Post: “If someone offered you $1 million of cash or $6,000/mo for life? Take the $6,000/mo for life every time. Absolute no brainer.”

I was stunned that most people didn’t seem to understand that this is not the best option.

So, which option is better:

• Choosing $1M now, or
• $6,000 per month for life?

To answer this mission-critical question, I ran an analysis. Here it is:

$1M invested starts growing immediately. If you don’t touch it for X years (see chart), you can later withdraw $6k/m and still end up with WAY more money.

The monthly deal looks safe but it’s trading away the compounding engine (the $1M) for a fixed paycheck.

You can also see this graphic for which option is better:

Key takeaways:

• If you start withdrawing immediately ($6k/mo), you’re taking $72k/yr = 7.2% of $1M. With a 7% return, the portfolio eventually depletes (in this simulation: around year ~42).
• If you wait even 5–10 years before starting withdrawals, the account grows enough that the $6k/mo becomes easily sustainable, and you end up with a huge remaining balance while also receiving the same $6k/mo thereafter.
• Compared to the “$6k/month stream” (which leaves you with no asset), the “$1M then withdraw later” strategy produces dramatically higher total value = (cash withdrawn + remaining balance).

The post Do You Choose $1,000,000 Now or $6,000/Month for Life? appeared first on Be on the Right Side of Change.

Absolutely!

Check out this NVDA discounted cash flow analysis with ChatGPT 5.1 Thinking:

In this video, you’ll learn how to use the thinking model ChatGPT 5.1 to perform a discounted cash flow analysis of any stock – easily and without needing external APIs. I use NVidia as an example but you can run the same steps with any stocks. This replaces $100k/y stock analysts jobs on Wall Street.

Truly insane!

Join our free email newsletter to stay on the right side of change: https://blog.finxter.com/ai/

SHIP! One Project Per Month (Builder Community Skool): https://www.skool.com/ship-one-project-per-month-9458/about

The post How to Use ChatGPT as Your Stock Analyst ($NVDA) appeared first on Be on the Right Side of Change.

TLDR: These are the four variables to screen to find recession proof stocks according to financial research (e.g., Morningstar)

• 1. Dividend Yield  1% or more
• 2. Low Debt/Equity (preferably less than 1)
• 3. Low Beta (e.g., Beta less than  1)
• 4. High Return on Equity (ROE greater than 10%)

Here’s the video I recorded:

What is a Recession?

A recession is simply a broad, painful slowdown in the economy: falling output, jobs, incomes, production, and sales (that’s how the NBER defines it).

Since 1945 the U.S. has seen 13 recessions, roughly one every six years, usually lasting around 10 months.

Consumer spending makes up about two-thirds of the U.S. economy, so when people cut back, companies tied to “nice-to-have” stuff get hit much harder than those selling necessities.

Interestingly, stocks have still been up on average during recessions, so the question isn’t “stocks or no stocks?” but “which stocks?”.

The Finviz Recession Filter Suggested by State-of-the-Art AI Agents

Filter 1 – Dividend yield ≥ 1%
Dividends matter because over long periods a big chunk of stock returns comes from reinvested dividends, not just price moves. Hartford Funds found that since 1960, reinvested dividends made up the majority of the S&P 500’s total return. But chasing super-high yields is dangerous: in 2020, a popular high-dividend index actually fell more than the market because some companies couldn’t keep paying. So in the screener we just ask for a modest dividend (≥ 1%) to find companies that share cash with investors without diving into “desperate high-yield” land.

Filter 2 – Debt-to-equity < 1
In a recession, too much debt can turn a slowdown into a crisis for a company. MIT Sloan research on the Great Recession showed that firms that loaded up on debt before 2008 were forced to cut jobs and close locations far more than low-debt firms. High interest costs plus falling sales is a brutal combo. So we add a simple filter: debt-to-equity below 1, which nudges us toward companies with healthier balance sheets and more breathing room when things get ugly.

Filter 3 – Beta < 1
“Beta” measures how much a stock typically moves compared to the overall market. AllianceBernstein studied global stocks back to the 1970s and found that the least volatile 20% of stocks actually returned about one-third more than the market with roughly 20% less volatility, and they held up better in 7 of the last 8 major downturns. That’s the “lose less in crashes, compound more over time” effect. So we tell the screener: beta under 1, focusing on stocks that historically swing less than the index.

Filter 4 – Return on equity (ROE) > 10%
Return on equity is a simple profitability metric: how much profit a company generates per dollar of shareholder equity. WisdomTree cites research showing that, over almost 60 years, the highest-ROE companies beat the lowest-ROE companies by about 4 percentage points per year on average. High-ROE businesses tend to have strong competitive positions and more resilient earnings. So we add one last filter: ROE above 10% to favor consistently profitable companies that are more likely to sustain dividends and survive downturns.

Also check out my related article:

12 Ways to Make Money with AI

References

NBER recession basics: https://www.nber.org/research/business-cycle-dating
Hartford Funds – 10 Things You Should Know About Recessions: https://www.hartfordfunds.com/dam/en/docs/pub/whitepapers/CCWP079.pdf
Hartford Funds dividends/total return (via InvestorPlace summary): https://investorplace.com/2024/01/3-reasons-to-rely-on-dividend-stocks/
MIT Sloan – Corporate debt and layoffs in the Great Recession: https://mitsloan.mit.edu/press/companies-took-more-debt-run-to-great-recession-later-cut-employment-more-sharply-says-new-research-mit-sloans-xavier-giroud
AllianceBernstein – The Paradox of Low-Risk Stocks: https://www.alliancebernstein.com/apac/en/institutions/insights/investment-insights/the-paradox-of-low-risk-stocks-gaining-more-by-losing-less.html
WisdomTree – Why Quality for the Long Run (ROE spread): https://www.wisdomtree.com/investments/blog/2021/08/24/why-quality-for-the-long-run

The post This Finviz Screener Finds Recession-Proof Stocks — Four Variables Suggested by AI appeared first on Be on the Right Side of Change.

I’ll break down the core math behind buying good companies at cheap prices (High Return on Capital + High Earnings Yield) and give you a step-by-step tutorial on setting up a custom scan in Finviz.

Watch to see exactly how to filter the market to find the best potential value stocks for your portfolio right now:

Specifically, follow these four steps:

1. Go to Finviz > Screener and select the Fundamental tab
2. Choose P/E > Low (<15)
3. Click Financial Tab
4. Sort by ROA (=Return on Assets) or ROE (=Return on Equity) by clicking on the respective column.

The post Finviz Screening for Magic Formula Investing (High ROC, Low P/E) appeared first on Be on the Right Side of Change.

DEBT DRAGON SLAYER

Dragon Hoard: $

Monthly Swings: $

Years:

Months:

SLAY THE BEAST!

Greed Rate: —% (Annual)

Total Tribute: $—

Interest Devoured: $—

Principal Paid –%

Interest Paid –%

Enter the dragon’s glittering hoard size (your loan amount), the fury of your monthly sword swings (payment), and the grueling length of your quest (term in years and months). Strike “SLAIY THE BEAST! ” to unveil the dragon’s savage greed rate (annual interest %), the mountain of total tribute you’ll pay, and the bloody gold it gobbles up (interest paid)!

The post FREE INTEREST RATE CALCULATOR | Debt Dragon Slayer: Calculate Loan Rate from Payment & Term Instantly! appeared first on Be on the Right Side of Change.

How this calculator works

• What it simulates: Each year your assets grow by your “Investment Growth %,” your existing loan accrues interest, and you take a new borrowing draw that scales with inflation to preserve real spending. We then cap total year-end leverage (loan ÷ assets) at your “Max Leverage %.” If the cap would be exceeded, the tool reduces that year’s borrowing and flags it in the table.
• Chart & risk cues: The chart plots Total Assets, Debt, and Net Worth with hover tooltips. Red shading marks years where Debt is at or above 90% of your own max-leverage cap—a practical warning band that you’re running close to lender limits.
• Key outputs:
  • Leverage = end-of-year loan ÷ end-of-year assets
  • Net Worth = end-of-year assets − end-of-year loan
  • Totals row sums borrowing, interest, ending loan, and shows peak leverage
  • “Final Net Worth (today’s $)” deflates by your inflation input for realism

What each input means

• Initial Investment ($): Starting asset value you plan to hold and borrow against.
• Annual Borrowing ($, Year 1): First-year draw; later years auto-increase with your Inflation % (so lifestyle/spending stays constant in real terms).
• Investment Growth (%): Expected nominal return (after fees, before taxes).
• Loan Interest (%): Your borrowing rate (for many, a securities-based line of credit or pledged-asset loan).
• Inflation (%): Used to index borrowing and to compute the “today’s $” metric.
• Max Leverage (%): Your personal or lender limit for loan-to-asset ratio; the simulator enforces this every year.
• Simulation Years: Horizon for the plan.

Strategy context (why people use this)

The classic Buy-Borrow-Die idea is: buy assets that appreciate, borrow against them for spending (borrowing generally doesn’t create taxable income, though canceled debt can be taxable), and at death heirs may receive a step-up in basis, potentially erasing lifetime unrealized gains under current U.S. rules. This combination is why some wealthy households can fund consumption with relatively low current taxes.

• Loans vs. taxes: Borrowing proceeds are typically not taxed as income because there’s an obligation to repay; however, forgiven or canceled debt can become taxable income (“cancellation of debt”). See IRS guidance.
• Step-up in basis: U.S. law (IRC §1014) generally resets an inherited asset’s cost basis to fair market value at death, which can eliminate income tax on prior appreciation if heirs sell soon after. Policymakers debate reforms; always verify current rules.

Practical constraints & risks

• Lender rules and calls: Securities-based loans require maintaining collateral; markets can fall, triggering maintenance calls to add cash/securities or forcing liquidation. Proceeds are often restricted by lenders (e.g., not usable to buy margin stock). Plan with a buffer.
• Interest-rate & return risk: If your borrowing rate rises or returns fall, leverage can compound losses and make the plan infeasible—watch the chart’s red “risky” zones.
• Interest deductibility is limited: Investment-interest expense may be deductible only up to net investment income and often requires Form 4952; see IRS Pub 550 for details.
• Policy risk: The step-up rule and related tax treatment have been frequent reform targets in recent years—assume rules can change over your horizon.
• Concentration risk: This strategy works best with large, diversified, liquid portfolios and conservative loan-to-value targets; concentrated or illiquid assets amplify danger.

How to read your results

• If the summary says “Feasible,” your requested borrowing stayed under your leverage cap every year.
• If it says “Not Feasible,” at least one year required cutting borrowing to respect the cap—consider lowering spending, increasing assets, or tightening the horizon.
• Aim for ample cushion between Debt and your Max Leverage %; lenders often adjust advance rates during volatility.

Legal & financial disclaimer (please read)

This calculator is an educational tool and not tax, legal, accounting, or investment advice. The Buy-Borrow-Die approach involves significant market, liquidity, interest-rate, lender, and policy risk; borrowing to invest can magnify losses. U.S. tax rules cited (including IRC §1014 and investment-interest limits) may change and can apply differently to your facts; other jurisdictions differ. Consult a qualified tax advisor, estate attorney, and fiduciary financial planner before using any strategy described here.

The post Buy, Borrow, Die Strategy – The Ultimate Calculator appeared first on Be on the Right Side of Change.

Below we highlight 10 of the best truly free portfolio tracking tools.

Each offers a mix of features, covering common asset types like stocks and crypto, and all are usable without any premium upgrade. We’ll break down the strengths and weaknesses of each so you can choose the tool that fits your needs.

1. PortfolioTracker24

PortfolioTracker24 is a minimalist online portfolio tracker that emphasizes privacy and simplicity. It’s completely web-based and does not require any sign-up.

Strengths: PortfolioTracker24 stores no user data on any server, keeping everything local to your device (Reddit). This means your portfolio info never leaves your computer, enhancing privacy. It supports importing and exporting your trades via Excel spreadsheets, so you can back up or bulk-update your holdings easily.

The interface follows a “less is more” philosophy, offering a clean, distraction-free way to input stocks or crypto holdings and see your gains/losses in real time. Because it’s lightweight and free, there are no ads or upsells—just straightforward portfolio tracking.

Weaknesses: The flip side of its simplicity is that PortfolioTracker24 lacks some advanced features. You won’t find automatic brokerage syncing or live bank connections here – all entries are manual (or via spreadsheet import).

While this manual approach protects your data, it requires you to update transactions yourself. It also doesn’t provide deep analytic tools or news integrations; it’s mainly for tracking performance.

For users who want multi-device access, note that data is stored locally, so you’ll need to export/import if switching devices.

In short, power users seeking extensive features or hands-off automation might find it basic, but that’s the trade-off for ultimate privacy and free usage.

2. Yahoo Finance Portfolio

Yahoo Finance has one of the most popular free portfolio trackers, available on the web and mobile app. With a Yahoo account, investors can create multiple portfolios, add stocks, ETFs, cryptocurrencies, and more, and get instant snapshots of performance.

Strengths: Yahoo Finance’s tracker is easy to use and completely free. It features a simple design where you can quickly add holdings and watchlists, and it automatically calculates metrics like daily gain and total overall gain (Yahoo Finance).

It covers a wide range of assets: stocks, indices, commodities, bonds, currencies, and crypto prices are all available, making it useful for a diversified portfolio. The platform also integrates news and basic research – you can click on any holding to see detailed quotes, charts, and news headlines. Another plus is its broad user base and support; being a longstanding tool, it’s stable and reliable.

There’s even an option to sync with certain brokerage accounts for automatic updates (Investopedia), and if not, you can manually input purchase dates and costs to track performance and cost basis.

Overall, Yahoo Finance gives retail investors a convenient one-stop dashboard for monitoring investments with real-time quotes and without ever paying for a premium plan.

Weaknesses: Despite its convenience, Yahoo’s portfolio tracker has some limitations. Notably, it does not automatically track dividends or other corporate actions (Sharesight Blog).

For example, if you own dividend-paying stocks, Yahoo will only show your price changes; you’d have to manually add dividend payouts as transactions to reflect true total returns. The performance calculations therefore focus mainly on price gains and ignore income, which can give an incomplete picture.

Similarly, if you hold foreign stocks or multiple currencies, Yahoo’s tracker doesn’t factor in currency exchange impacts on returns (Sharesight Blog).

In general, advanced portfolio analytics (like asset allocation breakdowns, benchmarking, or risk metrics) are absent in the free Yahoo tool. It’s best used for basic tracking rather than in-depth analysis.

Finally, while the interface is simple, it’s also a bit dated and loaded with ads (on the free version web interface). Users looking for richer analysis or more polished visuals might find Yahoo Finance a bit too rudimentary for their needs.

3. Google Sheets (DIY Portfolio Tracker)

For investors who prefer full control, Google Sheets offers a free and highly flexible way to track a portfolio. Using Google’s spreadsheet with the built-in GOOGLEFINANCE function, you can pull live market data and customize everything to your liking.

Strengths: Customizability is the biggest draw. Google Sheets is highly customizable, allowing you to create a portfolio tracker tailored to your needs, and it’s free to use and accessible from anywhere (10 Alternatives to Morningstar to Track Your Portfolio for Free).

You can set up sheets to track stocks, ETFs, crypto prices, or any asset by pulling data from Google Finance or other APIs. This means you decide how to display your portfolio – be it simple lists or complex dashboards with asset allocation pie charts, performance graphs, etc.

Many free templates exist for Google Sheets that provide ready-made tracking solutions, or you can build your own. Another strength is that Sheets can fetch real-time or near-real-time prices for many stocks and currencies, and update automatically, so you always have current values. It also supports calculations for performance, dividends (if you input them), and can even incorporate Google Finance’s historical data for trend analysis.

Because it’s a spreadsheet, the possibilities for analysis (IRR, XIRR, asset weighting, etc.) are endless if you have the know-how. All data stays in your Google account, and you can access your portfolio from any device with internet. And of course, it’s completely free with no premium tier – Google provides this functionality as part of Google Drive.

Weaknesses: The power of Google Sheets can also be a downside: it’s manual and requires some spreadsheet skill to set up.

Unlike dedicated apps, you won’t get a polished interface or one-click portfolio import. Initial setup can be tedious – you’ll need to input your transactions or number of shares and ensure the formulas are correct. While Google Finance covers many stocks and ETFs, its coverage of cryptocurrencies is limited (it supports only a few crypto price feeds via currency pairs, which may not include all altcoins).

So tracking a broad crypto portfolio might require using additional functions or external data sources, which gets complicated. There is no automatic account synchronization; every time you make a trade, you must update your sheet. If you’re not careful, formulas can break or data might not load (for instance, Google Finance formulas sometimes return errors for certain ticker symbols or during API issues).

Another consideration is that Google’s portfolio web interface (Google Finance website’s new portfolios) is still relatively basic compared to what you can do in Sheets – some users miss the old Google Finance portfolio tool that was discontinued.

In summary, Google Sheets gives you ultimate flexibility for free, but demands effort and maintenance, making it less user-friendly for those who want a plug-and-play tracker.

4. Investing.com Portfolio

Investing.com is a well-known finance website that offers a free portfolio tracking feature alongside its market data and news. It’s available on the web and as a mobile app. But sign in is required!

Strengths: Investing.com’s portfolio tool is completely free with no upgrades, and it’s quite feature-rich. You can create an unlimited number of portfolios with real-time quotes for your holdings (Portfolio & Watchlist – Investing.com). It supports a wide range of asset classes — stocks, indices, mutual funds, ETFs, commodities, currencies, bonds, and cryptocurrencies are all supported categories.

This means you can track your entire investment spectrum in one place. The interface provides a clear table of your holdings, showing metrics like current price, daily change, total gain, percentage change, etc., for each position and for the portfolio as a whole. You can input transactions (buy/sell) to keep track of cost basis and realized profit/loss as well. Another strength is the global reach: Investing.com has data for markets around the world, so international investors can track foreign stocks or exchanges easily.

The platform also integrates news and analysis; your portfolio view will display relevant news for the companies or assets you hold, and you can set price alerts for your positions. There’s even an option to share a read-only view of your portfolio or to keep it private. Since the service is web-based (with cloud saving under your account), you can log in from any device and see the same data, and the mobile app syncs with the web.

It’s a robust free solution for those who want multi-asset tracking with live data.

Weaknesses: The comprehensive nature of Investing.com’s site means the interface can feel a bit cluttered or overwhelming.

The site is ad-supported, so unless you use an ad-blocker or the paid InvestingPro version (not necessary for portfolio tracking, but offered for extra analysis), you’ll see a lot of advertisements around your portfolio page.

While it has real-time quotes for many assets, some data (like certain exchanges or delayed prices) might refresh every few minutes rather than tick-by-tick. Another drawback is that there’s no direct brokerage integration – all data entry is manual.

You need to update your share counts or transactions whenever you trade, as it won’t auto-fetch from your broker. The manual input is relatively easy but time-consuming for active traders. Additionally, advanced analytics are somewhat limited; the tool gives performance numbers and allocation pie charts, but it won’t do sophisticated portfolio analysis (e.g., risk metrics or retirement projections). Some users have noted that the mobile app, while handy, can be buggy or slower with larger portfolios.

Lastly, privacy-conscious users might be concerned that their portfolio data is stored on Investing.com’s servers (under your login). While this is standard and the data isn’t public, it’s not as privacy-focused as an offline or local solution.

Overall, Investing.com is excellent for basic to intermediate tracking needs, but it’s not a specialized analytics platform and requires manual upkeep.

5. Morningstar Portfolio Manager

Morningstar, known for its investment research and ratings, provides a free Portfolio Manager tool on its website ( Portfolio Manager | Morningstar ). With a Morningstar basic account (free to register), investors can use this tool to track their holdings and leverage some of Morningstar’s analytics.

Strengths: Morningstar’s Portfolio Manager benefits from the company’s deep analytical resources. It allows you to track all your investments in one place for free, including stocks, funds, ETFs, and even pensions or other holdings.

You can create multiple portfolios or watchlists and input your transactions (purchases, sales, etc.) or simply the holdings and cost basis.

One big advantage is access to Morningstar’s data and research insights. The tool can display portfolio performance with Morningstar’s signature metrics and even do a basic “X-Ray” analysis of your portfolio’s asset allocation, sector breakdown, and geographic exposure (some of these features might be limited to premium users, but basic breakdowns are often available).

The interface provides charts of your portfolio’s historical performance and comparisons to benchmarks. You’ll also see Morningstar ratings (for funds) and news or commentary related to your investments right on the dashboard, which is great for staying informed.

Another pro is reliability – Morningstar has been offering this for years, so it’s stable and trusted by many investors. The focus on long-term investing metrics means it’s well-suited for tracking portfolios over time rather than day-trading.

Everything is web-based (with a mobile-friendly site), and because it’s free, you can utilize it without any time limit (Morningstar’s paid “Investor” subscription adds more tools but the basic tracker remains free).

For a retail investor, being able to use Morningstar’s platform to monitor your portfolio and get high-quality data points at no cost is a significant benefit.

Weaknesses: While the Portfolio Manager is free, Morningstar does nudge users toward its premium services. Some advanced tools (like detailed Portfolio X-Ray reports, certain ratings, or analyst research on stocks/funds) require a Morningstar Investor subscription (a paid upgrade).

The free tracker will show you basic performance and maybe a simplified analysis, but you’ll hit a wall if you try to drill down into, say, the finer points of your portfolio’s risk or compare its return vs. detailed benchmarks over custom periods – those often prompt a “premium feature” message.

The user interface, though functional, is also a bit dated and not the most intuitive. It might take some clicks to get to the view you want, and setting up your portfolio initially can be a bit clunky.

There’s no auto-sync with brokerage accounts, so like most free tools, it relies on manual data entry (however, you can import from a spreadsheet in some cases). Because data is stored in the cloud under your account, you have to trust Morningstar with your financial info (the company is reputable in terms of data security, but it’s something to note).

Another minor issue is that real-time price updates might be limited; quotes could be 15-minute delayed for stocks, for example, rather than live tick-by-tick updates.

In summary, Morningstar’s free portfolio tracker is great for basic tracking and a taste of their analytics, but to unlock its full power you’d need a paid plan, and the interface might feel a bit clunky compared to more modern apps.

6. Empower Personal Dashboard (Personal Capital)

Empower (formerly Personal Capital) offers the Empower Personal Dashboard, a powerful online tool that is free for anyone to use. It started under the name Personal Capital and is often touted as one of the best free portfolio and wealth tracking apps.

Strengths: Empower’s dashboard is comprehensive – it allows you to aggregate all your financial accounts in one place (6 Popular Software Programs for Portfolio Managers), including brokerage accounts, retirement accounts (401k, IRA), bank accounts, credit cards, and even property or loan accounts.

For investment tracking specifically, it shines in giving you a holistic view of your portfolio across different brokers and account types. By linking your accounts securely, your holdings and transactions are automatically imported, so your portfolio updates itself without manual input. Empower then provides great analytics: you get a clear breakdown of your asset allocation, investment portfolio performance over time, and comparisons to benchmark indices.

One notable feature is the “Investment Checkup”, which analyzes your portfolio’s allocation vs. an ideal target allocation based on your risk (this helps identify if you’re too heavy in one sector, for example).

They also offer tools like a Retirement Planner and Fee Analyzer. The Fee Analyzer, in particular, is a unique strength – it examines your portfolio (especially funds) for hidden fees and shows where you might be overpaying, which is insight many free trackers don’t provide.

The interface (both web and mobile) is very polished and user-friendly, with dashboards and charts that make it easy to track your net worth and investments. And crucially, all these features are free because Empower’s model is to provide the software at no cost while offering optional advisory services.

There are no paid tiers for the software – every user gets the full functionality, which is quite generous for the level of depth provided. If you want a combined personal finance and investment tracker that’s truly free, Empower (Personal Capital) is a top choice.

Weaknesses: The saying “if it’s free, you’re the product” applies in a limited way here. Empower is free, but they make money by offering paid wealth management services, so if you have a significant portfolio, you might get marketing emails or even calls from their advisors.

Some users report that Empower’s financial advisors can be persistent in trying to get you to let them manage your investments (which carries a fee) – “They really want you to let them manage your investments and they call quite a lot trying to entice you” (Money App Review: Personal Capital — Michelle Semones).

While you are not obligated to use their paid services, this sales aspect can be an annoyance. Another consideration is that Empower is best suited for U.S. investors; it connects well to U.S. financial institutions, but international integration is limited. It also focuses on traditional assets (stocks, bonds, funds in your accounts) – if you have cryptocurrency, you can’t directly link most crypto wallets or exchanges to Empower yet, so those might need to be added manually as “other assets,” which won’t update automatically.

In terms of features, Empower’s strength is breadth, but it might not have the very granular control that some specialized trackers have (for example, you can’t manually adjust the price of an asset or create custom groupings beyond what their interface allows). Privacy-conscious individuals might hesitate to link all accounts in one place, though Empower uses strong encryption and security protocols.

Lastly, the tool is overkill if you only want a simple portfolio tracker; it’s more of a full financial dashboard, which can be a bit heavy if all you need is to track a handful of stocks.

In summary, Empower/Personal Capital’s free tool is powerful and convenient, but be ready for some advisory pitches and ensure its scope matches what you need.

7. SigFig Portfolio Tracker

SigFig is a fintech company known for its robo-advisor, but it also provides a free portfolio tracking tool that anyone can use without signing up for the paid investment management. In fact, SigFig originally started as a portfolio tracker (it was once known as Wikinvest) and still offers robust tracking features for free.

Strengths: SigFig’s free portfolio tracker lets you connect your brokerage accounts directly to automatically import your holdings and transactions. It supports many major brokers (like Fidelity, Schwab, TD Ameritrade, Robinhood, etc.), which means once linked, your portfolio updates in real time without manual data entry.

This aggregator approach gives you a unified view of all your investments in one dashboard. A standout feature is SigFig’s analysis of fees and portfolio health. The tracker will analyze your portfolio’s diversification and show if you are over-concentrated in certain areas, and it will identify fees (for example, expense ratios of funds or advisory fees) that you’re paying in your accounts

It then provides recommendations to reduce fees or improve diversification, effectively acting like a free robo-advisor checkup. SigFig’s interface is clean and straightforward, whether on the web or their mobile app.

You get charts of your performance over time, daily movements, and even news about your holdings. Another plus: because SigFig’s main business is managing money as a robo-advisor, they keep the tracking portion free and fully featured to attract users. There are no usage caps or premium versions of the tracker – you can sync unlimited accounts and assets. It’s also worth noting that SigFig’s tracker includes not just stocks and funds but can handle cryptocurrencies if they are in an account it supports (though direct wallet linking isn’t available, any crypto held at, say, Robinhood or other supported brokers would show up).

In summary, SigFig’s free tool provides automatic tracking and basic advice, effectively giving you a personal portfolio monitor at no cost.

Weaknesses: SigFig’s primary focus is on standard investment accounts, so if you have assets outside the supported broker list, you may not be able to auto-sync them (though you can manually add holdings, it’s less convenient).

For example, if your broker isn’t supported or you have crypto in an external wallet, those won’t link up. The range of analytics, while good for a free service, is not extremely deep – you’ll get high-level diversification and fee info, but not highly customizable reports. SigFig’s recommendations are generalized (often suggesting you move to lower-cost index funds, etc.), which some users may find too simplistic or akin to a sales pitch for their robo-advisor.

Additionally, as with any account aggregator, you have to input your login credentials for your financial accounts, which not everyone is comfortable with (SigFig uses encryption and read-only access, but it’s a trust factor to consider).

Another noted issue: SigFig has been around a long time, but it’s not as actively discussed as some competitors, so while it works well, it doesn’t integrate with other personal finance tools, and its development pace seems slower nowadays.

The mobile app, while clean, is not as feature-rich as Empower’s or others—its main goal is to funnel users to consider SigFig’s paid management. Lastly, similar to Personal Capital, if your linked portfolio is sizable, you might get outreach from SigFig’s team suggesting their advisory services (their robo-advisor has a 0.25% fee after the first $10k managed free). However, this is generally less aggressive than Personal Capital’s approach.

In summary, SigFig’s free tracker is excellent for hands-off tracking of multiple accounts, but it’s somewhat limited to what it does (basic analysis) and is tied to SigFig’s broader business of offering to manage your money.

8. getquin

getquin is a newer entrant that has quickly become a favorite for many investors, especially in Europe, looking for a comprehensive free portfolio tracker. It combines elements of social investing with a powerful tracking tool, and importantly it remains free for core features.

Strengths: One of getquin’s biggest strengths is its extensive support for both brokers and asset types. You can securely connect to thousands of financial institutions worldwide – from popular European brokers like Trade Republic or DEGIRO to U.S. brokers like Fidelity and Vanguard – so it automatically syncs your holdings and transactions (getquin Investment Tracker Review: Best Portfolio Tracker for 2025).

This saves time as your portfolio updates itself across stocks, ETFs, and even bank accounts. For assets that can’t be linked, you can add them manually, and getquin supports a broad range: stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, cryptocurrencies (via exchange connections), real estate, commodities, even alternative investments and collectibles.

In other words, you can track virtually any asset in one dashboard. The platform offers real-time price updates and basic analytics for free. You’ll see your net worth over time, portfolio allocation, and performance charts. getquin particularly shines with its community features – there’s a built-in social feed where you can discuss stocks, see aggregated (anonymized) portfolios of other users, and join investment discussions. This makes the experience more engaging and you can get ideas or learn from others.

For dividend investors, getquin has a dividend tracking calendar in the free version, showing upcoming payouts and income summaries, which is a nice touch.

Importantly, getquin’s free tier includes all the essential features: account syncing, tracking, analytics, and community access.

There is a premium option, but it primarily removes ads and adds advanced customization – average investors will find the free version perfectly sufficient. The interface is modern and clean, both on the web and the mobile app.

It’s designed to be user-friendly, making it easy to see your total portfolio value, breakdowns, and even fun statistics. Security-wise, getquin uses encryption and reputable open-banking integrations to link accounts, and you can opt to use it purely with manual entries if you prefer.

Overall, getquin offers a holistic, user-friendly portfolio tracker that covers both stocks and crypto, with a vibrant community – all for free.

Weaknesses: Being a relatively new platform, getquin is still evolving. While it supports many institutions, there might be occasional hiccups with account connections (as with any aggregator) – e.g., if your bank changes its security protocol, syncing might break until getquin updates it. Advanced analytics are somewhat limited on the free plan; for example, comparing your portfolio performance against specific benchmarks or accessing certain detailed historical metrics requires the Premium subscription (around €50/year).

The free version is also ad-supported, meaning you might see some ads or promos in the interface (though they aren’t very intrusive). The community aspect, while a strength, might not appeal to everyone – if you just want a private tracker, the social feed could be unnecessary (though you don’t have to engage with it).

Because getquin tries to do a lot (social network + tracker), some parts of the app can feel a bit cluttered or confusing at first, especially if you’re only used to simpler tools. Additionally, as of now, getquin is used heavily in Europe, so some content (discussions or default settings) might skew towards European investors (for instance, showing prices in EUR by default, or popular EU stocks/funds).

This is not a huge issue since you can customize your currency and it does support U.S. assets fully, but it’s something U.S. users might notice. Lastly, getquin does have a Premium tier; although it’s not needed for the main functionality, very advanced users might feel a bit of FOMO seeing some features locked behind premium (like deeper analytics or an ad-free experience).

However, for the vast majority, the free version truly covers everything necessary, and the core experience is not degraded without premium.

In summary, getquin’s weaknesses are fairly minor: mostly growing pains and optional upgrades – it remains a top free choice if you want both automatic tracking and a community vibe.

9. CoinMarketCap Portfolio Tracker

For cryptocurrency enthusiasts, CoinMarketCap’s portfolio tracker is a go-to option that is entirely free. CoinMarketCap (CMC) is one of the most popular crypto data sites, and its portfolio feature allows users to track their crypto holdings conveniently.

Strengths: Completely free with no premium tier – anyone with a CMC account can use the portfolio tracker with full functionality (10 Best Crypto Portfolio Trackers: Explore Top Free & Paid Trackers ).

It supports over 20,000 cryptocurrencies listed on CoinMarketCap, so you can track everything from Bitcoin and Ethereum down to very obscure altcoins. The tool lets you create multiple portfolios, which is useful if you want to separate, say, a long-term investment portfolio from a trading portfolio.

Data is updated in real-time from CMC’s price feeds, giving you up-to-the-minute valuations of your holdings. You can add transactions (buys/sells) or simply enter total holdings for each coin, and the tracker will calculate your profit/loss and overall portfolio value.

One big advantage is ease of use – the interface is simple and web-based (and also available in the CMC mobile app). There’s no need to connect any wallets if you don’t want; many users prefer not to input private keys anywhere, and CMC respects that by allowing manual entry of amounts.

That said, it also has an import option via public wallet addresses for certain blockchains, meaning you can input your wallet address and CMC will pull the balance for that wallet (useful for tracking cold storage or public wallets).

CoinMarketCap’s tracker also allows basic customization: you can set your local currency for seeing portfolio value, and choose what data columns to display. It’s great for quickly checking your crypto investments alongside the market – since CMC is often open for price checking, having your portfolio on the same site is convenient.

Additionally, CMC’s portfolio is secure and private – it doesn’t require any sensitive info (you can stay anonymous with just an email sign-up) and there are no fees or limits on the number of coins or trades you track. As a bonus, because it’s part of the CMC ecosystem, you get handy extras like coin research pages, news, and watchlists that integrate well with the portfolio tool.

Weaknesses: The CoinMarketCap portfolio tracker is limited to crypto assets only – you can’t track stocks, real estate, or other investments there. It’s built for crypto, so a mixed-asset investor would need a separate tool for non-crypto holdings.

Also, while it handles crypto well, it doesn’t directly connect to exchanges via API in the way some dedicated apps do (there’s no automatic trade import from your exchange account; you either enter transactions manually or import via wallet address). This means if you trade frequently on an exchange, you’ll have to update the portfolio yourself each time, which can be tedious. Another drawback is that CMC’s tracker, being basic, lacks advanced analytics.

You won’t get fancy portfolio performance graphs over time (beyond a simple line chart of total value) or metrics like volatility, Sharpe ratio, etc. – it’s mostly a running tally of your coins and their values. For serious traders, features like setting alerts for portfolio milestones or detailed P/L per trade are absent (CMC focuses on current holdings and overall P/L).

The user interface, while simple, can also feel a bit bare-bones; for instance, there’s no tagging of transactions or breakdown by exchange/account. Some users have reported occasional sync issues when using the wallet address feature (like if CMC doesn’t support a particular token’s blockchain explorer well, it might not update that holding reliably).

However, these cases are relatively rare and typically involve very new or complex tokens. Lastly, because CMC is owned by Binance, some users wonder about data privacy or potential bias (though there’s no clear issue here, it’s mostly speculative concern in the community).

In summary, CoinMarketCap’s tracker is excellent for a crypto-only portfolio, completely free and easy, but it’s not as feature-rich as some dedicated crypto portfolio apps. It’s best for users who want a simple, no-frills overview of their crypto holdings.

10. CoinGecko Portfolio

CoinGecko, another major player in the crypto space, offers a free portfolio tracker that rivals CoinMarketCap’s. It’s available on CoinGecko’s website and through their mobile app, allowing crypto investors to monitor their assets without any cost.

Strengths: Extensive coverage of digital assets – CoinGecko tracks over 14,000 cryptocurrencies (10 Best Crypto Portfolio Trackers: Explore Top Free & Paid Trackers), so you can add just about any coin or token to your portfolio.

The portfolio feature is straightforward and, like CMC’s, entirely free to use for all basic functionality. You can manage multiple portfolios if needed and get real-time price updates for your holdings. CoinGecko’s interface is clean, and it provides useful data points like 24h and 7d changes for each coin, your holding’s current value, and total profit/loss.

A notable advantage is that CoinGecko’s core portfolio tracking features have no paywall – you can use them without subscribing, which means you can update your portfolio and see live prices and basic analytics without spending anything. (CoinGecko has introduced an optional Premium/Plus subscription, but that’s mostly for extra content and some advanced features, not for the basic portfolio tracking.)

The platform also offers some unique features: for instance, you can add crypto holdings as well as NFT holdings (CoinGecko has an NFT tracker as well), giving a broader view if you dabble in NFTs. CoinGecko excels in providing reliable, aggregated market data, so your portfolio reflects a consensus price across exchanges, which is useful for less-liquid tokens.

Another strength is that it works well across devices – the mobile app is highly rated and allows you to check your portfolio on the go, even setting price alerts for specific coins. Privacy is also a plus; you don’t even need an account if you use the local portfolio (data saved in your browser or app storage), though having an account helps sync across devices.

And because CoinGecko is an independent data provider (not owned by an exchange), many users trust its neutrality and commitment to the crypto community.

In summary, CoinGecko’s free portfolio tracker is robust, covering all your crypto with real-time data, and it’s very accessible for beginners and seasoned investors alike.

Weaknesses: Like any crypto-only tracker, CoinGecko’s tool won’t manage traditional assets (stocks, etc.), so it’s not a one-stop solution if you need multi-asset tracking. Its focus is on current holdings rather than deep performance analysis – it will show your holdings’ value changes, but if you’re looking for advanced metrics (IRR, or detailed trade-by-trade P/L reports), you might find it lacking.

CoinGecko recently added premium tiers, which raised some concern that over time certain features might get paywalled.

For now, the basic portfolio is free, but advanced charting or data exports might require a subscription in the future (currently, premium offers things like an ad-free experience, more advanced coin metrics, etc., not essential for simple tracking).

Another potential downside: no exchange API integrations for auto-sync – you must manually input your coin holdings or use wallet addresses. This is the same limitation as CMC’s tracker; active traders will have to update their CoinGecko portfolio whenever they trade on an exchange. Some users also report that the UI could be improved: for example, it doesn’t allow custom groupings of assets or annotations on transactions.

If you hold many coins, the list can become long, and there’s limited flexibility in how to sort or view sub-totals (you can filter by portfolio but not create categories within a portfolio). Additionally, price updates are real-time, but portfolio value updates might slightly lag if you have the app open for a long time (a refresh usually fixes that).

Lastly, while CoinGecko is generally very accurate with data, in the fast-changing crypto world there can occasionally be pricing glitches or delays for very new or low-cap tokens. These are typically resolved quickly, but during those moments your portfolio might show odd values.

Overall, CoinGecko’s portfolio tracker is a fantastic free tool for crypto, with minor inconveniences mostly around automation and advanced analysis, which serious traders might supplement with other apps. For a no-cost overview of your crypto holdings, it remains one of the best choices.

Conclusion

All the above portfolio trackers let you monitor your investments without paying a cent. The best choice depends on your needs.

For a simple, free, and privacy-focused approach where you keep data local, PortfolioTracker24 or a custom Google Sheet work well. Both do not require email signup.

If you want stocks and crypto in one place with account syncing, getquin or Empower Personal Dashboard are excellent.

Those heavily into crypto can opt for CoinMarketCap or CoinGecko for an easy overview.

And classic tools like Yahoo Finance or Morningstar serve investors who prefer straightforward stock and fund tracking.

Sources:

1. Reddit user feedback on PortfolioTracker24’s local data storage (Best way to track portfolio performance? : r/investing – Reddit) (Best way to track portfolio performance? : r/investing – Reddit)
2. Sharesight blog comparing Yahoo Finance (no automatic dividend tracking) (Yahoo Finance vs. Sharesight – comparing portfolio trackers | Sharesight Blog) (Yahoo Finance vs. Sharesight – comparing portfolio trackers | Sharesight Blog)
3. Official Yahoo Finance description of its portfolio tracker (Stock Portfolio Management & Tracker – Yahoo Finance)
4. Rob Berger – Free portfolio tracker alternatives (Google Sheets customization) (10 Alternatives to Morningstar to Track Your Portfolio for Free)
5. Investing.com portfolio feature description (free, real-time quotes) (Portfolio & Watchlist – Investing.com)
6. Morningstar Portfolio Manager – “Track Your Portfolio for Free” ( Portfolio Manager | Morningstar ) ( Portfolio Manager | Morningstar )
7. Investopedia – Overview of Empower (Personal Capital) free dashboard (6 Popular Software Programs for Portfolio Managers)
8. Personal finance blog – Personal Capital calls from advisors (Money App Review: Personal Capital — Michelle Semones)
9. FinanceBuzz – SigFig’s free portfolio tracker and features (https://financebuzz.com/sigfig-review#:~:text=As%20a%20result%2C%20you%20can,and%20save%20money%20in%20fees))
10. MatchMyBroker – getquin free version features (account sync, assets, etc.) (getquin Investment Tracker Review: Best Portfolio Tracker for 2025) (getquin Investment Tracker Review: Best Portfolio Tracker for 2025)
11. CoinBureau – CoinMarketCap portfolio tracker capabilities (10 Best Crypto Portfolio Trackers: Explore Top Free & Paid Trackers ) (10 Best Crypto Portfolio Trackers: Explore Top Free & Paid Trackers )
12. CoinBureau – CoinMarketCap tracker is completely free to use (10 Best Crypto Portfolio Trackers: Explore Top Free & Paid Trackers )
13. CoinBureau – CoinGecko portfolio tracking (free features vs premium) (10 Best Crypto Portfolio Trackers: Explore Top Free & Paid Trackers ) (10 Best Crypto Portfolio Trackers: Explore Top Free & Paid Trackers )

The post Best Completely Free Investment Portfolio Trackers (2025 Edition) appeared first on Be on the Right Side of Change.

Please note that this is not a get-rich-quick guide!

However, if you’re genuinely interested in creating value with AI, you’re in the right place!

Make no mistake – there are significant untapped sources of wealth in AI. The more people get value from your AI agents, the more passive income and active income you’ll generate for yourself and your loved ones.

Let’s start with a simple real-world example of how to make money with an AI-first side hustle:

Example – AI Music Creation: We created a YouTube channel reaching hundreds of thousands of people with AI-generated songs. These are beautiful pieces of art and they deserve every view!

In other words: work smart, not hard.

Core Insight: A single prompt or idea to leverage AI intelligently can change millions of lives — and potentially make millions in the process. AI is the ultimate lever for scale and impact. People who use AI intelligently can create years worth of labor – in seconds. Those people with AI-first mindsets will thrive in the decade ahead.

By the end of this guide, you’ll have actionable strategies to generate passive income with AI, backed by real-life examples and insider tips. So let’s get started, shall we?

What I’m Earning with AI

Now you may ask, and rightly so: “Why trust this random girl from the Internet? What qualifies her to write this article on making money with AI?”

If you’re like me, you’re tired of online marketers who haven’t been there and done that. I’m tired of marketers who don’t give the juicy info like how much money they’re actually making — and how they did it.

In this ultimate guide, I will be brutally honest and transparent. Like so:

How much did I actually make using AI online? In the last year, I made $98,539 and 24 cents by serving more than seven million people per year as a Mediavine Pro user:

By the numbers, that’s

• $98,539 per year
• $8,211 per month
• $269 per day

And that’s only from ads — not including my other business segments.

Info: Mediavine is one of the largest advertisement platforms running blog ads, like the ones you see in this article. Running ads is one of the ways you can generate passive income with AI. The most successful Mediavine users earning $100k per year are invited to the Pro program.

Keep reading if you want to learn how to make money online using AI!

These AI-first skills are NOT taught in college. Because colleges don’t want you to use AI — they hate the fact that AI is now here and will never go away!

But AI is the best opportunity to create a high-value skill set that will remain super relevant in the decade ahead. AI engineers are the new masters of the universe!

Besides AI content creation, there are many more ways to make money online – running ads is only one of my revenue sources. Affiliate partnerships with other businesses are another way to make money with AI.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, meaning I may earn a commission if you make a purchase. I only recommend products I personally use. Results from the strategies mentioned are not guaranteed and may vary. The information provided is for educational purposes and does not constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice. Consult a professional before making decisions. This content is provided “as-is” without warranties. Ensure compliance with your local laws and regulations.

Here’s a visual checklist (quick overview) on how you can make money with AI:

Will People Lose Their Cushy $90k/y Jobs to AI? Yes For Sure!

Many things that worked Before ChatGPT (BC) have stopped working After ChatGPT (AC). Fortunately, some things work now, AC, that didn’t work BC.

Let’s have a brief look at the changing work environment we’re all experiencing:

In the US, 59.8 percent of the workforce are white-collar workers. Most of them will eventually be disrupted by AI tools.

Yes, it’s true. Whatever you did before checking out this article — chances are it’ll get automated. Why should your boss or, by extension, your customers give you money doing the thing AI can do better and for free?

For example, personal finance advisors making a $90k median salary already have an 85% risk of being replaced by generative AI (research):

This will release much of the work in our society and cause significant prosperity for society overall. However, some will be on the wrong side of change.

Savvy one-person business owners already make passive income (or, I should say: leveraged income) with AI. They pay small bucks to AIs instead of huge bucks to employees.

Without further ado, here are the best ways for business owners like me to generate income using AI.

Way 1: Use AI Tools to Generate MASSIVE Amounts of Quality Content and Monetize with Ads

I like simple and proven business models that just work.

Here’s a common business model that’s as simple as it gets – but proven by millions of content creators all around the world:

• Step 1: Publish lots of helpful content — for example, use this little-known AI tool (15% off with code “MONEY”) that’s used by some of the most successful sites on the web ,
• Step 2: Get lots of people reading your content, and
• Step 3: Monetize your website with ads (use premium platforms such as Ezoic, Adthrive, Mediavine, …) as you reach 10k to 50k monthly readers.

Explaining these steps in detail is too much for here, but if you’re interested you can read our in-depth guide on the Finxter blog article here.

For instance, if you publish 10 articles a day — that’s super easy if you use the best AI blogging tools — and one article drives an average of 1000 visitors over its lifetime, you’ll converge to:

10 articles * 1000 visitors * 30 days = 300,000 visitors per month.

A common revenue per thousand visitors is $30. Under these assumptions, the AI blog would generate:

300,000 * $30 / 1,000 = $9,000 per month.

But is it reasonable to reach 1000 visitors per article? Yes, I think so. I usually reach many more with my articles. But you need to make sure that the articles are well-written and that you have done your homework researching “content gaps” that others do not address well.

However, ChatGPT alone won’t do the trick in most cases.

What I do is pay $10 per month for the best AI tool (15% off with code “MONEY”) that not only writes the content but also researches the top-ranking articles for a certain keyword.

The degree of automation is much higher than just using ChatGPT.

At the same time, the article quality is better, and the readability scores are higher. The auto-generated images are beautiful. You can also connect the AI tool to your website, so you can get ready-made articles with a single click.

It analyzes the top-ranking articles for a given keyword and creates its own article structure. Then fills it with outstanding quality content.

All of it in seconds!

Moreover, you can automatically rewrite YouTube videos, create listicles, or Amazon affiliate websites. The best AI writers can auto-publish articles on your WordPress site. Improve readability scores, add FAQ sections, include key takeaways, and use different tone-of-voices.

It cannot be any easier, honestly.

The quality per article is better than what you get from most freelance writers.

Back in the day, I paid $100 per human article. Yet, I needed to wait weeks for each article.

Now you can get a better article quality for less than $1 in seconds using AI!

You can even use it to write affiliate articles – although I don’t do this because I don’t want to recommend what I haven’t tried myself.

I wouldn’t recommend this tool if I hadn’t used it myself to help me reach six figures AI-based income in the last year.

Best AI Tool: Easy and cheap AI Writer to generate perfect SEO-optimized articles with unique and beautiful images and embedded videos (coupon “MONEY” for 15% off!)

Tip: Use the discount code “MONEY” to get 15% off all payments.

Way 2: Six Real-World Examples of AI-Powered Applications

AI services can be EXTREMELY profitable. Let’s have a look at some examples:

Example 1 – AI Writer to Earn Monthly or Annual Subscription Fee

This AI service (use code “MONEY” to get 15% off) recently sent me an email revealing their “secrets”, i.e., how much they make every month:

In other words, this ~3-person startup makes between $150k and $1.5M per month! With a profit margin north of 70%, it profits more than $100k every single month!

If you make $100k profit per month, you’d be a millionaire in less than a year. The business valuation would be north of $4M so you can earn one million and then sell the business for four million a year from now.

Check out the example with discount code “MONEY” (15% off)

Example 2 – Gift Recommender to Earn Affiliate Revenue

Another example of an AI-first app was submitted by a hustling Finxter email newsletter reader who sent me this app that generates links to gift ideas — each is an affiliate link that makes him money:

If you’re an AI engineer with a passion, you can create such an application yourself.

Example 3 – AI Education and AI Engineering

One-person startups that integrate, for instance, OpenAI’s API into their product can replace legions of workers and make a killing on the open marketplace.

Check out the AI engineering course library on the Finxter Academy to certify your AI engineering skills. It’s easier than you think – learning AI engineering is not at all difficult. You don’t need to understand AI — you just need to understand how to use it!

As we all know, value lies in the eyes of the customer.

As a media business owner, I used to pay more than $3,000 per month to my freelancers. Now, I pay $20 for this AI service (code “MONEY” for 15% off) happily. Why? Because it’s more productive and generates better content cheaper.

Action Step: Create a product that saves another business money by using AI in a specific and intelligent way. Anybody who can create a product like that can become a millionaire in a few months, literally.

Example 4 – Movie Recommendation App for Traffic (Ads Financed)

Here’s another example of a movie recommendation app based on the OpenAI API:

By leveraging your expertise in designing and optimizing prompts for large language models, you can work with AI models like GPT-4 to develop unique and valuable solutions for various industries.

Firstly, identify the challenges businesses are facing and where AI-powered applications can provide significant benefits.

Example 5 – Making Money with SaaS using OpenAI’s API

For example, in the marketing industry, you can build AI-driven content generators that produce high-quality, engaging articles and social media posts on demand. These applications can then be monetized through subscription plans or per-use fees.

Recommended: 10 OpenAI SaaS Ideas to Scale a One-Person AI Company

Another potential avenue for prompt engineering is in the field of customer support.

Example 6 – Creating AI Chatbots for Customers

Design AI chatbots to handle inquiries and provide instant assistance to customers. Your prompt engineering background can help create a natural, human-like interaction experience, leading to increased customer satisfaction.

Incorporate AI models into the development of educational tools and e-learning platforms. By crafting well-designed prompts for AI tutors, you can help create personalized learning experiences tailored to individual students’ needs.

All of these are examples of AI-powered applications. Many businesses would gladly pay for an expert or even a scalable solution with “Generative AI at the heart”.

Use your prompt engineering skills to innovate in ways that solve unique pain-points in industries you already know (e.g., the one you’re currently working in). You don’t need to learn the industry, only the basic AI API usage needs which I call “AI Engineering” or “Prompt Engineering”:

Recommended: 10 Steps Learning Path: Becoming a Python Prompt Engineer on the Finxter Academy

Way 3: Offer Consulting Services for AI Language Models

As a prompt engineer, you can use your expertise in prompt engineering to offer consulting services for businesses looking to optimize their AI language models. Many companies rely on AI systems for tasks such as content generation, customer support, and data analysis.

There are millions of new open-source tools, and nobody really gets the whole picture.

Recommended: Llama 2: How Meta’s Free Open-Source LLM Beats GPT-4!

Confusion is everywhere — which is your unique opportunity as an LLM prompt engineer consultant!

By providing sought-after insights and guidance, you can help these businesses enhance the performance and capabilities of their AI systems. How? Your in-depth knowledge of tech and prompt engineering will allow you to identify areas of improvement in their current AI models. You can recommend adjustments to the prompts used in AI systems, suggest strategies for refining the models, and provide guidance on best practices and data selection.

Pro Tip: To make your consulting services stand out, consider obtaining additional certifications in AI, machine learning, or data science. This will not only demonstrate your commitment to the field but also lend credibility to your expertise.

When offering consulting services, it’s crucial to maintain a confident, knowledgeable, and clear tone in your communication. As a prompt engineer, your role is to guide your clients through the complex world of AI and prompt engineering in a way that helps them understand and benefit from the potential of their AI systems.

By doing this, you can create a successful consulting business that helps you earn money in the rapidly evolving tech landscape.

Way 4: Develop Chatbot Solutions for Businesses

As a prompt engineer, you can leverage your skills to develop chatbot solutions for various businesses. With the growth of language models like GPT-4, GPT-4V, and ChatGPT, there is a high demand for chatbots that can assist businesses in customer support, lead generation, and user engagement. By understanding the art of crafting perfect prompts, your chatbots can become more empathetic and efficient.

Many businesses constantly seek ways to automate their customer service and save costs. By designing a chatbot solution using powerful language models like GPT-4, you have the potential to create an additional income stream. Tailor your chatbot to address specific industry needs and emphasize how it can benefit the businesses you approach.

Your confidence in working with language models and the knowledge you’ve gained can open opportunities for you to collaborate with startups and established companies alike. Just recently, a Finxter reader (medical doctor) had an idea for a profitable startup and asked me for skilled prompt engineers to implement his idea for a share of the business.

99% of business owners and professionals still rely on your expertise to guide them through the process, which solidifies your value as a prompt engineer.

Way 5: Offer Prompt Engineering Consulting Services

We’ve already seen how you can make money by providing Consulting Services for AI Language Models (Way 2). However, as a prompt engineer, your expertise can be invaluable to various industries. One way to share your knowledge and make money is to offer consulting services, working closely with clients to optimize and refine prompts for their specific needs, domains, and use cases.

Prompt engineering consultancy rather than AI large language model consultancy – it’s a different offer and business model!

You can start by identifying your target market, such as businesses, educational institutions, or marketing agencies. Once you’ve narrowed down your audience, showcase your skills by creating a portfolio of prompt engineering samples that demonstrate your ability to design, optimize, and refine creative prompts such as this one:

Recommended: What Would Jesus Say? Creating a ChatGPT Mastermind with Jesus, Gandhi, Musk, and Gates

Then, you can reach out to potential clients and introduce your services. Your value proposition can be focused on improving the efficiency of their AI models, generating better results for their end-users, or creating custom-tailored prompts that cater to a specific domain.

Freelancer Pro Tip: “Maintain an air of confidence, neutrality, and professionalism. Communicate your value proposition effectively, understand your client’s needs, and demonstrate how your skills can directly benefit their business or domain. If you do this, your prompt engineering consulting services can become a lucrative venture as you assist clients.”

Way 6: Develop and Sell AI Tools for Various Applications

As a prompt engineer, by leveraging your knowledge of large language models and machine learning, you can develop advanced AI tools and monetize them effectively.

Identify High-Demand Applications Start by researching the market to find areas where AI tools are in high demand. Some popular applications include content generation, language translation, and data analysis. By focusing on these high-demand areas, you increase your chances of creating a valuable product that will attract a wide range of customers.

An example tool is this one:

Review: How to Make Money with AI Writers – Koala Review with 15% Discount Code

Customize AI Models for Specific Problems Develop AI models tailored to solve specific problems in various industries. Remember that customization is key – pay attention to the unique requirements of each domain and make sure your AI tools address those needs effectively. For instance, if you create an AI tool for content generation, you can customize it for different types of content like blog posts, social media updates, or press releases.

Offer Various Pricing Options Once you have developed your AI tools, create various pricing options to accommodate different budgets and needs. You can offer tiered pricing plans based on the complexity of the AI model, the number of usage hours, or the level of customer support provided. This allows businesses of all sizes to access your AI tools and benefit from them, leading to a broader customer base.

Promote Your AI Tools Effectively Use your knowledge and expertise in prompt engineering to create compelling marketing materials and tutorials for your AI tools. Clear, informative content that showcases the benefits of your AI solutions will help potential customers understand the value of your products. Participate in relevant forums, webinars, and conferences to increase your visibility and establish yourself as an expert in your field.

Note: Creating an AI-based tool is often as simple as integrating OpenAI’s API in a Streamlit app:

Recommended: How I Created a Weekly Shopping List and Recipe App in Streamlit

Way 7: Educate Others through Online Courses and Workshops

As a confident and knowledgeable prompt engineer, you have the power to share your expertise with others. By developing online courses and conducting workshops, you can help people learn the ins and outs of prompt engineering. This not only benefits your students but also provides you with an additional revenue stream.

One option you can explore is creating online courses for platforms like Udemy or Coursera. These platforms make it easy for you to publish your educational content and reach a wide audience. You can design the course to cover all aspects of prompt engineering, from foundational concepts to advanced techniques. By setting your price point and marketing efforts, you can attract students and grow your earnings.

In addition to online courses, you can also conduct workshops for local businesses and organizations. Many companies seek professionals who can teach their employees how to effectively leverage AI-powered tools, and your expertise as a prompt engineer fits this demand. By collaborating with businesses, you can offer tailored workshops that cover specific use cases and applications relevant to their industry. This hands-on approach not only helps bridge the knowledge gap for participants but also allows you to earn money for sharing your skills.

Here’s a screenshot of the Finxter academy courses on prompt engineering:

Way 8: Develop Prompt-Based Automation Solutions

As a prompt engineer, you can leverage your programming skills to create innovative automation solutions for various industries. By combining prompt engineering with AI platforms, you can create effective tools that save time, reduce costs, and improve efficiency for businesses.

One approach is to develop software or applications that utilize AI-driven prompts to streamline complex tasks. For example, you can create a tool that automates the generation of marketing content, customer support responses, or even financial analysis using natural language processing and machine learning models.

Five quick examples:

• Idea 1: Automated Content Creation: Develop a tool that generates SEO-optimized content for blogs, websites, and social media platforms, catering to marketers, content creators, and businesses looking to enhance their online presence.
• Idea 2: Customer Support Automation: Implement a chatbot that uses AI prompts to understand and respond to customer inquiries, reducing response times and enhancing customer experience, which is crucial for businesses of all sizes.
• Idea 3: E-commerce Product Description Generator: Create a tool that automatically generates compelling and unique product descriptions for e-commerce platforms, aiding online retailers in improving product listings without manual effort.
• Idea 4: Legal Document Generator: Develop a solution that automates the creation of legal documents based on user inputs, providing a valuable tool for legal professionals and individuals who require quick, standardized legal documents.
• Idea 5: Automated Financial Analysis: Design a tool that provides in-depth financial analysis and reporting based on user prompts, which can be invaluable for financial analysts, investors, and businesses making data-driven financial decisions.

To begin, identify problems that businesses face and understand their unique needs. Focus on areas where automation can make a significant impact and where your programming skills can truly shine. Once you’ve identified potential opportunities, design and develop prompt-based solutions that cater to those specific needs.

You must stay updated on the latest AI platforms, programming languages, and machine learning models to ensure your solutions remain relevant and effective. As the field evolves, so should your expertise.

You can check out our free email academy with regular updates on this rapidly evolving field of large language models and AI by downloading our Python cheat sheets:

Way 9: Offer Your Services on Freelance Platforms

As a prompt engineer, you possess a unique set of skills that can help businesses and individuals make the most out of their AI technologies and services. One path to earn money is by offering your expertise on popular freelance platforms like Upwork and Fiverr.

Recommended: What Are the Best Freelancing Sites for Coders?

To get started, create a compelling profile showcasing your skills, accomplishments, and expertise in prompt engineering. This will help potential clients learn about your background and what you can offer them. Make sure to tailor your profile to emphasize your experience as a freelance writer, as this could attract clients looking for content creation services that leverage AI.

Next, explore the available job postings on these platforms, and don’t hesitate to submit proposals for any projects that align with your skills. Keep an eye out for requests to fine-tune language models, enrich content, or even develop AI solutions.

Proactively promoting your services is crucial for success. Share your profile with your network, and use social media platforms like LinkedIn to connect with potential clients in industries that could benefit from prompt engineering.

Lastly, always focus on delivering high-quality work to your clients. Create more value than you take in payment! This will not only help you maintain a strong reputation on the platform but also increase the chances of receiving referrals and well-paying projects in the future.

Recommended: Finxter Freelance Developer Course

Way 10: Integrate LLMs into Business Workflows to Unlock Millions

As a prompt engineer, you can maximize your income potential by leveraging various AI tools and platforms. One way to do this is by offering services related to popular AI language models like PromptBase and LLMs.

Many businesses are highly interested in integrating AI-powered solutions into their existing workflows. In fact, I’d say this is the low-hanging fruit of our times: integrating existing LLM solutions into existing companies to unlock millions of dollars of value with a few clicks! You can serve as a consultant, guiding them through the process and helping them smoothly incorporate AI tools into their systems.

Want some stats on this thesis? No problem, look at this McKinsey report:

Always stay up-to-date with the latest advancements and trends in the AI world to maintain your competitive edge. Enhancing your proficiency in various AI language models, frameworks, and techniques will ensure that your services remain in demand and provide you with many opportunities.

Your success as a prompt engineer depends on your ability to adapt and leverage the current AI market. By mastering AI tools and platforms, you can unlock new revenue streams and expand your client base.

Here’s such an example framework that’ll help you connect LLMs with myriads of data sources to unlock massive value in many businesses:

Recommended: LlamaIndex – What the Fuzz?

Way 11: Fine-Tuning and Stable Diffusion

As a prompt engineer, you can venture into the world of AI-generated images by leveraging stable diffusion techniques. This opens up a new avenue for you to make money while staying abreast of cutting-edge technology. With model fine-tuning skills under your belt, you’ll possess an unmatched advantage in the industry.

By using stable diffusion, you can generate high-quality AI images that are both visually stunning and detailed. This skill can be applied to various industries, such as advertising, gaming, and fashion, where unique and eye-catching visuals are always in demand. Offer your services as an image generation specialist and assist clients in creating innovative visuals for their projects.

Another aspect where your expertise could prove valuable is in assisting businesses to incorporate AI-generated images in their processes. Many organizations need personalized visuals that align with their brand identity. As a prompt engineer with experience in stable diffusion, you can provide a bespoke image generation service that caters to these needs.

In addition to creating AI images, you can also offer your skills in model fine-tuning. As AI models become more sophisticated, the demand for prompt engineers with the ability to fine-tune them grows. By fine-tuning these models for specific applications, you can help clients improve their AI systems and ensure that they generate relevant and accurate outputs.

Way 12: Sell GPT-4 Generated Merchandise on Etsy

As a prompt engineer, you can harness the power of GPT-4 to create unique and personalized products that cater to niche markets. By selling your products on Etsy, your target audience can access and purchase these AI-generated products with ease. Let’s explore this method with a few examples.

First, imagine designing custom t-shirts with unique slogans and catchphrases generated by GPT-4 or GPT-4V. You can input a list of keywords or interests, and the AI will provide you with numerous creative options. Simply select your favorites, print them onto high-quality t-shirts, and list them for sale on your Etsy shop.

Another possible product idea involves creating artwork or illustrations using GPT-4-generated descriptions. Once you have the AI’s creative input, collaborate with a talented artist or graphic designer to bring your vision to life. Or just pass it into Midjourney. These one-of-a-kind pieces can be sold in the form of prints, posters, or even digital downloads.

Recommended: 4 Effective Prompt Generators to Use Daily for ChatGPT & Midjourney

In addition, consider offering personalized poetry or short stories as an Etsy product. Customers can send you their interests, memories, or even specific events to shape the narrative.

To validate the effectiveness of your unique product offerings, create a few case studies to showcase your best work. Share these case studies on your Etsy shop and social media channels to demonstrate how you expertly combined prompt engineering with marketable products.

20 Bonus Ideas to Make Money with GPT-4

Still not tired? Let’s check out some additional ways to make money using ChatGPT and other generative AI models next.

Content Creation and Writing Services

By leveraging AI and LLM technology, content creators can produce high-quality, tailored content at scale, potentially increasing earnings significantly. Automated content generation can lead to consistent revenue streams. Passive income is possible through subscription models or selling pre-made content packages.

Income Potential: Earnings can range from $50 for basic articles to over $5,000 for specialized content. With subscription models or pre-made content packages, passive income can range from $200 to $10,000+ monthly for 90% of content creators, depending on the audience size, business model, and niche.

1. Copywriting Services: GPT-4 can assist you in creating persuasive and engaging copy for websites, product descriptions, and marketing materials. You can proactively offer your services to businesses, e.g., for free, with a revenue share model when the sales page conversion increases. This way, you don’t create another job for you, but a highly lucrative equity opportunity.
2. Social Media Management: Utilize GPT-4 to generate catchy captions, engaging posts, and tweets for businesses’ social media profiles.
3. Blog Writing: GPT-4 can generate informative and well-researched blog articles, making creating content for your own or clients’ blogs easier. If you sell one blog post for only $50 to clients and you create 10 blog posts per day using GPT-4, you can create $500 income per day!
4. Content Websites: Create niche websites or blogs and use GPT-4 to generate unique and valuable content to attract readers and monetize through ads or affiliate marketing.
5. eBook Writing: Write and publish eBooks on platforms like Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing with the help of GPT-4 to generate passive income. Amazon has just limited the number of books you can publish to 3 per day. That’s enough!

On a personal note, many blog owners seek regular high-quality content additions for their websites or social networks. A high-value business model for you is to create a mini agency offering prebuilt packages such as:

120 content pieces for $4000 per month: 30 blog posts per month + 30 Facebook posts per month + 30 Twitter posts per month + 30 Instagram posts per month (Midjourney! DALL-E!)

Many businesses big or small — e.g., banks, insurances, blog owners, influencers — would highly appreciate the service and the continuous content provided by your agency and you could offer your services not only to a single client but to 10 clients or more making $40,000+ per month!

Creative Ventures

AI and LLM can assist in generating art, music, and design, opening avenues for unique digital products. Artists can monetize AI-generated creations or use AI to enhance their work, leading to increased sales. Passive income can be achieved by licensing AI-generated assets or through automated design platforms.

Income Potential: For AI-assisted art or music, earnings can vary widely from $100 for digital prints to $50,000+ for unique AI-generated masterpieces. Passive income from licensing or automated platforms can range from $500 to $15,000+ monthly.

6. Video Creation: Use GPT-4 to generate scripts, captions, and video content for platforms like YouTube, Vimeo, or your own website to monetize through ads or sponsored content. You could use AI-based text-to-speech tools like Google’s Sandstorm to automatically create podcasts, and combine the audio with autogenerated images to create stunning YouTube videos with a click of a button!

7. Graphic Design: Utilize GPT-4’s capabilities to generate graphics, logos, and designs for your clients or for your own online store.
8. Comic Book Creation: GPT-4 can assist you in creating comic books by generating text, graphics, and even video content. We have a Finxter article on a similar topic here.
9. Virtual Reality Experiences: Combine GPT-4 with virtual reality technology to create immersive experiences for entertainment, education, or training purposes.
10. AI Art: GPT-4’s creative abilities can be harnessed to generate unique and original artworks, which can be sold or licensed to individuals or businesses looking for AI-generated art.

A beautiful example is given in this article by Finxter Roman:

Recommended: I Made a ChatGPT-Powered Logo Generator App Using Python Flask in 7 Steps

Also make sure to check out the overview article on making passive income as a coder today:

Recommended: 3 Easy Ways to Make Passive Income as a Coder

Language and Communication Services

LLM technology revolutionizes translation, transcription, voice actor, and language tutoring services. Many of the day-to-day work of these services can be fully automated with LLM technology using text-to-speech, translation, or text generation tools.

Recommended: How I Created an Audiobook App with Streamlit

Professionals can offer faster and more accurate services, leading to a higher client turnover and increased rates. Passive income is feasible through automated translation or transcription platforms and AI-driven language learning apps.

Income Potential: For AI-enhanced translation, text-to-speech, transcription, earnings can range from $0.10 to $1.00 per word or minute. For language tutoring, rates can go from $20 to $200 per hour. Passive income from automated platforms or apps can range from $1,000 to $20,000+ monthly.

11. Translation Services: Offer translation services using GPT-4’s language capabilities to bridge language barriers for clients or on freelance platforms. You can also create full-automated SaaS tools that charge a fair $99 fee for 100,000 translated words per month of service. If you find 100 paying users, your passive income will reach six figures per year!
12. Language Learning: Create language learning apps or platforms that leverage GPT-4’s language models to provide interactive and personalized language learning experiences.
13. Writing Assistance: Develop writing tools and apps that integrate GPT-4’s language models to provide grammar and writing suggestions to users.
14. Customer Support Chatbots: Use GPT-4 to create chatbots that provide customer support and engage with users in a natural and helpful manner.
15. Virtual Assistant Services: Develop virtual assistant applications powered by GPT-4 that can help users with tasks like scheduling, reminders, and information retrieval.

Business and Financial Ventures

AI can optimize business strategies, financial forecasting, and investment decisions. There’s incredible money in this industry if you can use LLMs to create value in the financial industry (e.g., analyzing companies automatically).

Entrepreneurs and financiers leveraging AI can achieve better returns and efficiency, potentially multiplying their earnings. Passive income is possible through AI-driven investment platforms or by selling AI-based business optimization tools.

Income Potential: Using AI for business optimization or financial forecasting can lead to project earnings from $1,000 to $100,000+, depending on the scale. Passive income from AI-driven investment platforms or tools can range from $2,000 to $50,000+ monthly, based on assets under management and tool adoption rates.

16. Trading and Investment Strategies: Utilize GPT-4’s ability to analyze market trends and generate insights to develop profitable trading and investment strategies.
17. Business Planning and Consulting: GPT-4 can assist in generating business plans, market research reports, and financial projections for startups and small businesses. Think about the potential!
18. Personal Finance Advice: Develop personal finance apps or platforms that leverage GPT-4’s insights to provide tailored financial advice to users. These apps have “ChatGPT at the heart“, i.e., as their primary means to process data on the backend. However, you can even use GPT-4 to create the apps for you.
19. Data Analysis Services: Use GPT-4’s analytical capabilities to offer data analysis services to businesses looking for insights and trends in their data.
20. Market Research: Leverage GPT-4 to analyze market trends and generate comprehensive market research reports for businesses in various industries.

You can also check out our prompt engineering ideas to make money as a startup founder to get more ideas that are more technical.

Recommended: Startup.ai – Eight Steps to Start an AI Subscription Biz

With the advent of GPT-4, the possibilities for making money have expanded significantly. From content creation and writing services to creative ventures, language and communication services, and business and financial ventures, GPT-4 offers a wealth of opportunities for individuals to tap into.

In a single year, you can churn out 100s of these ideas using GPT-4 to see what sticks in the marketplace. As soon as you find something that works, scale it up with GPT-4!

Frequently Asked Questions

What types of projects do prompt engineers work on?

Prompt engineers typically work on various projects, which may include developing creative prompts for AI applications, creating online courses, tutoring, and writing articles or blog posts. They may also dabble in freelancing or consulting, as well as inventing and creating new products or services.

Which platforms or websites offer opportunities for prompt engineers?

Opportunities for prompt engineers can be found on various platforms and websites. Some popular options include Freelancer, Upwork, and Vital Dollar. Additionally, you can explore opportunities on websites like Medium for publishing content, or even create your own blog or website to showcase your expertise.

How can one enhance their skills in prompt engineering?

To enhance your skills in prompt engineering, consider enrolling in online courses, participating in workshops, or attending webinars. A good starting point is the Prompt Engineering Course which aims to take you from zero to hero in prompt engineering.

Are there any certifications available for prompt engineers?

The Finxter Academy provides six certification levels for prompt engineers certifying the completion of six prompt engineering courses at the time of writing (Downloadable Personalized PDF Certificates). The course library is expanding, so you can learn skills such as prompt engineering, OpenAI API, Streamlit, web scraping, and Llama-2.

What strategies can help in successfully making money as a prompt engineer?

To successfully make money as a prompt engineer, focus on building a strong online presence by showcasing your skills and expertise. You can do this through a personal website, portfolio, or by contributing to well-known platforms. Additionally, engage in continuous learning, stay updated with the latest trends, and maintain a reliable network of contacts who can recommend you for projects or collaborations.

How can networking benefit a prompt engineer’s career?

Networking can greatly benefit your career as a prompt engineer by opening up opportunities for collaborations, referrals, and new projects. By building strong connections with other professionals within your niche, you can learn from their experiences and gain valuable insights about the industry.

If you’re a tech enthusiast, let’s learn the ultimate leveraged skill of this decade: AI Engineering. Colleges don’t teach it. To solve this gap, we have created a full-fledged affordable academy with the goal of educating the next wave of AI disruptors and prompt engineers:

Finxter Academy: Browse our course library – and certify your AI skills as a hands-on AI engineer. It’s easier than you think! Use discount code “MONEY” to get 20% off!

The post 12 Ways to Make Money with AI appeared first on Be on the Right Side of Change.

The economics of content creation with AI are straightforward – here’s an example:

• Publish 10 articles per day with AI
• Reach 1000 visitors per article (lifetime)
• Make $20 per thousand visitors

These conservative assumptions would build a nice little AI side hustle:

10 articles * 1000 visitors * $20 per 1000 visitors = $200 per day

Granted – it requires a little tweaking and optimizing but it’s doable.

Which is the best AI Writer?

Personally, I use this tool for multiple side projects (not Finxter-related): I managed to get you a -15% discount code (“AUTOMATION“). If you use this code, you’ll get 15% off the already low prices forever.

So, this partner link helps support our work and saves you A LOT OF money.

Check out the best AI writer (discount code: AUTOMATION)

The best AI content creators are already outperforming humans. They can dynamically create relevant images, insert links to relevant articles, embed videos automatically, and optimize everything nicely for SEO.

You can use state-of-the-art models such as GPT-4o Mini, GPT-4o, or Claude 3.5 Sonnet.

It analyzes the top-ranking articles for a given keyword and creates its own article structure. Then fills it with outstanding quality content.

All of it in seconds!

Moreover, you can automatically rewrite YouTube videos, create listicles, or Amazon affiliate websites. The best AI writers can auto-publish articles on your WordPress site. Improve readability scores, add FAQ sections, include key takeaways, and use different tone-of-voices.

They can even use smart interlinking of articles on your website.

The AI capabilities are impressive and many people are not really aware of this business opportunity. That’s why I thought I’d make it explicit with this email.

However, it will only work with consistent iteration, human guidance, and a unique spin.

Check out our recommended AI writer here (Code: “AUTOMATION”).

How to Make Money with AI?

In the previous writeup, I outlined a simplified high-level strategic framework for small media businesses:

Daily: 10 articles * 1000 visitors * $20 per 1000 visitors = $200 per day

1. Publish 10 articles per day with AI
2. Reach 1000 visitors per article (lifetime)
3. Make $20 per thousand visitors

As I got a few follow-up questions from Finxters, let’s dig a bit deeper into each point next.

1. Publish 10 articles per day with AI

Question: “Where? What sort of articles? Any random topic?”

Regarding the first question, you should publish the articles on a platform that you can actually monetize with ads. A platform you control.

The best way to do this is your own blog. If you reach more than, say, 10-50k visitors per month, you can apply for advertising networks that will automatically select relevant ads to target your visitors (see point 3 of this email).

Article topics can be anything relevant to a certain niche. If you’re reading this, you’re interested in tech but maybe you have other interests as well?

Here are some niches with the highest traffic potential:

• Food
• Health and fitness
• Personal finance
• Travel
• Parenting
• Marketing
• Technology
• Fashion
• Gaming
• Beauty
• Pet care
• Sports
• Lifestyle
• Real estate

As you’ll spend a lot of time in the niche, I’d suggest a topic that you’re thinking about daily anyway. Maybe check your YouTube browsing history to find some of your daily interests.

If you did find a broad topic complex (e.g., from the above) that you’re also interested in (e.g., YT watch history), dig a bit deeper to find the exact sub-niche that might work.

Give yourself the permission to explore something that is pure fun for you. Work doesn’t have to be dreadful!

For example, if you’re interested in the Gaming niche and you just accomplished level 12 druid in Dungeons and Dragons, I can confidently say you’re enough of a nerd with enough interest and skill to create a Dungeons and Dragons Gaming website.

There is general search interest in D&D and lots of opportunities to create AI content, which is helpful.

If you type “level 12 druid” in the search field, Google will provide autosuggestions such as:

1. “level 12 druid spells bg3”, or
2. “level 12 druid wild shape list”, or
3. “how to level up druid”

Each is a popular Google search query and bloggers get traffic for their articles addressing those. AI can probably generate great and helpful articles for that – especially when guided by a skilled and enthusiastic D&D expert like you!

To summarize, you’ll find a tiny niche you’re interested in anyway and publish articles on common search queries in that niche. You’ll find these little search queries using Google autosuggestions.

2. Reach 1000 visitors per article (lifetime)

Question: “on Twitter? Social media?”

My general reply would be to use your own blog or website.

Why?

Because you can better monetize the attention by serving ads. YouTube, Quora, and Twitter have some monetization-sharing features as well but they pay significantly less than a premium ad network on your website.

For example, I’ve seen $10-$40 revenue per thousand visitors (RPM) on my own websites whereas YouTube pays maybe $2-$5 RPM.

Which blogging software to use?

I recommend WordPress – the easiest free blogging software that integrates nicely with AI content generators (discount code “AUTOMATION” for 15% off).

3. Make $20 per thousand visitors

Question: “Who will pay? How to monetise my articles and visits please? Gumroad?”

The easiest way to get paid is by running ads on your website. Finxter currently serves ads via Mediavine, a premium ads company for large and trustworthy websites. Another good option is Raptive (formerly: Adthrive). Both can be joined with roughly 100k monthly sessions.

There are also smaller ad networks but these are the two main players used by most web publishers I know.

There are many other ways. The best ways really depend on the industry you’re in.

For example, if you’re in the personal finance space, you might be able to partner with a stock broker to get a certain revenue share per lead. If you’re in the gaming industry, you could partner up with gaming services you use and trust.

In addition to that, you can sell ebooks or courses.

For example, Finxter content is 99% free. How do we finance it?

We earn money via ads, courses, and affiliates:

• See example ads on one of our blog posts.
• See example AI courses at the Finxter Academy.
• See example affiliate partner for the best AI Writing Service (discount code: “AUTOMATION” for 15% off )

The proportions of our revenue are roughly 20%, 75%, 5% from the top of my head.

For full transparency, Finxter has lost a lot of blog traffic so revenue from ads has come down significantly. These days, I mostly go to wherever my curiosity leads me… as you may have noticed in recent months.

For your goal to make $20 per thousand visitors, it may already be enough to serve ads. If your traffic is mostly US-based, chances are you’ll already earn $20 RPM from ads alone.

~~~

Due to interest from the community, I have negotiated a -15% discount code (“AUTOMATION“) that you can use for the AI blogging tool I recommend. If you use this code, you’ll get 15% off the already low prices forever.

So, this partner link not only helps support our work but also saves you money.

Check out the best AI writer (discount code: AUTOMATION)

This AI writer will automatically write a high-quality blog post about a given search query (e.g., “level 12 druid spells”).

It does more than ChatGPT – it analyzes the top 5 ranking articles for that query, determines the best outline, and writes outstanding content using state-of-the-art AIs such as GPT-4o and GPT-4o mini. Then it also adds 1-paragraph summaries, generated images, related videos, FAQs, and so on.

The quality per article is better than what you get from most freelance writers. I paid $100 per human article back in the day and needed to wait weeks for each article. Now you can get a better article quality for less than $1 in seconds using AI!

You can even let it write affiliate articles – although I don’t do this for obvious ethical reasons.

Again, this is not an overnight business idea but a continuous grind that requires 1-2 hours a day for at least one year. Don’t expect results right away!

Recommended AI Writer: Check out the best AI writer discussed in this article (discount code: AUTOMATION)

FAQ

Q: What If I Don’t Have a Website?

Question: “This might seem like a dumb question Chris, but what if I don’t have a website (I don’t). I know how to build one in a jiffy on AWS (or at home), but I have no clue how to populate it. Is there an easy answer?”

Answer: Let’s start with the “Don’ts” that can save you a lot of money.

•  Don’t bother creating your own website. You don’t need any programming skills to set up a website that can scale to tens of millions of visitors.
•  Don’t purchase any expensive “Website Creators” or even pay a freelancer to do it for you.
•  Don’t use a closed system that will lock you into a partnership forever (e.g., Shopify-hosted website or Instagram-hosted website).
•  Don’t bother purchasing expensive services that promise you “scale” and “speed”

So what’s the best way to start your own website?

•  Do use WordPress, a simple open-source content management system (CMS) that runs more than 800 million websites!
•  Do host your website and domain with one of the many cheap “managed WordPress hosting” services. They do all the heavy lifting for $5 per month or so. You just log into your website on a browser tab and publish articles easily. You can control all aspects of design and functionality – even payments and shops – using WordPress plugins and themes.
•  Do integrate AI writers with your WordPress site to automatically publish all articles you generate with them. This saves you a lot of time.
•  Do focus your publishing efforts on is keyword research, i.e., finding good article topics or angles that haven’t been covered sufficiently on the web. The AI writers will then fill the content gaps quickly and cheaply.

With this setup, you can churn out lots of valuable and high-quality articles per day. The cost per article is roughly $1. If you use our discount code, it’ll drop to $0.5 per article (I used to pay $100 per article to human writers):

 Get the best AI Writer 40% OFF (3 days left). Use code “FINXTER” for additional +15% OFF

If you manage to get 100 visitors per month per article, I’d expect each article to generate roughly $2 passive income per month. This assumes $20 revenue per thousand visitors (RPM) from ads.

If you want $2k passive income per month, you’d need 1000 such articles generating $2/m each.

Over time, entropy will cause traffic to go down for the articles so the best way is to keep doing this for years to add more and more fresh content to your website.

I’ve set up websites with 40,000 articles so WordPress can easily host large AI sites.

Before you go ahead and do this, however, please be aware that you need to commit to the process for many months or even years. Otherwise, it won’t work – it’s a long-term business strategy and you should focus on genuine value creation and iterate on ways to increase traffic.

Q: Is an AI-Generated Golang Blog a Good Idea?

Question: “Do you think a blog on the Golang programming language would be profitable in the long-term? I would generate content with the AI writer you recommended.“

Answer: I don’t think this would work or be profitable long-term.

The niche “Golang development” seems too generic and most coders won’t use blogs for simple Golang questions or even to learn Golang. These questions will be handled by ChatGPT.

The trick is to find a unique angle that’s specific and adds value in addition to the content. 

Some examples would be:

1. “Golang for AI Developers” which teaches the use of AI APIs, 
2. “Golang for Kids” which explains the concepts in Grade 4 language, or
3. “Golang AI News” which automatically generates and shares news regarding the Golang programming language and shares them on social networks.

There must be a unique angle to the AI-generated content or it won’t work.

 Get the Best AI Writer 40% OFF (3 days left). Use code “AUTOMATION” for additional +15% OFF

Q: What Are Recommended SEO Keyword Tools?

Question: “Chris – Do you know of any SEO keyword tools you highly recommend?“

Answer: Let’s revisit this simple and proven 3-step business strategy to create passive income with AI:

(1) Write high-quality blog articles,
(2) Publish them on your blog, and
(3) Monetize with ads.

Steps 1 and 2 can be automated with the Best AI Writer. The focus should be on finding unique article topics that are not well addressed on the web. 

Currently, I don’t recommend using a paid tool for that. Every day, just think about interesting article topics, type them into Google Search and wait for the autosuggestion feature to propose interesting topics. 

Also, have at least one social account that goes with your website so you can share the new articles on social media as well to get more attention. 

In our “Golang for Kids” example, you could consider an article like “Creating the Hangman game in Golang” or “What is the best programming language to learn for kids?”.

Use your good judgment!

A dark pro tip would be to write a web scraper that gets all article titles from a competitor’s website, throws them into GPT-4o, and lets it propose hundreds of article topics in one batch. 

I know many websites that did this with Finxter content and it seems to work for them. But please adhere to your local laws!

 Get the Best AI Writer 40% OFF (3 days left). Use code “AUTOMATION” for additional +15% OFF

Q: No Skills, Consistency, and AI Master’s – What to Do?

Question: “Hi Chris what is the quick way of earning money I don’t have any practical skill though I have a master’s in AI but I lack consistency and skills and I can’t stick at one thing at a time.“

Answer: The only quick way to earn money is to sell your time for less than it is worth. There is nothing quick and easy about creating a long-term business like the ones we suggest here.

Only with persistence and a long-term value-oriented attitude, can we generate and maintain an income that is way above average.

Q: How to Move From Domain to Website?

Question: “How do you get from a registered domain name (and nothing more) to a functioning website?”

Answer: Purchase hosting (but don’t pay more than $5/m for starters), set up a content management system (like WordPress), and connect your domain to the hosting. Then, you can start designing and building your website.

For example, if you use GoDaddy for hosting your blog search for “migrate domain godaddy” and follow the steps.

Q: Is Reading Articles Dead (YouTube, Perplexity, …)?

Question: “Is the trend of people using YouTube or AI tools like Perplexity to explore interests instead of reading articles a general one?”

Answer: Despite ChatGPT, Google has grown its quarterly revenue from search from $40B in 2023 to $46B in 2024.

In their most recent quarterly report, Google mentioned that they have grown their number of search queries, search user adoption, and search usage on mobile devices. Advertisers also spent more per click. 

All of these are bullish signals.

Markets are always more complicated than they appear and the simple conclusion that search is dead because of AI has not been proven.

Some articles will see less traffic while other articles will see more traffic due to AI. There are also things you can do to benefit from AI.

Say, you run a website in the pet niche. Now you can use AI to generate large amounts of pictures of dog hairstyles (for example) and share them on social:

10 Best Hair Styles for Your Golden Retriever (AI-Generated Pictures)

The AI Writer will do the work for 100 different sorts of pets. 

 Get the Best AI Writer 40% OFF (3 days left). Use code “AUTOMATION” for additional +15% OFF

Q: Will AI Impact Business Model of Writing Articles?

Question: “Will the trend of using AI for summaries and video content impact the business model of writing articles?”

Answer: I don’t think the assumption is correct that people will read less. They might watch more videos but they will also read more. Generally, people spend larger and larger amounts of time-consuming content.

Of course, vanilla ChatGPT content won’t work because people will just use ChatGPT for that type of content. 

That’s why I advocate spending most of your side-hustling time finding unique article topics. 

Q: Can We Use the Trend to AI Videos to Our Advantage?

Question: “Can the trend of people using AI and videos instead of reading articles be used to our advantage?”

Answer: Again the trend is more towards both: more reading, more listening, and more watching.

For our website business idea, I’d suggest the following: 

Generate large amounts of content with an AI Writer, check the traffic stats once per month. They will be Pareto distributed, i.e., ~20% of articles will generate ~80% of the traffic.

We can now use AI to generate videos about these articles and embed the videos right there. It’s always a good idea to edit and improve existing articles that already generate a lot of traffic.

Q: Is Search Engine Traffic the Main Traffic Source?

Question: “Is traffic to your website most influenced by the rankings it has in search engines?”

Answer: Yes, search engine rankings significantly influence website traffic, as higher rankings typically lead to more visibility and clicks.

As a crude rule: Roughly 50% of traffic (or more) comes from search engines and the rest is social networks, direct traffic, and referrals (=links to your content). 

Q: How Does SEO Work with AI Writers?

Question: “How does SEO work, and will the automated AI Writer functions of SEO be enough?”

Answer: Forget about search engine optimization (SEO). I’ve reached tens of millions of people via search engines and never bothered.

In fact, it’s dangerous to artificially manipulate your website so it appears better than it is. For example, SEO link building is known to cause algorithmic punishments, so your website doesn’t appear as high in the search results as it would without it.

The best approach is to focus on unique and valuable content. The Internet is awesome in distributing valuable content to the right people over time. 

Functionally, the best AI writers have in-built SEO optimization that won’t harm your rankings such as well-structured headings, short answer paragraphs, and bullet lists. 

They also write in a clear and reader-optimized way so the question can be answered quickly and effectively. Search engines love that.

  Get the Best AI Writer 40% OFF (3 days left). Use code “AUTOMATION” for additional +15% OFF

Q: How to Get Traffic?

Question: “What is your general view on getting traffic to a website?”

Answer: Depends on the niche. Focus on great and unique content.

It’s not enough to create good content if thousands of people have created the same good content. The content needs to be good and unique. 

If you manage to do this (over time), you’ll get tons of views. 

Q: What’s the Role of Social Media in Generating Traffic?

Question: “What is the role of social media in generating traffic to a website (LinkedIn, etc.)?”

Answer: Social media is crucial for generating traffic by promoting content, engaging with your audience, and driving users to your website through shared links.

It also signals to Google that the content is interesting for human beings. I always recommend setting up a social account alongside your website so you can share your articles on social after publishing. 

For example, if you have a “dog hairstyle” website, you’d publish the articles and then also use the pictures and links to your articles on the social network of your choice (e.g., Pinterest or Reddit). 

Never forget to focus on genuine valuable content!

Q: How Does Advertisment Business Model Work?

Question: “How does the advertisement business model work on websites?”

Answer: Websites earn revenue through ads by displaying them to visitors. Payment can be based on impressions (views) or clicks, depending on the ad network used.

When you reach 50k to 100k visitors per month, switch on the ad network and generate revenue instantly (e.g., Mediavine or Raptive). 

US traffic is better than non-US traffic from an RPM perspective.

Q: Can We Reduce or Increase the Number of Ads on Our Websites?

Question: “Can you influence the amount of advertising and placement on your website?”

Answer: Yes, you can control the number, type, and placement of ads on your website through your website’s design and settings in the ad network you use.

You can also exclude ad topics you don’t want to promote (e.g., gambling or weapons). 

Q: What Influences How Much We Get Paid?

Question: “What determines if you get paid for ads on your website (clicks, views, etc.)?”

Answer: Payment is typically determined by either the number of clicks on ads (pay-per-click) or the number of views (pay-per-impression), depending on the ad network’s terms.

The revenue per thousand visitors (RPM) can be anything depending on the type of visitors you attract. Generally, it’s expected to be somewhere in the $5 to $50 range. 

From my experience, you’ll have a great asset if you can make $20 RPM or more. 

Also note that if your website makes, say, $2000 per month from ads, you could consider selling it. A common “profit multiple” is 40 times the monthly profit, i.e., 

40 * $2,000 = $80,000.

So you could either enjoy the monthly cash flows or simply sell the whole web asset at once after building it. 

I never sold any of my websites so I’m not an expert in that regard.

Q: What Are “High Quality Articles” Anyways?

Question: “The thing that has always bothered me about this type of advice is when people say write ‘high-quality’ or ‘amazing’ blog articles, they never show what this ‘amazing-ness’ looks like. Where can we see some examples?”

Answer:

Allow me to tell you a personal story.

It shows how high quality is not enough – it is more important to be unique. This will also help us identify content gaps for our AI blog idea.

As you may know, I wrote one of the best-selling books “Python One-Liners” in the Python category.

Python One-Liners is a high-quality book. Thanks to my first-class publisher NoStarch, we did a lot of editing and first-class reviewers helped me find 99.9% of the bugs.

But more important than quality was that the book idea was unique.

I correctly identified that there was a gap in the market:

Somebody had already written “Perl One-Liners” with solid success.

Python was 10 times more popular than Perl. Yet – no book on “Python One-Liners” existed. So, we’d sell at least 10 times as many copies, correct?

Correct!

I still love these little Python one-liners. They are fun, educational, and focused learning devices. 

After publishing the book, I wanted to stay on the topic for a little while and decided for fun (and to fuel book sales), I’d write a series of “Python One-Liner” blog articles.

One of them was this article on the Finxter blog:

Example: Python One Line For Loop [A Simple Tutorial]

This article alone generated more than 200,000 views.

So, at a $20 RPM, the one article attracted

200,000 visitors * $20 RPM / 1000 = $4,000 revenue

during its lifetime only from ads on the blog. I wrote it in an hour or so.

By the way, articles on the Finxter blog that contain the URL suffix “one-line” attracted more than 600,000 views (combined). 

In the meantime, AI could generate articles that are objectively higher quality. However, you wouldn’t get a lot of views now because the AI-generated “Python One-Liner” articles wouldn’t be unique anymore.

Note that for my calculations on how to reach $6k per month with an AI blog by publishing 10 AI-generated articles a day, I used an average of 1,000 views for a single article.

This one article generated 200x that many views.

Granted, it’s one of the more successful ones but 1,000 views per article lifetime is hardly unrealistic (which some of you bashed me for):

• Publish 10 AI-generated, unique articles per day.
• Get an average of 1k visitors per article per lifetime.
• Monetize with ads (e.g., $20 RPM).

These assumptions would generate a relatively passive monthly income of:

10 articles * 30 days * 1k visitors * $20 RPM = $6,000 per month

By the way, I recommend this best AI Writer.

You can use the code “AUTOMATION” to get 15% off. Currently, they run a promotion where it’s 40% off in addition to the 15% off from the “AUTOMATION” discount code.

Q: If Everybody Is Doing It – Won’t It Stop Working?

Question: “If everyone is using the same AI tool to generate their articles, won’t this eventually lead to plagiarism or having identical or similar content?”

Answer:

Theoretically yes. But most people are consumers of content most of the time. Even though many know about the benefits of producing content, even AI content, most won’t ever do it. 

My quick guess is that 90% of people haven’t published a single AI-generated article online even though it’s theoretically simple.

From the remaining 10% who have, the vast majority will publish only a handful of AI-generated articles – and stop prematurely because “it doesn’t work” for them. 

So, just committing to the process for a year or more already puts us in the top 1% of AI content producers. 

This relatively small group of producers must fill the infinite number of existing content gaps. Most people underestimate how much content still needs to be written.

In hindsight, it’ll be more clear:

Ten years from now, the current content volume will look like drips of water in the ocean. Somebody will have to take care of the remaining drops. Why not you?

If you focus your daily production time on identifying these content gaps (what I keep recommending), you’ll belong to the top 10% of the top 1%.

Rough math here but directionally correct. 

Q: Write in English or Another Language?

Question: “Should I only write in English or could I use my native language? Monetizing with ads seems harder since it won’t get as much traffic.”

Answer:

It doesn’t matter. Browsers already have built-in translation features and the few errors will be erased in the following few years. 

The implicit targeting of the content itself is more important. For example, it depends if you’re writing a blog on “Medieval German Poems” or “Tax Strategies for US Citizens That Live in Asia”.

Both could be tackled with AI content. Both would get traffic from the targeted countries. The language choice is kind of obvious in both cases.

If you have the choice, use English because you’ll have a higher RPM if you can get US traffic.

Q: Is It Worth Writing a Programming Book?

Question: “Is writing a book on a programming language rewarding? Though I know that it would take time and effort. Since you’re an author and have written a number of books, can you enlighten me about the pros and cons of it?”

Answer:

Writing a book on a programming language can be rewarding both intellectually and financially, but it comes with challenges.

Pros include establishing yourself as an expert, potential royalties, and long-term passive income that can flow independently of your physical time.

Cons involve the time commitment, competition, and the need for continuous updates and marketing efforts.

Success depends more on the uniqueness of your topic (see my previous email) than on the content quality of the book.

Post-GPT I have seen a decline in sales of my self-published books. At the same time, if you write your book with a first-class publisher like NoStarch, chances are you’ll still sell a good amount of books. 

Financially, it’s probably a ~$100/h activity in the long-term but it takes many years to research, write, and promote the book and if you don’t push through it’ll become a $0/h activity. 

So, you’ll work hundreds of hours before seeing any income – and it’s uncertain that you ever see significant income. But it’s my view that this uncertainty makes it such a great and rewarding opportunity.

And more importantly, a book can open up many additional opportunities like job offers or relationships you wouldn’t otherwise get. It also increases your confidence which is invaluable.

These softer arguments will ultimately manifest in your reality.

So, after having written more than 10 books, I’d say it’s very rewarding. 

Q: What About LinkedIn Articles?

Question: “Instead of WordPress (purchasing a domain name, etc.), does blogging on LinkedIn generate revenues? I see many people use LinkedIn to write articles and publish them.”

Answer:

Blogging on LinkedIn can help you build a professional brand and network, but it’s not typically a direct revenue generator like a traditional blog.

While LinkedIn can drive traffic to your main website or business, monetizing directly through LinkedIn articles is more challenging.

It’s better for establishing authority and creating connections that might lead to business opportunities rather than direct ad revenue.

Most people who publish content on LinkedIn have a secondary goal like driving more leads into their consulting businesses, driving attention to their financial products, or increasing brand awareness of their AI startups.

I would recommend you use LinkedIn more like a social network that might drive traffic to your own website rather than replacing your own website with a LinkedIn account. 

It’s crucial to maintain as much control over your business assets as humanly possible!

My general formula for blogging success still remains true: publish a fixed number of articles per day, focus your effort on finding unique content angles, and monetize with ads. Later you can add additional monetization strategies such as affiliate revenue, selling information products, or offering paid subscriptions. 

Just based on ads, it’s possible to reach these numbers:

10 articles * 30 days * 1k visitors * $20 RPM = $6,000 per month

To accomplish this, I recommend this best AI Writer.

The quality of the articles is outstanding – it generates fitting images, embeds related videos, and publishes SEO-optimized articles on your website (100% automated). 

The only thing you need to do is find unique article ideas!

Use the code “AUTOMATION” to get 15% off. Currently, they run a promotion where it’s 40% off in addition to the 15% off from the “AUTOMATION” discount code.

The post How to Make Money with AI Writers (Koala Review) appeared first on Be on the Right Side of Change.

Valuing $NVIDIA as a Real Estate Company That Sells Housing to AI Agents ($100k/Share in 2034)

No financial advice!

The post The Age of $1 Trillion Profit Is Here appeared first on Be on the Right Side of Change.