We live in a microwave world, but saving is a slow-cooker concept. Every day on my radio show I hear from callers who have the “I want it, and I want it now!” attitude. “Delayed satisfaction” is nowhere to be found in their vocabulary.

Some people think that because they have worked the same 9-to-5 job for a few months, they are entitled to a better vehicle. But the reality is that we don’t deserve to get that dream car until we actually earn and save the money it takes to buy it. And face it, folks: That takes time.

Fast, easy money is one of the oldest lies of the human race. “Get rich quick” just doesn’t work. Shortcuts — a microwave dinner and instant coffee — are things we wish would give us high quality, but they never really do. The secrets of the rich don’t actually exist because the principles aren’t a secret. There is no magic key, and if you are look-ing for one, you’ve set yourself up for pain and loss of money.

The best way to get rich is to get rich slowly. The saving you do systematically and consistently over time is what will make you wealthy. If you are always finding something more important to do with your money than save it, and if you’re jumping in and out of -investments, you are doomed to -become one of those 54 out of 100 65-year-olds who are still work-ing because they have to work. Systematic, consistent saving and investing is the tortoise that beats the hare in this race. When you keep at it, your savings will compound and explode.

It’s like a bamboo plant. -Chinese bamboo works like this: After it’s planted, absolutely no visible growth occurs for up to five years. Then, after consistent -watering, it suddenly begins growing at the rate of two and a half feet a day, reaching a full height of 90 feet within six weeks! See, that’s how money works. It takes forever to get started, but then all of a sudden it blows up, and your end -result is wealth. Yes, it takes -patience and persistence, and it’s hard. If it weren’t hard, everybody would be rich. In a culture where microwaves outsell slow cookers 32 to 1, we need to be more patient with our savings. That is the true key to building wealth.

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Dave Ramsey’s financial advice appears every week in Quick & Simple. He is the host of the nationally syndicated radio program The Dave Ramsey Show and best-selling author of The Total Money Makeover and Financial Peace Revisited.