According to Charles Schwab’s 2025 Modern Wealth Survey, Americans believe that it takes an average of $2.3 million to be considered “wealthy” and $839,000 to be “financially comfortable.”
Read Next: 12 Best Safe Investments To Grow Your Money in 2025
Trending Now: 7 Tax Loopholes the Rich Use To Pay Less and Build More Wealth
If you want to build your net worth up to this kind of level on your own, you’ll have to start investing early on. A former Fox Business anchor and current host of “The Claman Countdown,” Liz Claman, shared investing secrets to crack the stock market in an interview with The Daily Mail, which she claims she shouldn’t be giving out.
We will share these five tips, along with expert insights, to determine if the advice has merit.
Claman pointed out that many potential investors will delay starting as they wait for “someday” to arrive, but there is never a perfect time to begin. You just have to start right now and get the power of compounding on your side.
“Consistency and patience are the virtues associated with accumulating wealth over the long run,” said Robert Johnson, Ph.D., chartered financial analyst (CFA), chartered alternative investment analyst (CAIA) and professor of finance at Creighton University. “The surest way to build true long-term wealth and higher net worth is to invest in the stock market.”
For You: I’m a Financial Advisor: 4 Investing Rules My Millionaire Clients Never Break
The experts agreed that starting early is the key to successfully building wealth because of the effect of compound interest. The longer that you put off investing, the longer that you’ll have to wait to retire and to enjoy the power of compounding.
“If you’re always saving something, then barring any crazy catastrophes, you shouldn’t run out of money,” said Elizabeth Buffardi, certified financial planner (CFP), certified public accountant (CPA) and founder of Crescendo Financial Planners, Inc. “Also, because of the compounding of money, the longer your money has to grow, the better.” You want to focus on time in the market instead of trying to time the market.
Claman acknowledged that money managers would be furious with her, but she said you’re much better off investing your funds in an S&P 500 index fund. With this approach, she stated that you’ll get better returns while avoiding the fees.
The experts agreed with this advice because investment fees could erode your portfolio. “Just as stock market returns compound over time, the deleterious effects of high fees and transaction costs also compound over time,” Johnson said. Buffardi pointed out that if you’re not confident about investing, it helps to seek some help from an advisor. “The last thing you should do is not start because you lack the confidence to invest. I like her advice about the S&P 500 funds. Investing doesn’t have to be complicated. A couple of index funds are a perfect start,” she added.