By Rachel Wells, Contributor. Apr 17, 2025, 12:00pm EDT
You’ve been told that building a six-figure career requires years of experience, corporate grind in the office, working 60-80 hour work weeks, and chasing your undergraduate and master’s degree.
Well, be prepared for a shock: Gen Z is on track to be the wealthiest generation, according to a recent Henley & Partners report.
You know why? They’re doubling down on investments, launching start-ups, freelance ventures, and side hustles, and becoming influencers and micro-influencers, with many already hitting six figures within just a few years compared to other generations, as is evident with the recent Forbes 30 Under 30 listers of 2025.
Gen Z is escaping the corporate lie of “work harder and you might get rich one day,” and they’ve opted for a portfolio career that funds their expenses and gratifies their purchasing habits, with more than half opting for remote freelancing, analysts at JobLeads found.
And you can do exactly the same thing, regardless of your age.
You can build financial freedom and career security without working endlessly day and night–and even make more than you earn in your full-time role.
Now, this doesn’t mean you’re going to get rich overnight. But what this does mean is that you can use leverage to make more money than you thought was possible, even while you’re sleeping.
Here’s exactly how to set yourself up to be on track to make five figures a month–six figures in a year–even if all you have are six hours available each week:
1. Pick a High-Income Skill
The first thing you’ve got to do is assess your skill set and either pick a high-income skill that you already have, or learn a new one. Learning a new one can be done with minimal time commitment each week if you allocate a few hours towards completing an online certification. Of course, the more hours you put in, the sooner you can start monetizing them.
2 .Select A Passive Income Model
Pick a low-time scalable model. Consider passive income streams such as selling digital products, or e-commerce, which require minimal set-up costs and can be completed with just a few hours of dedicated work a week.
3. Stack Your Skills
Develop a skill stack by combining two or more skills together (especially the high-income ones) to create a high-value offer. For example, let’s say you’re strong in copywriting. At the same time, you’re also skilled in creating stellar LinkedIn profiles. You can combine both to create a LinkedIn profile and optimization/ghost-writing package for entrepreneurs. This increases your value and enables you to raise your overall price.
4. Stop Chasing One-Off Gigs
Gig work is unreliable because you don’t know when you’ll be paid next. It’s also generally lower-paying than longer-term work. Instead of chasing one-time projects, agree to work with your clients on a long-term package, retainer basis, or subscription. For example, if a client is paying you $2,000 over 12 months, that means you pocket $24,000 (before taxes of course). And if you decided to move to a country that is more favorable to taxes (either tax-free or reduced tax rate), you get to keep more of your revenue.
Over time, as you acquire more clients, you’ll be able to achieve six figures annually. Just five clients paying you $2,000 a month would set you up for earning $120,000 a year.
5. Design Your Work Time Wisely
Outside of your primary job, have systems in place that reduce the length of time needed for specific tasks. Automate using tools like Zapier and Mailchimp; use ChatGPT or Jasper for content creation assistance; find time-saving payment and project tools like Stripe, PayPal Business, and Monday.com.
Then, allocate blocks of time for specific tasks. As an example, your six hours each weekend could look like this:
- 1 hr=creating marketing content
- 2 hrs=tweaking/creating your offer
- 1 hr=admin
- 1 hr=analyzing what’s working and what’s not going well
- 1 hr=responding to comments, leads, and requests
You don’t need to work harder to earn more. You just need to be more strategic. Package your value, focus on the skills that cause the greatest impact, and scale. Remain consistent in the game, and you’ll eventually get to the point where the money you make in just a few hours each week, out-earns your job.
Story originally featured on Forbes.com
Rachel Wells is a Forbes contributor and freelance writer who covers remote and flexible working, freelancing, side hustles, skill development, and AI, for Gen Z and Millennials.
She has been featured on Scripps News, MSN, and Business Insider.
Some of her best stories include “3 Fully Remote Part-Time Jobs That Pay Up To $90 An Hour In 2024,” and “How To Use ChatGPT To Learn High-Income Skills.”
Rachel Wells is a 24-year-old LinkedIn Top Voice, Silver winner of the London Chamber of Commerce’s Young Business Person of The Year 2024 award, founder of Rachel Wells Coaching, Youtuber, and is launching an AI start-up.
Today Rachel teaches how to start freelancing and experience a thrilling career doing what you love.
She’s also building a product and launching a course that will revolutionize freelance work, making it easier to make money, find clients, and network with other freelancers. Join the course waitlist by clicking the website link.
