Have you ever met a baby boomer who worked a standard job, bought a house in their early 20’s, and retired a multi-millionaire? Probably. This used to be standard in America. Now it’s damn near impossible. Unless you go abroad. Today’s article explains how to get rich in Asia, without having to do a whole bunch of backbreaking labor or work in a high-stress 1% environment (i.e. finance).
Read on if you’re interested in building wealth fast.
1. Geoarbitrage Your Life
If you’ve read any of my older business articles, you’ll know I often bring up the importance of geoarbitrage. And for good reason. Geoarbitrage is the idea that you can make money in a high-income area, whiling living someplace with a low cost of living. By doing so, your money goes farther and you’re able to save a ton of cash.
Pretty simple idea, but one which has a major impact on your finances.
In a city like Saigon or Vung Tau, you can easily rent an apartment for less than $20 per day. A few hours of work earning a Western salary and you’ve covered all your expenses for the entire week.
With everything so cheap, you can go out and live a higher quality of life than many Westerners earning $250,000 per year.
Seriously, I have more disposable income, eat at nicer restaurants, and take more vacations than some of my American friends who work in banking or consulting. A high-end cafe or bistro here costs less than Starbucks in New York:
Geoarbitrage allows you to live a fantastic lifestyle for peanuts. And, you’ll still have money leftover at the end of every month. If you want to get rich in Asia, this is the easiest way to do it.
Of course, you need to make money before you can save it. Which brings us to point number two.
2. Build An Actual Business
Starting a business is way easier than most people think, and you probably already have the skills and brainpower to do it. If you work a corporate job, or studied a specific skill set, start freelancing. Invest $15 into a copy of Book Yourself Solid, and follow the steps there. I have two friends who worked as accountants. They transferred their knowledge and started a tax deduction service that’s entirely digital.
They make six figures a year and spend most of their time traveling around the world.
Even if you don’t have any existing skills, you can easily learn a basic trade like freelance writing. I remember penning articles on Fiverr for $12 – $16 an hour. And that kept me afloat until I learned some better, more lucrative abilities. $16 an hour is terrible if you’re living in the US, but in a place like Southeast Asia you can still save a good $10,000 – $12,000 per year. Remember, the low cost of living means that it is much easier to get rich in Asia, if you’re earning any type of Western income.
$10 or $15 an hour isn’t much at home, but it will cover your expenses overseas.
(Amazon Affiliate Program’s One-Day Returns)
Plus, there’s a ton of passive income opportunities like blogging, writing eBooks, running a YouTube channel, or affiliate marketing. Do one of these on the side, and you’re really going to boost your annual returns.
3. Buy Assets, Not Liabilities
This is basic advice you’ve probably heard a million times. But, it’s true. Take your money and invest it into other revenue producing assets. You can buy stocks, real estate, other businesses, etc…
Doing this is a great way to build passive income and it will make you fabulously wealthy over time. Case in point: Warren Buffett. At the start of his career, Buffett set a simple goal to buy and hold 175 shares of GEICO. He figured out that with long-term appreciation, that 175 shares would make him a multi-millionaire.
With his 175 GEICO shares, Buffett could have never invested again (or even made a significant amount of money) but he would have still become quite wealthy.
If you have some money, you can do the same. Learn to read financial statements (it’s easy) and spend a few hours a week looking at companies. You can do this on the toilet or waiting in line at the grocery store, yet the returns are incredible. There are four companies I looked at in the last twelve months (but only one I invested in) where share prices increased by over 50%.
If you take $10,000 and really do your research, you can turn your initial investment into $1 million+ in 20 years or less. And, if you live in an emerging market like Vietnam or Thailand, you can probably hit those numbers very quickly. Why? Because there’s exponential growth, and a low starting point. As more and more locals enter the middle-class, they’re going to take vacations, eat at restaurants, buy cars, drink soda, etc. And this gives you massive investing opportunities.
Closing Thoughts On How To Get Rich In Asia
The US economy makes it tough for many citizens to get ahead. For every GigaChad making $3 million a year while hobnobbing at the Yale Club, there’s 500 schmucks struggling to pay the bills.
Moving to a lower cost area instantly solves most of your financial problems. And keeping a comparatively high salary builds a nice cash cushion for you to enjoy. Because of this, I really recommend moving abroad and taking advantage of geoarbitrage as soon as you can. This is really going to help you build a high net worth, enjoy more disposable income, and invest into your future.
P.S. While today’s article discussed several ways to get rich in Asia, I also wanted to share one extra article right here about generating extra income through eBooks. It’s another way to create passive income and one that’s quite lucrative.