The world of investing can be really confusing…

For most of us, we have a vague idea that we should invest our extra money, but we don’t know what we should invest it in.

You may have heard of things like stocks, bonds, crypto, NFTs, etc…. There are so many different options when it comes to investing, and it can be overwhelming if you’re a newbie.

All that you know is that you want to make the most of your money.

So, what can you invest in that will give you the highest and fastest rate of return on your money?

It might not be what you think…

In this article, I’m not going to talk much about investing in stocks, bonds, or crypto.

What I really want to talk about is the faster way to make money by investing. (Like, how you can make a 900% return on your investment… in 60 days.)

This is the best advice I’ve ever gotten on investing, and it’s what allowed me to quit my job and make passive income every month.

(Before we get started, please know that I’m not a financial expert and none of this is financial advice. You should make careful decisions about what is best for YOUR money.)

What Is Investing?

Here’s my simple definition of investing:

Investing is devoting time, effort, or money towards something with the hope that you’ll get back more than you put in.

In other words, if you invest money in something, you hope that you’ll eventually receive a greater amount than you originally paid.

So, let’s say you have an extra $500 saved up. It’s money you don’t need right away, so you decide that you want to invest it.

There are many different ways you could invest it. To make things as simple as possible, I’m just going to talk about stocks, index funds, and my personal favorite – the faster way.

Stocks – SLOW

A simple way of investing money is buying stocks.

Buying stock in a company essentially means you own a tiny piece of that company. If the company does well and the stock is worth more money in the future, you can sell that stock for more than you bought it. 

For example, you could buy a tiny piece of Microsoft for $100, in the hopes that someday, you can sell it for $150, thereby making $50.

It’s a great thing to do with your money, but it comes with the risk that the company will fail or go down in value, and you’ll lose money.

Index Funds – SLOW

Another thing you could invest in is an index fund. An index fund represents many different companies, so when you invest in an index fund, instead of owning a tiny piece of one company, your investment is spread out across many companies.

This is generally a safer investment, because even if one company in the index fund goes bankrupt, that isn’t the only company you’ve invested in. It’s unlikely that all of the companies will fail.

One of the most popular index funds is the S&P 500, which represents the 500 biggest companies in the United States. 

Investing in the S&P 500 is considered one of the safest investments you can make. It has returned an average of 10% every year since it was introduced in the 1950s.

So, if you invest your $500 of extra money in the S&P, you can be reasonably confident that in a year, you’ll have around $550. That means you made $50 by doing nothing, which is amazing!

It’s a very smart thing to do with your money… but…

That’s what you might call the “slow approach” to investing.

If you want a faster approach, consider this:

Is there anything that you can invest in that could return you MORE than 10% in a year?

Or, think of it this way: is there anything you could purchase for $500 that would pay you back more than $550 in a year?

The answer is, yes, there are definitely some things like that!

Investing in yourself or investing in starting your own business could certainly return much, much more… PLUS, it could return it much faster.

Investing in Yourself – the FAST Approach

Let’s say that with your extra $500, you want to invest in starting your own business.

You could start all sorts of businesses for $500, like an online clothing boutique, a dropshipping business, or an Etsy shop, but to make things simple, let’s use starting a blog as an example. I’m a blogger, so I can give you my actual costs from my first year of blogging. 🙂

Here are the investments you might need to make for a year of blogging (these costs will vary slightly depending on what hosting platform you use and other decisions you make).

Cost of hosting: $35.40

Simply put, a hosting service is what allows your blog to be available online. It’s a pretty necessary cost.

The price listed above is for Bluehost, which has a basic plan starting at $2.95 per month for your first year. ($2.95 x 12 months = $35.40)

Cost of theme: $89 

A theme determines how your website looks.

The price listed above is the yearly price for the theme I use, Divi by Elegant Themes. (I chose this theme because it’s pretty, versatile, and user-friendly, but there are many other options out there, including some that are free.)

So far, you’ve spent $124.40, so you still have $375.60 of your $500 to invest.

The next thing you invest in? 

A course that teaches you how to make money blogging, like Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing. This will teach you how to make passive income with a blog, even if you don’t have a lot of visitors.

Cost of course: $197

Total you’ve invested: $321.40

Now, you still have $178.60 to invest! 

Let’s say that, after you’ve written a few articles, you want to advertise your blog on Pinterest, which will kick off getting visitors to your website.

So let’s say you spend your remaining $178.60 on advertising, bringing the total you’ve invested up to $500.

Remember, if you invested $500 in the S&P 500, you would expect to have around $550 in a year.

Do you think that over the next year, it’s possible you could make $550 with a blog?

I’ll give you a hint: YES, it’s COMPLETELY possible!!

Just look at the reviews for the course I mentioned above, which shows how much some bloggers are making from affiliate marketing, which is just ONE element of their blog.

Michelle, the creator of the course, makes over $50,000 a month. Some of her students earn $10,000 or more a month. One blogger’s affiliate marketing income increased by 1,500% in the five months after she took the course.

To put this into perspective, think about this: the course currently costs $197.

If you invested $197 in the S&P 500 today, after one year, you might make about $19.70.

But if you invest $197 in a course that can teach you how to make thousands of dollars a month… 

Is that an investment with a higher return than 10%? Yeah, I think so!

I mean, one blogger made $1,792.26 within 60 days of taking the course. That’s an over 900% increase of the $197 investment… in 60 days!

Now, let me be super clear…

I’m not saying you should run out and start a blog or another business right away. I highly encourage you to think carefully about the best way to invest your own money. 

This is simply an invitation to think about investing in a different way.

Instead of just investing in other people’s businesses, you could invest in your own business.

How much could investing in yourself pay off?

Are there downsides to the fast approach to investing?

Now you know the potential benefits of investing in yourself, but there are some things you should consider. Here are the drawbacks of investing in yourself versus the “slower approach.”

It involves work, not just waiting.

Unfortunately, starting a blog or another business isn’t as easy as plopping your money in an index fund and waiting while it grows.

Starting a blog takes work and consistency in order to grow it to the point of where it can make $10,000 a month.

If you’re not willing to put in the work, or if you’re not interested in it at this time, you’re probably better off investing in stocks and index funds.

There’s an upfront cost you have to earn back.

When you invest money in the S&P, you don’t “spend” that money. In other words, if you invest $500 in an index fund, you can still think of that $500 as yours.

Unless the market goes down by a lot, you won’t lose it all.

But when you invest in a course or other supplies for a business, you spend that money. 

If you spend $500 to start a blog, your profit is negative $500, and you have to make back that money before you even start making a profit.

There are no guaranteed results.

Just like many forms of investing, results are not guaranteed. 

However, remember this: when you start your own business, your results are a lot more up to YOU. 

If you put in the work and are determined to succeed, you’ll have a greater chance of making that money back.

In that way, it’s a lot more active than traditional investing. (At least at first. Eventually, you could grow your business to the point where it brings in money passively.)

Final Recommendations:

If you want to invest your extra money, but don’t want to do much work, investing in an index fund like the S&P 500 is a great option. (Absolutely nothing wrong with this!)

If you have a dream of making passive income and running a creative business of your own, consider investing in yourself and your business. 

If you don’t have any extra money to spend right now, please DO NOT go into debt or put off buying groceries to start a business. Seek out free resources and work on saving up some money.

And, if you decide to start a blog, here are my recommendations to start earning money as soon as possible:

–Bluehost

–Divi

–Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing (the easiest way to make money as a new blogger)

Spending $197 on a course is a big decision, and I encourage you to think it over and wait to buy it until it feels right to you. Do your research, and start with checking out Michelle’s free Affiliate Marketing ebook. 

Best of luck!

Before You Go…

Don’t have any money to invest in a business right now? That’s okay! Here’s how I started a business for FREE and kept it profitable 100% of the time.

Feel like you don’t have enough time to start a business? Here’s how to take control of your phone use and free up and extra 1 – 4 hours a day.

Want to learn more about the “fastlane” to becoming rich? Read more about it in The Millionaire Fastlane by MJ DeMarco.