There are lots of ways people attempt and build wealth, from setting up their own business to investing in well-known blue-chip UK stocks.

Some wealth-building methods involve a lot of hard work, but buying shares on a regular basis over the long term does not.

Why I like building a share portfolio

There are lots of reasons to consider setting up your own business, but an easy life is not one of them. Entrepreneurship can be labour-intensive.

Share ownership can involve entrepreneurship too. But it is not the shareholder who has to do it. Rather, they can benefit from the hard work, business success and entrepreneurial flair of the companies in which they invest.

Of course, not all businesses do well and some that do are expensively priced on the stock market. So it takes some time to decide what UK stocks to buy when building a portfolio.

After that though, the investor can largely sit back and simply monitor their portfolio from time to time, while others do the all hard work.

Starting from scratch to build wealth

Still, could investing in the stock market really help someone build substantial wealth? That depends how much they invest and what sort of annual return they achieve, between capital gain (or loss) and any dividends paid by the shares they own.

Currently the FTSE 100 index of leading British firms yields 3%. Over the past five years, the index is up 54%, though as a long-term investor I recognise that performance will inevitably move around over time.

Given that, I think a 10% compound annual growth rate for an investor, while ambitious, is achievable even when sticking to blue-chip shares.

If somebody starts from nothing today and invests £500 a month, compounding it at 10% annually, then after 25 years it ought to be worth around £617,000.

Choosing the right investment platform

Starting from scratch also means finding the right way to invest. Over time, even seemingly small differences in fees, commissions and other costs can eat into returns. So it pays to take some time when choosing a share-dealing account, Stocks and Shares ISA or trading app.

One that’s caught my eye!

Lately, many UK stocks have been doing well and the FTSE 100 has repeatedly hit new highs this year.

One Footsie member that has performed less impressively though, is consumer goods manufacturer Reckitt Benckiser (LSE: RKT). The Reckitt share price is down 15% in the past year alone.

But while a falling share price may sound bad, it can be good for possible investors in two ways. First, It means the price is cheaper. Second, it pushes up the yield if a company pays a dividend. Right now, Reckitt’s dividend yield is a tasty 4.3% — well above the FTSE 100 average.

The share price fall partly reflects risks such as inflation eating into profit margins, and ongoing business challenges from a disastrous infant nutrition acquisition almost a decade ago.

But Reckitt’s future looks bright to me. Its portfolio of premium brands such as Vanish and Dettol give it pricing power. It also has a well-established global distribution network and proven business model.

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Christopher Ruane does not hold any positions in the companies mentioned.