Team Alpha 375

"At least 80% of millionaires are self-made. That is, they started with nothing but ambition and energy."

Brian Tracy

There Is Another Option to Working in Retirement
By Jason Holland

If you've been reading Early to Rise for a while, you know that traditional retirement planning -- with conservative investments, 401(k)s, savings accounts, and the like -- just isn't up to snuff.

Not only will you not have enough money to enjoy your "dream" lifestyle when you retire... you might still have to work.

On the other hand, for most people, risking a lot of money on high-yield investments just isn't an option.

But there is another option...

A high-risk-level income -- now and in the future -- with low risk and very low capital requirements.

It's an "investment" you have complete control over. Your buy-in is extremely low -- under $100. You can put away as much of your profits as you want. And you don't have to wait until retirement to enjoy your money. There should be plenty of cash to go around soon after you get started.

I'm talking about establishing an additional stream (or streams) of income. And I'm recommending the quickest and easiest way we at ETR know how to do that: through entrepreneurship. Specifically, by starting your own Internet business.

As Michael Masterson said recently:

"I have been in the wealth-building business for more than 30 years. And this is, without question, the single best moneymaking opportunity I've ever seen."

According to the trade journal eMarketer, e-commerce will be seeing double-digit gains. More people than ever are shopping online (133 million last year), with increasing numbers of young consumers who are comfortable with the Internet driving the trend.

And the info-products model, which we advocate here at ETR, is the best way to take advantage of this trend because it taps into three tremendously strong markets:

1. The Internet. (E-commerce is a $223 billion industry in the U.S. alone, and is expected to grow to nearly $350 billion by 2014.)

2. Direct marketing -- a $2 trillion industry worldwide, with about three-fourths of it in the U.S.

3. Information publishing -- a $1 trillion a year industry.

Plus, with an "info-net" business, you can start out small and build it as fast or as slow as you choose. All of your products are digital (think e-books, videos, etc.), so you don't need to keep any inventory on hand. You can create and test new products quickly and easily. And you can deliver your products instantly to your customers with an automatic download.

Anybody can do this. (The Internet has leveled the playing field for first-time entrepreneurs.) You don't need to have owned a business or built a website or studied marketing. That's all stuff you can learn.

The only thing you really need is the desire to create an additional income stream to supplement and build up your nest egg at the same time.

It's been done by thousands of people. Here are a few examples:

It wasn't long ago that 41-year-old Darryl Jack came upon this "cookie jar" retirement plan. Since then, he's been consistently earning upwards of $10K per month.

Mike Garvey followed this business model, and today he has equity in what has become a $2.3 million-a-year asset.

And Sharon O'Day is still working at a job she loves at age 60. Meanwhile, she has a nice "Plan B" Internet business generating money on the side.

You don't have to invest much money to get involved. But you do have to invest some time. No, I don't mean grueling 12-hour days. This is an opportunity to build a successful business in your off hours. An hour or two a day -- when you might otherwise be watching TV -- could be enough. And once your business is established, it can practically run itself.