Should you quit your side hustles?
Side hustles have become a popular way for people to boost their income during the recent years of economic insecurity and high inflation. Galloway himself could even be categorized as having a side hustle considering he hosts two podcasts and teaches marketing at New York University, according to his website.
And Galloway technically doesn’t categorically rule out the notion of side hustles entirely. He just doesn’t think they can help you in the long-term.
“If you’re gonna have a side hustle, have it for a while,” he said on his podcast. “And then it either takes off and you go all in on it, or give it up, and go all in on your company [your employer].”
This is because of Galloway’s earlier assertion that focus on one job is the key to long-term financial success. And two of the world’s richest people would have to agree. Warren Buffett and Bill Gates credit their fortunes to their focus on investments and computers, respectively.
If you have a full-time job and a side hustle, consider asking yourself where you’d prefer to put your focus, and then consider if it'd be wise for you, financially, to nix one.
Build up your nest egg
If you take the advice of Galloway to heart, you may decide to quit your side hustle and focus on your full-time job. But this move may result in a hit to your earnings.
Don’t panic: now you can focus on saving and investing those full-time job earnings to build up your wealth over the long-term.
The best way to do that is by taking advantage of your 401(k). A good example of focused 401(k) investors are teachers. A 2023 survey from Ramsey Solutions, the company of the eponymous personal finance celebrity, discovered that teachers were one of the top five professions with people who had a million dollars in their 401(k) accounts by retirement.
This isn’t because teachers make tons of money. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that teachers’ median salary is $62,360. But they were focused investors who consistently contributed to their 401(k)s — and that’s how they got to millionaire status by the time they retired.
If you bring that same focus to your job and your investing strategy, you may end up with a lot more money than a side hustle could ever generate.
