8 experts recall their best personal finance advice
By Dana Dratch • Bankrate.com

When you need advice, it's usually best to go to the experts. So Bankrate did, collecting the thoughts of eight personal finance gurus on increasing your wealth.

In some cases, the experts had to learn the lesson themselves (usually after a few hard knocks).

Many times, a sound example was offered by someone successful who was already living it.

And in every case, the person who later became an expert recognized the wisdom for what it was -- and is still using it to build wealth.

Learn what these successful people said they consider the best personal financial advice they ever received.

Experts' best advice Get advice from the authorities. Here's what these personal finance experts had to say:

1. Gary Belsky 2. Wayne W. Dyer 3. Neale S. Godfrey 4. George Kinder 5. Robert Kiyosaki 6. Rieva Lesonsky 7. Peter Navarro 8. Dave Ramsey

Gary Belsky, co-author of "Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes and How to Correct Them: Lessons from the New Science of Behavioral Economics":

"Be afraid when people are greedy, and greedy when people are afraid. It's basically, 'Buy low and sell high.' In general, I've been doing better than market averages when I've been handling my investments. I've basically done that by being conservative when the market is frothing and aggressive when the market is down."

Wayne W. Dyer, Ph.D., author of "Your Erroneous Zones" and "It's Not What You've Got: Lessons for Kids on Money and Abundance":

The lesson "for me was, first, pay yourself," Dyer says.

While in the Navy stationed in Guam, Dyer saved 90 percent of his pay over the last 18 months he was there. "So I came home with enough money to pay tuition for four years of school and a car. Even today I pay myself first. If you want to be financially independent by the time you're 30 years old, pay yourself first.

"When you get your paycheck, take a percentage -- between 10 percent and 30 percent -- and put that away," Dyer says. "You'll be rich enough to be financially independent within a short period of time."