9 Ways to Get Rich (Part 3 of 3)

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#7: Get a Hardship-Location Job

Risk level: High

If you can withstand 12-hour workdays on an oil rig in the North Sea or maintain your composure during military coups, you may be rewarded with free housing, a six-figure salary and the chance to see the world.

According to Rigzone, an oil and gas industry data provider, entry-level workers on a rig earn more than $68,000, on average; the pay ratchets up dramatically as you gain experience, which is easy to do in an industry that believes heavily in on-the-job training, says Rigzone president Paul Caplan.

Drilling positions are most lucrative, with an average salary of $126,471.

If physical labor isn’t your thing, you could get a gig with the State Department. The harsher the environment, the better the incentives: Foreign Service jobs add up to 70% of base salary for certain field positions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A bonus: Hardship posts in a remote locale afford few opportunities to spend -- so there’s not much to do with your money but watch it grow.

#8: Self-Publish a Book

Risk level: Low

Romance novelist Nyree Belleville ventured into self-publishing in 2010 after her print publisher dropped her because her books weren’t selling well. Since then, she has sold more than 1.5 million e-books and made more than $4 million.

Belleville, whose pen names are Bella Andre and Lucy Kevin, says the key to successful self-publishing is to keep readers wanting more.

“I learned that if you write books that are connected and people like the books, every time you release a new book, people go back and buy all the old ones,” she says.

Other self-published authors have gotten rich using a similar formula. Amanda Hocking has sold more than a million of her self-published novels since 2010, which include a vampire series and a paranormal romance trilogy. She has signed a multi-million-dollar contract with St. Martin’s Press to publish print and electronic editions of her books.

Belleville works ten to 12 hours a day and controls every step of the process, from designing covers to managing her marketing campaigns. She also spends at least an hour a day reading about trends in publishing. “This is an industry that’s changing too quickly,” she says. “I am adapting myself to it every single day.”

#9: Marry Rich

Risk level: You decide.

Even if you're not in love with a potential spouse, it's not necessarily unethical to marry him or her, advises Knight Kiplinger. Material security has been a major marital motivation for some women -- and some men, too -- since the beginning of time.

Your primary ethical obligation is to be honest about your feelings and primary motivation for marrying. And you must be honest with yourself about whether you believe you can be faithful in marriage.

If your already-prosperous mate still wants to marry you after this discussion, good for you. Perhaps he or she has the confidence to believe that love will indeed grow between you -- or perhaps he or she simply shares your practical views on the union.

But don't be surprised at the suggestion of a prenuptial agreement as a hedge against the possibility that you won't make a sincere effort to make the marriage work and are just looking for a big financial score.

For a prenup to be legally enforceable in the event of divorce or death, it should be entered into voluntarily and with no time pressure (that is, concluded well before a wedding date is set and announced). There must be full disclosure of each party's financial situation, and each of you must be represented by separate legal counsel.

Source: Kiplinger