Right now, even the good news feels like bad news. Gas prices are high, inflation is pushing food prices up, the Fed just raised interest rates, and the U.S. has more than $40 trillion in national debt.
The job market feels like it's getting worse. Meanwhile, stocks keep hitting record highs, which makes owners richer and makes getting in more expensive for everyone who isn't invested yet.
If you feel stuck, you don't have to stay that way. Here are 10 moves Jaspreet Singh, CEO of Briefs Finance, says can help you build wealth faster than you might think.
AI shows up in three of the 10, because it's changing how investors work, earn, and research. Jaspreet is hosting a free livestream on November 17 to show how he and his analysts use ChatGPT and Claude to find better investment opportunities.
1. Learn High Income Skills Built on AI
As an employer, Jaspreet expects nearly every company to make AI a hiring requirement within the next five years. Candidates who can't use it will land at the bottom of the pile.
The flip side is opportunity. Get good with AI, and you can earn better job security and more pay without starting a business or a side hustle.
The key is how you ask for that raise. "I worked really hard" doesn't move a boss, but "I'll make the company an extra $10,000, so pay me an extra $4,000" does.
PwC published research finding that AI skills come with an average pay premium of 62%. Not every AI skill pays, though.
Telling a company you're proficient with Claude is like saying you know email and Google Chrome - that's the baseline now. Saying you can code and build web apps with it is a lot more valuable.
Your AI goals need a clear destination:
- Increase productivity: Double, triple, or 10x the work you put out
- Decrease production time: Do more while working fewer hours
- Drive revenue: Turn that extra output into more money for the company
The Three AI Skills to Learn
- Prompting: Learning to ask better questions. Jaspreet's company has spent many thousands of dollars training employees on it, from hiring AI engineers to sending staff to conferences.
- Workflows: Automations that handle "do this, then this, then this" for you. On his team, AI helps outline videos, suggest screenshots and B-roll, cut clips for Instagram, and load every piece of performance data into a Google Sheet.
- LLM models: Large language models are the engines behind AI tools, like the Sonnet and Haiku models inside Claude. Each has strengths and costs, and switching to open-source models cut his company's AI costs by 97% in some areas.
Building AI workflows won't happen in a day or a week, but a committed month can change how you work. Google Essentials and Anthropic both offer AI courses, and YouTube and certifications can fill in the rest.
2. Use AI to Serve the Trades
AI is reshaping white-collar work, and that's creating a surge in demand and income for electricians, plumbers, and HVAC techs. Becoming one is a great path, but you can also serve them.
Many tradespeople are hardworking but not tech-savvy. You can use AI to build the tools that let them spend time in the field instead of running the business:
- Appointment schedulers
- Quote estimators
- Invoicing tools
- Customer service and feedback tools
Pick a niche, like electricians in your zip code. A customer fills out a form, uploads photos, and answers questions about a common job, like adding an outlet or wiring a 220 outlet for a sauna.
The tool sends back an estimate, say $850, takes payment, and asks for a five-star review after the work is done. Save an electrician one hour a day and land them one more client a month, and they'd likely pay you at least $500 a month.
You don't need to be a coder to build it. You just need to learn to use AI.
3. Learn to Invest With AI
AI gives you something close to the most powerful Wall Street analysts in the world, if you know how to use it. Most investors don't.
They ask things like "Should I buy Nvidia?" or "Is Tesla a good stock?" The answer sounds smart, but it mostly reflects what's popular online.
Do what everyone else does, and you'll get what everyone else gets - and most people lose money in the stock market. Better research starts with knowing your goals and writing detailed prompts.
That's the focus of Jaspreet's free November 17 livestream, with sessions at 10:30 a.m. and 8 p.m. ET. Investors who show up live also get his team's list of their top 10 AI prompts.
4. Make High Interest Rates Pay You
Inflation is running around 3.5%, while the average savings account pays under 0.5%. That means the average saver is losing about 3% of buying power every year.
Keep $1 million in the bank, and in one year that "safe" money loses about $30,000 of buying power. Two options can close some of that gap.
High-Yield Savings Accounts
A high-yield savings account works like a regular bank account, usually without physical branches, but pays more interest - often 3% to 3.5%. You might not beat inflation, but you'll get close.
Stick with a reputable bank that's FDIC insured. FDIC insurance is government protection for your deposits if a bank fails.
SGOV and Short-Term Treasuries
A Treasury is a loan you make to the U.S. government. SGOV is an ETF that holds short-term Treasuries, so your money isn't locked up.
SGOV is built so your principal stays the same while you collect monthly interest. At the time Jaspreet recorded, it paid around 3.7% a year.
Because it holds Treasuries, that interest is free from state and local taxes, a perk for higher earners in high-tax states. You can buy or sell it any time.
The trade-off is that SGOV isn't FDIC insured. It's backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, so a government default would cost you money, though at that point there would be much bigger problems.
5. Use the 2025 Tax Cuts, Like No Tax on Overtime
In 2025, President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the biggest tax cut bill in about a century. A few deductions - amounts you subtract from your taxable income - stand out for workers:
| Deduction | Who it helps | Annual limit |
|---|---|---|
| Tip income | Hosts, waiters, and other tipped workers | Up to $25,000 |
| Overtime pay | Workers earning overtime | Up to $12,500 |
| Car loan interest deduction | Buyers who finance a U.S.-made car | Up to $10,000 in interest |
| Senior deduction | Anyone over 65 | Extra $6,000 |
Income limits apply to each one. Jaspreet doesn't recommend financing a car, but if you do, that interest deduction is worth knowing about.
A tax refund isn't free money, either. It's a 0% interest loan you gave the government, returned months later with nothing extra.
The IRS has a withholding calculator you can use to check whether you're overpaying. Fixing your withholding keeps that money in your hands all year.
6. Stack Extra Cash Back on Top of Your Credit Card
This one is only for investors with no credit card debt who know how to manage money. If that's not you yet, skip it.
Jaspreet's own setup looks like this:
- Chase Freedom: 1.5% cash back on everything. He prefers it to 2% cards that come with limits or expiring rewards, and he isn't sponsored by Chase.
- Capital One Spark: 2% cash back for his business, where spending is high enough to justify the annual fee.
- Amex Platinum and Delta Reserve: Travel cards, since he travels a lot for work.
The bigger opportunity is stacking. Upside is a free app that pays extra cash back on gas, groceries, and restaurants, on top of whatever your card already pays.
Another rewards app pays back on rent and dining. Jaspreet has been sponsored by both companies in the past, though neither sponsored this advice.
7. Open a Trump Account for Your Kid
If you have a child born between 2025 and 2028, they're eligible for a Trump account. The government will make a one-time $1,000 deposit into it.
It works a bit like an IRA, and the money has to be invested in a low-cost fund that tracks the market. Kids born outside that window can still open one as an early investment account.
The accounts are open now. You'll need to file Form 4547, your child needs a Social Security number, and you can sign up at trumpaccounts.gov.
8. Invest in the Trump Shifts
Investors do best putting money where it's going, not where it was. The biggest spender in the economy is the U.S. government, and President Trump has shifted a lot of spending and policy since 2025.
Here's where that money is moving:
- AI: Trump wants the U.S. to beat China in the AI race.
- Semiconductors: He wants less reliance on China for the chips that power AI.
- Energy: Money is flowing into nuclear and into rebuilding the power grid to fuel AI.
- Rare earths: After U.S. tariffs, China cut off these metals, so the U.S. is rebuilding the supply chain.
- Tariffs: They aren't going away during Trump's term, and they're reshaping global trade.
The midterms could flip some of these. For investors researching these shifts, Jaspreet's examples include:
| Shift | ETF examples |
|---|---|
| AI | A Global X AI and technology fund, plus a Global X robotics fund |
| Semiconductors | SMH from VanEck, plus an iShares semiconductor fund |
| Energy | An Energy Select Sector SPDR fund for oil and gas, plus a broader Vanguard energy fund |
| Rare earths | A VanEck rare earth fund, one of the few broad options |
| Tariffs | EWJ for Japan, plus country funds for Brazil and India |
The tariff idea is to invest in countries with friendlier U.S. relationships. Trump stepped in to support the Japanese yen a couple of months ago, Brazil is a bit more insulated from the tariff fights, and companies leaving China may move to India.
Investing has risks, and you will lose money at some point. These are starting points for your research, not picks.
9. Build Your POOP Fund
The way to build wealth in the stock market is what Jaspreet calls always be buying, or ABB. You buy the market every week, two weeks, or month, up, down, or sideways.
The market has historically grown about 10% a year. With today's cost of living, that may not be enough for some investors, which leaves three options:
- Invest for more time: Retire at 72 instead of 65.
- Invest more money: Go from $500 a month to $1,000, even if that means cutting back, a second job, or driving for Uber.
- Get better returns: Follow market shifts like the Trump shifts, or take advantage of POOP.
POOP stands for panic leads to overselling, which leads to opportunity, which leads to profit. Market crashes have happened before and will happen again, and buying during them can make some investors very rich.
But you need cash to buy. Set aside money in a separate POOP fund now, and decide in advance what you want to buy.
No one knows when the next crash will come or what will trigger it. It could be an AI bubble, the national debt, or inflation, and whoever is ready will benefit.
10. Invest in Your Own Education
Any change in the economy, good or bad, creates opportunity for the financially savvy. And the financially savvy are just people who took the time to learn.
Read two books a month, and in a year you'll think like a different person. Jaspreet calls it the book MBA: 25 targeted books that can give you an MBA-level education for a fraction of the price.
- 5 books on leadership and managing people
- 5 books on money management
- 5 books on investing
- 5 books on growing a business
- 5 books on sales
Skills like working with people, managing money, and growing it apply in any economy. They let you accelerate your wealth no matter where you're starting.
