Most people trade their time for money. Imagine if you could let your money work for you and earn money while you sleep? Think it’s not possible? Think again.
It’s no secret: money is one of the most essential things in life. Yet, there is so much more that goes into this than just caring for yourself and your family. You need to feed your retirement, keep up with the latest trends, and make sure you’re providing for all your loved ones.
So how do you do this? It’s possible if you put your money to work for you. You’ve worked hard for the money; now it’s time that the money worked hard for you.
Here are some ways that you can put your money to work for you.
Table of Contents
17 ways to let your money work for you
1. Pay Yourself First
Don’t wait until the end of the month before deciding how much you can save. If you wait until the end of the month, it’s easy to think about all of your expenses and convince yourself that you don’t have anything left over.
However, if you put some money into a savings account at the beginning of the month, it forces you to live on less. By putting money into a savings account, you’re effectively lowering your spending.
Rather than deciding how much to save when the month is already halfway over, you can decide what your savings target is at the beginning of the month.
2. Make Your Goals a Reality
What’s the point of making financial goals if they’re not going to be met? You need to make sure that your goals are achievable if you want them to have any real meaning.
Remember, if you don’t meet your financial goals this year, you can always set new ones for the following year. The important thing is to start working towards a goal to put your money to work for you.
3. Have Multiple Income Streams
If you only make money from one source, you’re in trouble. The highs will be high, but the lows will be low. Therefore, you need to have multiple income streams to always bring in a reliable source of income.
One income source won’t be enough to support you and your family. So you need to make sure you have multiple sources of income so that if one dries up, you can always rely on another.
4. Have a Plan for the Unexpected
Life isn’t always predictable, and you need to have a plan for that. You don’t know when you’ll lose your job or go through a medical emergency. You can never predict the future, but you can always prepare for it.
You’ll need to have an emergency fund and a savings plan so that you’re ready for anything. By preparing, you avoid taking out loans or using credit cards that charge insanely high interest fees.
5. Get Out of the Red
One of the fastest ways to lose your money is to run up credit card debt. If you don’t pay off your credit card bills every month, you accumulate a large amount of debt that will cost you a fortune in interest fees.
If you don’t pay off your credit card bills in full every month, you will never let your money work for you. Instead, it will be working hard to cover the interest. Pay off all the money you owe, no matter if it’s credit card debt or student loans.
6. Save for Your Retirement
Retirement is one of the most important goals that you will ever set. But, unfortunately, as you get older, your income will decline, and your expenses will increase. Yet you can’t rely on a steady source of income, and you can’t work forever.
That means you need to start saving for retirement now. The earlier you start and the more you save, the more money you will have before retirement. That means you will be able to spend your golden years in comfort.
7. Open Up a High Yield Savings Account
If you’re like most people, your savings account isn’t earning you a whole lot of interest. You’re paying more to hold onto your money than the amount of interest you’re receiving.
It’s time to open up a savings account that pays more interest. The best way to do this is to open up a high yield savings account. You would want one with a high yield that is guaranteed to pay you an above-average interest rate.
8. Invest in Stocks
If you’ve been taught that stocks are risky and are only for the rich, you couldn’t be more wrong. You need to realize that investing in the right stocks is one of the best ways to put your money to work.
With the right stocks, you can see returns that would make anyone’s eyes pop out. Moreover, you can invest in a stock that continues to produce large returns while still staying within the safe confines of your retirement portfolio.
9. Invest in Gold
Gold has been a historic investment for thousands of years. However, it’s not just history that makes gold valuable. Modern banks still hold gold as part of their reserves to have something valuable to use if money isn’t available.
So don’t just buy gold because it has been an investment for years. Buy gold because you know that no matter what, it is going to be a valuable asset for the foreseeable future.
10. Invest in Real Estate
Real estate is another way to invest that lets your money carry the heavy load. With real estate, you’re investing in a property that can increase in value over time with minimal effort on your part.
You don’t need to worry about managing the property. Instead, you need to own it, collect rent from the tenants, and watch the value increase over time. As long as you’re careful with your investment in real estate, it can be a valuable asset.
11. Understand Your Taxes
If you don’t understand how taxes work, you could be missing out on some of the best ways to put your money to work. This is because you can invest in certain things depending on the tax implications.
If you don’t understand your taxes, you may end up losing a lot of money that could have otherwise been put to work. You never want to pay more in taxes than you have to.
12. Invest in Education
Some education will be required for most jobs, but you also need to take into consideration your salary potential. Depending on the career field you choose, your education level can directly impact what you earn.
So it’s to your benefit to get as much education as you can before starting your career. Think about the skills you need in your chosen field, and then get those skills. It only makes sense to invest in your education so that you make more money.
13. Peer-to-peer Lending
One of the newest ways to put your money to work is through peer-to-peer lending. With this option, you’re essentially lending money through a third party to people who are in need.
The money that you’re lending is put to work in a variety of different businesses. The terms of your loan are determined by an algorithm, which you should look into before using this method.
14. Invest in a Business
If you want to put your money to work, you can invest in a business. It’s not easy starting a business, but it is an option that can be lucrative. With enough time and effort, you can grow the business into something that can put you on the path to financial freedom.
Choosing the type of business that you start will play a major role in its success. Be sure to choose a market that you understand and one that has room for growth.
15. Real Estate Investment Trusts
Real estate investment trusts (REITs) are a great way to invest in real estate, but it’s not for everyone. These are still risky investments because the market can change quickly.
If you are a risk-taker, this can be an exciting investment opportunity. But if you’re the type of person who doesn’t like the swing in your portfolio that comes with investing, stay away from REITs.
16. Annuities
Annuities are one of the best ways to let your money work for you because they’re guaranteed. With an annuity, you’re receiving a monthly income for life. With an annuity, you know exactly how much money is coming in and how much is going out.
In the beginning, it will be a lot of money coming in. As time goes on, the annuity will only be paying out a certain amount of money. But you will still get a guaranteed minimum income for life.
17. Roth IRA
For the last few years, tax-free options have been a great way to put your money to work for you because they provide a tax break. But now it’s time to change things up in your retirement.
With a Roth IRA, you can invest in the stock market and enjoy tax-free withdrawals after retirement. With a Roth IRA, you never pay taxes on your investment gains.
As of 2023, the limit that you can deposit in a Roth IRA is $6,000 (source). Make this deposit every year and watch your money grow.
While it’s very difficult to grow a Roth IRA to a million dollars, it has been done before. In fact, Peter Thiel grew his to over 5 billion dollars (source). And yes, that’s billion with a B.
Let your money work for you: The bottom line
Putting your money to work is essential. You need to know how you want your money to work for you, and then you need to put that plan in place.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that investing in a retirement account is the only way to put your money to work for you. There are plenty of other ways to put your money to work for you, and you just have to figure out what those ways are. Hopefully, this article helped you do just that, and you’re now well on your way to the type of financial independence most people dream about.
