“Wealth is created, not by what you make, but by what you keep.” — Charles J. Givens

Frequently, I have clients come into my office asking for help to get out of debt and create wealth-help to achieve their dreams. Typically they are self-employed or mid-level management that have decent incomes and, many times, a spouse that provides a second income to the household.

Occasionally, I have clients that have incomes that are significantly less than the first group.

They work in service related jobs. Many of them work for tips. They, like the first group, also desire to create wealth and achieve their dreams.

Both of these groups of people have the opportunity to achieve their dreams, but without good direction and common sense, their chances are slim.

It is not in their nature to do the right things to be successful. My point is this: It makes no difference whether you make $15,000 per year or $415,000 per year — if you do not have a good financial plan in place — you will spend what you make.

In the next few paragraphs I am going to give you some common sense ideas about everyday money issues and a few opinions about some places that we spend our money when maybe we should not.

Keep in mind every person's situation is different, not all of these ideas will be right for everyone. Spend some time with your financial advisor and decide which ideas fit into your plan.

Credit Cards: With the ridiculously high interest rates on credit cards today, no one should be carrying a balance on their cards. You can use your credit cards as a means of building credit as well as a good record keeping system.

I use one card specifically for automobile expenses and another for entertaining and yet another for miscellaneous expenses.

If you were going to use credit cards and not carry a balance you would be wise to get a no annual fee card with a cash back feature. Now, you have a no-cost 30-day loan that pays you to use the card.

Several financial and business magazines as well as some newspapers track the best rates for no annual fee cards. Do your homework and find the best deal.

Insurance Deductibles: Unfortunately, we have been convinced to purchase insurance with the lowest deductibles.

What a waste of money. Insurance should be purchased to handle the amount of risk that would change our lifestyle should we have to incur that cost.

You must decide for yourself how much risk you can afford and weigh that with the cost to insure the risk.

The difference in cost between a $500 deductible and $1,000 deductible on your auto policy alone could save you hundreds every year.

Extended Warranties: Typically, these insurance policies are extremely overpriced. Most of the products we purchase today come with a significant warranty and are products of good quality that last a long time.

If you just can't sleep at night knowing that you might not have an extended warranty on your washer and dryer, at least take the time to read the warranty carefully.

Most are limited and do not cover what you might expect them to.

Unnecessary Insurance Products: Insurance companies love to develop small, relatively inexpensive insurance policies and market them to the masses.

These policies usually do not have many claims because the contract verbage limits the conditions under which a claim can be paid.

Examples of the policies are: Accidental death and dismemberment, flight insurance, dental and vision policies, hospital indemnity policies and medical discount plans.

I do not want to give you the impression that these policies never pay claims — they do. But there exists a ratio of premium to benefit that you must consider.

Let's take the dental policy for example. The average dental policy costs about $30 per month for an individual.

These policies will pay 100 percent for a cleaning and exam, twice a year. All other types of dental work have a waiting period for benefits and a deductible associated with them. Basic services like extractions and fillings typically have a six-month waiting period and are paid at the 80 percent level after a $50 dollar deductible.

Major services like root canals and surgery are covered after a 12-month wait at 50 percent, and specialized services like crowns, caps and bridges are covered at the 50 percent level after an 18-month waiting period.

But here is the kicker — the plan will only pay $1,000 in a calendar year. So before the dental policy pays for anything outside of our cleaning, we have spent $410 in premium and deductible and the most benefit we could hope to get is $1,000.

This is not a good ratio of premium to benefit. It might make you feel good to say you have a dental policy, but it could be a bad financial move.

Remember, every time you spend a dollar it is one less dollar you can put aside for your future. These small little expenditures can add up to a ton of money over a lifetime.

Meet with your financial advisor and map out a plan on paper. Take a good long look at where you are spending money and decide if it makes good financial sense.

You have got to be smart, you have got to educate yourself, you have got to take control. More than a million dollars will pass through the hands of the average wage earner in his or her lifetime.

Wealth is determined by how much of that money they are able to keep.

George Harris Jr. is a 20- year veteran of the insurance and investment industry. He is a licensed insurance agent and a registered representative, offering securities through Avalon Investment and Securities Group, Inc., Muscle Shoals, Ala., Member FINRA-SIPC. If you have questions or comments, or have a topic you would like him to cover, he may be reached at his Gulf Shores office at 251-968-1234 or via email at george@georgeharrisfinancial.com