Forbes.com, who know a thing or two on the subject, have a list of tried and true ways to make that kind of money. Although they aren’t step by step tutorials, they do offer some workable ideas.
- Government Subsidies Perhaps the most time-honored and surest way to make big money is the old fashioned way–skill, brains, luck, clairvoyance, hard work–and so much government support you can’t miss. Benefiting directly from direct government spending is obvious. What’s more subtle and therefore more interesting are the vast government subsidies.
- Inheritance You can always make big money by picking rich parents who die young, or wealthy and feeble uncles with no other heirs. For most, however, inheritance is not the route to riches.
- Little Equity, Lots of Debt You can make lots of money by investing with little equity and huge borrowing–as long as you’re right on the investment’s price direction. Real estate is obviously in this arena.
- Leverage Our third strategy, little equity with lots of debt, amounts to huge financial leverage. But leverage as a way to make big money extends well beyond the use of debt.
- Great Ideas, But Not Necessarily The First Implementers Ralph Waldo Emerson supposedly said, “If a man can write a better book, preach a better sermon, or make a better mousetrap than his neighbor, though he builds his house in the woods the world will make a beaten path to his door.”
- Small Slices of Very Big Pies Fortunes can be made by taking small slices of very big pies, especially if those ultimately granting the slices are making money. Fees of, say, 0.1% of the transaction’s price don’t sound big, but they add up to big numbers.
- Cartels and Monopolies Cartels and oligarchies are great ways to make big money–as long as they last.
- Sell the Sizzle, Not the Steak An age-old route to riches is to promote hopes and dreams, regardless of how far they may be from reality. Of course, government regulation has curtailed the wild health claims for snake oil and many other patent medicines, hair restorers, potency formulas and fountains of youth, but opportunities still abound.
- Take Advantage of Addictions and Vanity Catering to addictions and vanity has always been a big moneymaker, even more so when they are outlawed. Think of sex and prostitution, the world’s oldest profession.
- Picks and Shovels Supplying goods and services to a risky but potentially very profitable venture is a time-honored way to clean up. The old story is that few gold miners in the 1849 California gold rush got rich, but those selling them picks and shovels–and Levi pants–did.
- Get Paid With Money That Isn’t The Payer’s, Especially If They’re Desperate Small pieces of big pies get bigger and easier to obtain when the buyer of the pie wants it badly and considers the service in question essential to get the deal done. Got a hot tip? How To Make Big Money – [Forbes]
