How to Double Your Money With or Without the Stock Market

Have you ever wondered how you could double your money with or without the stock market? The reality is, there are a ton of ways you can double your money by investing smartly and giving it enough time. There are also plenty of ways to double your money in a hurry — maybe within a day.

The thing is, it’s a lot easier to double a $300 or $500 initial investment than it is to double, say, $10,000 or $20,000. Either way, we all want our money to grow, and there are lots of ways to achieve a great return on investment on both your money and your time.

Let’s Talk Safety vs ROI

Wouldn’t we all want an investment that gave us a 12% ROI and had no risk? That would be a perfect world.

Sadly, you won’t find an investment with decent returns that doesn’t come with a certain level of risk.

Think of safety and ROI as a seesaw. The more you have of one, the less you’re going to have of the other. As the old adage goes, “more risk, more reward.”

For example, let’s look at investments with low risk. 

Bonds are a common low-risk investment. If you buy a long-term bond, you can get around 4% back on your investment. This means that bonds will give you a modest return (depending on the type of bond), and they have almost zero risk.

At the other end of the spectrum, you’ll find stocks, REITs, and high-yield bonds. These are going to come with a much higher level of risk, but there is a chance you could make a lot more money over the long term.

For example, you can put some money in a REIT. You could get dividends worth around 15%, but the real estate market can be shaky.

If someone ever tells you they have an investment you can make excellent returns on with ZERO risk, then it’s probably a scam. You will never be able to invest your money without the chance of losing some or all of it.

The Rule of 72

The Rule of 72 is an easy strategy you can use to determine how long it will take for an investment to double based on a fixed rate.

To use this method, all you have to do is take the number 72 and divide it by the rate of return you expect to receive. The number you get back is a rough estimate of how many years it’s going to take for the investment to double.

Here’s a good example: Let’s say you invest in a specific index fund known as the Mid-Cap Growth Fund from T. Rowe Price (RPMGX), which has returned a whopping 10.97% for investors over the last 10 years. Using the Rule of 72, you would find this fund might let you double your money in 4.82 years. That’s pretty amazing if you ask me.

But all funds are not created equal. Imagine for a moment you invested in VanEck Global Hard Assets (GHAAX) instead, which has featured an average return of .67% over the last 15 years. Using the Rule of 72, you would probably be shocked to find that you could double your money with this fund in 107 years. Obviously, that is not going to do you much good!

With all this in mind, one problem with the Rule of 72 is that the higher the rate of return, the less accurate it becomes. This is due to the fact that by and large, short-term investment returns are incredibly volatile and hard to predict. With that in mind, my suggestion is you never use the Rule of 72 as a “hard” rule. Instead, use it as a rough estimate of what you may be able to earn on an investment.

50/50 Approach

The 50/50 investment technique has become one of the most popular over the years.

The idea is simple: Put half of your investments in stocks and the other half in bonds. Ideally, the bonds will give you financial security, while the stocks give you the opportunity to achieve much higher returns.

With that being said, my suggestion is to put half of your money into a CD. You will be able to sleep at night knowing you won’t lose the money, but you can still earn a slight return.

Take the other half of the money and put it into some higher-risk investments. This can be mutual funds or ETFs, depending on your goals and your risk tolerance.

These investments can help you earn some extra returns without leaving you high and dry if something were to happen to the investment market.

7 Ways to Double Your Money Fast

If you don’t want to wait a decade or longer to double your money, there are some ways to double smaller initial investments in a hurry. Some of these strategies require more work than others, but at least one of them should work for you. Read over these options, pick one, and get started toward doubling your investment right away.

Get a Free Stock

When you open an account with Robinhood, you get free stock. You don’t get to choose which stock since Robinhood randomly chooses from its inventory of settled shares. However, you will get a stock worth something, and you can keep it or sell it down the line.

Better yet, Robinhood will give you a free stock each time you refer a family member or friend who opens an account through your link. You can receive up to $1,500 in free stock through referrals each calendar year, which is pretty sweet.

Webull is another online brokerage firm that offers free stock when you meet certain conditions. Just remember that the stock you receive will be chosen automatically from their settled shares, so the value of your free stocks can vary. In total, you can receive a stock worth up to $250 for opening your account and another stock worth up to $1,400 with your initial investment of at least $100.

These options are actually better than doubling your money. Robinhood and Webull offer free money, and who wouldn’t want that?

Buy the Right IPO

An IPO is an initial public offering, which is basically the first time a stock is being sold to the general public. IPOs can wind up flopping for sure, but you can definitely double your money or better if you buy into the right IPO at the right time.

Case in Point: The IPO price for Facebook stock was around $38, yet it is trading at over $290 as of this writing. If you had bought a single share at the IPO price point, you would have received a return of over 700 percent so far.

The same is true with Tesla stock, which was originally offered at around $17 per share. Tesla stock was recently trading at well over $2,000 per share, so initial investors basically made money. The stock went through a five-for-one stock split in August of 2020, and investors in Tesla are still ahead by a lot more than double since just the beginning of 2020.

With all this being said, keep in mind that not all IPOs are created equal and that you can buy the wrong IPO just as easily as you buy the right IPO.

Take the SmileDirect Club Inc. (SDC) I received as a free stock from Robinhood, for example. This stock is currently trading at a little over $0.43 per share when the original IPO price was $23 per share. This means early investors in Smile Direct Club did not double their money. 

Instead, they have lost majority of their initial investment so far, provided they bought in at the IPO price and haven’t sold.

When it comes to IPOs, the most important factor to keep in mind is buying into companies positioned for growth. According to Barron’s, IPOs performed really well in 2019, with the average IPO gaining around 20 percent. A few IPOs from 2019 are huge, too, like Karuna Therapeutics (KRTX) and NextCure (NXTC). 

Buy and Sell Sneakers

Shoes are pretty hot right now, and the spoils of their surge in value really go to those who can put in some time and effort. There have been many times in the last few years when I have purchased a pair of “hot” sneakers for around $800, then turned around and sold them for $1,250. That’s not quite doubling my money, but it’s not bad either. Plus, you can do it over and over again.

My Air Jordan One Chicagos (which are super sweet, I might add) were originally purchased for $519. However, they now sell for a little over $1,300. Part of this is due to all the hype surrounding The Last Dance, a newer documentary that chronicles the historic rise of basketball legend Michael Jordan.

Crazy enough, one pair of Michael Jordan’s sneakers recently sold at auction for over $500,000.

If you love sneakers and want to get into the game, you can try buying and flipping shoes using StockX or even eBay.com. You can also download the SNKRS app from Nike, which can help you be the first to know when a popular pair of sneakers is about to drop. 

Use Fiverr

Fiverr is an online marketplace that helps connect creatives with people who want to hire them. You can use this site to hire someone to design a logo, build your website, design a video, or work on data entry for you.

On the other side of the spectrum, you can use Fiverr to find almost any kind of work, usually with little or no investment upfront. You don’t have to have an incredibly technical skillset, either. Or you might have a really specific skill set. 

For example, one time, I paid a day trader who was advertising his services on Fiverr to tell me which stocks to invest in for speedy returns. You could watch this video to see how that project turned out and to find out what happened to the $10,000 in cash I put on the line.

Funny enough, this example actually shows two different ways to make money on Fiverr. First, someone is making money by teaching other people how to become a day trader on Fiverr. Second, you can make money as a day trader, although it’s just as likely you could lose your initial investment.

Keep in mind that there are plenty more ways to make money with Fiverr. You could sign up for a service like Canva for $10 per month, for example, and then charge people for basic design work they don’t have time for. Heck, you could edit resumes, write blog posts, or do other basic tasks without any initial investment at all. 

Either way, Fiverr is an excellent resource if you need to earn money or double the money you have in a hurry. 

Garage Sales

Garage sales and consignment shops are great places to find stuff you can buy and sell. You’ll only get ahead and double your money with this strategy if you buy low and sell high, but this is entirely possible if you know which items to look for.

At garage sales especially, many people price extremely nice clothing and household items for a few bucks, and you can monopolize this by buying low and reselling these items online at a higher price point.

Heck, a lot of people head to garage sales to buy brand-name clothing and then resell it for much higher prices using websites like Poshmark.com. This is an easy side hustle that can help you double your money over and over again if you know which brands sell easily and for how much.

While I’m not a garage sale junkie, Gary Vaynerchuk is constantly sharing his tips and tricks to help people double their money or better. Gary V. has a ton of blog posts and videos where he talks about buying vintage beer mugs for $5 and reselling them for $20, or how you can sometimes find collectible stuffed animals for $1 or less and resell them on eBay for many multiples of that.

One time he even bought a box of Skylander toys for $7 and sold them for over $180. The key to making money with garage sales is knowing which items can sell for a lot of money and, of course, paying as little as possible. 

Flip Websites

You can also buy and sell websites, which are basically virtual property. You might be amazed at how much some people are willing to pay for just a simple domain name. 

For example, my friend Noah Kagan once paid $1.5 million for the domain Sumo.com. He’s made his money back and then some, but whoever bought the domain the first time definitely made a pretty penny.

You can find websites to buy on Flippa.com, including both domains and full websites that already have some content. From there, you can try to improve the sites so you can sell them for more money later on. You can also use them to make long-term, passive income with affiliates or ads.

As an example, I bought a website called FinanceforTeachers.com several years ago. I haven’t sold it, but I have more than doubled my money thanks to the ad revenue it brings in! I might keep it for a while until I feel I have made enough money and sell it for a profit, too. 

Buy an Online Course

Sometimes you have to spend money to make money, right? This is exactly how I feel about buying online courses.

I’ve invested up to $30,000 on different courses over the years, and that doesn’t even include mastermind and coaching programs. For example, I bought Brian Dean’s course on how to make money using YouTube videos, which has paid for itself many times over even though the initial cost was over $2,000.

However, there are a ton of other courses out there that can help you double your money. This includes the Facebook side hustle course from LapTop Empires, which can teach you how to set up a Facebook ad company. With your own company, you can get paid to run Facebook ads for other people. 

Obviously, you’ll need to fork over some money upfront, but with a few clients, the course can pay for itself, and you can be on your way to doubling your money over and over again.

Bobby Hoyt of Laptop Empires says the reason that you can get such a high return on investment from this course is pretty simple. Once you’re trained on how to run Facebook ads, you can realistically charge a $1,500 monthly retainer for your services. The course is less than $500, so you can “double or triple your investment” within the first month of working with a client.

If you’re curious about more ways to earn money by investing in yourself, you should also check out my Passive 1K Income Accelerator Course. My course will help you learn how to grow a passive income business from the ground up — as in, make money while you sleep!

I will provide one final caution about investing in online courses. You should only fork over the cash if you’re willing to do the work. So many people buy courses but never finish them or follow through, which will not help you double your money in the long term.

New to Investing?

If you’ve never invested your money, you might be worried about getting started. Maybe you clicked on this page to get some advice about doubling your money, but you’re scared to put your money on the stock market, or you don’t know where to begin.

Thanks to the internet and some fancy algorithms, investing your money has never been easier. There are plenty of websites where you can start investing, and they make it as simple as a few mouse clicks.

Betterment is one of the best. All you have to do is create an account, set your investment and financial goals, and then start contributing money. Betterment will handle the rest for you.

They automatically invest your money and will continue to invest it as you earn returns.

If you are interested in learning more about investing an inheritance, safe places to store your money, and the best places to open up a brokerage or savings account, here are some good reads:

• Best Online Brokers for Beginner Investors: Want to get started investing but don’t know how? Check out our post that outlines the best places online to get started.
• Top Places to Invest Your Money for the Short Term: This post outlines 11 different options to invest your money in the short term. Also good options for people who don’t want to take a lot of risk starting out.
• Low-Risk Investments With High Return: Does investing give you sweaty palms and an elevated heart rate? If so, first go out and buy some good deodorant. 🙂  Next, check out our post that lists 10 different safer options for people who are timid about the stock market.

The Bottom Line: How to Double Your Money With or Without the Stock Market

Doubling your money is an achievable goal, whether in the stock market or through alternative strategies. While various approaches exist, a 50/50 portfolio balance offers a mix of security and growth potential. The Rule of 72 aids in understanding investment doubling time, but it’s essential to recognize the influence of risk. 

Immediate gains can be pursued via IPOs, sneaker trading, Fiverr, garage sales, website flipping, or self-improvement courses. Embracing online platforms simplifies investing for beginners. 

Remember, cautious research and commitment are vital to realizing substantial returns while managing inherent risks.