The foundation to wealth is to live within our means and investing excess income to accumulate a sizeable wealth pool. However, many individuals get caught up with consumerism that they fall into the debt trap. The marketing efforts of credit card companies and banks create the illusion that the man in the street can have all the fine trappings of life now instead of slowly working for it. Many fall into this deadly trap and have possibly ruined their chances of attaining financial prosperity.

The 3 Basics

Why some of us make it to eventual financial independence when most individuals just get along with mere existence? True 'Lady Luck' has a large part to play. Our choice of career, whether we have a sizeable inheritance and even luck in picking the right investments are all important factors determining our road to financial success. However, these factors help you grow wealth but do not do anything to help you stay rich. For this, a separate set of basic factors come into play. There are three basics that come to mind. Most individuals will be able to be rich if they follow these basics:

· Keep part of what you earn.
· Seek wise financial advice.
· Don't massacre the fruits of your labour.

Keep part of what you earn

Quite a few friends are puzzled by this piece of advice. Don't we keep all of what we earn? Well, for many of us, we are working very hard but just to pay off our grocer, our hairdresser and all the parties who provide services to you. However, you are not paying yourself, the most important person who does the work in the first place. What is a fair rate to pay yourself? At least 10 percent, I reckon. We pay a service charge to waiters at restaurants of at least that amount, so are you going to be kinder to waiters than yourself? But how are we going to squeeze the extra savings out? By making small adjustments to your lifestyle, you will be able live just as well on 90 per cent of your income instead of the 100 per cent.

This idea is consistent with the old mantra "Pay Yourself First", if the client wants to build wealth, he first has to start from a foundation of consistent savings. Many fall into the lure of the consumerism culture that we live in. There is always some priority higher which demands our financial resources than saving to build wealth. In a nutshell, we are caught in a vicious cycle. I find that if one learns to be more content and do not chase the 'latest' trends like acquiring the newest model mobile phone, he can and will be able to keep a part of what he earns. The little things all add up. It is applicable both in business and in our personal lives. When Scott McNealy of Sun Microsystems encountered his severest test of late, he cut down on the little things like the free snacks in the pantry and such. Guess what he managed to shave off a few percentage points off his costs, not a small sum in this case of a multibillion dollar company.

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