There are probably millions of Americans asking themselves these questions right now, "How am I going to get rich?" How will I escape the day-to-day monotony of a dead end job, and when will I have the freedom to buy whatever I want and to go wherever I please?

Well, from a practical standpoint you do have a number of options if you want to achieve the goal of becoming rich. You can start your own business; you can come up with a new product which nobody has invented before, and then sell it. Or, and this is what most people end up doing, you can just save your money little by little.

None of these choices are simple mind you. Patience and hard work are absolutely necessary! You will have to overcome some big obstacles if you decide to start a company. There are taxes, all kinds of legal issues to sort out, and then the most difficult element of all, people. They will need to be paid and given some time off every now and again. It makes more sense if your business is something you love to do, the money will come to you almost effortlessly and the freedom to set your own rules and hours of work can be liberating.

Inventing a new product takes a creative and innovative mind. How to market your new invention will be the first thing you'll have to figure out. And remember you will be competing with everybody else out there who is thinking of inventing something as well. You'll have to get the attention of some potential investors and make sure your idea isn't stolen. These legal hurdles can be tricky, and you should get some professional advice.

The third choice is to set aside some of your hard earned cash every week. Stuff it in your piggy bank or your bank account and watch it grow over time. Invest in no load mutual funds, stocks and bonds. You probably won't make a fortune like Warren Buffett or Bill Gates, but something is better than nothing.

I won't deny that miracles do happen. People get lucky and win the lottery, but do their lives really improve? I can just imagine if I won a big jackpot and then getting phone calls from relatives who I've never met before asking for a cut of the money. That would be a nightmare. Statistically speaking, you have a greater chance of being hit by lightning than you do of winning the lottery, so I wouldn't count on getting rich overnight.

Short of a lottery win and an inheritance, there is no easy way to get rich. Don't pay any attention whatsoever to the get rich quick schemes out there. I realize some of them are tempting and hard to ignore, but it's a get rich quick scheme for THEM, and it will put YOU in the poorhouse.

Learn more about this author, Scott Hayden.
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