Despite their best efforts, many people never wind up rising higher in their income bracket and thus never achieve the “accredited investor” status.

It’s easy to attribute that to expenses going up, but another reality is many people get tunnel vision on a career that isn’t getting them where they want to be. That doesn’t mean that can’t change, though.

Thanks to Lydia Kibet of GoBankingRates, here are strategies to consider for the three avenues of building up your income and your financial assets.

Bringing in More Income

The most obvious way to do this is to look for promotions or a company that offers better pay for what you do. However, if that hasn’t been working, it might be time to consider a side gig.

If you work in a field that is valued in education, consider becoming a tutor. Or perhaps a columnist for a publication that writes about your specialization.

Your side job doesn’t even have to be related to your weekly position. If you enjoy art as a hobby you could consider selling your work on Etsy.

Or if you really want that promotion, it might be time to consider furthering your education to build up your skills more.

As an Accredited Investor, Start Saving

It is not fun, but in the long term, it could be beneficial if you started cutting back for a while.

This isn’t the oft condescending advice suggesting you are throwing away all your money on avocado toast. But maybe take a pass on going out with friends for a while to put more money towards paying down your debt.

Take a realistic look at your budget and what you are spending each year. Look for areas where you are making purchases you can live without and see how cutting them out for a while impacts what you are able to save.

Fred Hubler Chief Wealth Strategist from Creative Capital Wealth Management Group subscribes to the 70/20/10 method of saving. Hubler states, “we suggest our clients try to live off 70% of their take-home pay. This pays all the bills.” “The next 20% of their take-home pay,” according to Hubler,” goes to pay down debt, beginning with “dumb” debt first. Finally, the last 10%, which is first to earmark from the paycheck, gets put into a wealth-building account.”

Look into Investments

Making smart investment choices can be just as lucrative as the work you put in at your job. If you have always postponed looking into stock options, now might be a time to see what is available to you.

Real estate in particular can offer high returns if you know what you are doing. And when utilizing real estate investment trusts, you can invest assets in without having to take on the responsibilities of a landlord.

You will likely need some combination of all the ideas listed here to start towards becoming an accredited investor. The important thing to remember is that if what you are doing hasn’t been achieving what you want, it’s time for something different.

If you need further elaboration on any of the strategies mentioned here, be sure to read the article from GoBankingRates here.

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Want to know if you’re on the right path financially? Fred Hubler’s Second Opinion Service (SOS) is a no-obligation review with Creative Capital Wealth Management Group‘s Chief Wealth Strategist.

It’s simply not possible to get a reliable second opinion from the same person who gave you the first one. Click here to schedule an SOS meeting with Fred and his team.

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