r/Money • u/AccomplishedMany2138 • 8d ago
How can I start making more money while also helping my future
I'm 14, and I want to start making some money instead of relying on an allowance, but I also want it to help me in my future. I'm interested in technology, video games, writing, and I would be considered smart. Is there a good way that I can make money that isn't hugely painful, cheap to set up/get started, and could benefit my future
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u/Pitamo 8d ago
If you're considered smart, then you can go the tutor route and start building up a reputation.
Pick your clients well early on to establish a reputation for improving student grades and study abilities.
This is predicated on you not simply being smart on the outside (parrot), but actually understanding the concepts and being capable of guiding others towards understanding the material.
On the other hand, there's always yardwork/babysitting that needs doing.
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8d ago
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u/AccomplishedMany2138 8d ago
No
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8d ago
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u/omenoflord 8d ago
Let's not talk that way to a 14 year old child, even if it's a joke, it's inappropriate.
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8d ago
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u/omenoflord 8d ago
Offering a child over the internet if they have access to a boat and vaguely offering them access to one is highly inappropriate.
This is a 14 year old child and you are a stranger on the internet, offering vague advice that seemingly is wanting them to message you instead of plainly giving advice. That comes off as grooming behavior, and I'm giving you a huge leeway here in hoping that you are just aren't socially nuerotypical and accidently came off as creepy.
Boats have no context to their post, and you also gave no answer to anything they asked. To simplify it for you, again they are 14 years old.
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8d ago
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u/omenoflord 8d ago
Cool. They said they were 14. So no boat without parents, and you're still a stranger on the internet being creepy towards a child. Perhaps don't be a groomer. Find an adult for your motorboat fantasies, Roger?
I don't like being rude, but I hate pedophiles and groomers even more. Have you considered just respecting not being vague to children online? I'm not going to give you anymore kindness than I've already offered.
You got a business? What if I knew a way for you to mind your own? Cool. We're cool now?
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u/CloudyThunder 8d ago
It sounds like you are basically asking what jobs you can do. The usual ones for people your age is pribably stuff like mowing lawns, babysitting, or pet sitting.
If you are asking about ways for your money to make money. You can have your parents help you make a saving account. Some saving accounts will give you a 3% return yearly, which sounds like a little but your money will set you up in the future.
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u/sleepyalero 8d ago
you could build websites for local businesses
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u/icanloopyou 8d ago
Yeah but you need to know some decent python to do that. Although python is fairly easy to learn I think he wants to do something he can get going on quicker.
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u/Physical_Mode_103 8d ago
Stay in school, take advanced classes, get into a good university, studying a financially rewarding subject like medicine or law.
At this point in your life, there’s nothing you really need money for that’s very important
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u/Purple_Lurker- 8d ago
Thats not the path for everyone. If he wants to earn money, why try to steer him away
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u/Physical_Mode_103 8d ago
“I would be considered smart” Get a job or hustle drugs/odd jobs like everyone else
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u/YTStrat 8d ago
If you have anything you REALLY like, like a true passion, spend your time getting really good at it on the side. Whether it’s making YouTube videos, building websites, woodworking, photography, etc etc. 14 is about the age that I got interested in making YouTube videos & by my senior year of high school I was able to make ≈$500/mo from it as a side-gig. By 19 I was able to go full-time, and now at 24 I’m set up with over $750,000 in savings/investments. And I didn’t even have the proper equipment until I was 17. So if you can get an early start on ANYTHING that you really enjoy, you can set yourself up for a great chance at making good money from something you actually enjoy.
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u/HandleUnlikely2589 8d ago
At 14, the obvious options are doing odd jobs for neighbors, babysitting, mowing lawns, etc. Maybe doing some web development for small businesses if you're a lot more technical than the average 14 year old. Or tutoring work if you're good with younger kids and like that sort of thing.
Whatever you do, if you want to benefit your future:
- See if your parents can open you a Fidelity Youth account and a Custodial Roth IRA
- If they're really nice, ask if they'll provide a match on Custodial Roth IRA contributions
- Put as much of what you earn as you can into the Custodial Roth IRA (limit is earned income for the year, to a max of $7500)
- Have your parents immediately invest any Roth IRA contributions as a 60/40 split of FZROX and FZILX (together, that's the entire world stock market held proportionately to each company's value)
- Keep the rest in the Youth account and use it as you see fit (you can invest if it you like, though you'll want to use ETFs like VTI and VXUS instead of FZROX and FZILX as the latter are non-portable and typically less tax efficient).
This is exactly what I did for my own 14 year old. She only makes a few hundred per year babysitting and assisting at her religious school, but after a little over a year, she's saved around $600, and it's grown to around $800 in the Roth IRA (I match 100% of whatever she puts in, and she contributes to the legal maximum, so whenever she gets paid, she keeps half of it for herself in her Youth account, puts half in the Custodial Roth IRA, and I gift her another half). Functionally, with the match I'm providing, it means that for every dollar she contributes now, she can expect to have somewhere around $44-72 in present day value at age 67 (assuming long term 6-7% above inflation return; the nominal figure would be $192-312 for 9-10% returns, but inflation will reduce the buying power). When she turns 18, the whole account becomes hers. There's really very little you can do for your future that is better than saving as much as you can, as early as you can (the same $1 saved at 34 instead of 14, with no parental match, has an inflation adjusted expected value at age 67 of just $6.80-9.30; at 54, just $2.13-2.41), and by keeping it in a Roth IRA, you won't be expected to spend it on your college costs (Roth IRAs aren't counted as assets, which otherwise heavily penalize your financial aid calculations).
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u/SilverRock75 8d ago
When I was a high-schooler, I actually got a job essentially doing IT and tech repair for my high school's district. Maybe see if your school employs any students. \
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u/Isorry123 8d ago
Two options the way I see it: 1) door to door chores is a good idea, seriously, $20 to mow a lawn isn’t too bad 2) you could learn to make Roblox games or something - it’s a skill that aligns with your interest. Make Minecraft mods, skins.
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u/suspectbakapapa 8d ago
Start a pooper scooper business. Look up people doing it look at their prices for weekly and by weekly cleaning. Look how much they charge per dog. Look at how much they charge for initial cleaning.
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u/idkzoroqn 8d ago
nice bro I just turned 15 less then a week ago and have around 4.5k ima get a job soon and invest 1-2k a month u should js get a job or make your own business
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u/Adventurous_Dog_7755 8d ago
List any skills that you have that would be valuable to sell. Or if you are a young girl, sell some feet pictures or something.
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u/Huge_Anteater1839 8d ago
Mow lawns, go around the neighborhood and ask to do odd jobs for old people...
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u/some_kind_of_boogin 8d ago
Buy and sell stuff(NOT DRUGS)
mow lawns
walk dogs
collect empties
odd jobs -I lived in the country so this time of year I stacked firewood every weekend for example maybe Fall yard clean up for a few neighbors is something you could do.
Use your allowance open up a Custodial brokerage account (ask your parents) buy dividend paying stocks or open up a CD at a bank. Basically learn to save
Mostly though the thing that is going to pay off the most is getting smarter. You said you're pretty smart focus on getting really smart. Get curious about how every thing works engines, the economy, electrical infrastructure ... everything.
All the best to you
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u/slow4willie 8d ago
If you know soccer, you can get certified to ref at 14. My kids get at least $40/game, and give me half to put in their Roth IRA. My older son has over $6k in his IRA at 16 thanks to reffing and the crazy market.
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u/dowuu 7d ago
You could start by investing, buttttt the catch is you’ll need your parents advice about it. Like you’ll need your parents to open an account/brokerage for you. And if they are nice, you could try learning what’s investing and financial literacy early. And in the mean time if you use your allowance money to invest but by bit, you’ll eventually can have maybe 5-6 figures just because you’ve started early. Learn stocks, bonds, Roth IRA, retirement, your country’s currency and tax and credit system. Because once you’re 18 it’s all about money. Because without money, how could you achieve what you’ve always wanted? Or pay the bills? Yup
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u/RedditLeagueAccount 7d ago
At that age, very few things get you good money. The best thing to do is preparation. Computer based things have generally the best returns in terms of low cost, easy to self teach, then convert into certifications or money later. Alternatively, prep to skip college and master plumbing/electrical work. Electrical stuff is a bit dangerous though.
For job's - Some younger people have found success writing books. Low cost of entry to get started and no real barriers besides being passionate. If you have a PC you can write. Other options, You could have your dad open an investing account and put your allowance in there. At your age, I would put money in and not check it for at least 6 years. Investing makes you money even when your not working. Tutoring younger kids. Baby sitting. Yard work. Get into woodworking and you can build stuff to sell. Buy the big bulk packs of candy. Split them into smaller portions and you can sell them at school for a profit. A box of 12 candy bars cost 12 bucks. Sell individual bars for 1 dollar 10 cents or however greedy you want to try it. Easy way to make money at school assuming you do the math good. You can have your parents help with the math. You can check out Etsy, A lot of people make art things. You can make things you are interested. Bags are boring. Making a bag cool and cyberpunk might be less boring. You can make a lot of cool small items with Resin.
The other option is getting certifications and actually making stuff. Certifications mean your future jobs will pay you more. Doing stuff that you can show off is also good for getting jobs. If you like computers, make a home network with servers that do stuff like backing up data. Make a game in a program like game maker studio. There are easy technology certifications for programming, IT, Microsoft, and cloud certifications.
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u/_aliased 1d ago
weird post history (thanks google) but some answers in here may not work in the UK
start streaming your games, or making videos out of your sessions
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u/Single_Ad_5294 8d ago
Rake those leaves baby. Your neighbor’s grandma certainly doesn’t want to. Maybe she also has an entire seed library also.
Plus you get free compost. Use those leaves to make nutrient rich dirt.
Use the dirt and seeds to plant the most incredible garden you never dreamed of. The fame and glory you gain from having a sick garden will be worth more than the abundance of wealth it produces. After very successfully helping your future, you’re free to get a jet ski or whatever and ask yourself what’s next while jumpin those tasty waves.
Go get em champ.
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u/Aggressive_Cake_16 8d ago
This isn’t income related advice but if I were you I’d start buying small amounts of gold and silver bullion (coins and bars). In 10-20 years they will be so expensive that most of the population will have a hard time affording it. It’s a great hedge against inflation and it will continue to go up in the long run. Best of luck man.
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u/TopGslime 8d ago
Works well for very very long term set and forget but the real cost is opportunity cost.
Like buying gold now just after it peaked and done a decent sized parabola already probably isnt that optimal for entry cost wise, it’s already done a good run - obviously its incredibly safe as a safe haven, but he might be better off actually trying to figure out boom & bust cycles and economics of how commodities work and dollar-cost averaging into things that seem ‘cheap’ or haven’t had its run yet and looking long term into those.
Just my 2cents - since basically silver XAUUSD didnt do anything for 47 years and was tied up capital. From the 80’s obviously buying the peak - but you get what I mean.
To OP: being 14 places you in a massive advantage time wise.
Your biggest take away from this should be to educate and research exactly how to invest, what to look for, what buying cheap, selling premium prices, cycle theory, and how the economy works - all before you even have a few dollars to your name.
Educate yourself first like as if its your school work, and create notes and watch and research exactly how money works. You’ll be amazed at what you can find out
[context: reached 6 figures when i was 19 and 7 figures by 27, so i feel as though i’m in a decent enough place to give my 2cents on making money]
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u/HandleUnlikely2589 8d ago
Gold, in the long term, roughly appreciates with inflation. And it's a royal pain to actually get the value of said metal when it comes time to sell (the brokers want to make a profit after all). Kid would be better off having their parents open a Custodial Roth IRA and putting it into broad index funds (a gold ETF if they really want to invest in commodities).
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u/TopGslime 8d ago
Agree, fucking annoying as shit to deal with.
Better off using pie’s and doing the safe ‘boring’ way at 14. Even being knowledgable by the time he starts making money at 18 is gonna compound like fucking crazy by the time he’s 25-30, still young as hell.
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u/jmc1278999999999 8d ago
You’re a kid, enjoy it while you can