Do you want to build lasting wealth that lasts generations, but are unsure where to start?
Wealth isn’t just about numbers—it’s about feeling wealthy from the inside out and making small choices that add up over time.
People often think that building wealth means grinding harder, chasing more, and measuring success by someone else’s goals. But true wealth is deeply personal and should feel good.
💰It’s the freedom to live in a way that makes your heart sing
💰It’s the security to walk away from what no longer serves you
💰It’s the clarity to invest in what matters most to you
In this guide, I’ll share 10 intentional strategies to build wealth.
✅We’ll craft a clear money vision,
✅ tackle debt,
✅create safety nets,
✅set you up with multiple income streams
💫and all the while staying true to your core values and unique wealth vision.
Before we begin, this space allows Zero shame and Zero embarrassment. Whatever your finances look like, you can make small changes to grow great wealth. It just takes motivation and patience.
Ready to redefine what wealth means for you? Let’s dive in 🌊
(Please see my Legal Disclaimer at the end of this post or read it here).
Strategy #1: Set A Clear Money Vision
Before we get into the math of money, let’s start in an area that’s a little more fun.
Visualization and Manifestation ✨
Before we examine expenses and or discuss investing…let’s first take a look at what a wealthy future actually looks like to YOU. Not your parents, not to me, and not to any random person on Tiktok or Youtube. To YOU.
I have clients with a net worth of >$100M whose life I would never trade for mine. That’s because their lives are way out of line with my own core values and wealth vision.
I strongly believe that to live a wealthy life, you have to know what matters to you and invest specifically in those things. I am not a believer in grinding to accumulate as much money as possible.
But how do you craft your unique wealth vision? I made a FREE workbook for you to do just that.
Grab your copy of my FREE Wealth Vision Workbook ⬇️ to get clear on what wealth means to you. Then we’ll use your vision as a springboard to dive headfirst into the next 9 strategies in this roadmap.
You can certainly skip the vision work, but when I first completed the workbook I was completely buzzing afterwards 🐝 and felt ultra-motivated to start working toward my own wealth goals. 💪🏼
Strategy #2: Get Curious About Your Current Spending Habits
This is where we take a deep breath together.
We sometimes have such shame around our spending habits and I want you to throw that out the window right now.
Remember: ZERO SHAME is allowed in this space.
Instead of giving yourself penalties or gold stars for your spending behaviors, let’s simply start by getting curious about your current monthly spending habits.
Print off your recent bank statements and credit card statements and grab a highlighter or pen. 🖊️ Highlight any large expenses. Were they planned or impulsive?
❓Do you have too many streaming subscriptions?
❓Does your DoorDash ordering coincide with stressful periods at your job?
❓Does your impulse spending occur during a certain time of week or month?
No shame, no embarrassment. Just curiosity. We’re looking for patterns.
Now let’s think about ways to lower your spending, because you can only build wealth by spending less, earning more, or both.
All money saved on unnecessary expenses can be turned into wealth built. 💰
Consider these strategies for lowering spending:
1️⃣Make a list of all subscriptions and see if you can cancel or consolidate any of them
2️⃣Take your credit card information off autofill on your phone so impulse buying is harder
3️⃣Call your cell phone or internet companies to ask for cheaper plans or promo offers
4️⃣Consider free ways for dopamine hits that could replace impulse spending
5️⃣Give yourself a “No Spending Challenge” for a weekend or longer
Strategy #3: Pay Off High Interest Debt (aka Credit Cards)
A key part of building long-term wealth is investing.
✅ The average “good” investment will return ~10% on your money, meaning if you give $1,000 it will grow to ~$1,100 by the end of the year.
❌ The average credit card interest rate is over 20%, meaning that $1,000 in debt quickly becomes ~$1,200 – double a good investment return, but backwards – meaning doubly bad.
Before you can benefit from investing, you really have got to pay off your credit cards.
Credit Card debt is super common in American society, so you should not feel alone. But living credit card debt free is the fastest way to feel financially free and fast.
Some strategies to pay down credit card debt:
1️⃣Apply any “extra” money to your credit cards (tax refunds, birthday gifts, work bonuses)
2️⃣Transfer your balance to a card offering an intro 0% APR offer and pay it down ASAP
3️⃣Make multiple payments throughout the month, each time you are paid
4️⃣Apply the amounts of any subscriptions cancelled in Step #1 directly to paying off your card
5️⃣Cut up your credit card to avoid any further debt accumulation
There are also companies that specialize specifically in strategies for paying down credit card balances. A quick Google search will pop them right up.
After you’ve said bye-bye to your credit card debt, you are ready to start saving and investing, and that’s when things get exciting.
Related Reads:
Millionaire Mindset Habits That My Silicon Valley Clients Use to Build Real Wealth
How to Manifest Money Magically
Strategy #4: Build an Emergency Fund
Depending on your personality and your intuition, you might want to tackle this strategy before or at the same time as you pay down your credit card debt.
I totally get wanting the security of an Emergency Fund ASAP. When my husband and I finally built hit our Emergency Fund goal, I felt like the clouds parted and rainbow unicorns were flying around. 🌈🦄
Not to be dramatic, but that’s how free I felt.
We calculate our Emergency Fund by adding up all of your non-negotiable expenses: rent, insurance, gas, groceries, etc. Basically, all of the expenses that you could not cut no matter what.
(Don’t count Netflix or dining out, because you could cut those things if push came to shove).
Once you’ve added all those up for your monthly spending, multiply it by 3-6.
✨This is your 3-6 month Emergency Fund. ✨
The key to this strategy is to save up little by little until you reach your total Emergency Fund number. As soon as you start saving, you are also adding a new stream of income to your wealth portfolio (see Strategy #5 for more details on that).
This process might not be fast – this could take up to a year or more. But once you have it saved, you will be amazed at how free you feel.
➡️If things go south at work, you can leave.
➡️If you decide that you have to move quickly, you have the funds.
Women all throughout history were forced to stick in abusive or disrespectful situations at home and work because of the inability to have financial freedom. But not you.
You are going to achieve this and all of your female ancestors will be cheering you on and celebrating you.
Strategy #5: Open a High Yield Savings Account
Start this strategy as soon as you start building your Emergency Fund.
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What is a High-Yield Savings Account (HYSA)?
It’s a savings account that pays you a decent amount of money in exchange for letting them be your bank. These aren’t Bank of America or Chase savings accounts. Those pay you $0.01 every once in a while.
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High Yield Savings pay much more. Depending on your Emergency Fund size, your HYSA could pay you $1-2/day+ in interest.
You can play with the numbers here.
Tips for Choosing your HYSA:
💰Read the fine print: sometimes they won’t honor their full interest rate unless you set up a monthly direct deposit which means you’d have to work with HR to set that up
💰Confirm that the HYSA you choose has no lock up period meaning you have 24/7 access to your money (ie instead of “no withdrawals allowed for 3 months”)
💰Check the reviews to see if there are any common complaints about the bank you’re choosing
Here is a NerdWallet website comparing the best HYSA rates right now (because rates change!)
Another perk of having a HYSA: It’s normally separate from your normal checking account (like in a completely different bank website), meaning it’ll be much harder to dip into it, move money into your checking, and spend it in moments of spending weakness.
It’ll just sit quietly and earn you money day after day after day.
Which leads me to the best thing about having an Emergency Fund in an HYSA: You have officially unlocked a new passive income stream. 🎉
You aren’t just earning money by working, you are letting your money work for you. If rates stay close to what they’ve been, you could easily earn $30-$50/month in interest. That’s a total side gig without any effort. 🎉
Strategy #6: Open a Roth IRA
(BTW: I’m using American account names, but many countries have a similar account – if you aren’t American, quickly research what the equivalent is in your country)
To start, what the heck is an IRA? It’s short for an “Individual Retirement Account”. IRAs are always owned by only one person, you cannot share a joint IRA with anyone else.
The difference between the two accounts (put simply) is that one benefits you on taxes now and one benefits you on taxes later.
A lot of us should be patient and save the tax benefits for later and do our 65 year old selves a massive solid (by choosing a ROTH IRA). 👵🏼
(If you are in the very top percentage of earners – taxed at the highest tax bracket – talk to your tax accountant as you might want to consider a Traditional IRA)
Put simply, this is how a Roth IRA works:
1️⃣You earn money and your employer withholds taxes (social security, federal, and state tax)
2️⃣You receive your take-home pay and set a side a bit of it for your IRA
3️⃣You transfer that small bit into your IRA and you choose how to invest it
4️⃣You let that money sit for decades until you retire and it grows and grows and grows
5️⃣You pull the money out at retirement (some or all of it) and zero tax is due*
*even if you invested wisely and your money grew by hundreds of thousands of dollars or more
Of course, you should learn a bit more about the mechanics of how ROTHs and Traditional IRAs work, so please do a bit of research (Youtube should be plenty) so you understand the math of these two accounts.
A few important notes:
✅If you have an employer who offers a 401(k), you can totally go that route and there should be a Roth option – be sure to take advantage of any employer matching programs (free $!)
✅There is an annual maximum deposit amount into IRAs. DON’T contribute more. For 2026, the cap is $7,500 meaning no deposits into your ROTH beyond that.
✅Removing money from your Roth before age 59 ½ gives you a fat penalty – do not plan to touch this money for a long time
Contributing to a retirement account can feel like delayed gratification, so many people don’t do it. But they are seriously robbing their future selves from having a cushy retirement.
You can play with a retirement calculator here.
Strategy #7: Diversify Income Streams
We’ve got the foundational pieces set! Now we’re just getting fancy. 💎
So far we’ve got:
💰Your Salary/Business Income
💰Your HYSA Interest Income
💰Your Retirement Account’s growth
You are doing amazing! That’s three separate income streams.
Now you can start considering further investing. You could consider things such as precious metals (gold or silver coins), property, or brokerage accounts.
Another often overlooked area of investing: investing in yourself!
Learning new skills or upleveling old skills can lead to higher earnings in your current job, the ability to start a side hustle, or to start a new career completely.
Do not sleep on self-investing. If there is something deep inside you pulling you toward a new or improved skillset, you should seriously consider forking out the funds needed to grow as a person and/or professional.
Strategy #8 The Automatic 10% Hack
When you start building wealth, it could feel like you are pulling your paycheck in a million different directions.
➡️You’ve got your bills,
➡️you’ve got your IRA,
➡️you’ve started investing…
❓how do you stay consistent?
Introducing: The Automatic 10% Hack ✨
10% of everything you earn cannot be spent. It must be saved or invested. That means $1 for every $10 earned, $10 for every $100 earned, $100 for every $1,000 earned.
When we have a non-negotiable bill (like rent), we pay it. You can’t skip paying your landlord or they’ll kick your booty out. Think of the Automatic 10% Hack as a non-negotiable bill.
When you set a boundary with your brain, your mental budgeting learns to work around it. Set this up to automatically withdraw from your bank account a couple of days after you get paid.
Deposit it into your IRA, your brokerage account, your HYSA, or whatever other investments you are working on. Then watch that money skyrocket. 🚀
Strategy #9 Track Net Worth
This is a very satisfying strategy for growing wealth. It gives me the same satisfaction as scratching off my to-do list.
Track your net worth over time and watch how much progress you’re making.
➕add up all of your assets (bank accounts, car value, investments value)
➖subtract any debt you have (credit card, mortgage, car loan).
You can track this monthly, quarterly, or every 6 months. Ideally, you see your wealth increase each time you add up your net worth.
(Just remember that investments do fluctuate naturally as the market moves up and down, so do expect dips and rises in all of your investments over time.)
Strategy #10: Set Goals From Your Wealth Vision and Track Progress
Hopefully you grabbed my free Wealth Vision Workbook from Strategy #1 🙃
Now you already have a clear long-term vision for your lifetime wealth goals. This is your wealth-building compass. Use it to:
💰Plan out bigger wealth goals such as home purchases or children’s savings
💰Spread your savings/investing goals over time and take baby steps each month
💰Keep yourself on track to achieving your lifetime goals by checking in on your progress
Once you’ve identified your core values and set lifetime wealth goals (in your Wealth Vision), you can break your goals into smaller periods.
Your goal of owning a home by age 50 may mean ➡️ saving 10% of your down payment each year for the next 10 years, etc.
Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither is wealth. Take it step by step!
Final Words and a Massive Blessing
If you are still reading, I want to sincerely tell you that you are on the right track to completely changing the wealth of your family for future generations. 💰
Money is the currency exchange that makes us all run around crazy like worker bees, and yet so few people actually want to look at their money.
But you have committed to learning this far, which means you are on the fast track to financial freedom and lasting wealth!
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⚠️ One Final Warning! ⚠️ Do not fall into the most common money trap!
Do not overextend yourself by working so hard that you lose track of your core values in the aim for accumulating more money.
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Check out my Blog Post: The Real Difference Between Being Rich and Being Wealthy (From a Silicon Valley Accountant of 15 Years)
Two More Final Reminders before I leave you:
1️⃣There is no need to focus on growing wealth in any area not related to your personal wealth goals. Don’t drain your wealth paying for things you don’t truly want (new cars or big houses).
2️⃣Don’t get sidetracked or pressured by friends or family members’ goals that don’t match your own. People invest in different things, but that doesn’t mean your goals are off-track (or theirs).
Your Life – Your Wealth – Your Goals!
If you found this blog post helpful, comment below and let me know and join the Candlelight Collective’s newsletter ⬇️. I would love it if you stuck around!
We also discuss:
💫how to feel fulfilled in your life by exploring your personal purpose using astrology,
💫how to raise the global vibration sharing your unique gifts, and
💫other “whole-person” elements that make up a truly wealthy life.
Hope to see you there ✨
Xx Bri
Related Reads:
Millionaire Mindset Habits That My Silicon Valley Clients Use to Build Real Wealth
How to Manifest Money Magically
Legal Disclaimer:
Although I am a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) (Certified and Licensed by the CA Board of Accountancy) by profession, I am not your CPA nor accountant. All content and information on this website including our programs, products, and/or services is for informational and educational purposes only, does not constitute financial or tax advice, and does not establish any kind of accountant/advisor-client relationship by your use of this website. An accountant/advisor-client relationship with you is only formed after we have expressly entered into a written agreement with you that you have signed including our fee structure and other terms to represent you in a specific matter. Although we strive to provide accurate general information, the information presented here is not a substitute for any kind of professional advice, and you should not rely solely on this information. Always consult a professional in the area for your particular needs and circumstances before making any professional, legal, and financial or tax-related decisions.