Most investors are advised that the safest way to build wealth is to invest in the S&P 500 and hold for the long term. Its average return has been around 10% over the last few decades. However, pilots are not typical investors.
We operate in complex environments, make high-stakes decisions with limited information, and manage risk with discipline and precision.
Those abilities are rare outside aviation, yet most aviators invest like everyone else. When your skills can help outperform the market average, you should not limit your returns to something you don’t control.
Let’s explore how your aviation skill set can outperform the S&P 500, not someday, but now.
Key Takeaways
- Market Returns Are Capped: The S&P 500 averages about 10% per year, and you can’t influence that number. Your returns depend on market performance, not your decision-making or skill.
- Pilot Skills Hold Real Value: Pilots already operate with rare skills like discipline, systems thinking, and decision-making under pressure. These skills are valuable in business, and people willingly pay for them.
- Self-Investment Creates Higher ROI: Utilizing your skills can yield returns of hundreds of percent, not just 10%. You can generate income now instead of waiting decades for compounding.
- No Growth Ceiling: Index funds stop growing once the market stops. However, there’s no cap on your skills, which means your earning potential is unlimited.
The 10% Ceiling: What Does It Mean?
According to reports, the S&P 500 averages around 10% annual returns over the long term. Financial advisors call it safe, predictable, and the “smart” way to invest. And yes, mathematically, 10% is a strong return, especially when compounded over decades.
This means if you invest $10,000 into the S&P 500, this would be the typical projection:
- Year 1: ~$11,000
- Year 10: ~$26,000
- Year 20: ~$67,000
- Year 30: ~$174,000
Although growth is slow at first, it compounds over time. This method works like a charm, but it has its own schedule, and you cannot control the outcome or the time it takes to grow.
Your wealth grows beyond the cockpit only if the market grows, and your results depend on external factors. These include interest rates, inflation, corporate performance, and geopolitical events. In other words, the S&P decides your growth, not your skills or decisions.
So yes, the S&P 500 can build retirement, but it won’t build freedom.
What Your Aviation Skills Are Actually Worth
Most pilots underestimate the value of their ability to create results on demand, which is far more valuable than passive market returns.
In aviation, you make important decisions daily. You assess risk, solve problems, manage complex systems, and communicate clearly under high pressure. In business and entrepreneurship, these skills are rare, and people pay for them.
You’d be surprised to know that entrepreneurs pay six figures to learn what you already do every day as a pilot.
If you’re wondering what that is:
- Decision-making under uncertainty
- Leadership and communication
- Checklist execution and disciplined systems thinking
- Risk evaluation and quick corrective action
Even the S&P 500 has a growth ceiling, but not if you invest in yourself and your skills.
The Real ROI of a Pilot’s Skill Set (With Real Numbers)
Now that we’ve covered what your experience is worth, it’s time to talk numbers. Remember, your skills are rare, and you can generate returns immediately by applying them through different business ideas.
Here are a few scenarios and what the potential ROI of each is:
Scenario 1: High-Ticket Coaching or Training
Imagine you build a coaching or training program that helps other aviation professionals, such as student pilots, cadets, or transitioning aviators.
Now, based on your experience and knowledge, you can charge $10,000 per client.
Even if we consider the worst-case scenario that you only get five clients in one year, that’s still an additional $50,000. Additionally, the best part is that your business expenses, including branding, websites, and marketing, would be approximately $5,000.
That means you just achieved an ROI of 900%, which is far more than what the S&P 500 promises over the years.
Scenario 2: Aviation Consulting (Safety, Operations, CRM)
In another scenario, you can help flight schools or aviation companies improve their safety systems, SOPs, and crew training.
Suppose you only sign one project, you’d still make around $75,000 from it.
Your investment? Nothing but your time and expertise.
Here, your ROI is just infinite because you’re only investing your time and not your money.
Scenario 3: Scalable Digital Products
Another way you can build an additional revenue stream is through digital products. You package your experience into a digital course or system, something pilots can buy and access online.
For instance, you can build a course about teaching private pilots how to pass their instrument rating.
If you then price each copy at $500 and sell over 100 copies in the first year (being quite optimistic), you’d make around $50,000.
The best part is, you only have to build it once and sell forever. No growth ceiling whatsoever.
The Upside With No Ceiling
Most investments are capped, but your skills aren’t.
When you invest in traditional assets like index funds, the best you can hope for is whatever the market decides to give you. It doesn’t matter how hard you work or how smart you are; your effort doesn’t influence the outcome.
But when you invest in your own skill set, the return is not limited by market averages.
There is no ceiling to how much you can grow. You don’t need a portfolio worth millions to multiply your returns. All you need is a valuable problem that you can solve for someone else, and people are willing to pay for it.
Start Using Your Pilot Skills As Leverage
Your aviation skills are not just technical abilities; they are high-value business assets. When you can make decisions under pressure and manage complex systems, your earning potential goes far beyond a passive 10% market return.
However, if you feel stuck between what you can earn and what you’re actually earning, you need clarity.
That’s exactly why we created Life After the Sky™ Checklist.
It’s a three-minute diagnostic that shows you where you are now and what your next steps should be.
Take the checklist today!
Invitation to Join Our FREE Strategy Session
Most pilots are one honest conversation away from clarity. This is that conversation.
Complete our “Life After the Sky” checklist, then join me for a FREE 15-minute “Strategy Session” via Zoom.
This session is for pilots who want to take ownership of what comes next.
Those who want action, not just to talk about it.
In just 15 minutes, we’ll:
- Review your checklist results
- Identify the one obstacle holding back your reinvention
- Translate your checklist results into a clear starting point
Start your pre-flight assessment for the next chapter of your journey by Booking your free strategy session here!
