Hello Reddit,
I'm looking for advice about my money situation and what would actually be the smartest move.
I'm 16, I live in France, and money has always been a big motivation for me. I'm into programming and I've been making online projects for a while, but I realized that to actually make money online or start something serious, you usually need at least some capital first. That's why I'm trying to get a real job now, save/invest most of the money, and hopefully use that capital later to start my own business.
Right now I'm still in school, studying programming/IT, but honestly I've never really liked school. I'm not planning to work a minimum wage job forever, more like 1-2 years to build capital and discipline, then try to move into my own business/projects.
I've already applied to a few student jobs: retail, supermarket/drive, restaurant work, etc. No answers yet. I looked for office/programming jobs, but at 16 with no real professional experience, and needing part-time hours, it seems almost impossible. Most office jobs are full-time, require a degree, or want someone older.
So I had a few questions:
- Is working at 16 a good idea, or am I better off focusing only on school and personal projects?
- What kind of job should I aim for if my main goal is to make the most money possible while still being in school? I'm open to boring work if it pays, but I'd rather avoid fast food if there are better options.
- Is it realistic to work weekends, Wednesday afternoons, and school holidays without destroying my energy/school life?
- If I get a job, should I save the money in cash first, or invest most of it? I'm hoping to save for around 1-2 years before potentially pulling some of it for a business, so the time horizon isn't super long.
- My parents already helped me get access to a crypto exchange / stock broker setup, so investing is possible. I'm familiar with the basics of stocks, ETFs, crypto and trading from spending a lot of time online, but I know I'm still young and probably overconfident in some areas.
- I was thinking of investing monthly into something like:
- ~40% S&P 500
- ~25% Nasdaq-100
- ~20% BTC
- ~10% ETH
- ~5% SOL or other higher-risk crypto
Does that sound like a reasonable aggressive plan for someone my age, or is it too risky/stupid?
I'm not really trying to make spending money. I'm trying to build capital, learn how money works, and set myself up better for when I'm 18.