens or stocks every day is essentially gambling. If you're c
which is unbelievably easy to do
you can lose a lot o
aught with your pants down
f money. It's not a good way to get rich.
Instead, learn to invest for the long run. Choose good stocks with solid fundame
ntals and excellent leadership, in industries that are primed for future growth.
And then let your stock sit. Don't do anything with it. Let it weather the ups
and downs. If you invest wisely, you should come away with a boatload of money.
Get Rich Step 14 Version 4.jpg
2Save money for retirement. Fewer and fewer people are squirreling away money fo
r retirement.[4] Whether or not retirement is going to be a thing of the past, y
ou should plan on trying to save for your future self. Retirement accounts are s
ometimes untaxed or are on a tax-deferred basis. If you save up enough money in
your various retirement account, chances are they'll maintain wealth for you in
your old age so that you can truly enjoy it.
Don't put all your trust in Social Security. While it's a good bet that Social S
ecurity will continue to work for the next 20 or so years, some data suggests th
at if Congress doesn't radically alter the system either by raising taxes or red
ucing benefits Social Security won't be available in its current form.[5] Make a
contingency plan in case you can't count on Social Security.
Invest in a Roth IRA. A Roth IRA is a retirement account to which working indivi
duals can contribute an annual sum of $5,500. That money is then invested and ga
thers interest and compound interest. If you wait until retirement age to take m
oney out of your Roth IRA, the money that you take out isn't taxed.
Contribute to a 401(k) account. A 401(k) account is an account set up by your em
ployer where pre-taxed contributions go and can be invested. If your employer ma
tches your contributions, meaning that for every dollar you invest out of your o
wn pocket, they invest one from their own pocket, contribute the maximum amount
you can afford. This is probably the closest thing you'll get to "free money" in
your life! Yes, it can make you rich.
Get Rich Step 15 Version 5.jpg
3Invest in real estate. Relatively stable assets like rental properties, or pote
ntial development land in a steadily growing area, is a good example. These are
likely to appreciate in value over time, but not guaranteed. For example, some p
eople think that an apartment in Manhattan is almost guaranteed to increase over
a five-year period.
Get Rich Step 16 Version 4.jpg
4Invest your time. For example, you might like having free time, so you give you
rself a few hours a day to do nothing. But if you were to invest those few hours
into getting rich, you could work towards having 20 years of free time (24 hour
s a day!) with early retirement. What can you give up now in exchange for being
rich later?
Get Rich Step 17 Version 4.jpg
5Avoid purchases that are likely to depreciate rapidly. Spending $50,000 on a ca
r is sometimes considered a waste because it's likely that it won't be worth hal
f that much in 5 years, regardless of how much work you put into it. As soon as
you drive a new car off the lot, it depreciates about 20%-25% in value each year
you own it.[6] That makes buying a car a very important financial decision.
Get Rich Step 18 Version 4.jpg
6Don't spend money on stupid stuff. It's hard enough making a living. But it's h
ard and painful when the things you spend your hard-earned cash on are financial
black holes. Reevaluate the things you spend money on. Try to figure out whethe
r they are truly "worth it." Here are some things you probably don't want to spe
nd that much money on if you plan on becoming rich:
Casinos and lottery tickets. The lucky few make money. The many lose it.
Vices such as cigarettes.
Insane markups like candy at the movie theatre or drinks at a club.
Tanning booths and plastic surgery. You can get skin cancer for free outside if
you'd like. And do nose jobs and botox injections ever look as good as promised?
Learn how to age gracefully!
First class plane tickets. What are you paying that extra $1,000 on? A hot towel
and 4 inches (10.2 cm) of extra leg room? Invest that money instead of throwing
it away and learn to sit with the rest of us!
Get Rich Step 19 Version 4.jpg
7Stay rich. It's hard to get rich, but it's even harder to stay rich. Your wealt
h is always going to be affected by the market, and the market has its ups and d
owns. If you get too comfortable when times are good, you'll quickly drop back t
o square one when the market hits a slump. If you get a promotion or a raise, or
if your ROI goes up a percentage point, don't spend the extra. Save it for when
business is slow and your ROI goes down two percentage points.
Method 4 of 5: Enrichment Through a Career
Get Rich Step 20 Version 4.jpg
1Excel academically. Whether it's a four year college or vocational training, so
me successful people pursue further education beyond high school. In the early s
tages of a career, your employers have little to go off besides your educational
background. Higher grades usually lead to higher salaries, though they don't al
ways.
Get Rich Step 21 Version 4.jpg
2Choose the right profession. Look at research survey salaries which indicate av
erage annual incomes for specific professions. Your odds of getting rich are dim
inished if your pursue a career in teaching as opposed to a career in finance. A
s of the time of writing, here are some of the highest paying jobs in America:
Doctors and Surgeons. Anesthesiologists make a whopping $200,000+ per year in in
come.[7]
Petroleum engineers. Engineers who work with gas and oil companies can make a ve
ry good living. In most cases they make upwards of $135,000 per year.[8]
Lawyers. Lawyers top out at just above $130,000 per year, making this a lucrativ
e field if you can put in the time and work your way up.[9]
IT managers and software engineers. If you're good at programming and a whiz at
computers, consider this very well-compensated field. IT managers regularly make
$125,000 per year.[10]
Get Rich Step 22 Version 4.jpg
3Choose the right location. Go where the good jobs are. If you want to pursue fi
nance, for example, there are far greater opportunities in big cities than in ru
ral, low-populated areas. If you want to build a startup, you'll probably want t
o consider going to Silicon Valley. If you want to make it big in Hollywood, go
to LA.
Get Rich Step 23 Version 4.jpg
4Get an entry-level job and work your way up. Play the numbers game. Apply to ma
ny places and conduct many interviews. When you get your job, stick with it to g
et the experience you need to advance.
Get Rich Step 24 Version 4.jpg
5Change jobs and employer. By changing your environment, you can increase your p
ay, experience different corporate cultures and reduce risk. Don't be afraid to
do this many times. If you're a valued employee, it's also likely your current c
ompany may offer you a raise or other benefits if they know you're looking at le
aving.
Method 5 of 5: Going Mortgage Free
Get Rich Step 25 Version 2.jpg
1Refinance your home mortgage. Refinance to a lower rate or to a 15 year loan in
stead of a 30 year loan. This way, you only pay a few extra hundred dollars but
you will save yourself hundreds of thousands of dollars in interest.
For example: A $200,000 mortgage on a 30 year loan will cost you another $186,50
0 in interest payment, so you are actually paying a total of $386,500 over the c
ourse of 30 years. On the other hand, if you are willing to pay a few extra hund
red dollars (for example, $350) a month by refinancing to a 15 years loan (usual
ly at a lower interest rate, for example, 3.5%), you would have paid your mortga
ge off in only 15 years and the best part is you would have save yourself a whop
ping $123,700 in interest; that's money in your pocket. So talk to a loan office
r about your options.
Ad
