Getting to a Million Dollars - Ignore the Millionaire Books

Today I (RAH) heard a radio ad for The Millionaire Maker's Guide to Wealth Cycle Investing by Loral Langemeier in which people gave glowing testimonials telling us how much money they had made following Loral's advice. My guess is that a few people have made money after reading her book, but not many. Her book is just another example of easy-to-get-rich schemes peddled by a long list of authors who claim to have a magical formula.

I imagine that for Loral, and most of the other get-rich-quick authors, her book is a means to an end - making herself rich at the expense of her unsuspecting readers. And she is not alone. I typed in "millionaire" as a book search on amazon.com and 58,490 results were returned. And "million" produced 352,203 results. Even "billionaire" gave 12,799 results. What is next? Getting to a trillion dollars?

Here is a small sample of make your fortune books with catchy titles: Mommy Millionaire: How I Turned My Kitchen Table Idea into a Million Dollars and How You Can, Too! by Kim Lavine, The Millionaire Real Estate Agent: It's Not About the Money...It's About Being the Best You Can Be! by Gary Keller, Becoming a Millionaire God's Way: Getting Money to You, Not from You by C. Thomas Anderson, The Millionaire Zone: 7 Winning Steps to a Seven-Figure Fortune by Jennifer Openshaw and Think Like a Billionaire, Become a Billionaire by Scot Anderson.

According to these books just about anyone can become a millionaire, even a billionaire. It seems that you can get rich by: having a kid and a kitchen, just being you, praying, counting to seven or just thinking about getting rich. Most of this stuff is simply junk.

For most people getting to a million dollars requires lots of hard work, clear thinking, careful planning, persistence for many years and some luck.

Rather than waste my energy reading any of these silly and self-serving get-rich-quick books, I prefer to spend my time setting up a long-term saving and investing plan that involves spending less and putting my savings into solid stocks, bonds and cash. My approach may not be glamorous, but it's solid and, hopefully, it will make me and my family financially secure.

Related Articles:

Disciplined Saving and Smart Investing Will Increase Your Nest Egg
Getting To One Million Dollars for Retirement Takes Discipline
How to Retire Comfortably at 48
Save a Little, Get a Lot
Save Now So You Can Spend Later

Posted April 7, 2007.