The Sims 4 How to - Making Money.

Hello!

Spoiler: Optional "information."

A note from me. Please read so you don't rip my head off. I made this because I was bored and inspired, but I put a lot of time into writing it. I am not a "guide" writing person by any means, I don't believe. I have never really done this before and I have no idea how it will be percieved. So take my 'guide' with a grain of salt. I do hope it helps you, but if you find it pretentous, useless and stupid... I won't be surprised. (Yes, I am a bit of a self-loathing woman. XD) Just try to be nice. :< Anyway, on with the guide.

"First, a wee bit of advice from our friend, Britney Spears."
"You wanna hot body
You want a bugatti
You wanna maseratti
You better work.
You want a lamborghini
Sip martinis
Look hot in a bikini
You better work.
You wanna live fancy
Live in a big mansion
Party in Champs Les Sims
You better work.

Wtf's will ensue. XD

Just a random comment by me... I loved making money in the Sims 3. I'd start them off with usually about 100 dollars, and in no time I'd have 3-4 family members (the adults) getting royalty checks over 40-50k a week, selling 3-5k paintings from multiple Sims daily, having a 2 doctors bringing home 5k+ a shift, and pretty much maxed out real-estate income potential. ( That is, before I got the expansion that let you have resorts and all kinds of other income potentials and stuff, I never played any of that really. I played a lot in the first 2 years so they only had generations through pets at that point. So think more Sims 3 "base game" in this respect.). But yeah, My sims made 150,000k-400,000k a week depending on how much I worked 'em and how large the family was. I honestly don't know if that is good or bad compared to the average in the earlier game play of Sims 3, but it was good enough for me!

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This is a WIP and I will be adding and changing things as I learn more.
My tips for making money in the Sims 4 based on my accumulated knowledge of the subject:

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1. Pick the right aspiration and traits for you Sim's dream career.

Spoiler: First, let's talk aspirations.

Obviously, if money is the aim of the game, You can choose the Fabulously Wealthy aspiration. Why? Because the bonus trait. Business Savvy Sims earn more than the standard rate from Careers.

The creative aspiration would probably be better for Sims who are only going to make money through creative means. (i.e painting, music, or writing.) You have to pick one of those creative outlets as their focus, but I always suggest that if your sim is going to make money through Creative works only, always have them do at least two. This means, if your Sim's focus is writing, have them excel at painting or a musical instrument as well. That way they can get make money in hand between royalty checks (They still get payed for books by weekly royalities, right? Another TBD!) The bonus trait for a creative aspiration (Muser) boosts your skills when you are inspired, which equals more money in your Sim's pocket.

For other aspirations, that is really up to the player. The two above are my go to's. But, if you are dead set on being a Chef, You may find the Master Chef to be an obvious choice. If you really don't know what aspiration is best for what career, google it. There are other guides for that. XD

Spoiler: Now on with the traits.

This is the same idea as the ambitions.
Artist = Art Lover.
Entertainer career = Outgoing traits.
Musician for tips = Music lover and social traits.
Writers = Bookworms.
Gardeners = Love the outdoors.
And the list goes on... It's common sense to a reasonable extent. Google skills and traits if you are unsure about your skill/trait combos. No, Google does not pay me for promoting their search engine.

2. Different Jobs = Different pay.

Spoiler: "spoiler tags more due to lack of particularly relevant information on this subject this so far."

It's too bad I don't know which ones make bank and which ones make dank - yet.

My personal experience in Sim's 3 is that my chef's made dirt compared to my doctor's, writers, businessmen, artists, etc. So I quickly did not choose my Sim's to be Chef's. My writer's made the most money on romance and masterpieces, and little from Sci-fi, etc.
For now I'm assuming Sims 4 is similar (until I play and find otherwise, seeing as how I'm not far in my career/skills yet). As you play, you will learn what career's make bank for you, and which one's... don't. Obviously this part of the money making process will take time. You will have to get your Sim to through to that level 10 career status and that maxed creative/crafting/gathering skill before you can really tell. My advice is start chiseling away at it asap, trying different careers and skills with each sim and seeing what pulls out the higher pay. Alternatively, You can wait for someone to max every career and skill and then write a detailed report of their financial analysis of each career's branch, and each skills highest paying output. Whatever you prefer. I have already searched for such analysis's and have found nothing as of yet.

3. Now that you picked the appropriate ambitions and traits, go get the actual job.

Spoiler: That one is obvious

Still obvious.

4. But don't just get a job, utilize Co-Curricular Activities as well.

Spoiler: Jobs plus skills pay the bills.

That is, get a job and when your sim is home, paint, write, collect, fish, play your instrument, etc. to earn more money. Combining jobs and skills will maximize income. Consider your ambitions and traits and what you can choose to benefit both your career and main money-making "co-curricular".

5. Get skilled; Get promoted, fast.

Spoiler: There's more to it than just picking the right ambition and traits.

1. How to make your Sim better at their job, full elaboration:

A. Make sure your Sim’s Career matches their Aspiration.
B. Pick Traits that work with your sim’s planned Career during character creation.
C. Send sims to work in as good of a mood as possible.
D. Make sure your sim gets lots of sleep (6-7 hours min.) before they have work, assuming they’re tired.
E. Know the Career’s promotion requirements. They get harder with each new level, and you’ll want to nip the requirements in the butt asap to bring your sim up another pay grade. Sim's get a one-time bonus's whenever they get a promotion, so it's a good idea to do well at a job.​

2. How to make your Sim better at their Co-Curricular activity:

A. The perfectionist trait. Crafted items will be better quality, so you earn more money for the time spent.
B. If you are a sim slave driver like myself, your sim will be spending a ton of time on crafting/gathering skills. picking a trait that will compensate for his social needs may be a good idea. A loner wont get so lonely from sitting at home alone that he's contemplating suicide by the end of the day.
C. Practice the skill/skills you are trying to max as much as possible. Literary deprive your sim of every social, mental, and emotional need if you have to. Eat, toilet, shower, sleep, a quick convo/ smidgen of entertainment here and there as a means to get back to work. Okay, okay, that may be a bit extreme... BUT I AM EXTREME.​

6. Now that we have all the options that take effort out of the way, that just leaves one thing...

Spoiler: Being a Cheater and a Gold digger.

Hey, there ain't nothin wrong with it!

Find all cheats here:
http://www.cnet.com/news/the-sims-4-cheat-codes/

She take my money when I'm in need
Yeah she's a trifling friend indeed
Oh she's a gold digger way over town
That digs on me.

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Thanks for reading! I will continue updating and hopefully improving this considerably over time.

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Thanks for this! Very light and well written

Ty.