7 Ways To Build Wealth — Even if You’re Starting From Zero

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Like almost everyone else, you probably imagine what you’d do with significant wealth. But you don’t dwell on champagne wishes and caviar dreams — you think about the solid foundation for your future that financial independence could build. Unfortunately, it can seem like you need to already have money in order to make more money — and you’re starting out at zero (or close to it).

According to Marc Russell, founder of BetterWallet, you don’t need a lot of money to start building wealth. His own story proves it: After 13 years in foster care, Russell self-funded his college education and went on to become a licensed stockbroker and financial advisor. He later launched BetterWallet, now a thriving community of more than 350,000 people learning how to manage money strategically and invest with confidence.

Russell spoke with the GOBankingRates Top 100 Money Experts series about practical ways people starting from scratch can build wealth — and keep it.

1. Start With a Budget — Not Investing Right Away

Russell knows many people are eager to dive into the stock market. But before making that first investment, he said, you need to know where your money is coming from and where it’s going every month.

Why is that so important? It gives you a baseline for how much you can afford to invest and helps you get into the practice of proactively managing your money.

“I think when most people jump into investing or even just trying to manage your money, they try to wing it all, and it doesn’t work out that way,” he said. “If you try to go after random guesses, you’re going to get random results.”

Creating a budget takes the randomness out of money management. Technology such as budgeting apps and spreadsheets makes it easy — though Russell doesn’t care if you do it on the back of an envelope, as long as you understand your cash flow.

“That way you can set a budget for how much money you want to actually invest,” he said. “It could be a dollar, it could be $10, it could be $100, but you have to start with what you have coming in.”

2. Know Your ‘North Star’

Earning wealth may seem like a matter of cold, hard cash and logic, but Russell says mindset is just as important. He encourages everyone to identify their “North Star” — the emotional reason you’re pursuing financial freedom.

“For me growing up it was my mom and dad. They constantly had to deal with debt collectors calling … That was very normal growing up,” he said. “So I’ve always wanted to be different. I didn’t want to live a life constantly having to deal with debt. And I also wanted to be the first millionaire in my family through investing.”

Locking in on your North Star can help you stay focused when the process feels lonely or overwhelming.

3. Prioritize Your Emergency Fund

When you think of building wealth from scratch, Russell wants you to picture building a house. The exterior may look gorgeous, and the pool in the backyard may sparkle, but without a solid foundation, the structure won’t last.

“The most important thing you can do to start off is build up that emergency fund,” he said. “Make sure you have money put away in a high-yield savings account. So, if you were to lose your job — especially in days like today — you can always fall back on it.”

He recommends setting aside three to six months’ worth of expenses before you start investing aggressively. Skipping this step might feel tempting, but he cautions that it’s a costly mistake:

“Even if you’re completely debt-free, but you don’t have an emergency fund, you’re going to go back into debt if you don’t have that emergency fund put away.”

4. Get Free Money, Then Tackle High-Interest Debt

Establishing an emergency fund is part of what Russell considers a three-pronged approach to financial stability: build your emergency fund, claim your employer match, and pay off high-interest debt.

Taking advantage of an employer match on your 401(k) or 403(b) is essentially free money.

“You want to make sure you’re putting money in there up to the match. You don’t have to go beyond that,” he said. “You don’t have to max out your 401(k), but make sure you’re getting that free money from your employer. That will check the investing bucket as you’re building your emergency fund and paying off your debt.”

Russell also advises focusing on paying down high-interest debt — anything 10% or more — while you save and invest modestly. It can feel like a lot to juggle, but he emphasizes balance and consistency.

“My dad would always tell me, take it one day at a time and don’t overwhelm yourself,” he said.

5. Buy the Haystack, Not the Needle

When Russell started his career on Wall Street, he learned an investing principle that has stuck with him: “Don’t try to find the needle in the haystack. Just buy the entire haystack.”

In other words, don’t chase the next hot stock. Instead, invest in diversified options like index funds or ETFs, which spread risk across many companies.

“So when everything collectively does well, your portfolio does well,” he said. “One trap I feel like newer investors fall into is that they just want to dive into individual stocks without understanding that those stocks can really tank very quickly.”

Russell suggests limiting individual stocks to 5% to 10% of your portfolio — a small “sweet treat” compared with your “healthy” core investments.

6. Invest Early, Often and Automatically

Despite the image of elite power brokers wearing suits that cost as much as your rent, Russell says anyone can become a successful investor — if they stay consistent.

“I think a lot of times we focus on how much money we can put into it, but what’s most important is just establishing that habit, even if it’s just a dollar or $10 per week,” he said. “Establish the habit, and then as you make more money and have more of a gap between your expenses and income, you can invest more and more.”

Russell recommends automating the process to make investing seamless and to protect yourself from emotional decisions.

“You wouldn’t chop down a tree because it’s dormant during the winter,” he said. “It’s going to come back during the spring.”

He compared that cycle to investing — growth takes patience and consistency.

7. Knowledge Protects Your Wealth 

Russell recalls one of his students who received a windfall of several hundred thousand dollars — a life-changing amount for anyone who’s currently feeling pinched financially. Unfortunately, the student squandered the money on trips and shopping sprees.

The lesson: Money without financial literacy is fleeting.

“Knowledge, when it relates to finances, is critical because money alone doesn’t make you rich,” he said. “There are celebrities and people who got major inheritances and squandered it very quickly because they didn’t have the knowledge — or didn’t apply it — to grow that money over time.”

To truly protect your wealth, Russell encourages continuous learning. Resources like the BetterWallet community, online publications, podcasts and books make it easier than ever to expand your financial understanding — and safeguard your progress.

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