How to Turn $10k into $100k:  The Uncomfortable Truth You Need to Know

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The idea of 10x’ing your money is compelling. You’re here because you want to learn how to turn $10k into $100k. Or maybe you want to turn $1k into $10k. Or $100k into $1 million. Lucky for you, the strategy is the same. However, despite the many gurus who tell you otherwise, multiplying your money is easier said than done. But it is possible, and I will show you exactly how! But first, we need to talk about an uncomfortable truth.

The Rule of 72:  How Long Does It Take to Turn $10k into $100k?

Have you ever heard of the rule of 72? The rule of 72 tells you approximately how many years it will take to double your money based on an assumed investment return. For the sake of this exercise, let’s assume you expect to earn an 8% investment return. The rule of 72 states that if you take 72 divided by 8, you’ll come up with approximately nine years to double your money. If you think your investment return will be 6%, though, it will take you about 12 years to double your money (72 / 6 = 12). 

Okay, so that’s the math. Now let’s apply it to the conundrum of how to turn $10k into $100k.

To turn $10k into $100k, you’ll need to double your money approximately 3.5 times ($10k becomes $20k, which becomes $40k, and so on). Using this math and assuming an 8% return, this means that turning $10k into $100k will take approximately 30 years. 

While this may sound disheartening, there are ways to speed this up. I am going to show you how to do precisely that! Let’s get started. 

1) Create Additional Streams of Income

Now that you know turning $10k into $100k could take 30+ years, you’ll want to start thinking about ways to accelerate that timeline.

Perhaps the simplest is to create additional streams on income. If you’re accustomed to living on your regular salary, you can then take any extra income you earn and plow it into growing your wealth. 

For example, consider starting a business. Maybe you have a knack for writing. There are tons of opportunities for freelance writers to make money. Or perhaps you speak another language. It’s possible to get paid to teach online!

No matter your skillset, take some time outside of your everyday work to build a business. And if you want to maximize your wealth, think about ideas that provide passive income (i.e., not trading your time for money). 

2) Buy an Existing Business

Is the thought of building a business just too much to handle with the amount of time you have? Consider buying an existing business instead.

Consider checking out flippa.com (who primarily sells website businesses) or bizbuysell.com (more focused on brick-and-mortar businesses).

It goes without saying, but you need to do your diligence if you’re going to buy a business, including making sure you can continue to generate earnings that make your investment worthwhile.

That said, it’s a lot easier to buy an already successful business than to start one from scratch!

3) Invest in Learning a New Skill

Want to start some sort of side business but not sure you have the skills to do so? Consider investing in learning a new skill.

Sometimes, you have to spend money to make money. When I started After School Finance, I spent a TON of money learning how to create a blog. Learning how to write content that people like, how to run the website, and how to get my content seen were some of the skills I learned. And guess what? I have made my investment back many times over! 

Alternatively, maybe going back to school can help you boost your income. Just remember, there are many places where you can learn new skills. 

Ultimately, the right skills can help you create more income than you can imagine, but that requires jumping in with both feet. Figure out what skills you need to learn, and then put in the effort to do so. A new skill set can allow you to transform your income. 

4) Get a Side Hustle

If building a full-fledged business or investing in education isn’t up your alley, consider getting a side hustle. Again, your goal here is to create additional income, which you can use to build more wealth (by buying assets).

While there are countless side hustles, I’d suggest choosing something for which you have passion. If you love dogs, consider walking dogs on your lunch break using a service like Rover. Find driving relaxing? Become a driver for DoorDash! 

There are tons of options, but many are super easy to use to create additional income. 

5) Invest in Stocks & Bonds

Once you’ve realized that turning $10k into $100k quickly will likely require earning more money, your next step is to invest. Why? Because compound interest is the greatest wealth accelerator known to man.

While there are thousands of investment choices, stocks and bonds are the most traditional. Stocks allow you to buy small slices of companies (by purchasing shares), while bonds enable you to invest in debt (of companies, governments, etc.). 

If you’re serious about turning $10k into $100k, you’ll likely need to take some investment risk, and that would tend to push you towards stocks. While stocks carry more risk, historically, they have also yielded higher returns. 

Consider your investment timeline, risks, and objectives before deciding on stocks or bonds (or some mix of both). However, two ways to get started investing in these asset classes are:

• Index funds (there are many choices like domestic/international, large-cap/small cap, etc.)
• Individual bonds or bond funds (corporate bonds, treasury bonds, inflation-protected bonds, etc.) 

To purchase any of these asset classes, you’ll need a brokerage account. My favorite option is M1 Finance. They offer no-fee trading and can even help you build a portfolio based on your investing goals. Check out my M1 Finance review to learn more!

If you want to start small with your investments, another option to consider is Acorns. Acorns lets you invest your “spare change” into diversified portfolios. Over time, you’ll watch these small investments add up. While investing small amounts won’t get you from $10k to $100k quickly, it will help you build a more extensive investment portfolio in the long run.

6) Invest in Real Estate Passively

Real estate is the next asset class to consider when trying to grow your wealth. Real estate has helped a lot of people become healthy. There are many different real estate niches, including rental properties, flipping, wholesaling, self-storage, mobile home parks, and office buildings, just to name a few. 

Investing in real estate takes time and expertise. If you want to learn to do so, that’s fantastic! But if you’re just looking to entrust your money to a subject matter expert, investing passively in real estate can be the way to go. Here are a few options to consider:

Fundrise

• Fundrise is an online platform that allows investors to invest in real estate for as little as $10. Fundrise then works on behalf of its investors to acquire investment properties (both residential and commercial). While past performance is not indicative of future results, Fundrise has earned positive returns for investors every quarter from 2017 through 2021 (the time of this writing), with average returns ranging from 7% – 22% per year. I invested with Fundrise at the start of 2020 and have seen some phenomenal results thus far.

CrowdStreet

• For investors looking to take a more selective approach to their investments, CrowdStreet is another real estate investment platform worth considering. As an investor in CrowdStreet, you can invest in individual deals that meet your investment preferences. Note that CrowdStreet is only available to accredited investors, so if you don’t fall into that bucket, consider other platforms like Fundrise or RealtyMogul.

Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)

• If you’re looking for the path of least resistance, consider investing in REITs using your plain old brokerage account. REITs are vehicles that actively invest in different types of real estate. REITs tend to be a bit more volatile (as they trade like stocks), but they are an easy way to gain exposure to real estate investments.

7) Invest in Real Estate Directly

If you’d rather take a more active approach to investing in real estate, there are many ways to invest in real estate directly.

My personal favorite is rental property investing. Here’s why. Rental properties build wealth through four fundamental mechanisms:

1. Cash flow (the rent you keep after you pay all expenses)
2. Appreciation (the increase in value of a property)
3. Mortgage paydown (using rental proceeds to pay down principal)
4. Tax benefits (in essence deferring tax obligations)

If you want to learn how to buy your first rental property, I’ve created a step-by-step guide just for you. Check it out to get started!

Of course, you can also consider some other strategies like:

• Flipping (buying a run-down property, improving it, and selling it for more than you put into it)
• Wholesaling (placing a property under contract and then assigning that contract to someone else for a fee)
• Commercial real estate (think strip malls and office buildings)
• Self-storage (buying a place where people store their boxes)
• Mobile home parks
• Much, much more! 

It is possible to use any of these strategies to build more wealth – all of which can help you on your mission of turning $10k into $100k. 

8) Become the Bank

Have you ever noticed all the situations in life in which you end up paying a bank interest? Want to buy a house? Pay the bank. Buying a car? Pay the bank. Going to college? Pay the bank.

Rather than paying the bank, consider becoming the bank. No, I’m not suggesting you hang your shingle in front of an old brick-and-mortar building. Instead, I suggest you investigate investing in one of the countless lending platforms available online for small investors.

For example, through a service called Prosper, you can fund small slices of personal loans. Let’s say someone wants to borrow $10,000 to consolidate their debt. Platforms like Prosper divide this loan into $25 chunks and then sell those chunks to investors. By investing in small slices of many loans, you can diversify your risk and make money by being the bank.

Another exciting service I’ve discovered is called PeerStreet. PeerStreet’s entire focus is the real estate debt market. In essence, PeerStreet is a marketplace in which you can select fixed-income opportunities in which to invest.

While there are many other similar opportunities, the point is it’s better to receive interest than pay interest. 

9) Tap Home Equity 

Now, this last strategy is advanced, carrying substantially more risk. I want to be very clear that this strategy is not for everyone, but I am sharing it because it will make you think about wealth and money in a way you may have never before. 

If you ask wealthy people how they became rich, the answer for many includes leverage. Said differently, once the wealthy get their financial ball rolling, they leverage their assets to buy more assets.

The book Rich Habits Poor Habits explains this principle in detail (and is an excellent read I highly recommend). 

Let’s say you own a $500,000 house, and your remaining loan balance is $200,000. This means you have $300,000 in equity. But that equity is not providing any value to you. You are not earning any return on that money. It’s dead equity. 

What if you borrowed $100,000 from your home equity and used the proceeds to buy four rental properties ($100,000 each with $25,000 down per property)? For example, maybe you can borrow at 3% (using a home equity loan product) and invest at 7% (in the rental properties). This is a simple interest rate arbitrage. You’re using borrowed money, investing it at a higher rate of return, and pocketing the difference. 

This strategy carries risk, as you’re taking on more debt and using your primary residence as collateral. But, by tapping leverage thoughtfully, you can accelerate your path to multiplying your money. 

Frequently Asked Questions

How Can I Turn $10k into $100k Passively?

Once you have learned how to turn $10k into $100k by earning more and investing, you may want to fine-tune your strategy. For example, many people want to amplify their money passively.

The secret is to leave your money alone. Stay invested, and delay gratification by letting your money go to work for you.

Of course, adding to your investment pile can only accelerate this process.

How Can I Double $10k Fast?

If you want to double $10k quickly and turn it into $20k (as a first step on your journey to $100k), the best thing you can do is invest more. Unfortunately, you can expect your money to take nine or so years to double at an average rate of return. The only way to speed this process is to invest more. 

How to Turn $10k into $100k in 10 years

If you want to get aggressive and turn $10k into $100k in 10 years, you’re going to need to be disciplined in adding to your investments. 

Just doing some simple math, assume you start with $10k and earn an investment return of 7%. To have $100k at the end of 10 years, you’d need to add approximately $6,000/year to your investments. This means that in total, you will need to contribute roughly $70,000 over the ten years to have $100,000 at the end.

What do I Need to Do Before Investing?

Before you start investing and growing your wealth, it’s essential to get your financial house in order. Key steps to take include:

• Paying off debt
  • Start with high-interest-rate debt like credit cards, and then move to lower-cost debt like student loans. It’s even worth looking into refinancing your student loans through a platform like Splash to make sure you’re minimizing what you owe. 
• Build an emergency fund
  • 3 to 6 months of living expenses is an excellent place to start. As you’re building your emergency fund, make sure to stash your cash in a high-yield savings account (like this one from CIT Bank).
• Budget, budget, budget
  • Make a habit of paying yourself first by using a budgeting app to funnel your money towards your priorities. My favorite budgeting apps are Tiller Money and You Need a Budget.

How to Turn $10k into $100k:  Summary

While I recognize that some of you likely came here looking for an easy answer on building wealth quickly, the truth is that wealth isn’t built quickly. It’s built slowly and with discipline.

Learning how to turn $10k into $100k is the easy part. Committing to investing more of your hard-earned income and taking a consistent approach to investing is the harder part. But you can do it!

Before we go, I want to leave you with a piece of advice. Remember that wealth is not defined by what you earn but by the assets you have. Income is temporary, but it is assets that create sustainable wealth and cash flow for your future. Focus on building assets, and you’ll be prepared to weather any financial storm life throws your way.