Customer Reviews

Millionaire Teacher: The Nine Rules of Wealth You Should Have Learned in School

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the 1 book that every beginning investor and high school student should read. The author shows the average person the 9 rules he or she needs to follow to build wealth steadily and safely. He shows how he did it through self-discipline, index funds and asset allocation. Start young, pay off your debts and invest, invest, invest. The "Opportunity After Chaos" section (page 78) alone is worth the price of the book. I like this book because it was written by a high school English teacher who has "been there and done that", he's a millionaire about 40 years old. This book was not written by a finance / economics professor or a "talking head" in the finance industry or a financial advisor. I couldn't put this book down, and will probably read it again a few more times.

Yes indeed, it is about time someone wrote a finance book for adults so that they can have meaningful investment conversations with their children. For some reason, finance is a taboo subject in most families. And it's a real shame, as Andrew Hallam correctly points out, because the time to begin investing is when you're young. And taking advantage of man's 'greatest invention', compound interest, and investing in low-fee Index Funds, means anyone can become wealthy over their lifetime.

Andrew does an excellent job of making complicated concepts easy to understand. He does this by simplifying and demystifying the investment process in an entertaining and enjoyable way. Buying/Reading "Millionaire Teacher" is an excellent investment to make!

I have read your book cover to cover many times and every time I do I seem to learn something new! Just love it! I feel like a student again! You know you have a good book when the spine is creased and cracked and the the corners of the pages are bent from all the bookmarking. Thanks for all of your insight into Canadian Banks! it is amazing to see how our interests are not looked after and how making money for themselves is always on the agenda.

The price of this book is very worth it. I've goten good value from it and it will pay itself numerous time over by following its basic principles. I Wish I had read this book 15 years ago. I'm 33 years old now and still young enough that I Will stil profit greatly enough by following some of principals in this book. I've already made some changes in my portfolios and for the first time I feel I am in control over my investments.
Highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to save money over the long term. The younger you are the better this book will be for you.

This was a good read...for anyone that knows nothing...its not facts, figures, and theories but an easy way to learn the very basics of a more or less safe way to invest. Its entertaining and educational...doesn't scare off the beginner. After reading I've already started my investing and continuing to learn more about it.

The first chapters sounded like common sense. They were not realistic considering that many people have children, emotions and recognize that prestige outweighs long term financial investments. I found a summary that would make the need of purchasing the book ( thus saving your money ) unnecessary :

Rule 1 : Spend like you want to grow rich, which means cultivating
frugality whether buying homes, cars or daily items.

Rule 2 : Take advantage of compound interest by starting investing
as early in life as possible — but only after high-interest debt is
eliminated. (I agree!)

Rule 3 : Pay attention to the negative impact of high fees and thus the case for
indexing: “Small percentages pack big punches.” Here he takes a
skeptical view of the motivations of the financial services industry
generally.

Rule 4 : “Conquer the enemy in the mirror.” It looks at the
problems of stock-picking and market timing, fear, greed and other
emotions that can sabotage investing.

Rule 5 : Build a “responsible portfolio” that includes both stocks
and bonds. Here Hallam introduces what he terms the Couch Potato
Portfolio.

Rule 6 : Look at indexing in the U.S, Canada, Australia and Singapore.

Rule 7 : “Peek inside a pilferer’s playbook.” It looks at
common sales practices of financial advisors and brokers. He starts by
suggesting that those planning to own their own indexed account at a
discount brokerage may want to find a fee-only adviser who can set it
up for you.

Rule 8 : “Avoid Seduction,” and looks at the various distractions
that some term “financial pornography” — investment newsletters and
magazines, junk bonds, gold and hedge funds, which Hallam describes as
“the rich stealing from the rich.”

Rule 9 : Those who love to pick their own stocks if “they can’t
help themselves.” Hallam’s solution is to stay 90% indexed but to
allocate 10% to individual stocks if you find it enjoyable.

The book provides excellent advice about saving money and wisely spending it. In short, the first chapter can be summarized as "a penny saved is a penny earned". The book explains that debt is an evil, and describes the illusion of wealth presented by materialistic ownership, and that true wealth is often gained by those who live frugally, realize that value of money and don't lose it by unecessary spending.
Yes, the book is humorous, as many reviewers state, and is an easy read, however, I question the book's statistical illustrations and some of the authors personal accounts.
The author describes a used vehicle he purchased at a bargain price, used extensively, then sold for a higher price than he purchased for after using it. In the real world, these opportunities rarely present themselves. If this was a commonplace occurrence, then vehicle prices would be APPRECIATING, not depreciating as we all know happens (and which the author himself says happens quickly).So this is not a technique which is available in the real world, although its presented as a "lesson" in the book to avoid purchasing new vehicles as a means to save money.
Many of the book's guides and lessons are valuable. The book is vivid about the evil reality of investment advisers who peddle their money-losing services. The illustrations are convincing that these services perform poorly over the long term and deplete you with management fees.
However, I question some of the illustrations. The book describes the rise and fall of some investments for certain periods of time, but the timeframes used are deceptive. For instance, the book describes gold as being a poor investment, and uses an unrealistic timeframe of 210 years (from 1801 to 2011) to show how gold performed compared to US stocks. Over this very long time period, gold certainly did not perform as well as US stocks, many of which came into existence only in the last few decades. However, if you compare gold's performance to US stocks FOR THE LAST 10 YEARS (not since 1801), gold certainly would beat the pants off US stocks...and this would be a much more useful and meaningful comparison. After all, who uses a timeline of 210 years for their investments?
I emailed the author asking him about this and he never replied.
Overall, the book is useful and provides good, solid information and guidance about investments choices in the long term, and about lifestyle habits which can be financially beneficial (or financially detrimental) in the long term.

I really enjoyed the book and think it offered a lot of sensible and logical advice. As one just now starting to invest, I can certainly apply many of the principles. I just wish there had been a little more advice on the practical side of putting this info to use.

This book is excellent for beginners or people who don't want to spend a lot of times on their investments. Basically it tells you to buy index funds (instead of mutual funds), invest periodically and syrtematically and live within your own means.

As a novice investor, I had absolutely zero knowledge of investing before I read this book.
Unlike other investing book, the author explain the basic concept of investing in a really readable and easy to understandable ways.
This book make us (beginner) realize that the finance world is not as risky and scary as it seems.