There are basically only four roads to wealth: You can marry it You can inherit it You can get a windfall (from a lawsuit settlement, lottery, or some other unexpected good fortune); or You can accumulate it. Most of us are stuck with option #4 - accumulate it. To do so, we need to understand how to manage cash flow .

Live within your means It takes financial discipline and sensible behavior to successfully accumulate money and grow wealthy.

Avoid Taking credits Learning to live within your means leads to a freer life - debt can be a mean master instead of a worthy servant. Possibly the biggest trap out there is easy credit, which lets us buy numerous things we might not need. Save first, spend second. If you do so, building wealth will be a lot easier for you.

Save Aggressively This does not mean "invest aggressively." Rather, it means making it an absolute priority to set aside 10 per cent of your income right off the top, and even more if your goals tell you to do that. The longer you wait to start saving, the larger the percentage of your current pay you will have to save to reach your goal.

Diversify No investment is risk free; only a diversified portfolio can mitigate the risks of market cycles. We've all been warned against putting all our eggs in one basket; even Warren Buffett said, "It's better to be approximately right than definitely wrong." By "approximately right," he was referring to diversification.

Dollar - Cost Average When buying shares, remove emotions from your investing by automatically buying more shares or equity mutual fund units when they are cheap. Emotional investing gets too many people in trouble. . Dollar-cost averaging - by investing a fixed amount in regular intervals - is the best way to make money in a variable market over time. Remember, you need a longer time horizon when investing in the stock market.

Be Patient Warren Buffet says, "The market has a very efficient way of transferring wealth from the impatient to the patient.": Time in the market is more important than timing the market.

Understand Volatility Over time, returns from investments regress to a mean. "Regression to the mean" simply means that highs and lows will average out so that your return regresses to a certain number or range. Understand an investment's range of returns so you know what to expect annually, and over time.

Manage your Taxes Have you ever considered how taxes are your biggest expense in life - more than mortgage expense, education expense, or any other expense? So, you must take advantage of all tax breaks available - each and every single one of them.

Think before you Invest Don't chase returns before chasing that incredible return, find out how the investment did during the last bad market for that asset class. Find out its risk, and ask yourself whether you can stomach a bumpy ride over the long term.

Get Advice from Experts Never underestimate the value of good advice. A good financial adviser is like a personal trainer for your finances and can get you on track and keep you there until your goals are met. And even more critical than getting the advice is being sure you consistently follow your game plan. The greatest problem for most people is procrastination and erratic investment behavior. So get started, get advice, and get going down the road to wealth - and steadfastly follow through.

Periodically rebalance your portfolio.