David Brown is an Internet sensation.
A few years ago, the longhaired British rapper recorded a song on youtube. Don’t Stay In School. About 12 million people have watched it.
The title was a hook. He’s a smart guy. He rocked his British A levels. He has a university degree. But the 20 something artist has a beef with public schools. For one, they don’t teach about money. He was singing my tune.
My book, Millionaire Teacher, was published in 2011. In the U.S., on November 2011, it hit #1 on Amazon.com in three different categories: Personal Finance, Stock Market Investing and Business and Investing. I just completed the second edition. It’s available on Amazon.
It was translated into languages that I certainly never expected, including Thai, Korean, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese.
The lessons, I think, are timeless. Set a savings goal, track your spending and invest the money like Warren Buffett’s wife. I explain how to do that. A slew of Nobel Economic Prize winners recommend the same investment strategy.
It takes just a few minutes a year. You don’t have to know anything about the stock market. You don’t have to follow stock market news. But you will beat most investment professionals. Mountains of data say that’s true.
Does that sound silly? It isn’t. If you read my book, have a computer handy. Challenge what I write. Check out my references. Look up what peer-reviewed financial academic studies say. Here’s what you’ll ask yourself: Why didn’t anyone teach me this before? Why isn’t this in school?
I ask myself those questions too–almost every single day.
The financial service industry wants you to buy certain types of products. I ask you to avoid them. Warren Buffett does too. Leagues of Economic Nobel Prize winners say the same thing. They recommend that you invest in low-cost index funds. But such products are flies in the caviar for most financial advisors.
But people are getting smarter, so the industry is changing. New and better investment products are starting to kick tradition in the knee. Some new firms are saying, “Hey, people are getting smarter. They won’t get conned forever. Let’s offer something better.”
These firms are often called Robo-Advisors. All you need to do is send them your money. They’ll build low cost portfolios of index funds, much as I describe in my book. These investment firms exist in the United States, Canada, Asia and Europe. My book’s new edition provides a ‘who’s who?’ list.
For those who would prefer to DIY, I explain how to do it. Vanguard has spread beyond the United States. That means investment options, for DIY investors, have also improved a lot.
Here are a few other things that the new book includes:
- I show why some brokers lie. It’s more than a conflict of interest. Something happens in their brains.
- I answer the question, “If you receive a windfall, should you invest it all at once, or should you dollar-cost average the money over time?”
- I show how to buy an ETF, including screen shots of the process.
- I explain why you shouldn’t buy a currency-hedged ETF. These are really common. But it’s better to avoid them.
- I prove that Donald Trump would have been richer if he bought index funds with his $500 million back in 1982. He could have spent millions of dollars every year and done zero And it would have made him billions of dollars richer than he is right now.
- I explain why a family should never lease cars. Doing so is a $1 million decision.
- I prove that young people should prefer to see their stock investments sag, instead of rising right away. The chart that I show is absolutely shocking.
- I prove that investors in actively managed funds don’t get close to earning the posted returns of the funds they own. Index fund investors, in contrast, do far better. This isn’t about the tyranny of fees. There’s a psychological twist.
- I also explored the topic of smart beta funds. If you decide to use them, can you really beat the market?
- I’ve written for magazines. But I want to show why you should never pay attention to their “Top Funds To Buy!” lists. I had some fun with this!
Here’s what the experts say about Millionaire Teacher (2nd edition)
Contrary to financial services industry mythology, saving and investing for your future doesn’t have to be difficult. You’ll learn just how easy it can be in Andrew Hallam’s Millionaire Teacher. With 9 simple rules, he gives you easy, step-by-step instructions. Follow them and you’ll be on your way to a successful (and possibly early) retirement.”
In Millionaire Teacher, Andrew Hallam shows how the son of a mechanic who became a high school teacher could become a financially independent millionaire by following a few simple, albeit difficult to follow, common sense rules. If more young people followed his advice, it would be a richer, more stable world.
“Andrew Hallam’s Millionaire Teacher is full of wisdom and wit – a combination that makes the book an easy read. This is not another writer’s set of opinions, this is an evidence-based project and draws on the wisdom of many Nobel Laureate winners. Their work is translated and distilled into easily understandable chapters. The basic principles espoused in the book should be required educative reading for every investor.”
“There are lots of books on personal finance but blessed few that discuss the topic with wit and even fewer that do so with soul. Andrew Hallam’s second edition of Millionaire Teacher is to my mind the best. Read it. You’ll be entertained. You’ll also be richer in every sense.”
“Andrew is a rare breed. He makes complex financial topics easy to understand for the masses, but his in-depth knowledge also ensures that even the most well-versed can learn a thing or two. Whether you’re a millennial, approaching retirement, or already retired, his second edition of Millionaire Teacher is a must-read for anyone looking to take control of their finances.”
“The first edition of Millionaire Teacher had a huge readership because Andrew Hallam writes with such passion and conviction. This new edition deserves to reach an even larger audience. Andrew brings years of wisdom to his discussion of smart saving and simple, low-cost investing. Readers who follow this teacher’s advice will retire at the top of their class.”
“Millionaire Teacher, Second Edition is packed with humor, solid evidence, and advice. It might be the clearest and most engaging investment book that has ever been written!”
“While there are scads of fine books on passive investing for US residents, until Andrew Hallam came along, non–US investors were left to the tender mercies of local brokers, advisors, and investment companies that serviced their clients in the same way that John Dillinger serviced banks. If you’re in that boat and you’ve just come across Millionaire Teacher, Second Edition, consider yourself lucky: read, enjoy, and fatten up your portfolio!”
“Andrew Hallam’s second edition of Millionaire Teacher is perfect for novice investors. He recommends the right kind of investment products. He also demonstrates a strong awareness of how human emotions can sabotage even the best-laid plan. Hallam does a great job showing how to avoid this trap, whether you choose to invest on your own or you hire an advisory fi rm to build you a portfolio of index funds.”
“Billionaire teacher Warren Buffett and millionaire teacher Andrew Hallam offer you the same advice and guarantee: invest in low-fee and low-tax index funds on a regular basis over your lifetime, and you too will be financially independent.”
“If investing were a religion, the second edition of Millionaire Teacher would be the Holy Grail. Everyone with a pulse should read this book! I’m confident your time and effort will be rewarded.”
“This is a must-read book for any first-time investor. Andrew Hallam helps build the framework for those looking to build real wealth. Hallam’s simple, yet powerful, lessons of ‘start young, spend less, do your homework, and keep costs low cannot be overstated.”
“This book provides some great and simple guidelines for people who are serious about building and protecting their wealth. The principles provided are an excellent roadmap to financial security and peace of mind.”
“Millionaire Teacher, Second Edition is one of those must-read books for both novice and experienced investors. Through experience and humor, the author identifies an approach that’s in the best interest of investors, and he provides the evidence to back it up. Understand what you spend. Save and invest monthly into a well-diversified portfolio of index funds. Ignore the investment industry ‘noise,’ and manage your own emotions. This book offers the reader a clear path to prosperity!”
“Managing one’s financial life doesn’t have to be rocket science. We have been living below our means and investing simply long before it became popular. Retired almost three decades now, we have been traveling the world, taking advantage of great weather, food, culture, and lifestyle. Andrew Hallam hits upon understandable and basic points that can make you wealthy too, and uses plain English, not fancy jargon, to get his message across.”
“As an industry veteran of more than 20 years, I know all too well how the financial services industry exploits people. But if you read Andrew’s enjoyable book and follow his straightforward suggestions, you can simplify your life and save an amazing amount of money for you and your family!”
“Mr. Hallam teaches what you don’t learn in school—how to be rich. He built a $1 million portfolio before he was 40 years old. With his nine rules of wealth he shows how you can, too. I recommend Millionaire Teacher, Second Edition. Class is in session.”
“Millionaire Teacher, Second Edition provides such smart and simple investing advice that it should be required reading for every investor. Using analogies and humor mixed with hard data, Andrew Hallam spells out an investing strategy that will outperform the vast majority of professional money managers—and with less than an hour a year of portfolio maintenance. How brilliant is that?!”
