How do you assess a stock before you decide to invest or hold off on it? If you want to be profitable, it’s crucial you know.

Investing is one of those things that more and more people turn to as they get older and want to make their futures as financially sound and prosperous as they can be.

But you can’t simply dive into trading without knowing how to look at a stock and see if it’s worth your money and whether it’s likely to offer a return on your investment.

It’s essential to assess stocks properly, but how exactly do you do that?

Look at the Price History

The price history of the stock will give you a good general indication of where the stock is likely to head next.

Of course, this can’t tell you everything but it can give you a good idea of what the stock is like and what you can expect from it going forward.

If you were to look at the Qualcomm stock price history, you could make a more informed decision on whether to invest today. And the same holds true across the board.

Consider the Dividend Yield

Stock growth is not the only way to make money from a stock. You can also earn significant sums from stocks that pay out dividends.

This is something that’s definitely worth focusing in when you’re a beginner because it means that you can earn some money even if the stock turns out not to grow in the way that you wanted or expected it to.

The Price to Earnings Ratio

The price to earnings ratio is the one ratio that every investor agonizes over, and that’s a sign that you should start paying attention to it too. Stocks with higher P/E ratios are more likely to produce earnings for investors, and that’s why these are the ones that investors chase. It’s something you should definitely assess and weigh up before investing.

The PEG Ratio

The PEG ratio is the price to earnings growth ratio, making it slightly different to the P/E ration mentioned above. It takes the P/E ratio and then divides it by the growth of the company’s earnings on a year to year basis.

This means that what you should be looking for is a stock with a low PEG ratio.

Your Own Knowledge

Finally, you need to make sure that your own area of expertise are somewhat reflected in the stocks you choose to invest in.

For example, if you know the retail sector well because of your career, you will be more likely to succeed by investing in the retail companies you know are likely to have bright future. And the same applies to wherever your own interests and areas of knowledge lie.

It’s essential to ensure you look very closely at stocks before you think about investing in them. Every investor will tell you the same thing; you only succeed as an investor when you’re willing to put in the time it takes to assess a stock and its viability. So don’t take any shortcuts on this issue.

Have dreams of making $200k? Want to do it in a certain amount of time? You’ve found the perfect article to accomplish this.

After some serious hustle, a few wise investments, and one heck of a 2017, I’m fortunate to say that I made over $200,000 last year at only 24 years old.

The rest of this blog post is going to break down how you can do it, with helpful examples of how I did it.

Now it’s very unlikely you can do it the same way I did. Because by the time you’re reading this, the opportunities will be different and your circumstances will be different.

You’ll need to do it your own way, as you should anyway if you want to feel a true sense of accomplishment.

You ready? Here we go!

How To Make $200k In A Calendar Year

Set A Goal To Make $200,000

Be prepared, we’re getting complicated right off the bat: If it’s not your goal to make six-figures two times over then it’s not going to be your reality when the year is over. Facts!

Don’t only set the goal to make this kind of money, but commit to it. Say it must happen. It has to, or else. But there’s no or else in this scenario.

That’s the mentality I had when why I wrote at the end of my note card in the video above that, “This is reality!”, and it’s how I pushed through to achieve my income goal.

No one, nothing, could have stopped me from doing everything in my power to accomplish it.

When your goal becomes more like an unbreakable bond, then you mean business while you prep yourself for the work that is about to go down.

Also, again obvious, you need to plan how you’re going to accomplish your goal. Unless you own the joint, working at McDonald’s won’t make you $200k in a calendar year. You got no shot!

It’s important you set goals, like starting your own business, that give you a chance to bring in profits that a 9 to 5 job doesn’t.

How I did it:

If you check out the video above, you’ll see my note card where I wrote my 2017 income goal.

Honestly, you’d be wise to write a similar note card. There’s power in the written word.

If you’re looking for a prompt, it goes like this:

• (Insert your name) will make $200,000 this year. To achieve it, he/she will _____ and _____. He/she will accumulate it through _____ and _____. This is reality!

What’s interesting is the target started at $100,000 and then the goal kept increasing as I hit more milestones all the way past $200,000.

This also taught me to set the bar higher going forward, because why not?

P.S. By the end of 2018, my net worth goal is $1,000,000, millionaire status.

Hustle To Make As Much Personal Income As Possible

Now it’s time to obsess over action.

The only way you’re going to make the invisible, your lack of hundreds of thousands of dollars in income, is through over the top action.

This one word can change your entire life if you take it for all it’s worth. Or a lack of action can be the reason you throw away another year to make your dreams a reality.

You should have already started your business or picked up a second job or started working 100 hours a week at your current job if you want this bad enough. That’s the only way to get it done—seriously.

Every extra hour you work is more money entering your world, and gives you more opportunities to turn that initial money into bigger profits. This is true no matter if you’re an hourly employee, salaried, or business owner who only gets paid when you sell to customers.

So go take action every single day. Because whether you reach your income goal or miss it, you’ll be in a better financial and career place thanks to your effort.

How I did it:

I could have said, “I already do enough. Let’s just be patient and slowly build my book revenue, blog advertisement fees, coaching business etc.”

But instead I took massive action by starting my digital marketing company. Though I didn’t drop anything else I committed to earlier. Instead, to make more money (and do what I love) I added this business owner role on top of everything else going on.

That’s what I mean by action. If your mission is to make $200k this year then there’s no time for movies, TV shows, and board games.

It’s all about that work, work, work.

With the extra income from my company Illumen Media, I deployed that into the next crucial step in this process: investing.

Invest 99% Of The Money You’ve Saved To Produce More Money

What do you prefer? Your money sleeping all day in a savings or checking account, so in a year you’re stuck with the same amount. Or investing your money so that it works 24/7 to return you crazy profits for the rest of your life?

The answer is crystal clear: You need to get your money working for you, through investing, if you’re going to make $200,000 in a year.

You almost have no other choice if you want to get wealthy.

However, if you skip the step before this, you’ll have no cash to invest. That’s why it’s a team effort between saving and investing.

And if you can—say you’re wisely investing in an index fund that matches the S&P 500—set up automatic investments that go straight from your checking account to your investment brokerage account. (This is possible with just about every brokerage company.)

Automatic investments ensure you pay yourself first and set your future up for financial freedom.

Or if you’re swinging for the fences, then you need to invest in cryptocurrencies, real estate, or something with quicker upside than an index fund.

How I did it:

I invested almost everything I made in cryptocurrencies and the stock market.

Take a look at the damage:

• I bought Bitcoin before 2017, but held onto it through all of 2017. It started January 1, 2017 at around $1,000 and then ended the year a little over $14,000. So I made 14 times every dollar I invested into Bitcoin. My BTC investment gets the most credit for my $200,000 income year.
• I bought Ethereum in May 2017 when it was trading at $170 for one coin and it ended 2017 at just about $775, so that right there is like 4.5 to 5 times my money.
• I bought a good chunk of Litecoin this summer when it was around just $50 in 2017, and it’s now over $200.
• Tesla and my guy Elon Musk returned over 38% in profits last year to give my portfolio a boost.
• My index funds and the S&P 500, where a good amount of my retirement nest egg is invested, returned over 18% in profits in 2017.

All those investing profits are how 80% of my 2017 fortune was made. If you’re sleeping on investing your money, your bank account doesn’t know what it’s missing.

$200k Income Wrap Up

That’s how my money came together last year.

Was I fortunate? For sure, not many people saw Bitcoin exploding for over 1,500% in that time span.

But did I hustle my face off, make the right money choices, and put myself in position to capitalize on a $200,000 year at 24 years old? You better believe it.

There’s nothing stopping you from going all out as well to see where the chips fall at the end of the year.

You just have to decide if you have it in you or if you don’t actually want financial freedom, you just enjoy talking about it.

My hope is that you join me in the arena. The world needs more people who push themselves to the limit to better their situation and the people’s around them.

You can earn $200,000 in a year. Now go do it!

Want more money advice? Watch my How To Get Rich playlist on YouTube.

This article or any of the material in it is not investment advice. Seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

Despite naysayers saying that cryptocurrencies will bubble within the year, they continue to defy expectations by enjoying price boosts. Bitcoin, which was priced at $997.69 on January 2017, skyrocketed to $19,343 in December.

The recent publicity towards Bitcoin’s price surge has led to an increase in interest in the other cryptocurrencies as well.

Experts believe this is due to some form of trickle-down effect. Investors who become interested in Bitcoin realize that there are more digital currency investment options.

As a result, the other cryptocurrencies have also experienced price hikes in the past months, although not to the same extent as Bitcoin. Litecoin experienced a 225% price jump just this month, which led financial analysts Mitch Steves and Amit Daryanani to speculate that 2017 is just the beginning of the cryptocurrency boom.

While some experts dismiss the suggestion that cryptocurrencies may eventually replace traditional money, they also acknowledged that their prices will continue to soar in 2018.

A previous Take Your Success article even talked about how crypto coins are making their way into the Christmas stockings of investors. It’s only one of the many proofs of the increasing popularity of cryptocurrency.

Below are the top five cryptocurrencies that have positive 2018 projections from analysts across the world.

Bitcoin

Bitcoin remains as the head of the pack when it comes to cryptocurrencies, and analysts say that its rally will not stop in 2018.

Managing director of cryptocurrency trading firm Octagon Strategy Dave Chapman estimates that Bitcoin will go beyond $100,000 before 2018 ends. The expert, who earlier predicted that the digital currency will breach $10,000 in 2017, has an overall positive outlook towards the cryptocurrency. He took the position that Bitcoin is on its way to disrupting traditional financial systems with its ability to allow the immediate transfer of value without any need for middlemen.

Nonetheless, Coinwire reported that Canadian businessman Kevin O’Leary warned investors to take care when investing in Bitcoin. While he acknowledged that Bitcoins are assets, he also said that buying them is a gamble, with investors potentially losing all the money they put into it. He advised those interested in investing in Bitcoin to understand it better first before putting their money in it.

Its high cost – currently on its way to breaching the $20,000 mark – has dissuaded all but the richest investors in purchasing or mining this digital currency. Instead, they have turned to other cryptocurrencies.

Ethereum

Recently, Blockchain CEO Peter Smith announced that central banks are likely to hold Bitcoin and Ether by 2018. If this pushes through, this will be the first time that digital currencies will be bought by such financial institutions. This potential development can spell good news for Ethereum, which is already enjoying a price rally in the past months. Since its inception in 2015, it has enjoyed growth by over 1,200%.

Interestingly enough, Ethereum is not actually marketed as a digital currency, but rather as a smart contract network. According to experts, it is this aspect of Ethereum that explains why Ethereum actually has a more efficient system and covers a broader scope than Bitcoin. In fact, some experts are currently exploring whether the system can be used as a supply-chain efficiency solution.

Many Fortune 500 companies support Ethereum, which gives an indication of the cryptocurrency’s status as a sound investment choice.

Litecoin

Bitcoin might have the highest price compared tp other cryptocurrencies in 2017, but it’s actually Litecoin – which is being marketed as the silver to Bitcoin’s gold – that experienced a more dramatic surge. Fortune reported that Litecoin rose by 7,291%, as opposed to Bitcoin’s 1,731%.

Ironically, Litecoin’s creator Charles Lee maintains that he developed the digital currency to complement and not compete with Bitcoin. Still, more investors are now shifting to Litecoin because it is easier to mine and offers faster transactions.

Unlike Bitcoin which is focused on hefty transactions, Litecoin is packaged as a platform that can manage a large volume of small transactions quickly and efficiently. A Litecoin transaction can be completed roughly within 2.5 minutes, as opposed to Bitcoin, which processes transactions at around 10 minutes. Litecoin’s lower price, compared to Bitcoin, also makes this more accessible to budding cryptocurrency investors.

IOTA

IOTA recently made headlines when its price surged by over 90%. The spike happened after an announcement of its partnership with major tech firms such as Microsoft and Samsung on a marketplace that allows them to sell data.

The developers of IOTA claim that it is the first platform anchored on the Internet of Things. It stands out from other cryptocurrencies because it does not rely on the traditional blockchain network. Instead, it uses an alternative system, a ‘blockless’ digital ledger called Tangle. In theory, it has no limit for scaling, as opposed to cryptocurrencies operating on a blockchain network.

Furthermore, it does not require users to pay additional fees when making transactions. IOTA effectively created an incentive system for data sharing, all while ensuring data integrity.

Investors can enter trading with IOTA via Bitfinex.

Ripple

Ripple is considered by many experts to be the spiritual successor of Bitcoin, and it has already gathered its own share of supporters. It’s even accepted today as a payment platform for digital transactions. In the first half of 2017, its price surged by almost 4,000%. At the time of writing, Ripple is currently trading at $2.40 per unit. This is far past the benchmark of $0.75 which was considered as the threshold for the cryptocurrency to gain traction.

If the positive trend becomes more consistent, Ripple might get the support of more big firms as well. Oracle Times declared that it is likely to become the cryptocurrency of choice for Amazon, as well as other Internet-based retailers. This is because of Ripple’s faster transaction times and lower costs compared to Bitcoin.

Global financial retailers are more interested in stability than investment for the sake of its customers. This is precisely the reason why they tend to lean towards cryptocurrencies with lower volatility levels.

Disclosure: The author has invested in these cryptocurrencies. Also, this article is meant for information purposes only and is not investment advice. Seek a licensed professional if you’re looking for investment advice.