Get Rich Quick! That sounds good right? All your money worries would disappear overnight and you could live how you desire.

It sounds compelling. So unsurprisingly there are no end of companies telling you that you can get-rich-quick and guess what, you give them money and they can show you how. It could be anything: become an online influencer, write product reviews for Amazon, set up an Etsy store, make tik-tok videos, get access to top secret investment tips, buy these undervalued properties etc. etc.

Get-rich-quick schemes are often advertised as investments with unrealistic rates of return (the first warning bell!). These create the impression that you can obtain this high rate of return with little skill, effort, or time, and with minimal risk. Unfortunately the Finance industry has more of these scams than most. On a weekly basis I see emails from companies saying things like "this customer just made $13,000 on one trade".  What you have to ask yourself is does it seem realistic? If they can make $13k on one trade then by taking only one trade per week they could make $676,000 a year. That's more than a senior director, lawyer or doctor so you'll agree, it's unlikely to be true!

These schemes often turn out to be scams that leave people out of pocket and many in debt. But us humans never seem to learn, we seem to fall for these type of schemes over and over again. Why?

Well psychologists have studied the reasons why people fall for such schemes and one reason is known as the Barnum Effect. Yes, named after the showman and notorious huckster P.T. Barnum. It describes how people are often willing to believe personality descriptions as specific to them when in fact they are quite generic and can apply to anyone. It has evolved into a powerful marketing strategy for businesses promoting personalized items or those “recommended for you”. You really want to believe it's true (hey, who wouldn't it's like free money) and they'll do their utmost to convince you that it is.

Another reason is the allure of the “side hustle” culture which continues to dominate all social platforms; remember the crypto boom/bust and FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) messaging of get in now before it's too late! They tell you that could make more money with very little additional effort and have a better life! Who doesn't want that?

But as we've seen from the recent rise and fall of crypto, the meme stock boom and the ups and downs of real estate, there is no quick way of making money. Don't part with any of your hard earned cash unless you can see the potential results you can make and more importantly the roadmap to getting there. Remember get-rich-quick scams will typically offer an investment plan with profit returns that are hard to turn down, claiming you do not need a specific skill set or prior experience to be successful.

But unfortunately that's not how life works is it. If you work hard at something you can access rewards, it's as simple as that. If it sounds too good to be true then it probably is.

But you can improve your life by increasing your skills. Increasing your skills can get you a better job with better pay. Increasing your skills in an area like investing or trading can help you make additional money. So if you fancy trading the S&P, Nasdaq, Commodities or Forex and want to build a successful side hustle trading the markets then go ahead and learn how to do it properly. It can be done, but it will take time and effort, so be prepared for both.

The only people that Get Rich Quick from get-rich-quick schemes are the fraudsters that run them, not you!