How To Get Started In Investing Even If You Are Young, Broke and Jobless

Have you ever wanted to invest - but you tell yourself this.

"I will start investing once I find a job and start earning money."

But it turned out, when you found a job - you gave yourself a different reason.

"I will start investing once my salary increases - my capital is too small now..."

When I was 16, I always wanted to invest - but at that point of time - I was too young to open a brokerage account.

(Thinking back, that was a poor excuse - since I could always used my parents' brokerage account first...)

As I got older and started working - I tried investing on my own.

I would go online and look at Motley Fools, YouTube, Facebook - trying to look out for stock ideas to invest in.

Some went well, and some didn't.

The problem was that I didn't get consistency - it was more like a hit or miss.

Of course, through attending courses after courses, and guidance from my mentors - I did eventually figure it out.

But in this blog post - I want to address, perhaps, one of the biggest concerns among my younger readers, who are perhaps just fresh out of university.

"How do you get started in investing, even if you are young, broke and jobless"

This blog post reveals to you the dollar-exchange triangle framework that I learned from one of my business mentors. 

Acknowledge You Need Capital

Before I get into the details of the dollar exchange triangle - you first have to accept the fact that you need capital to start investing.

(Yes, I know its a no brainer...)

However, having a lack of capital should never be a reason for you to not start to learn investing.

Think about it.

Let's say you wanted to drive a car.

Would you tell yourself,

"Let me save up to buy a car first - then I will learn how to drive."

Well - at least, I wouldn't.

I want to learn how to drive first, so that the moment I get a car, I will be able to drive it successfully.

So the same comes with investing.

Even if you have little capital to start with, you can always start with learning how to invest.

This could even mean just opening a paper account to start with - just so you get used to the volatility of stock market swings.

The key here is just get started.

Remember this quote:

Simply by getting started, you will already be ahead of those who gave themselves the thousands and thousands of excuses of "why" they cannot do this or that.

Now, let me introduce to you the dollar exchange triangle, for you to acquire capital for investing.

The Dollar Exchange Triangle

The dollar exchange triangle has three components to it:

1. Time
2. Money
3. Skills

Now, what does this actually means?

Well - there are the three different ways that you can acquire "dollars" - which is your capital for investing.

Exchanging Time For Dollars

The first way is time - that is to, exchange your time for dollars.

This is the most common, and stable way to acquire capital.

This could include just getting a part-time job, or a full-time job for that matter.

For most people, this is probably the best way to start, because it is the easiest way to get capital.

However, I wouldn't recommend this as a long term strategy, simply because it is not scalable.

If you are paid $10 per hour - even if you were to work 24 hours a day without resting - the maximum you can ever earn in a day would be $240.

We all have limited time - and remember that time is the most important resource.

With that said, please don't just quit your job because of that.

Like I said - this is the most stable way to acquire capital.

So if you need to pay rent to keep a shelter above your head, it is best to stick with this (first).

Exchange Skills For Dollars

In my previous example, I said that if you were paid $10 per hour - the maximum you can ever make is $240 in a day.

So how can you make more in a day?

Well, the answer is to get a job that pays you $50 an hour.

The math is simple.

But what are some of these skills?

Well, it could be video editing, video animation, copywriting, web design, etc.

There is only one reason why anyone would give you more money.

It is when you are adding a higher value to others because of the skill set that you acquired.

For example, I have met people who pay well over five figures to design a website.

Why were people willing to pay so much money to design the website?

Well, because they know they can make much more with a well-designed website.

This is also why Warren Buffett said this:

The best part - this skill set will last you a lifetime.

These days, you can pick up a new skill, simply by going online to YouTube or Udemy.

Unfortunately, most people hardly get to this stage of exchanging their skills for money.

The reason is because, acquiring a new skill set is always overwhelming and scary, which is why most people give up in their journey of wealth.

At some point of time, they will start to question themselves, "Is this really worth my time?"

To answer that question - you have to first ask yourself, "How much is your time actually worth right now?"

If you don't have a skill set where you can add value to others - then chances are that your time isn't worth a lot yet.

This is why it is important to constantly upgrade yourself and make your time worth even more.

One of my business mentor charges $5000 for business consultation.

Most might think nobody will ever pay that amount...

...however, the truth is people actually pay him.

Because they see the value of the skill set that he offers.

If they can make at least $10,000 from the consultation, paying that $5000 investment will be a 100% ROI.

This is why you should always constantly upgrade yourself, by deepening your skill sets even more - this is how you can exchange your time for higher dollars.

Exchange Money For Dollars

This is the highest level of getting more capital.

I know that I started this blog post, with how to start investing even if you are young, broke and jobless.

But I wanted to pen this down - so that you know what you can potentially work towards to.

Imagine that you build up a skill set of video editing, and you charge $200 an hour.

At the very end of the day, you are still exchanging time for money - even though you are paid very well.

This means that you have an income ceiling - because you have limited time.

And here is where the gamechanger is.

What if you can use that money that you made to hire other video editors.

This is called leveraging on other people's time and skills.

But to do that - you will use money to exchange for their time and skills.

This is otherwise known as a business.

If you can pay your employees a net total of $10,000 every month, and in return, you made $20,000 in profit.

Wouldn't you say that is the most lucrative way to raise capital?

The best part is - you are not using your time to do the video editing work - but rather - using the time to oversee the business.

What's Next?

You might be thinking,

"Well, all of this makes a lot of sense - but how do I actually do it?"

The first step, is to evaluate where you are right now - after all, we are all at different stages of our journey.

For those who read the blog post, you might be in three different categories:

1. Don't have a job yet
2. Have a job, but don't have a lucrative skill set
3. Have a skill set, but not a business

If you don't have a stable income source such as a 9-to-5 job, then you might want to probably start there.

Having a stable income gives you a peace of mind and allows you to take more risks when it comes to developing your personal skill sets/business.

If you already have a job, then ask yourself what is the one skill set that you want to develop in order to bring in a higher level of income. Ideally, this skill set should be your passion or your expertise.

Lastly, if you already have a skill set, you might want to think about how can you scale your income by transforming your skill set into an online business. And when it comes to building a business online, you might want to check out this training.

(I personally went through this training recommended by my mentors as well, and found it very comprehensive but extremely challenging)

At the end of the day, these are three core ways to raise capital for your investments.

The most important thing is to get started. You will never see results until you actually take action.

The journey to wealth is never easy - but to leave you with one final quote - "Nothing that is worth having will ever come easy."