Three Keys to Asset Appreciation: Why Do Some People Make Quick Money While Others Get Poorer?

The era of QE has led to persistent inflation, and many people are starting to think about how to make their wealth outpace rising prices. The question is, there are countless ways to make quick money—some through promotions and salary increases at work, others by flipping investments overnight, and some ending up with total loss of capital. Where exactly does the difference lie?

Principal Determines Your Earning Difficulty

To make quick money, you first need to recognize a reality: how much principal you have directly determines your operational space.

For those with less capital, achieving wealth growth in the short term is actually not difficult. Whether choosing leveraged investments or multi-channel side jobs, assets can grow rapidly, and risks are relatively manageable—because the principal is small, even if you lose, there’s a chance to start over.

But if you have already accumulated a substantial principal, the situation is reversed. The growth from regular part-time jobs is relatively minimal. To significantly increase wealth in a short period, you must take on higher risks, and if you fail, the losses can be severe. This is also why some people choose to invest in leveraged products—once the scale of capital reaches a certain level, this can be a necessary means to boost returns.

Two Main Engines for Making Quick Money: Work and Investment

Achieving rapid wealth growth essentially boils down to “increasing income and reducing expenses.” Cutting costs is simpler—keeping accounts and cutting unnecessary expenses suffice. The key is increasing income, and the core of that is twofold: work and investment.

Work routes include several strategies:

First is choosing your main industry. Salary differences across industries are huge. For example, in Taiwan, electrical engineering salaries tend to be higher than business majors, which in turn far surpass humanities. This reflects profit margin differences across sectors—profitable companies can afford to pay their employees better.

Second is career jumping. Annual salary increases at companies are usually around 3-5%, but switching jobs can often yield 10-20% salary hikes, which is much more effective. Maintaining relationships with headhunters and building a strong resume are key to achieving this.

Third is expanding side jobs. Those without professional skills can engage in delivery, gig work, and other labor-intensive jobs; those with professional backgrounds can seek part-time opportunities on freelancing platforms; others create additional income through live streaming, content creation, purchasing代理, online stores, etc. These are all effective ways to quickly accumulate the first bucket of gold.

Investment routes rely on financial instruments. Stocks, forex, cryptocurrencies, futures—all have their characteristics. Some tools come with leverage features, allowing you to do more with less. As long as you can analyze and predict market patterns, wealth can be accumulated rapidly.

The most prudent strategy is a combination of both: increasing main income while allocating assets through investments. This way, asset growth accelerates significantly.

Lessons from Two Real Cases

Case 1: Work + Multiple Side Hustles

Some North American engineers run YouTube channels, take on freelance projects, and even generate passive income through idle vehicle rentals. Their common trait is making full use of professional skills and spare time to create multiple income streams. The advantage of this model is risk diversification—any single income source encountering issues won’t be fatal.

Case 2: Rapid Asset Accumulation through Investment

In recent years, the surge in stock markets and cryptocurrencies has spawned many “teenage stock gods.” One famous example is someone who turned 150,000 yuan into over ten million in two years. Their approach was: first, verify trading logic through simulated trading, then use warrants to accumulate initial capital to around 500,000 yuan, switch to day trading to further amplify gains, and after reaching 2-3 million yuan, adopt swing trading strategies.

The core of this methodology is gradually adjusting strategies rather than going all-in on high-risk products. These techniques are also applicable to forex, cryptocurrencies, commodities, and other asset classes.

The Black Hole of Risks in Making Quick Money: Leverage as a Double-Edged Sword

Many are attracted to leverage when trying to make quick money in the short term. On the surface, it seems tempting: with 100,000 yuan of principal, using leverage to buy products worth 1 million, a 1% increase yields 10,000 yuan (a 10% return on principal). But the flip side is the same mechanism—if it drops 1%, you lose 10,000 yuan.

Day trading appears to increase returns by raising trading frequency, but many participants trade amounts exceeding their own funds, which is essentially leverage.

Even low-leverage businesses like live streaming or online stores, to quickly scale up, often involve upfront advertising costs, inventory, and buying followers—these are leverage variants—replacing financial leverage with time and capital investment upfront. If these investments don’t yield expected results, losses can be very painful.

The core risk is that many people obsess over the “quick” goal, but end up losing money. The real key in investing isn’t clicking buy or sell buttons but conducting simulated testing and data analysis behind the scenes. Opening a store is the same—just spending on advertising isn’t enough; the product itself must be solid, or traffic won’t convert into lasting customers.

How to Safely Achieve Short-Term Growth

Work side: Increasing income through job hopping or side jobs is the lowest-risk method, but it requires more time and effort.

Investment side: Spend time learning the rules of financial products, repeatedly verify trading strategies through simulated trading, then test with small real funds. Never invest large sums all at once. If using leverage, set stop-loss points and strictly follow predetermined trading discipline.

Overall consideration: Whatever path you choose, tailor your plan based on your strengths. Use your expertise to earn money—this will yield higher returns. Also, recognize that the success rate of making money through investment is much lower than through work, unless you already possess substantial market knowledge and psychological resilience.

Final Reminder

To make quick money, the most common mistake is overestimating your risk tolerance and relying too heavily on leverage. Many stories of overnight riches are backed by ten times the capital lost—just not as widely circulated.

A pragmatic approach is: first, increase your work income to build stable cash flow; then, use a small portion of capital to practice investing. After thoroughly verifying your strategies, gradually increase your investment. Wealth accumulation is rarely achieved in one step; it’s built layer by layer.