If you save for the whole of your life you may end up being comfortable but you will never be rich. That’s because the more you make the more they take and then you end up paying tax again, on the interest that your hard earned savings attract. So...it’s time to change focus and think about buying and borrowing to become wealthy.

Many years ago my dad said to me ‘if you want to be well off, always buy things that go up in value, not down.’ It was great advice and always stuck with me, but unfortunately my dad never took his own advice and put his trust into all sorts of weird investment portfolios run by other people that managed to lose him a bundle.

So, rule 1: Don’t let other people manage your money! Apart from buying things that go up in value, another trick is to buy things that other people will pay you for. You really need other people’s money to get rich you can’t do it on your own, or maybe in very rare circumstances you can, but that applies to about 1% of the population.

So, how do you get people to give you money? You provide things that they want. Housing is one of the really obvious ones, and you will find that most people who own multiple properties are doing very well thank you and will never need to rely on the pension. If you buy the right thing for your circumstances, whether that be positive gearing, neutral gearing or negative gearing, getting an asset paid off by somebody else is the way to go. If the property does go up in value which it always will eventually, that’s just the icing on the cake.

Because I am passionate about old cars, we have a 1963 E Type Jag and 1966 Mustang. So I got to thinking – how could these babies pay for themselves? Well, I thought, people get married and might like to be photographed beside a flash old car, there are wedding photos, fashion shoots, architectural shoots - in fact hundreds of things that they could be used for!

So take a look around and see what you may have that other people might want to use and how they can produce an income for you. At the end of the day there is good debt and bad debt so each time you are poised to buy, ask yourself – has this any investment value? Is it unusual? Would other people want it? Can I make money out of it? And if the answer is no, then ask yourself...do I really want this? Do I really need it? Is there a cheaper way of getting it?

For instance, I love clothes – the wilder the better, but I do virtually all my shopping at recycled boutiques as you get the most amazing stuff and pay a fraction of the cost compared to new things. So start being picky about your buying habits and it will amaze you how it will change your financial status!

Please Note: These are my own investment rules, and not to be taken as financial advice which I am not qualified to give!