You wouldn't build your home on anything less than a solid foundation. Similarly, you can't build wealth and financial independence without first having sound foundational principles to build upon.

I have found that many people are working on wealth building strategies such as maximizing their 401K returns, aggressive stock trading, and real estate investing without such a foundation.

Most of my clients are coming from a "one step forward, two steps back" cycle of wealth building that gets them nowhere in the long run.

There are steps you can take to make sure that you are maximizing and protecting your gains at the same time. Without these steps, you are destined to experience the gain-loss cycle which, in the end, is like spinning your wheels in the mud.

Discover how your employment circumstances affect your wealth building strategy and have more of the things you want by identifying your biggest expense and managing it without having to make more money.

Most people take gains in their cash flow to mean they can spend more on things they don't need. It is human to want to surround yourself with the things you want to match how you feel about your new income from investments or a raise at work.

But what happens here is that you lose future earning power and you rip out pieces of your wealth building foundation because you are not putting new income to work by investing in your debt.

People talk a lot about returns on investments. Think of the return on a 13% credit debt that you pay off in 5 months aggressive debt investment. It's NOT just 13% you are saving by investing in your debt!

Once that debt is paid off you can turn the payments you were making toward a larger debt, sometimes doubling the rate at which you are able to pay off that bigger debt. Combined, the return on your investment here is massive compared to regular stock investing!

Wealth building, in the beginning, is actually started with debt reduction and strict management. A change in attitude about your debt, from "liability" to investment, is the first step in true wealth building.

Today you should sit down and find the monthly expenses that truly don't mean as much to you as building wealth does. See how you can eliminate some of your spending to invest in your debt in order to maximize your cash flow faster, giving yourself a raise!

Take most of what you now have available per month and turn it toward the next debt ? raising the regular monthly payment by as much as you can while rewarding yourself with a little thing to note your accomplishment.

Before you take on another investment, think about the wealth you can build with the money that currently goes to debt. Once you have mastered your debt, all that money can go toward investments, savings, and living expenses that far outstretch what you are able to experience now.

The only aggressive investment strategy that has absolutely zero risk is debt investment. You cannot lose and the gains are always tremendous compared to any other form of investing.

Live your retirement years free of financial stress, relaxed and enjoying life due to automatic income streams you create through the powerful investments you can afford AFTER investing in your debt.

C.C. Collins is a respected financial strategist and investing expert. His NetWorthPublishing family of sites offers information and help with stocks, mutual funds, retirement planning and wealth building.