How To Double Your Money in 2025: Best Tips and Methods

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Doubling your income doesn’t have to mean major lifestyle changes like opening your home to roommates — or high-risk investments like cryptocurrency or options. And it won’t happen overnight. In fact, slow and steady is the way to go.

If you want to double your money in 2025, there are practical and low-risk strategies that can grow your wealth steadily over time. The best part is that they won’t require major lifestyle changes.

“Building wealth usually takes a lot of time, a lot of patience,” said financial expert Rachel Cruze, daughter of Ramsey Solutions founder and CEO Dave Ramsey and host of “The Rachel Cruze Show,” in a recent video. That’s because the best methods for doubling your money build wealth gradually, and with minimal or modest risk.

Quick Ways To Double Your Money:

• Buy and build equity in a home
• Invest in dividend-paying ETFs
• Max out your 401(k) with employer match

1. Buy a House

• Risk level: Moderate (depending on housing market and interest rates)
• Time to impact: Five to 10 years

One of Cruze’s top recommendations for doubling your money is to buy a house.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, home values appreciated 3% to 5% per year, on average, according to Quicken Loans. That’s a considerable gain for a high-value investment that provides so many benefits and makes up such a large part of most homeowners’ net worth.

Real estate is a long-term investment, but you can reap benefits faster by following Cruze’s recommended strategy:

• Save up at least a 20% down payment: You can buy with as little as 5% down, but with a 20% down payment, you can avoid paying for mortgage insurance. You’ll also have instant equity that could keep you in the black if home values decline.
• Take out a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage: Your payments will be higher than with a 30-year loan, but you’ll build equity faster and save a fortune in interest.
• Set a budget: Your mortgage payments should be no more than 25% of your income. However, if you lose your job or have a major unexpected expense, affordable mortgage payments will help keep you from foreclosure. Even in the absence of a financial emergency, the lower your payment, the more you can save and invest.

2. Invest In a Dividend Exchange-Traded Fund

• Risk Level: Moderate (depending on market volatility)
• Time to Impact: One to three years

Dividend ETFs are a group of stocks that will pay out dividends to shareholders, either on a monthly or quarterly basis. You can either cash out or reinvest those dividends. Reinvesting is one way to boost your wealth, as you compound the gains you earn.

You can invest directly in dividend stocks. However, dividend ETFs are less risky because they hold many stocks. Strong performers can offset weaker ones. If one company fails, it won’t sink the entire fund.

Each fund has its own strategy, too. Some can provide higher dividend yields, while others can provide consistent growth over time. It’s nice to have shares that appreciate over time.

If you take any distributions, you’ll be taxed in the year you received them, even if you don’t withdraw them. It’s best to speak with a tax professional if you’re concerned about any investments that could impact your tax situation.

3. Change Jobs — or Ask for a Raise

• Risk Level: Low to moderate (depending on job market and negotiation)
• Time to Impact: Immediate and up to one year

You’ll give yourself the best chance of getting the best possible increase if you research salaries in your market to see if perhaps you’re currently underpaid, and build a strong case for higher pay.

Did You Know?

A report from ADP Research Institute found that those who stayed with their job and received a median 5.1% raise earned 2.5% less overall than job switchers, who saw their salary increase by a median 7.6%.

4. Use Tax Refunds and Work Bonuses To Pay Off Credit Card Debt

• Risk Level: Low (saves money by avoiding high-interest payments)
• Time to Impact: Immediate

A recent TransUnion Credit Industry Insights Report found that the average credit card balance reached $6,380 per consumer in the third quarter of 2024. At an average interest rate of 21.37%, according to the Federal Reserve, a consumer making minimum payments of 4% per month ($255) would pay around $11,210 in about 11 years to wipe out a $6,380 balance.

Using windfall money like bonuses and tax refunds to wipe out credit card debt can return nearly 100% on your investment over the long term, plus it frees up money each month that you can save or invest to increase your wealth.

5. Max Out Your 401(k)

• Risk Level: Low to moderate (based on market conditions, but there are tax advantages and it’s focused on long-term growth)
• Time to Impact: 10 years and up

Participating in your company’s 401(k) is an excellent income booster, although you typically have to wait until you turn 59½ to withdraw the cash. You contribute through paycheck deferrals equal to a percentage of your salary. The deferrals come from pretax income, and your money grows on a tax-deferred basis, so you don’t pay tax on your savings until you withdraw funds later, in retirement.

2025 401(k) Contribution Limits

You can contribute up to $23,500 of your wages in 2025 — plus $7,500 in catch-up contributions if you’re age 50 or older.

Here are some tips to consider:

• You can invest in any asset in your 401(k), such as a mutual fund.
• Uninvested money is held as cash or a cash equivalent.
• If your employer matches your 401(k) contributions, set your contributions to match theirs/
• Check with your employer to make sure you get all the matching funds you’re entitled to.

Fidelity notes that a common formula for its plans is a dollar-for-dollar match on the first 3% of the employee’s income, and then 50% of the employee’s contribution on an additional 2%. To get the full match in this case, the employee needs to contribute at least 5% of their salary.

While not risk-free if you invest your 401(k) funds in anything other than cash — and even cash runs the risk of losing value to inflation — the risk lessens the longer you save. Start saving early enough and you can double your money several times over.

How Long Does It Take To Double Your Income?

“Patience is a huge part when it comes to winning financially,” Cruze said, but having a timeline can help you measure your progress. One way to figure it out is by using the Rule of 72. The rule is simple: Just divide 72 by the annual rate of return on your investments. 

Say, for example, you invest $1,000 in your retirement account, and you expect the money to grow by an average of 8% per year. Divide 72 by 8 and you get 9 — you can expect to double your $1,000 in about nine years.

No matter which strategy you choose, be consistent. The long game may require a little bit of patience, but if you start today, your future self will thank you.

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