The journey towards wealth can be a long and winding road, full of pot holes, detours and road blocks.

And like any journey, some reach the desired destination before others. The question of why does it take so long to become rich was put to Sunday Finance recently, and we immediately called on the experts.

And to sum up their answers: It takes long to become wealthy because wealth creation is a step by step process.

Delroy Josephs,
investment advisor, Barita Investments
Richness is a mentality. You will remain poor if you don't develop the confidence to set goals. Even if you win the Lotto tomorrow, you will eventually end up broke because of your mindset. You have to develop a proper budget and aim for the sky in terms of what you can achieve. We have to wean ourselves from the mentality of poverty. If you want to get rich, you have to think rich. And getting rich might not happen right away, but it will happen. The best way is to start now and think positively.

Karen Fitz Ritson, director Fitz Ritson & Associates
When you are in an environment where costs are going up and your savings are not keeping up, people have to understand that to generate wealth, you have to roll up your sleeves and be productive.

Many persons who want to get rich need to develop their own skill sets to become more marketable. Wealth creation is a process, not an overnight phenomenon. The fundamental question is how are you going to amass the funds needed? And the answer is through your skill competencies and further training that leads to the ability to generate further income. Against that backdrop, one of the things that we in Jamaica have to develop is a culture where we look at taking two to three years to amass savings for serious investing at the appropriate time.

Once you are ready to invest, it is best to investigate the people who you are placing your money with. We need to get away from the get rich quick mentality because history has proven it is not sustainable. Further education and increased productivity is the way to create sustainable wealth.

Christopher Chin Loy, head of stockbrokerage at Scotia DBG Investments
It takes a long time to get rich because it is part of the earning process. You have to decide if you are going to become an internal entrepreneur working for a company or an external entrepreneur, working for yourself. The only difference is the exit strategy. If you are an intraprenuer, then retirement is your strategy whereas an external entrepreneur must decide if he will sell or leave the business to his estate. Beyond that, becoming wealthy is about finding your passion and becoming an expert in that.

And when people ask why it takes so long, that is really a relative question. If you are spending money faster than you are earning it, then becoming rich will always take long. In Jamaica, we are always keeping up with the Joneses. For example, if your friend changes his car, you too have to change your car. We love that new car smell and it is costing us. Here is my personal belief: You can get rich eventually, don't rush.

Find Your Wealth Profile

There is a body of research that says all great wealth has been created by people who have focused on the particular path that suits their natural character. According to this research, there are eight unique ways of creating wealth that are suited to different types of people and in many cases are radically different from each other.
The 8 wealth profiles are:

Creator - Making money from new innovations

Star - Making money through uniqueness of personal brand

Supporter - Making money through their contacts

Deal Maker - Making money through the creation of deals

Trader - Making money buying low and selling high

Accumulator - Making money by holding assets that appreciate in value over time

Lord - Making money by controlling cashflow producing assets

Mechanic - Making money by creating systems and procedures that 'automate' a business

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