The traditional wisdom that a good career and the drive and talent to climb the ladder within it are the most important things for excelling financially isn’t as true as many of us would hope to believe. While a good career can help you get a foothold in the climb towards financial freedom, you need to go further than that. Here, we’re going to look at how you can build wealth beyond your career, helping you work smarter, not harder, for the money that you get.

Make sure you’re saving

Instead of working for your money, it’s important to make sure that you have the mindset of making your money work for you. In order to do this to build wealth, first you have to find what money you can set aside towards savings and investment projects. Once you do, make sure that you put this money aside as quickly as possible so that you don’t end up spending it. This is known as “paying yourself first” and can really help to make sure that you’re always setting up the funds you need to keep growing your wealth.

Start trading in the markets

The single most common method of building wealth is by investing in the various markets that trade assets, such as stocks, bonds, forex, and crypto. When you buy these assets, your wealth will grow proportional to how much the value of these assets grows, as well, but it can shrink if their value decreases, too. If you’re new to stocks trading, the best thing you can do is find a platform that makes it accessible and relatively easy for you to get started, then start small. Some trading platforms allow you to practice simulating investments, too.

Grow your income stream

Aside from putting your money into investments and waiting for them to pay off, you should make sure that you’re looking at new ways to start diversifying your income streams. If you want to not only increase your wealth in the long-run but you’re hoping to increase your earnings, then there are several examples of how you can do this. Aside from stocks and other assets that provide dividends, you can invest in things like property investment opportunities that can help you gain rental income.

Sell your experience and expertise

If you are a business owner and have experience in running a business, then you might have the expertise to be able to recognize a profitable opportunity. Angel investment platforms allow individuals to put their money towards a business that is looking for funding for a share of equity in that business. If you’re able to use your business acumen to find those real opportunities, you can either take a passive role, simply providing the funds and letting the business grow, or you might take a more active role in providing advice and guidance to the business’s owners.

Building the kind of wealth that allows you to retire without stress and enjoy a higher quality of life means putting the work in, now. With the tips above, it may be easier to do that.