Let’s be completely honest for a moment. These days, get rich quick schemes are all the buzz. In fact, they seem more popular than ever! Unfortunately, get rich quick schemes usually turn into a complete disaster. If you’re trying to better your finances, or find yourself unable to avoid falling for these schemes, do your best to find a way to break away from them for good. Get rich quick schemes are nothing but trouble, so it’s important to separate yourself from them as soon as you can.
Get Rich Quick Schemes
Okay, let’s break down these get rich quick schemes. They’re intended to incite people to spend their time or money on things that won’t benefit them in the long run. Now, the whole reason it’s called a “scheme” is because it can have a beneficial impact at the moment, but it will have horrible payoffs in the long-term. I hate to say it, but these get rich quick ideas just don’t work. Instead, it’s better to focus on what does work, and take full advantage of it.
Preying On People Who Are Struggling
If you try to push these things on others (get rich schemes or otherwise), then you’re part of the problem. One of the most common tactics for these get rich quick schemes is to prey on people who are down on their luck and struggling. For example, common victims of these different schemes are single parents, military spouses, people living in poverty, and other similar situations. These schemes, more often than not, are just trying to make money off of people who are having a hard time, who want to find a way to break through it all and get a reprieve. Unfortunately, getting rich often isn’t a quick process – if an idea seems like a fantasy, it likely is.
The Effort And The Payout
In many things, the effort is proportional to the payout. No, that doesn’t mean you can accomplish everything through sheer hard work alone. It’s not quite that simple. However, there are generally minimums you can expect to deal with to become successful or make a great living. You can’t expect to get rich overnight, or for inconsequential methods. Pulling yourself up from your bootstraps is a process – and these get rich quick schemes try to pretend like it isn’t.
Slow And Steady Wins The Race
More often than not, slow and steady progress will win in the end. It isn’t always glamorous, but if you can keep working on your goals, consistently, over a long period of time – you have a good chance of success. Let’s cover some examples.
Businesses And Side Hustles
These days there are tons of lucrative side hustles you can start. In fact, a side hustle is often the best way to start a business these days. If you don’t believe me, hear me out.
First, a side hustle can be done while you still have a day job. In that sense, it is low risk. On top of that, it lets you learn the ins and outs before taking on a full-time load. With time, patience, and skill, you can build your side hustle into a full-time business. Again, it takes time, but it works. It’s not overnight, but there are lots of ways to make money with a proven track record. The issue is that it’s not glamorous to work your way up over several years – don’t let that deter you!
Investing
Investing in index funds and ETFs is another phenomenal way to become rich. Most passive investors beat out the “professional” day traders. Of course, it’s not a glamorous thing. It requires investing and then sitting on that investment for a long time. It’s not fun, or necessarily cool, but it works and is a reliable way to build immense wealth. Don’t overlook it or naysay it – long-term investing is amazing.
Things To Avoid
There are many get rich quick schemes you should try to avoid. It’s impossible to cover all of them, but I’ll try to go over some of the common ones that you can keep an eye out for.
MLMs
First up are MLMs, or multi-level marketing companies. Sounds fancy right? Well, they’re basically just the modern name for pyramid schemes. I’m sure you’ve heard of them before, and we all know one or two people who partake in them. Usually they have you sell a product, like makeup, and sell you on the idea that you’re running your own business.
In reality, it’s usually hard or impossible to make a livable income on the sales alone. Instead, the main way you make money is by signing other people on under you. Then you get a portion of their sales (and usually a one-time fee for their signup), then they sign people up under them, and so on. It’s everywhere these days, but avoid it like the plague – you’ll waste time and hemorrhage money.
Ponzi Schemes
A Ponzi scheme is – simply put – a form of fraud. It starts by getting investors and promising profits. Then it takes on new investors and pays previous investors with the new money. That process is rinse and repeated, with the perpetrator taking a slice each time. It sounds like it is a slow process, but people have stolen millions in a short amount of time this way.
The best way to avoid this is to thoroughly research your investments before committing. For example, don’t invest in a new company or project just because your favorite influencer promotes it – judge it on its own merits!
Pump And Dump
Pump and dump is where something’s value is artificially inflated, and then owners dump or sell it to make a lot of money. A common tactic I see is people creating a cryptocurrency, using their fame to get people to purchase a lot of it as a new potential “investment” – then dumping all of their own once the price increases.
Coaching
Yes, online coaching is usually a scam. Now, there is a subset of this that can be legitimate, but they usually don’t call themselves coaches. Just be wary when someone tries to recruit you for their coaching class and promises you that you’ll make huge sums of money after taking it – they’re lying.
The Lottery
This one is a bit of a joke, but I had to point it out! The odds are overwhelmingly against you, so you’re better off just investing the money you would’ve spent on the lottery.
Conclusion
Hopefully this gave you all the information you need to recognize get rich quick schemes and how to avoid them. Remember, if it’s too good to be true, then it probably is. Of course, if you have any thoughts or advice to share, let us know in the comments!
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