kupicoo / Getty Images/iStockphoto Buying a Timeshare as an Investment
Timeshares are the gift that keeps on giving, but not in the way that the salesperson tells you.If you agree to sit through a sales pitch in return for some sort of free gift, the person trying to sell you on the timeshare might claim that it’s an investment that appreciates in value over time — in addition to being a money-saver on vacations.Unfortunately, if you pay $20,000 for a timeshare rather than invest it, you lose out on the $32,578 you would have at the end of a decade at a 5% rate of annually compounded interest.Worse, you’re paying maintenance costs on the timeshare and you’ll have trouble finding a buyer, even at a loss, if you decide to sell it.
8/28 NYCStock / Shutterstock.com Jumping On an IPO
Of all the plans for how to get rich, one of the most popular is getting in on the ground floor of a popular company.Initial Public Offerings of stock give investors a way to do this, but it’s not without risks.Some companies debut spectacularly at their IPOs, but their stock prices later plummet, leaving early investors with big losses.For example, Lyft, Uber and Slack all dipped 20%, and SmileClubDirect plunged 28% on its first day.
Far from a way to get rich quick, buying into those IPOs accomplished the opposite.Open a New Bank Account Sponsors of eclipse_images / Getty Images Betting On Cryptocurrency To Get Rich Quick
Cryptocurrency is a buzzword that blinds some investors wanting to get rich quick, but Jason Glassberg, co-founder of Casaba Security, which provides services to cryptocurrency companies, had a warning.
“The bitcoin boom of late 2017 still looms large in the eyes of many retail investors, and there are plenty of people out there who’ve been bitten by the crypto bug and are counting on the next big price surge to make their millions,” he said.“It’s important for consumers and casual investors to understand that there is a lot of risk in the cryptocurrency market.
“These markets are extremely volatile, with wide price swings of over 10% extremely common.Not only that, but the industry is rife with shoddy practices, unethical activity and outright scams.
There is very little visibility for investors into many of these businesses and coin offerings, and if you buy in, you better (be) able to lose all of the money you invest.” 10/28 ©Shutterstock.com Investing In a Business Fad
Fads come and go, and if you use them as a basis for getting in a particular business to get rich quick, your money can go, too.Pratibha Vuppuluri of the She Started It! resource guide for working moms, said, “Some people fall into the trap of getting into a business just because it’s on-trend.
While it may give you profit for a while, once the trend if is over, you start losing as well.Thus, when getting into business, make sure you really did study well.”
For example, meal-assembly businesses popped up in countless strip malls across the country a little more than a decade ago.Then most closed when the consumer meal-assembly trend evaporated.11/28 Marco_Piunti / Getty Images/iStockphoto Buying Get Rich Quick Information From an Infomercial
If you’ve ever gone channel surfing in the middle of the night, you undoubtedly have been blasted by infomercials touting various ways to make big money.
Just call the toll-free number, pay for the secret system and the money will come rolling in, according to the announcer.Unfortunately, the secret of how to get rich is not for sale on your TV screen.The Federal Trade Commission tries to shut down these schemes, but they pop up like weeds.
For example, when a self-proclaimed financial expert named Wade Cook was jailed for peddling phony financial schemes, he jumped right back into the same business as soon as he was released.12/28 AzmanL / Getty Images Investing In a Crowdfunded Startup
Investors looking for promising new companies can easily find them on crowdfunding sites.Unfortunately, some of the startups that look great in their online descriptions really are shams and many crowdfunding platforms don’t vet their campaigns.The only people who get rich quick from them are those who perpetrated the fraud.
Some of the supposed startups have taken in thousands, or even millions, of dollars from hopeful investors before shutting down and taking the money with them.13/28 sturti / Getty Images/iStockphoto Flipping Houses
The numerous home improvement shows make flipping houses look easy, and you can’t help but wonder if snatching up cheap properties and fixing them is the road to those riches you crave.Unfortunately, you could easily lose it all in this business because it’s so easy to pay too much for the house, spend too much on the repairs or simply just misjudge the market.If you’re tempted to give house flipping a try, remind yourself that TV shows always show the success stories.You don’t want to end up as one of the unseen losers in the house-flipping game.14/28 ©Shutterstock.com Being Dazzled by Celebrity Endorsements
Celebrity spokespersons may claim that certain companies can tell you how to get rich, but remember that these famous faces are getting paid to make those claims or might have a personal stake in potential profits.For example, in 2019 the FTC filed a restraining order against a company that was using endorsements from HGTV celebrities to lure people into its real estate seminars with a supposedly free event that actually was a pitch for a costly seminar that offered basic advice while encouraging the purchase of more classes.Open a New Bank Account Sponsors of ©Shutterstock.com Selling Stocks When the Price Tanks
The stock market is a roller coaster, and it’s easy to panic when the price of your stock crests on a hill before plummeting down.
It’s a better idea to ride out the storm than to sell, however.When the market is at a low point, it’s a great time to buy even more stock because you can bargain shop.While you probably won’t get rich quick when the market goes up again, you should see some tidy profits.16/28 wundervisuals / Getty Images/iStockphoto Investing Without Doing Your Homework
People who know how to get rich understand that it’s a process.
All investments carry risk, but doing your homework before plunging in gives you a better chance to make a profit.
“A lot of investing is timing and having an idea of when to get in and when to get out.Even a great investment idea can backfire if the timing is off,” said Joseph Polakovic, owner and CEO of Castle West Finance.He likens jumping on an investment without doing research to “going to a casino and playing blackjack for the first time.” He explained, “It’s hard enough as it is, but you’re probably way better off if you understand some basic strategy.” 17/28 Halfpoint / Getty Images/iStockphoto Putting Your Faith in Financial Books and Gurus
Books purporting to tell you how to get rich are all over Amazon, and some even hit the New York Times bestseller list.The financial gurus who write them assure you they have the secret to great wealth, but can you figure it all out from some book written by some person? “ Reading a book and thinking that you can become rich is the equivalent of going up the stairs and thinking you can climb Mount Everest,” Vlachogiannis said.
And just remember that anyone can write a book, and you have no way of knowing whether the advice is good or the anecdotes on the pages are real.
For example, Robert Kiyosaki wrote the book “Rich Dad Poor Dad,” and its success happened despite any evidence that the rich dad was a real person or that Kiyosaki himself had successfully applied the lessons to building his own fortune.
One of his companies ended up in bankruptcy in 2012 and, more recently, he found himself embroiled in a multimillion-dollar dispute with the company that handled seminars based on his book.18/28 PeopleImages / Getty Images/iStockphoto Investing Money With Telemarketers
Telemarketers usually want to sell you something, such as insurance or an extended car warranty, but some might offer you the opportunity to get rich quick with a surefire investment in something like precious metals.
Don’t trust a voice on the phone to tell you how to invest your money; it’s most likely just someone reading from a script.Otherwise, you could end up paying too much for a bad investment — like the people who fell for a precious metals investment scam that was broken up by the FTC after milking people out of $5 million..