Alright listen… 7 Proven Investing that can grow your wealth fast are everywhere on TikTok and YouTube right now, but most of them are straight-up fantasy for 99% of us normies sitting in the Midwest or whatever.
I’m literally typing this at 2:47 a.m. in my overpriced Charlotte, North Carolina apartment that still smells like the Taco Bell I demolished at midnight. My emergency fund is finally above $1k again after the Great DoorDash Disaster of 2024 (don’t ask). So yeah… this is my current, flawed, very American take on 7 Proven Investing tips to grow wealth fast — the ones that actually moved the needle for me after I stopped being an idiot.
1. Start Stupid Small – Seriously, Embarrassingly Small
I opened my first brokerage account in early 2022 with $47. Yes. Forty-seven dollars. I felt like a complete loser transferring pocket change while my coworker was yapping about his $80k crypto portfolio.
But guess what? That $47 in VTI (total stock market ETF) is now $128 something as of today. Tiny, but real. The lesson? Starting is everything.
Most people wait until they “have enough” to invest. Spoiler: you never feel like you have enough.
→ Great beginner resource: Vanguard’s low-cost index funds explanation
How I started investing with just $100 — and why you shouldn’t wait
Image 2 – Growth in action: Small investments stacking up and growing over time — just like your $47 did.
Growth and Investment Symbolized by Stacks of Coins and the Year …
2. DRIP Everything Like Your Life Depends On It
Dividend Reinvestment Plans (DRIP) are boring as hell… and beautiful.
I turned on automatic dividend reinvestment on every single ETF and stock I own. You know what happened? Snowball. Tiny snowball → medium snowball → “wait… is this actually working?” snowball.
Seriously read this if you want religion about compounding: → Compound interest calculator – play with it, it’s disgusting how powerful it gets after 15+ years
3. Dollar-Cost Average Aggressively (Even When It Feels Dumb)
2022 was bloodbath. I kept buying SPY every two weeks like a robot while everyone screamed “the world is ending!!!”
March 2023 I was down ~22%. January 2026? Up a stupid amount. The market doesn’t care about your feelings.
I literally have a calendar reminder that says “Buy even if you hate everything.”
4. One “Fun Money” Spec Account – Max 5–10% of Portfolio
Look… I’m not a saint. I have a separate Webull account I call “Casino Money.”
This is where I throw dumb bets: meme stocks, 0DTE options (very rarely), random small-cap moonshots, crypto shitcoins.
Rule: never more than 8% of total net worth goes in there. When I win big → I pull profits and feed the boring index funds. When I lose (which is most of the time) → I shrug and move on.
Keeps the degeneracy contained.
Category: Investment Strategy – Expat Wealth At Work
5. Tax-Advantaged Accounts First, Always
I maxed my Roth IRA every year since 2023 even when it meant eating ramen for two months straight.
Why? Because Uncle Sam can’t touch the gains if you play by the rules.
→ Current 2026 Roth IRA contribution limits and rules (they change every year!) – IRS official page
6. Read One Boring Investing Book Per Year
I swear by this.
My list so far (the ones that actually hurt me in a good way):
- The Simple Path to Wealth – JL Collins
- A Random Walk Down Wall Street – Burton Malkiel
- Psychology of Money – Morgan Housel (this one wrecked me emotionally)
Pick one. Read it slowly. Highlight like a psycho. Then do what it says.
7. Track Net Worth Monthly – Feel the Pain & Glory
I 7 Proven Investing Personal Capital (now Empower) and it’s brutal.
Seeing −$18k net worth in July 2022 while rent was killing me… awful. Seeing +$47k in January 2026? Disgusting dopamine.
You can’t improve what you don’t measure. Period.
rewarding climb (just imagine your specific numbers: −18k → +47k over ~3.5 years):
Final Rambling Thoughts
Look… these 7 Proven Investing tips to grow wealth fast aren’t sexy. There’s no Lambo in six months here. No secret Discord pump group. Just boring, painful, repetitive habits stacked on top of each other for years.
But they’re the only ones that actually worked for this chaotic 30-something dude who used to think “investing” meant buying one share of Tesla because Elon tweeted something funny.