by Natalia Jones

Created on: May 18, 2009

Some find the formula for financial prosperity to be as elusive as discovering the meaning of life. It is probably not a coincidence then that so much has been written on both issues. The key to wealth generation however, unlike the meaning of life, is not steeped in mystery or subject to perception and shades of grey. It simply requires hard work, knowledge and research to fill the knowledge gaps and an iron will.

These golden rules will get you to financial prosperity if you follow them closely.

1) Decide to be prosperous. This may sound ridiculous but it is commonly accepted that making an affirmation increases the chance of success. Whether this success is because we bring the idea from our subconscious into the front of our minds, or because we may say it to others and thus feel compelled to act is incidental.

2) Get out of debt. Debt is a speed bump on the road to prosperity. Interest exponentially increases the cost of the item the debt was undertaken to finance. Often people have enough in savings to pay off their outstanding debt obligations but prefer to let the loan run for the originally agreed term. This is essentially placing your money in the bank for a paltry rate of about 2 percent on savings and then giving the bank permission to lend your money back to you at about 6 percent. Shouldn't your money work for you instead of working for the bank? By letting go of the security blanket of a big savings balance you eliminate the interest you would pay the bank and can earn interest on the money you would have put out for the installment instead.

3) Pay yourself first. Instead of saving what is left at the end of the month try doing the reverse. Allocate your money to savings first and then pay your bills and other commitments. Of course this is not to say you will be late with your mortgage payment because you have to put your money into savings. You must decide how much you can reasonably save and make the promise to yourself that this will be put aside each month.

4) Keep a small emergency fund of liquid cash. Everyone should have money available for the unforeseen. This avoids having to reverse profitable positions (such as selling stocks at a bad time and paying commission costs) in order to address pressing needs. The size of this emergency fund is very individualistic, but a good yardstick is about three month's salary.

5) Invest the rest in different asset classes. Even if you can't define what an asset class is at this point,

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