8 Ways People Become Rich Without Taking Any Big Money Risks

According to Ramsey Solutions, there are almost 24.5 million millionaires living in the U.S. today. Millionaire status is something that most people can only dream about.

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While it’s often thought that you have to take financial risks in life to grow your wealth significantly or become rich, this isn’t always the case. There are a variety of ways to become rich without taking many big risks.

Here are eight ways that people become rich without taking too many risks, according to Forbes.

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1. Eliminate All Debt

One key method to building wealth over time is to eliminate all debt. Debt eats away at your income and makes it much more difficult to save and invest for the future. If you have a remaining statement balance on your credit card that’s past due, an outstanding personal loan, or just a few months left on your mortgage, consider crushing that debt in one lump sum payment. This way, you can accelerate your saving and investing.

2. Increase Your Income

Increasing your income is another way to become rich. If you’re earning additional income, you should have extra cash to set aside for your savings account or to buy stocks each month. Consider asking for a raise, switching jobs to get a significant bump in your salary or taking on a side hustle in your free time. More revenue streams equals more wealth.

3. Educate Yourself About the FIRE Movement

FIRE stands for “financial independence, retire early.” It’s a movement that entails cutting all expenses as low as possible to maximize the amount of money available to invest. By limiting yourself to a more minimalist, bare bones lifestyle earlier in life, you could potentially save and invest enough money to stop working early. To achieve this goal, it’s said that you have to save 25 times your annual expenses before retiring early.

4. Start Investing Your Money

Investing your money is one of the most important methods on this list. By parking all your money in a checking account, or even a high yield savings (HYS) account, you’re missing out on long term compounded growth. While it’s important to have liquid cash on hand, allocating a significant percentage of your income toward investments such as stocks each month can equate to long term wealth accumulation.

5. Create And Stick To Financial Goals:

Goal setting is of utmost importance to become wealthy. For example, ask yourself questions such as when do you want to retire, when do you want to buy your first home or when do you want to have a child. By recognizing your goals, you can create a saving and investing plan to attain those goals by a certain year or age.

6. Build An Emergency Fund Of 3-6 months

Building a financial cushion for yourself is necessary. It’s advisable to have at least 3-6 months’ worth of living expenses in an interest earning, liquid cash account such as a high yield savings. Life can come with many surprises and sometimes those surprises require you to have extra money at your disposal. Building an emergency fund can also help you avoid going into debt should you incur a surprise expense that isn’t in your monthly budget.

7. Diversify Your Financial Portfolio

Investing matters to grow your wealth. But, you won’t want to invest all of your money in the same one or two types of assets. Creating a diversification strategy can help hedge risk. For example, if one stock you own loses all or most of its value and most of your portfolio is invested in this asset, you’ll take a huge financial hit all at once. Instead, spread your investments across many different types of assets.

8. Be Wary Of Get Rich Quick Schemes

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If someone or some entity is trying to convince you to invest your money so you can “get rich fast” or “double your investment overnight,” it’s probably too good to be true. Stay away from schemes like this to protect your money and ensure your path to wealth.

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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 8 Ways People Become Rich Without Taking Any Big Money Risks