We constantly hear stories and read articles about billionaire entrepreneurs such as Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Warren Buffett, but these are not practical examples because most of their methods do not apply to the standard middle-class citizen. This is due to the fact that the aforementioned innovators have exponentially more starting capital. Many people dream of a romantic vacation to Bora Bora or a flashy shopping spree in Milan, but are unfamiliar with strategies that help their savings account grow. Contrary to popular belief, a majority of these strategies apply to a larger percentage of the population than you would think. The first step is acknowledging that your goals in terms of money accumulation are feasible.

Mentality and Discipline

Before diving into any strategies that actually involve liquid currency, it is important to understand a certain set of features that you can control to help start your journey. Similarly to a person that smoked cigarettes for 20 years and is trying to quit, will power is extremely important. You will be constantly tested by temptation and often provoked, even by close friends, to spend lavishly on material possessions and trips to the bar, for example, which only provide temporary satisfaction. What differentiates successful people from the rest of the population is the constant level-headed financial decision making. They make decisions without emotion, strictly focusing on what is in the best interest of accumulating wealth without wasting money on overpriced tangible goods. If you have a certain amount of money set aside solely with the intention of making it grow, combined with a strong, disciplined mentality, you are already on the right path. At this point, we then must begin to implement strategies into our daily life to both generate and save more money.

Budgeting

“A penny saved is a penny earned” may be the most cliché saying on the planet, but every part of it holds legitimate relevance. A proper budget can apply to all classes on the social hierarchy. Generally speaking, a vast majority of this applies to lower-to-middle class citizens, simply because the public is comprised mostly of these two social classes. There are various ways to save money on a weekly basis if you are not too lazy to put in the effort. Some of these methods include, but are not limited to:

Using coupons

Buying items at an already discounted price

Checking and comparing several websites for prices on the same item

Cooking instead of ordering take-out

Avoiding detrimental habits such as gambling, cigarettes, drugs, or alcohol

If you have a credit card, find one that has a cash back percentage rate on your purchases

Drive a car that is gas-efficient

Let’s say, for example, you print out several coupons before your trip to the grocery store, and those coupons end up saving you $40. If you go grocery shopping twice per month, you are saving $80 per month and $960 per year. That money can pay for almost an entire month of rent, or for that long-awaited vacation to the Bahamas that you and your spouse have talked about but could never afford. There is so much money out there available to acquire by utilizing various budgeting techniques. The key is actually following through with a plan instead of being apathetic or indifferent towards the idea of saving money.

Passive Income

This is arguably the best way of any, in terms of building wealth. As gratifying as it is to save money during your daily routine, imagine saving double that amount while you are sleeping. Think of money as a ticking clock; every second that passes, you want to be earning. Obviously, the more liquid fiat that is available at the start will open several more doors in terms of passive income strategies and higher amounts to earn.

Dividends

Whether it be in the stock market or the cryptocurrency market, dividends are an extremely lucrative method of obtaining passive income. Simply holding shares of stock of a certain company will earn you extra money, usually quarterly, paid out by the company. Instead of focusing on the shares and price of the stock, if you trust the company (which you should if you invest in it in the first place) just set the shares aside and forget about them and go about your other business and watch the money pile up over time.

Compounding Interest

Various banking methods and accounts offer interest that compounds, which means that the money you make in interest on your original account balance is also making money. Two extremely lucrative accounts with compounding interest are:

CDs — Usually owning several of these at once but in smaller increments

Roth IRA — A retirement account that requires an initial deposit, followed by a minimum deposit into the account on a yearly basis, with interest that compounds over time. When the money is finally withdrawn at age 60 or above, the earnings are non-taxable.

This type of interest is incredibly advantageous if approached with an effective strategy. It is recommended to have a high disposable income just to avoid allocating too high of a percentage of your net worth in one particular department.

Countries with High Interest Rates on Bank Accounts

Though this may not be applicable to a majority of countries, there are a certain handful that offer interest rates that almost seem too good to be true. There are legal restrictions on some, such as locking up funds for periods of time, obtaining citizenship, and minimum deposit amounts. Countries such as Ukraine, Bangladesh, Iran, Serbia, Argentina, and Belarus offer lucrative interest rates ranging from 10% to 25%, depending on the type of bank account formed. There is a catch, however. These countries have abnormally high yearly inflation rates, which basically counter-balance the high interest rates.

Peer-to-Peer Lending

Peer-to-peer lending applies to middle-to-upper class entrepreneurs with substantial amounts of money to allocate to one or many start-up businesses. This can be very profitable because the start-ups that need this type of lending are forced to go through private entrepreneurs, primarily because their application for a loan got declined. Therefore, peer-to-peer lenders can charge an interest rate that favors the lender since they have leverage. This is generally high risk, high reward because there is no guarantee that the business that the lenders invest in will flourish, but if the entrepreneur properly uses his or her leverage to charge a very high interest rate or ask for a large percentage of equity in the company, they can earn sizable amounts of money.

Evidence shows that if proper strategies are implemented, along with mental strength, it can be relatively simple to accumulate money. It is wise to set an objective with an amount of money up front to allocate towards growth, and focus solely on building that with the various techniques mentioned above. The beauty is that as your wealth continues to grow, you will earn more in return as you invest more into passive income strategies. Lastly, the availability of this to all social classes provides a glimmer of hope for those that feel as if they are financially trapped.