I’ve been thinking lately that many people say you should wait until you have several million before considering investing, but that idea is truly outdated. Look at today’s price growth: mortgage interest rates have stayed steady at 2.2% or above, and the purchasing power of every dollar is being diluted. Rather than waiting until you have 1,000,000, it’s better to start thinking about how to allocate with 100,000—or even 300,000—first.

To be honest, 100,000 or 300,000 may not sound like much, but if you use the right approach, it becomes a weapon against inflation. Investing isn’t about huge principal amounts—it’s a combination of mindset, projects, and time.

The first key is bookkeeping. Treat yourself like a company: figure out your income and expenses, and you can squeeze out stable free cash flow. Only invest with idle money, so even if the asset prices drop, you won’t be forced to cut losses. Many people ignore this, and as a result, investing turns into gambling.

Once you have 100,000 or 300,000, you should first find a specific goal. Office workers are best suited to regular, fixed-amount purchases of financial products. You don’t need to watch the market every day, and you can still grow steadily. If you want monthly distributions to cover daily expenses, you can choose dividend-paying funds or high-yield ETFs. Many funds can now distribute as much as 7%~8%. If you invest 100,000 for a year, you can receive 7,000~8,000 in distributions—about 600~700 per month—which is enough to cover communication costs.

Different groups have different strategies. Small-asset people with stable jobs are suited to trade time for space, relying on the power of compounding to accumulate slowly. High-income earners who don’t have time to watch the market can invest in ETFs that track the broader market—for example, Taiwan’s 0050, which tracks Taiwan’s top 50 companies; and the US’s SPY, which tracks the top 500 U.S. companies. These index ETFs automatically weed out the weaker and keep the stronger, and their long-term returns are usually around 8%~10%.

If you have time to research the market, you can also try to capture trend and volatility. For example, if the U.S. interest rate-hike cycle is about to top out and rate cuts are effectively inevitable, then shorting the dollar has a high win rate. A weaker U.S. dollar will stimulate cryptocurrencies, so going long on Bitcoin is also a good choice. The stock market periodically has popular themes that get speculated on—AI-concept stocks are the best example.

Looking ahead to the next 10 years, I will divide worthwhile investable assets into four categories.

Defensive assets are gold. Gold doesn’t pay dividends; its returns come from price differences. But it can effectively hedge against inflation and currency depreciation. From mid-2019 to mid-2020, and again from 2023 to 2025, gold rose significantly—corresponding to uncertainty events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. rate cuts, and the Russia-Ukraine war.

Transformational assets are Bitcoin. Bitcoin is no longer just an early-stage, pure speculative tool. Today, it is included in ETFs, sovereign funds, and even corporate balance sheets—its role is shifting toward becoming a digital reserve asset. Over the past 10 years, Bitcoin’s gains have been astonishing. If sovereign countries continue to allocate, this trend will likely keep going.

Growth assets refer to assets whose revenues are expected to grow rapidly and continuously over the coming years. NVIDIA is a leader in AI computing; its GPUs and data center platforms are the core infrastructure for large AI models. TSMC is a leading semiconductor foundry, supporting the underlying foundation of the entire AI industry chain. NextEra Energy is the largest green power company in the United States; as AI’s power demand surges in the future, the investment logic for electricity generation and grid infrastructure can be more stable than relying on solar power alone.

The mission of cornerstone assets is very simple: don’t get left behind by the world. 0056 is Taiwan’s best-known high-dividend ETF. Over the past 10 years, it has paid out 60% in distributions, and its share price has risen 40%. If you save 100,000 every year, then after 13 years you’ll have distributions of 100,000 per year, and after 25 years, distributions will be over 220,000. At that point, retirement life will become more and more comfortable. SPY tracks the strongest 500 U.S. companies. Over the past 10 years, its stock price rose from 201 to 434, for a return as high as 116%. Although dividends are lower, its ability to grow capital gains is unbeatable.

In the end, investing doesn’t require a huge amount of money. With a good mindset, choosing the right projects, and giving it enough time, 100,000 or 300,000 can grow into substantial wealth. The key is patience and discipline. As long as all three are in place, becoming a small-time millionaire is just around the corner.