You're broke. It’s the classic Los Santos experience. You’ve just finished a high-stakes heist, watched the credits of a mission roll, and realized your cut was barely enough to customize a single Comet at Los Santos Customs. Honestly, it's frustrating. Most players spend their time in GTA V how to earn money story mode by knocking over convenience stores for a measly 500 bucks, but that’s basically pocket change when you're trying to buy the Golf Club for 150 million.
The real secret? It’s not about grinding. It’s about patience. If you’ve already killed every target Lester gave you, I have some bad news: you probably missed out on roughly 2 billion dollars.
The Lester Assassination Strategy is the Only Way to Get Rich
Let's talk about Franklin. Specifically, his relationship with Lester Crest. If you want to know GTA V how to earn money story mode inside and out, you have to understand the stock market. Most people treat the assassination missions as just another way to progress the plot. That is a massive mistake.
Here is the thing. Apart from the first mandatory mission, "The Hotel Assassination," you should leave every single one of those missions until the very end of the game. I mean it. Don't touch them until the "Big Score" heist is finished and your three protagonists—Michael, Franklin, and Trevor—are sitting on roughly 25 to 30 million dollars each.
Why? Because the stock market in GTA V works on a percentage basis. If you invest 10,000 dollars and get an 80% return, you made a tiny profit. If you invest 30 million and get an 80% return? You’re never worrying about money again.
The Multi-Target Assassination Mechanics
Once you have that heist money, go to Franklin’s "L" icons on the map. Before you start the "Multi-Target Assassination," swap between all three characters and dump every single cent they have into Debonaire stocks on the LCN exchange. After you finish the mission and take out the four jurors, the stock price is going to climb.
Keep an eye on it. Check your phone constantly. Once it hits around an 80% return (give or take a few points), sell everything. But don't stop there. Immediately take that new, larger pile of cash and put it into Redwood. Wait a few in-game days—sleeping in your safehouse without saving is a quick way to pass time—and Redwood will rebound. You can see returns of 300% here. This isn't a glitch; it's how the game was designed.
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Hidden Random Encounters You Probably Walked Past
Not everything is about the stock market. Sometimes, being a "good" person in Los Santos actually pays off, which is kind of ironic.
Have you ever been running around near the house of Tiana, or maybe near the Little Seoul area, and seen a blue blip on your map? Usually, it's a thief stealing a wallet or a bike. In most cases, you return the item and get a "thanks" or maybe 50 bucks. Boring.
However, keep an eye out for a guy named Siz Fulco. He's a businessman near Little Seoul who gets his bike stolen. If you return it to him, he later sends you an email revealing he’s the CEO of Animal Ark. He gives you $100,000 worth of stock for free. It’s a nice little booster for the early game.
Then there is the "Richie Rich" kid. If you find a random event near Paleto Bay involving a guy named Tinkle, he’ll ask for a ride to the airport. If you get him there on time, he gives you a stock tip for Tinkle (TNK) on the BAWSAQ. This is one of the few times the BAWSAQ moves predictably in story mode without an internet connection. If you've got cash to burn, throw it in before you drop him off.
The Underwater Briefcase Trick
If you’re absolutely desperate and haven't reached the big heists yet, there are the hidden packages. These are briefcases full of cash scattered across the ocean floor. Most of them contain between $7,000 and $25,000.
Honestly, it’s a bit of a slog. You need a scuba suit or a Dinghy to reach them without drowning. There’s a famous one located at a sunken plane wreck in the Paleto branch of the ocean. Back in the day, there was a character-swap glitch that let you farm these infinitely, but Rockstar patched that out years ago. Now, it’s a one-time pick-up. It's good for a quick weapon upgrade, but it's not going to buy you a cinema.
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Property Management: Is it Actually Worth It?
People ask about buying properties all the time. "Should I buy the Hen House?" or "Is the Scrap Yard worth it?"
Basically, no. At least, not if you're looking for a quick return on investment.
Most properties in GTA V take forever to pay for themselves. Take the Los Santos Golf Club. It costs 150 million dollars and brings in $264,500 a week. It would take you roughly 567 in-game weeks to break even. That is literally hundreds of hours of real-world gameplay.
Properties are status symbols. They provide a few perks—like Michael getting free drinks at his bars or Franklin getting free car mods at the Los Santos Customs in the desert—but they aren't a primary way of GTA V how to earn money story mode. Buy them only after you've conquered the stock market with the Lester missions.
The only exception is the McKenzie Field Hangar for Trevor. The missions are actually fun and they pay out consistently for arms trafficking. It gives you something to do while you’re waiting for stock prices to fluctuate.
The BAWSAQ vs. The LCN
Understanding the difference between these two is vital. The LCN (Liberty City National) is purely offline. It’s affected by your actions in the story. If you blow up a bunch of FlyUS planes, their stock drops and AirEmu rises.
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The BAWSAQ is different. It's supposed to be influenced by the global GTA community, but in the current state of the game, it's mostly static unless you're doing specific missions like the Tinkle encounter or the "Vangelico" heist. If you see a stock on BAWSAQ that has plummeted to $1, it might be tempting to buy, but don't expect it to move unless there's a scripted event. Stick to the LCN for your heavy lifting.
Maxing Out the Big Score
The final heist, "The Big Score," is where your life changes. To get the most money, you have to choose the Obvious approach. It pays more.
Also, your crew choice matters. A lot. If you pick high-level gunmen and drivers, they take a huge percentage of the cut. If you pick the "cheap" crew members, they might crash or die, causing you to lose a bag of money.
The pro move? Use the cheap crew members that you've "leveled up" in previous heists. If you used Taliana Martinez or Rickie Lukens in the Lifeinvader or Jewel Store jobs, their stats will be higher, but their "cut" stays low. This is the ultimate "meta" for squeezing every single dollar out of that final gold bullion haul.
Actionable Steps for Your Save File
If you are starting a new game or you're midway through, follow this exact sequence to ensure you hit that 2-billion-dollar cap:
- Stop doing Franklin’s assassination missions. Complete "The Hotel Assassination" (you have to) and then ignore Lester.
- Focus on the main story. Take the smallest possible cuts for your crew during the early heists to keep your protagonists' balances high.
- Find Taliana Martinez. She’s a random encounter on the highway near Mount Chiliad. She is the best driver in the game and takes a tiny cut.
- Complete The Big Score. Choose the Obvious approach.
- Invest everything. Once you have the 20-30 million per character, go back to Lester. Use the "Invest -> Mission -> Wait -> Sell -> Reinvest in Rival" cycle for the remaining four missions (Multi-Target, Vice, Bus, and Construction assassinations).
By the time you finish the Construction Assassination and dump your money into Gold Coast stocks, you’ll have enough money to buy every property, every plane on Elitás Travel, and still have enough left over to fill a garage with fully upgraded Adders. It’s about the long game. Don't let the lure of a fast car in the first act ruin your billionaire status in the third.