In 2017 Grant Sabatier made headlines with his “$2.26 to millionaire in 5 years” story. From being broke and moving back in with his parents, it took Grant only 5 years to become a millionaire. We like to think if Grant can do it, so can you. Nothing is stopping you from achieving your goals, but yourself. How do you become rich and secure financial independence?
Sometimes we need a wakeup call to truly find the motivation we’ve always needed. For Grant, that moment came when he realised that he’s not living his life, but rather living just to work, eat and sleep. “I wake up, eat, work, eat, sleep, repeat. I’m not living life. I’m just getting by. I was letting the best hours of my life during the best years of my life burn out with each bi-weekly paycheck.”
After moving back in with his parents, they told him that he could only stay there for 3 months while he searched for a new job. He sent out 200 job applications and hadn’t received 1 email or call back.
Grant was feeling hopeless.
He was broke, living with his parents and no real plan.
So Grant came up with 2 important and seemingly unrealistic goals at the time, that would change his life forever:
- Make a million dollars
- Become financially independent as quickly as possible.
How did he do it?
Your time is valuable
Grant realized that he had a lot of extra time that he could use wisely, instead of simply wasting it. The time it takes to get ready in the morning, travelling to and from work and even the time spent at work. Using your time efficiently is the key to becoming rich.
In economics, this is called opportunity cost. This is when you lose the opportunity to do something because you chose to do something else instead.
If you want to become rich you have to consider the value of your time.
Let’s assume you’re using public transport and it takes you 2 hours to get to work and 2 hours to get back home.
Instead of playing Candy Crush or reading your favourite novel on the train or the bus, work on your side hustle instead.
You could have used those 4 hours to earn additional income. That’s 20 hours a week, or 80 hours a month, that you’re NOT taking advantage of the opportunity to earn more money.
- Read a book that will help you develop a new skill.
- Use your laptop to get some work done.
- Find freelance clients.
What you do with your time is completely up to you. But you’re better off using that time to work towards your goals.
If you’re sitting in front of the TV every single night after work, rather use that time to work on something productive instead.
If you want to become rich figure out where you have extra time and work on something that will actually make you money instead of simply wasting your time away.
Find your side hustle
When Grant was still living with his parents he realized that he could earn money through marketing. He taught himself how to run Google and Facebook Ads and landed his first job with a marketing firm.
While he was working his full-time job he kept his side hustle going. “Within a year I was making $300,000 with my full-time job and side hustles (11 different income streams at one time!).”
If you really want to become rich you have to be willing to work for it. No one will simply give you money. You have to earn it.
You can do a quick Google search to will help you find something that will pique your interest.
To get you started here a few options:
Start a blog
Starting a blog does take time, but it can be very rewarding. You could start earning at least $1 000 (R15 000) per month after 12 months.
It may seem like a long time before the investment starts paying out. But if you choose the right blog niche and you’re good at it, the blog earnings will only grow.
The best thing about running a blog is that your blog posts will never stop working. You can still earn money from an article that’s a year old. That’s pretty cool!
The blog will eventually just keep making you money.
You can start making money with your blog through AdSense, affiliate marketing, promotional products or even sell your own products, just to name a few.
Earning potential: $1 000 per month after 12 months (R15 000)
Get started: How to start a blog with Amy Lynn Andrews
Online tutoring
Online tutoring has become very popular over the past few years. Teaching English to children overseas is one of the hottest growing areas at the moment.
Anyone can start their side hustle as an online teacher.
All you need is a bachelor’s degree or teaching experience. You will also have to have a computer, a webcam and a good internet connection.
To maximise your earnings start tutoring students offline in your area.
Check out VIPKid and gogoKid to get started.
Earning potential: Starting at $400 per month (R6 000)
Get started: How to become an online teacher with Julie Kim
Start freelancing
There are a lot of opportunities out there to make extra money through freelancing. If you can read, write, programme, design or even learn a new skill you can earn some good money.
Some areas that are easy to get into include social media management, website design or programming.
These are only a few examples, but there are a ton of other opportunities out there.
You only need to be a little tech-savvy and have some writing and communication skills.
Earning potential: $1 000 per month (R15 000)
Get started: How to start your freelancing business with Ryan Robinson
Know your worth
The one thing that will help you become rich as fast as possible is your current income. You’re probably not being paid what you’re worth.
One of the easiest ways to increase your salary is by asking for a raise.
Grant made a free mini-course that will help you get a raise. Check out Grant’s mini-course and get paid what you’re worth.
Save a lot of money
Now that you’re making extra money from your side hustle and you’re being paid more at work, it’s time you start saving as much as possible.
The best way to start growing your wealth is by investing your money.
Grant made it his number one goal to start saving and investing his money.
“Once I figured this out I made it my number one goal to save and invest as much money as possible.”
“To make this happen I literally overnight started saving 50% of my income…”
To be honest, saving 50% of your income is extreme. But you’re earning extra money from your side hustle! So you can save and invest your money.
Your number one goal should be to put away as much money as possible.
Put away 100% of your side hustle earnings. That way you can start growing your wealth as fast as possible. That’s how you become rich.
Start saving
Saving can be difficult, so start automating your savings. Set up a scheduled payment with your bank that goes off as close to payday as possible.
Send money automatically to your retirement fund and to your investment account.
You can ask your company HR person to send money into your retirement fund on your behalf. That way you never even see it leave your wallet. If they can’t assist you, set up a scheduled payment with your bank instead.
Open an investment account and start pushing as much money into the account as possible.
Start investing
We recommend using EasyEquities to start investing your money. It’s simple to use and affordable platform.
You’ll have to do some research to find out where you’d like to invest your money. There a lot of companies and ETF’s to choose from.
A great place to start is by looking at the S&P 500 ETF’s.
The S&P 500 consists of the top 500 US companies. This list includes some of the biggest companies in the world. There are a lot of different S&P 500 ETF investment options, so do your research.
The best part about investing in an ETF is that it’s a safer option. There’s less risk involved in an ETF than in an individual share.
*Debt Rescue is not affiliated with EasyEquities. Debt Rescue also does not take any responsibility for your investment decisions.
Invest in what you know
You’re making extra money through your side hustle and you’re investing 100% of that income to build future wealth. The safe option would be to simply invest in ETF’s, but that’s only going to build some wealth.
ETF’s are also kind of boring….
Grant recommends that you start investing 20% of your money in individual companies.
That way you also diversify your investment portfolio, which is great.
When you start investing in individual companies start looking for companies that you use and believe in.
Always do your research before investing in an individual company. Finding out as much as possible about a company will help you make the right investment decisions.
Track your net worth
An important part of growing your wealth and becoming rich is to start tracking your net worth. Your net worth is how much you’re actually worth. This is your total assets minus your liabilities.
According to Grant “the most important number in your financial life is your net worth. I look at my net worth every day when I wake up in the morning and have my morning coffee…”
Grant uses the Personal Capital app to see his net worth. Although this is a US-based app you can look at apps like 22Seven.
*Debt Rescue is not affiliated with Personal Capital or 22Seven.
The 22Seven app allows you to link all your banking and investment accounts to the app, and it automatically works out your net worth for you.
Tracking your financial growth will help you move in the right direction and motivate you to reach your goals.
Now that you know what you have to do to become rich, go out there and start earning your wealth.
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Great article.
Thank you.