Recently, I saw someone ask, what can 100k dollars do? I think this is a good question. Many people believe that investing is only worthwhile with hundreds of thousands, but this mindset will really make you busier and poorer. Looking at the prices around us—rent, lunchboxes, eggs—all have gone up and won't go back. Mortgage rates are stuck at 2.2%, and the purchasing power of every dollar is being diluted.

For the average office worker, saving up to 1 million may take several years, but reaching 100k is an achievable goal with effort. What I want to say is, don’t underestimate this 100k yuan. It’s not just a number; it’s a weapon against inflation and the seed for wealth transformation.

Investing doesn’t require a huge principal; it’s more like doing business, requiring strategic planning. It’s simply about the right mindset, choosing promising projects, and adding enough time. As long as these three elements are in place, what can 100k dollars do? It can turn on the switch for wealth growth.

First, keeping track of expenses is really important. My point is, the first rule of investing is to only use spare money—that is, funds that won’t affect your daily life. After all, the value of investments isn’t a straight line; it goes up and down. If you need to use the money when prices are down, you’ll have to accept losses and sell at a loss. So, treat yourself like a company, understand your income and expenses, and build a stable free cash flow. That’s the confidence behind your investments.

Once you have spare money, the next step is to set a concrete goal. For office workers, the best approach is to regularly invest in financial products, so you don’t have to watch the prices fluctuate every day, and it won’t distract you from your main job. But the key is to ask yourself: what is the purpose of your investment? Is it to generate monthly dividends to pay for communication bills? Or to save money for traveling abroad? Different goals mean completely different choices of assets.

If you have fixed monthly expenses, dividend-focused funds or high-yield ETFs are very suitable. Many funds now pay dividends of 7 to 8%, so investing 100k dollars can yield 7,000 to 8,000 annually, about 600 to 700 per month—just enough to cover your phone bill. But if you’re aiming for one-time expenses like a new phone or travel, you might need 30,000 to 40k dollars, which means generating a 30-40% return on your 100k principal. That’s not achievable with just stock savings; it requires more aggressive strategies like swing trading.

The biggest advantage of small capital is flexibility. You can act like a nomad, investing wherever opportunities arise, entering and exiting without impacting the market. Nowadays, many trading platforms require very low capital for trading US stocks, indices, precious metals, or cryptocurrencies, and you can leverage to amplify returns. As long as you pick the right direction and turn over rate into return rate, you can quickly grow your principal. Also, by reinvesting your work income as new principal, with compound interest, your assets will grow like a snowball. Properly increasing turnover and using leverage at the right times can accelerate wealth accumulation beyond expectations.

However, different people are suited to different investment methods. Stable-income small investors have time but slow capital accumulation, so dividend funds or high-yield ETFs are best, letting compound interest “trade time for space.” As long as the time horizon is long enough, dividends can even surpass your salary, effectively helping you earn a monthly pension.

High-income professionals like doctors and engineers, who have high salaries but little time to monitor the market, are well suited for ETFs tracking major indices. Taiwan’s 0050 tracks the top 50 companies, while the US’s SPY tracks the top 500. These indices automatically weed out weaker companies and keep the strong ones. Over the long term, with enough time, their returns are very attractive. The S&P 500’s average annual return over the past 100 years has been 8 to 10%. Compared to a 5% USD savings deposit, investing for 10 years yields about 236 yuan on a 100-yuan principal, while at 5%, it’s only about 155 yuan—almost the same as the principal.

But the stock market has risks. In recent years, we’ve experienced major crashes: the dot-com bubble in 2000, the 2008 financial crisis, COVID-19 in 2020, and global inflation in 2022. Although markets rebounded and even hit new highs afterward, if you need to cash out during downturns, you’ll have to accept losses. Long-term investing is more suitable for those with high income and strong risk tolerance.

If you’re a student or have time to study the market, you can try to catch trends and volatility, using turnover to accumulate wealth. For example, as the US interest rate cycle peaks, it will likely start cutting rates or implementing QE, increasing dollar supply. Shorting the dollar after the last rate hike has a high probability of success. A falling dollar also boosts cryptocurrencies, so taking long positions in crypto during this period can be a good investment. The stock market also periodically has hot topics, with related concept stocks having room to rise—AI stocks are a prime example.

Regarding specific assets, I believe there are several categories worth watching over the next 10 years. First are defensive assets. Gold itself doesn’t pay dividends; all returns come from price differences. Gold can effectively hedge against inflation and currency depreciation in long-term investments. Especially during economic instability or increased market volatility, gold’s safe-haven qualities become more apparent. Major price surges occurred mainly from mid-2019 to mid-2020, and again from 2023 to 2025, corresponding to uncertainties like COVID-19, US rate cuts, and the Russia-Ukraine war.

In the transition assets category, Bitcoin is no longer just a speculative tool from the early days. As it begins to be included in ETFs, held by sovereign funds, and even on corporate balance sheets, its role is shifting toward a digital reserve asset. Over the past 10 years, Bitcoin’s price has risen from lows to highs through multiple bull and bear cycles, currently around $78.16k.

Growth assets refer to those with potential for sustained high revenue and profit growth in the coming years. Examples include data centers, AI servers, and cloud computing—these assets have high costs and entry barriers, but once a moat is built, it’s deep. NVIDIA, as a leader in AI computing, with its GPUs and data center platforms, is at the core of large AI models, representing the long-term story of commercialized computing power and profit expansion. TSMC, as a semiconductor foundry leader, supports AI, metaverse, and automation industries with advanced technology and close cooperation with major AI firms, ensuring steady long-term orders. NextEra Energy is one of the largest green energy and grid integration companies in the US, with natural advantages in scale and regulation during the energy transition. As AI’s electricity demand surges over the next decade, investments in power and grid infrastructure will be more stable than just solar or wind energy.

Cornerstone assets have only one task: not to be left behind by the world. Taiwan’s 0056, the most well-known high-dividend ETF, has paid out 60% dividends and increased 40% in price over the past 10 years. If you save 100k annually and spend the dividends, after 13 years, you’d have about 100k in dividends per year; after 25 years, over 220k annually. SPY, tracking the top 500 US companies, has seen its stock price rise from 201 to 434 over 10 years, with a total return of 116%. Its annual dividend yield is about 1.1%, and principal growth averages around 8%.

All in all, the core question is: what can 100k dollars do? It can help you turn on the switch for wealth growth, but only if you have good investment thinking, choose the right assets, and most importantly, give it enough time. As long as these three are in place, becoming a small millionaire or a wealthy person is just around the corner.