There are two main ways to make money. The first is to work for an hourly wage or salary. This is called working for your money and it’s how the majority of the population earns income. The second way to earn money is to invest your money in a place where it can grow and produce income for you. This method is commonly referred to as making your money work for you.

If you’ve never invested before, it can be difficult to know where to start. To help out, we’ve put together these 10 ways that you can make your money work for you.

• Stocks – This is the most traditional way to put your money to work. You can invest in stocks for both growth (buying a stock and waiting for it to increase in value) and income (buying stocks that pay dividends).

The main Canadian stock exchanges are the CNQ, ICE Futures Canada, Montreal Exchange, NASDAQ Canada, NGX, and the Toronto Stock Exchange.

2. Income funds – These are a special type of mutual fund that pays out a monthly payment to their investors. They have a strong focus on producing income rather than appreciating in value.
3. Real estate – Real estate investing is one of the most exciting and versatile on this list. You can invest in real estate but buying and flipping property, buying income-producing property, or buying raw land and building something of your own.
4. Investing in business – This is the most lucrative type of investment you can make but also one that requires the most work. If you aren’t interested in starting your own business, you can invest in small businesses using the app Nextseed.
5. Peer-to-peer lending – Earn interest by lending your money out to other people. Prosper and Lendingclub are two companies that help you do this.
6. Websites – Invest your money in websites that produce cash monthly. Flippa is a place where you can buy and sell websites and online businesses.
7. Consolidating debt – One of the best ways to make money work for you is to be smart about your debt. If you have high-interest debt, you could try debt consolidation or a consumer proposal. These are both great ways to avoid bankruptcy.

Debt consolidation can help you pay lower interest on your outstanding debt and a Consumer Proposal can reduce your debt and stop all interest.  Depending on how much debt you have, this can save you thousands of dollars.

8. The Sharing Economy – Leverage the sharing economy by renting out part of your house or a room. This is a great way to earn passive income.
9. Cryptocurrency – This is one of the riskier options on this list but there is a lot of upside potential for buying and investing in cryptocurrency. However, online currencies are still very unproven so invest with caution.