A friend of mine asked me recently, “How do I find lucrative deals/investments?”

That’s a trick question. Or at the very least, unclear. What is meant by the term lucrative and how can it be measured???

I think a better question is “I have X amount of money. How can I double my money in a short period of time?”

Now we are getting somewhere.

Rule of 72 (Compound Interest)

72 ÷ (interest rate compounded yearly) = # of years until money is doubled

Example:

Say you invest $100 @ 12% interest rate. How long will it take to turn into $200?

72 ÷ interest rate = 72 ÷ 12 = 6 years

Let’s look at the numbers

Year 1 = $100.00 x 1.12 = $112.00

Year 2 = $112.00 x 1.12 = $125.44

Year 3 = $125.44 x 1.12 = $140.49

Year 4 = $140.49 x 1.12 = $157.35

Year 5 = $157.35 x 1.12 = $176.23

Year 6 = $176.23 x 1.12 = $197.38

So, $100 turns into $197.38 in 6 years at 12%

Why does this matter? This means that you can place money into an investment vehicle (I like investing into the stock market), and let it grow. If $100 does that @ 12%, what is $100 a MONTH look like in 6 years? 12 years? 18 years? 24 years?

Year 6 = $ 10,471

Year 12 = $ 31,906

Year 18 = $ 75,786

Year 24 = $165,612

$2500 a month invested @ 12%?

Year 14 = over $1,000,000

Where would this $2500 a month come from? Cashflow. Checkout the Budgeting 101 course for more info on determining your cashflow.

This takes consistency. But it takes time. Years. Decades. And risk. That return on investment is not guaranteed. And inflation.

This is what people mean by letting “your money make money”. The investment ($100), if you let it grow with the investment.

3 main investment vehicles

Stock Market (REITs, Dividend Stocks, Utilities) ---> which I prefer

Real Estate (Rental Property, Commercial)

Businesses (Startups, Equity)

There is alot more to this money game. Stay tuned for more.

“ Starting something can be easy, it is finishing it that is the highest hurdle. “ - Isabella Poretsis

Okay, I have a confession.

I love self-improving. I have a passion for always bettering the person that I was yesterday. And I’m addicted to books. More like learning. I’m addicted to learning via books. I’m one of those people that has a personal library of books ranging from business and money management to maintaining intergender relationships. And though I have alot of books that I would like to get to, I just can’t find the time to READ them all. Key word, “READ”.

Well, in order to self-improve, you need complete three steps:

Humble yourself and become open to the thought that it may be somethings that you do not know
Obtain the idea/ideas the speaker/author is trying to convey
Implement said ideas

The problem is that most people cannot get to step 3 because they do not finish the book; some don’t even start. And yes, I too have succumb to not finishing a book that I have started.

Here in comes audiobooks. An audiobook platform reads to you, which lets you gain the information while doing other things, like drive to work. Audible and Scribd are the most popular. Not only do they read the books for you, but they allow you to get the information faster by increasing the read speed to 1.5X - 2.0X.

Audible is a service from Amazon that allow you to get some free books while you pay a subscription. The problem is that for Audilbe, you are alloted a monthly credit for some books. Then you pay for each new book that you want to read/hear.

Scribd is also a subscription service for audiobooks as well as ebooks that can be stored locally on your phone or tablet. Scribd is like “Netflix” for books. You can read or stream an unlimited amount of books at no additional charge. This is my recommended service. Although I do indeed use both services (not everything is available on Scribd).

Next, takes notes. Mainly, ask yourself, “what is/are the big ideas” and “how can I implement said ideas”? Keep a journal, and refer to it often.

So, takes some of these tips to absorb the information faster.

Good Luck,

-Rellz