Building three pathways for personal cash flow— from employment, side gigs, to investments

In the era of inflation, relying solely on fixed salaries is no longer sufficient to cope with the asset depreciation dilemma. Many people are pondering: What are the ways to make money? Should they seek breakthroughs in their careers, diversify income streams, or leverage financial instruments to amplify capital? Today, we will analyze these paths one by one.

First, Understand the Risks — The Dual Nature of Leverage

Before exploring any quick money-making methods, it’s essential to recognize a fact: high returns often come with high risks.

Many are attracted by promises of “small investments for big gains,” but overlook the essence of leverage. Suppose you have 100,000 yuan in principal, and use 5x leverage to buy assets worth 500,000 yuan. If the asset rises by 10%, your investment return doubles to 50%; but if it drops by 10%, your principal is halved in loss. This is why many novice investors quickly make money in the short term but also rapidly lose their principal.

Day trading may seem simple, but it also hides the same leverage trap. Many traders use more than their own funds to trade, which is essentially leverage. If their judgment is wrong, losses can far exceed expectations. Therefore, before any investment decision, thorough simulation trading should be conducted to verify strategies. When real money is involved, small trial orders should be the principle, rather than gambling everything.

The Most Secure Path: Career Advancement and Professional Side Jobs

For most people, the most controllable cash flow comes from employment. This route has the lowest risk but requires time to accumulate.

Realistic salary increase figures: annual salary adjustments in companies are usually only 3~5%, far below inflation. However, switching jobs can often yield a 10~20% salary jump, which is the most direct way to increase income. Therefore, after accumulating 2~3 years of professional experience, proactively seeking better opportunities is far more effective than passively waiting for annual raises.

Choosing a profession also matters. For example, in Taiwan, electrical engineering-related fields typically have significantly higher average salaries than business majors, which in turn lead those in liberal arts. This reflects the profit-making ability differences across industries. Entering more profitable industries naturally enables companies to offer more competitive salaries.

Side jobs and freelance work accelerate income growth. Those without professional skills can engage in labor-intensive work; those with expertise can use platforms (like well-known freelancing websites) to take on projects, or use spare time for live streaming, content creation, purchasing代理, or opening online stores. These are effective ways to quickly accumulate initial capital.

Investment-Driven Wealth Acceleration

Once you have initial capital (generally recommended at least 100,000~500,000 yuan), investments can truly work. Many successful cases confirm this.

A well-known case increased from 150,000 yuan in two years to over ten million. His methodology is instructive: first, verify trading logic through simulated trading to ensure strategies are feasible on paper; then, use small real funds with options-like instruments to grow capital to around 500,000; after reaching a certain scale, switch to day trading strategies to increase turnover; finally, when assets reach 2~3 million, adopt swing trading to reduce trading frequency and expand per-trade gains.

This step-by-step progression applies not only to stocks but also to forex, cryptocurrencies, commodities, and futures. The key points are:

1. Fully understand the product mechanisms — before investing real money, familiarize yourself with trading rules, cost structures, and risk mechanisms.
2. Strategy precedes operation — success depends not on the timing of buy/sell buttons but on data analysis and simulation verification behind it.
3. Discipline over prediction — even the most perfect strategy requires strict execution; human weaknesses (greed, fear, gambler’s mentality) often destroy well-designed plans.

Dual Track of Increasing Income and Reducing Expenses

The most efficient money-making method in reality is to advance both income and expenses reduction simultaneously.

Reducing expenses starts with bookkeeping — many people don’t know where their money goes. Keeping records reveals unnecessary expenditures, allowing cash flow optimization. Increasing income involves two categories: work income and investment returns. These are not mutually exclusive but should be layered over time.

Initially, focus on career advancement and side jobs (low risk, easy to implement), while learning investment knowledge; once a certain principal is accumulated, verify strategies through simulated trading; after confirming feasibility, proceed with small real investments. When assets grow larger, investment income can become the main cash flow engine.

Common Pitfalls in Rapid Wealth Accumulation

Many fall into traps when pursuing quick money, often due to over-leverage:

• In investments: Using all capital plus leverage for a single trade, risking total loss if the direction is wrong.
• In entrepreneurship: Investing heavily in advertising and inventory without market validation, gambling on one-time success.
• In employment: Expecting an immediate, far higher salary increase after switching jobs.

True wealth accumulation follows this logic: Stable cash flow → Capital accumulation → Strategy optimization → Scale returns. Each step requires validation, not reckless leaps.

Summary

To keep assets appreciating during inflation, there’s no silver bullet, but clear paths exist. Career progression provides a stable foundation; side jobs accelerate accumulation; financial tools amplify returns. Combining these, progressing in stages according to personal circumstances, is the sustainable way to build cash flow. Most importantly, verify each step thoroughly — it’s better to go slow than to lose everything quickly, which only leads to deeper trouble.