Many people seem to have an obsession with wealth. Politicians promise to create it, most popular magazines are filled with gossip about those who have it, and the average person spends much of their adult life trying to obtain it. We are creatures obsessed with money, partly for what it can buy, but also as a thing of value in itself.

Most people misunderstand money. They don't really know how to obtain it, or how to hold onto it once they have it. Strangely enough it is not difficult to make lots of money. The purpose of this site is to tell you how to build wealth over a period of time.

Lets first of all consider the various ways there are to obtain money:

1. Inherit it
2. Steal it
3. Win it
4. Find it
5. Earn it

That pretty well covers every possibility. You could add 'Making it', but that would be called counterfeiting and is covered by item 2 above.

OK, let's take each method in turn.

1) Inherit Money You're either born with a Silver Spoon or you're not. If you happen to enter this world as a Hilton, a Kennedy or a Windsor, then life is sweet. But since 99.9999% of the population aren't that lucky,we can discount this method of obtaining money.

2) Steal Money Let's stay on the right side of the law. Forget this one.

3) Win Money Gambling is another very difficult way to get rich. Sure, some people buy a lottery ticket and win big, but most don't. You can gamble your entire life and you'll most likely end up broke rather than wealthy.The odds against winning the first prize on the UK Lottery is 14,000,000 to 1 - that's against, by the way. If you want a flutter for a bit of fun, that's fine, but as a money-creating strategy its not fine. Horse-racing, Roulette, Blackjack, any form of gambling the odds are always stacked against you. Have you ever seen a poor Bookmaker or Casino Owner?Forget it as a wealth creation tool.

4) Find Money Oh sure, people are always leaving carrier bags full of Dollar Bills around the place. When was the last time you found one? Or a pal found one? Forget this too.

5) Earn Money This involves a 4 letter word - WORK - it also involves a 3 word phrase - Personal Financial Planning. Combine working for a living with sensible financial planning and we're getting somewhere. You CAN get rich, you CAN live in a big house with a pool and go on exotic holidays in a luxury car. You need to work. And you need to plan. But you CAN do it. And its not that difficult. Let me tell you how.

Step 1: Get a job

Yes, this is work, and takes time and effort. It won't get you rich on its own but it is by far the easiest and most likely way to build up a basis for wealth. If you're entrepreneurial you start a business, which is more risky. The important thing is to have a steady, regular income.

Step 2: Get good tax advice

However you make your money, your number one expense is likely to be funding the government. In most developed countries, the average worker pays around 30% of everything they earn straight into the taxman's pocket. If you do well at your job, you'll most likely pay even more than that.

While taxation is necessary to fund the good things governments provide, you don't do yourself any favors by paying more than your fair share. If you're serious about building wealth, get a good accountant who understands how to legally minimize your tax bill.

Step 3: Save at least 10% of everything you ever earn

As soon as you get paid, arrange to have 10-20% of your income removed into a savings account. Many banks can do this automatically for you. Keep your savings account separate from your spending account, and you'll barely miss this money.

There's a saying in economics "expenses rise to meet income". This means that money that's easily available to you is certain to be spent. That's why most people's paychecks disappear before their next payday. They get used to having a certain amount to spend, and habitually run down their bank account.

Have your savings moved somewhere it's a hassle to get them out of to avoid this risk. Many high interest accounts require you to give them a few days notice, which is ideal for this purpose.

Step 4: Conservatively invest the funds that build up in your savings account

Once a month, go into your savings account and divide the money by investing it into the three core assets: shares, property and cash. Open a unit trust (mutual in the USA) account for shares, a property fund for property, and a money market fund for cash. Look for share and property funds that invest in a broad range of assets and most importantly charge very low fees. An index fund is ideal for the shares. An index of property funds is ideal for property.

Put an equal amount into each account. This will diversify you against risk in any one particular asset. If you're younger, this rule is a little bit flexible, allowing you to take a little more risk and put more into shares and property if you like.

Step 5: Reinvest any income you get from your assets straight back into buying more assets

Unit trusts and property funds pay dividends. Money market accounts pay interest. Don't spend this income. Instead, select the option to have it reinvested into the fund that generated it.

Step 6: Never touch these funds and do your best to ignore them

The business press, like the mainstream press, loves a crisis. "Shares to skyrocket" or "Property to plummet" headlines will sell many more copies than "Things to continue steadily". All markets go up and down. Every day, some speculation will be published about some crisis or opportunity.

Ignore it all.

Just keep putting the 20% into your assets. Sometimes they'll go up and sometimes they'll go down in value. But over the long term, they'll almost certainly go up.

Step 7: Wait a decade

Do what I've outlined above and in a decade you'll be rich. Sure, you won't be Bill Gates, but you'll almost certainly be in the top 20% of wealth holders. Wait another decade and you'll be in the top 5% or higher.

That's the plan. It's not the most exciting or glamourous way to build wealth, but it's the easiest. Quite simply, this is how most rich people got there.

You too can join them, if you follow it.

Start today and Good Luck!