If you want to accumulate wealth and become financially independent, there is one bit of advice I have for you that you can use no matter what route you take to your own personal brand of riches.

Do it in stealth mode.

Whether you choose to the slave and save route to financial independence or the entrepreneurship route or the family business, or even the inheritance route, the economics of stealth are important to your success.

Simply put, if you have money and you flaunt it, or if others know about it, you'll be under pressure to use it according to others' wishes. Nobody wants to be viewed as miserly by his or her friends and family; but if friends and family know you're sitting on a nest egg - even if it is your retirement nest egg - you might find you're treated a little differently. You might find it harder to hold onto your nest egg.

Don't believe me? Let's have a look at one special case.

There is one other way to come upon your financial independence I didn't mention above. It's one where operating in stealth mode is particularly helpful - winning the lottery. Silly as it sounds, people win the lottery every day and suddenly have more money than they ever dreamed possible.

How many lotter winners do you know? How many of them are public figures in your city/town/neighborhood? Right, none. Why is that? I contend it's because by and large lottery winners either spend it all or go into stealth mode.

Operating in stealth mode is an essential financial survival tactic. If you can't do it effectively, you'll find it much more difficult to achieve your goal of personal financial freedom.