Money Making Opportunities that aren't for Me

Since taking early retirement, I have seen a number of enticing money making opportunities. I am suspicious of ones that sound like easy money, are able to done by anybody, or require initial fees to get started. Therefore, I don't even consider investigating them. Here are some general examples that I won't consider:

Make lots of money from home. The ads typically show $500 a day for activities like assembling ads, data entry or typing. Working full time for 220 days a year would earn $110,000. While there is probably someone who has done this, I don't believe I would be able to make this kind of money by doing the specific jobs from home.

I don't even click on these ads, because I am concerned with viruses that may be at the site.

Investment strategies with consistently superior returns. I have read about people who have turned tens of thousands into millions of dollars and are selling their system to others. Investments include real estate, stocks and collectibles. In my opinion, just because they have done it, doesn't necessarily mean I can reproduce their results. In fact, there is often a disclaimer that everyone may not get the same results.

Cheap stocks. People are sometimes attracted to penny stocks, i.e. selling under $1, because the of the opportunity to leverage a large number of shares. While $100 only buys 3 shares of a $33 stock, it can buy 1000 shares of a $0.10 stock. In the first case, a $1 increase creates $3 profit, while the second case creates $1000 profit. Although cheap stocks offer more theoretical potential for big profits, I have found, in my experience, that lots of cheap stocks just get cheaper.

Movie extras. These ads sound neat. Get paid $100 to $200 to hang around a set for a day and be in a movie scene. However, getting access to opportunities involves registering and paying a small fee. Personally, I don't believe in paying a fee to get a job.

I guess I'm conservative when it comes to making money:-) For now, I will continue to stay invested in the stock market in both my company stock and a diversified portfolio, and focus on looking at hourly part time job with companies that I know in our area.

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This is not financial or employment advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

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