Experts tell us that the only way to build wealth is to invest. While saving your money in a bank account is good, it is not investing. The interest rates offered by banks or other financial institutions are not enough to really build wealth. Here are seven other ways to build wealth.

1. Investing. While we know that there is risk in buying stocks and shares, traditionally they always go up over time. To avoid the worry of whether you’ve bought at the right time, put aside a small amount of money to buy shares every month or two (see comments below). This will even out the lows and highs.

2. Compounding interest is getting interest on your interest. It means that an investment will double in seven* years if you get 10% interest on it and keep on reinvesting it.

3. If you own a house and rent it out, you’ll get the benefit of your fortnightly rent as well as the capital appreciation over several years. But remember to invest the rent - and sell the property at the right time for capital gains. The maintenance you have on real estate makes it not the best investment ever.

4. There is good debt and bad debt. You can use debt for investment and the interest will be tax deductible as in leveraging. Stay away from credit card debt as that is a hazard to your wealth.

5. Saving will build wealth if you remember to do it before you pay the bills rather than after. If you find you have nothing left to save, it’s because you’ve spent it all first. Write down all your expenditure for one week and see how much you’ve just wasted.

6. To lessen tax, buy shares in a company that pays dividends. That money has been taxed before you get it, so you are given tax credits that you can apply to your other income.

7. Diversity is the keyword when investing. If someone drops that basket all your eggs are in, they’ll all get broken. But if you only had one egg out of twelve in it, then your other eleven eggs are safe. True diversity is hard for a novice to achieve investing, so use a managed fund.

Everyone can build wealth if they put their minds to it. Kids these days learn how to trade shares at school. They are the lucky ones if they put their knowledge to use. But you can still learn how to do it without that benefit. Many people have started out with nothing and built wealth up over the years. You just have to put your mind to it.