I am just going to come right out and say it: it takes money to make money. It seems backwards that financial independence comes with a price because if you don’t have money and you want money, how do you make that happen? But even winning the lottery involves an investment. The following are the three most popular ways to become financially independent.

You can open your own business. This should not be a fly-by-night venture. A good business first starts with a strong business plan and quite a bit of market research about the needs of the community where you hope to open it. The downsides are it is a risky, large investment, since many new businesses fail within five years, and you will certainly spend years building it. If you have a good plan though, and find a niche market, the payoffs could be huge.

The second way to become financially independent is to invest. This too should not be done without research, and I would suggest help from a professional. If you are going to make money in stocks, bonds, or mutual funds, you may also need a hearty amount going in. With the right help, this could be a great year for investments, as many stocks are finally rebounding from the dramatic losses of 2008.

The final way to become financially independent would be through multi-level-marketing. While this often gets a bad rap, it is only because like many small businesses, people fail early in the process because they think they will get rich quick when it actually requires quite a bit of time and work. This one is great because the investments are small, usually only $100-$1000 to start up. The downside to this method of becoming financially independent is that it will take as much time and effort as running any other business if you are going to make it work.