As Robert Kiyosaki writes in his personal finance classic, Rich Dad Poor Dad, “Most people fail to realise that, in life, it’s not how much money you make. It’s how much money you keep.”

First of all, simply having an income – no matter how big or small it is – doesn’t mean you need to spend all of it. If you practise living simply, the changes are going to drastically cut how much you’re spending each month. All you have to do is start saving that difference and stick with the changes.  And once you start saving and investing, as Warren Buffet advises –  find a way to make money while you sleep.  That’s the entire secret to how you can become wealthy on any salary, even a small one.

Here are 5 tips to get you started on the road to wealth and keep you there:

Time is on your side when you’re young. The sooner you start putting your money to work, the less you’ll have to save each month to reach your goals, thanks to the power of compound interest.

Now for some examples that illustrate how compound interest can work in “real life”. If you’re older than 23 or 35 or 43 or 55 – don’t throw your hands in the air and walk away. These examples prove the “start now, don’t wait” point. They do not represent the be all and end all of investing opportunities. So be sure to apply the lesson to your current circumstance – that’s all you can do. If you apply the lesson diligently, you will see the benefit.

The examples:

If you start at age 23, for instance, you only have to save about $14 a day to be a millionaire by age 67. That’s assuming a six percent average annual investment return.

Compare however, if you were to start at age 35 on the same terms, you’d have to set aside $30 a day to reach seven-figure status by age 67. 

What’s the takeaway? Time aids in wealth creation. If you’re waiting for a lumpsum or the lotto or a salary increase to start investing, you’re doing yourself a disservice.  

What’s NOT the takeaway? That becoming a millionaire at age 67 after saving “chirrup-chirrup” your entire life is the most efficient way forward. We know you’re looking for more out of life right now.

Boutique Portfolio Management can get you there.

The amount you invest does not matter, but if you invest consistently, you will see the rewards.

Depending on your risk appetite and circumstances, you can select a range of long or short term instruments, with different yields and risk profiles to maximise your investment returns.

The point is to develop a habit of consistently putting funds into your investment portfolio, as opposed to your savings account, so you can benefit from the higher returns realised from investing.

Studies have shown that for the average person, three items make up the bulk of expenses – housing, transportation and food. The average individual spends 70 percent of their annual budget in these three areas. But don’t forget to cut back on the frivolous spending too.

If you can limit those expenses, that’s where your biggest savings will come.  And if you can up your savings rate — put your extra savings to work.  The only reason to save money is to one day invest money.  And this can catapult you into wealth before you know it.

If you want to supercharge your assets, you can’t be content with only one source of revenue (a.k.a. your job). Developing multiple streams of income could mean starting a business or generating passive income through investments.

We talk about this a lot in several of our blogs – have a read through some of them or better yet, contact us directly so we can talk your ear off about them in real-time.

The Man Who Knew Too Much is an American movie produced in 1956. It could also describe the plot of your life if you attempt to “know it all” before starting to invest. The full title would read: The Man Who Knew Too Much…And Did Too Little.

Ouch.

Listen, most definitely you need to build your knowledge of the financial markets, and the larger global economy. This will allow you to recognise opportunities that may arise, for example, due to market fluctuations.

But consider that there are firms (like ours) whose reason for being is to recognise those opportunities and leverage them for the benefit of our clients. Would you delay your open heart surgery until you took a crash course in anesthesiology? What a silly example, you say. Well, waiting to become a Finance Guru before you invest in a mutual fund or purchase some stock isn’t that far away from the example.