The Millionaire Code: 16 Paths to Wealth Building

Read an Excerpt

The Millionaire Code

John Wiley & Sons

Chapter One

In the story of Sir Galahad, the knights agree to go on a
quest, but thinking it would be a disgrace to go forth in a
group, each entered the forest, at one point or another, where
they saw it to be thickest, all in those places where they found
no way or path.
Where there is a path, it's someone else's path. Each knight
enters the forest at the most mysterious point and follows his
own intuition. What each brings forth is what never before
was on land or sea: the fulfillment of his unique potentialities,
which are different from anybody else's.
Joseph Campbell

Do you want to become a millionaire? Seriously, do you really want
to become a millionaire? Okay, I'll show you. It's much easier thanyou
think-because once you know "the code" you're headed in the right direction.

Discover the Power of the Code:
Unleash the Millionaire Within

There's no mystery to becoming a millionaire. Anyone can do it. Take,
for example, the unassuming utility company maintenance man making
a modest salary over a 36-year period. He lived below his means, even
buying clothes at thrift shops, yet enjoyed watercolor painting, ballroom
dancing, traveling, and investing. And left $3 million in stocks and real
estate to charities.

Or the copier salesman in a small town who took over a small store of
his own. He worked seven days a week, took few vacations, raised two
children, bought some real estate, and invested the maximum in retirement
savings. At age 41 he sold the shop for $1 million and continued
working for the new owners. Or the doctor who raised four kids and still
managed to retire with almost $2 million.

And how about all those steady American workers-schoolteachers,
city librarians, police officers, nurses, and lab techs-who retire on a nice
combination of resources from a pension, 401(k), Social Security, a few
stocks, bonds, and funds, a low mortgage, and some real estate?

The Only Real Way to Become
a Millionaire

Actually, the most difficult step on the road to becoming a millionaire is
the first step. And the first step is not just "getting started," as most experts
will tell you (although that's a big one). The first step is making sure you're
pointed the right way-your way. Most people aren't! Most people have trouble
getting started because they haven't figured out which way is their way.

All too many people are headed in the wrong direction, going
nowhere fast. Or they arrive in the wrong place too late, traveling some-body
else's path. Or, frustrated, they give up before they even get started.

And that's what this Millionaire's Personality Code is all about, helping
you discover the only real way you can ever become a millionaire-your way.

No Shortage of Formulas Out There

You already know about the mechanical one-size-fits-all cookie-cutter formulas
for getting rich, making big bucks, and wealth building. In fact, I
bet you're like many other Americans who have a small but well-stocked
library with many of the same how-to books I've collected over the years.

You're probably already familiar with some of the most popular ones:
The Millionaire Next Door; Ordinary People, Extraordinary Wealth; Eight $teps
to $even Figures; 9 Steps to Financial Freedom; The Millionaire Mind; Getting
Rich in America; The 401(k) Millionaire; Rich Dad, Poor Dad; You're Fifty,
Now What; and the list goes on and on.

On top of that, I bet you that the last time you were poking around
a newsstand you saw at least one magazine with a cover story telling
you exactly how to make a million bucks so you can retire comfortably
some day.

Sound familiar? I have a big box of these old "how to become a
millionaire and retire" issues from Fortune, Business Week, Kiplinger's,
Money, Forbes, SmartMoney, Mutual Funds, Newsweek, and U.S. News &
World Report. You've seen them, too. After you've read enough of these
books and magazines, you know they all say the same thing, over and
over again. They are like New Year's resolutions and popcorn, quickly
forgotten.

Information Overload-Confusing
and Overwhelming

There's no big mystery about how to become a millionaire. You can easily
find tons of information in libraries, bookstores, periodicals, and online.

So here's the big question for you: If we have all this fancy ultrasophisticated
information, why are there are so darn few millionaires in America?
Why are there only 8 million in a nation of 283 million people? That's
less than 4 percent of the population.

Very simple-the reason there aren't more millionaires in America is
not because you and I lack the information. We know we have all the formulas,
tools, databases, newsletters, methodologies, and software we'll
ever need on budgeting, saving, investing, and all the other tricks essential
to becoming a millionaire.

The problem is, we have too @#%& much information, not too little!

Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places

You have all the books and magazines you'll ever need telling you
exactly how to follow some simple set of rules or steps, even guaranteeing
that if you do you'll become a millionaire and retire happy as a clam.

But in this new age of information overload, all the formulas, rules,
and steps go in one ear and out the other, as my grandpa used to say. Our
attention span rapidly fades. For so many of us, the cookie-cutter formulas
don't feel right-so we're off looking for the next new book, hoping it
will fit who we are.

That's right, as wonderful as it all sounds, most investors tune out most
of the information because somehow-no matter how good things look on
paper in that book or magazine-it just doesn't fit your personality!

Why 90 Percent Are Going
in the Wrong Direction

So, what's the problem? The problem is that there really is no one-size-fits-all,
cookie-cutter approach to becoming a millionaire.

As a result, the vast majority of Americans trying to become millionaires are
doing it the wrong way-doing it someone else's way, using formulas that
just don't fit with their true personality. Or worse yet, they get frustrated,
give up, and do nothing.

No wonder we have so few millionaires. Studies by such respected
organizations such as the American Association for Retired Persons
(AARP), Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), Economic Policy
Institute (EPI), Consumer Federation of America, and the U.S. Bureau of
Economic Analysis tell us that only one in three Americans are saving
enough to retire comfortably and that the average American's portfolio is
less than $100,000 at retirement, including home equity. Many Americans
may never be able to retire, let alone become millionaires.

Wall Street's Not Your Friend

Wall Street's money managers have most Americans believing that Wall
Street gurus can beat the market and that you can't win without their
superior intelligence. Wall Street spends over $15 billion annually for
marketing and advertisements to keep you dependent on this illusion.

Yes, it's a big hoax: Several research studies confirm, for example, that
Wall Street's actively managed mutual funds charge excessive loads and
higher fees, even though Wall Street firms consistently underperform the
top no-load funds run by an independent fund company like Vanguard.

No wonder Wall Street hates to see books come along like The Four
Pillars of Investing, in which Dr. William Bernstein, a neurologist and
money manager, bluntly says that Wall Street operates with the "ethics of
Bonny and Clyde," and they do it under the cloak of legitimacy, disguised
as a trusted friend. Yet study after study consistently proves that
Wall Street's money managers charge more for their services and return
less to investors.

The fact is, Wall Street money managers don't give a hoot about you
personally. Oh, they will smile and pretend, but Wall Street's primary
goal is to increase assets under management and gain control of your
money so they can charge higher account fees and expenses, book more
earnings, and increase profit margins-at your expense. You can do better
without Wall Street.

Yes, You Are Unique-Trust That Still
Small Voice

The problem goes back to the culture of Wall Street and the entire financial
services industry, including fund companies, cable news networks,
and best-selling gurus, magazine writers, and newspaper editors.

Like sheep, they go along with the Wall Street myth, either focusing
on one-size-fits-all, cookie-cutter approaches to getting rich and becoming
a millionaire, or confusing the issue with lots of information so that
Main Street will, by default, turn to Wall Street for advice.

Occasionally, however, a still small voice will scream inside your
head "But wait, I'm unique."

And you're right-you are unique. Your brain is wired differently.
Your DNA and your genes point you in a special direction, down a road
less traveled that's off the beaten path-and on your path.

It should come as no surprise that you'll naturally resist all the
mechanical how-to formulas you've read over and over again in Borders
and Barnes & Noble.

Find the Path Made for Your
Unique Personality

That's where The Millionaire Code comes in. This book is designed to
help you understand why you're different (and why it's okay to be different!)
and to help you discover the only real way you can ever
become a millionaire-your way.

There is no one-size-fits-all, cookie-cutter formula to becoming a millionaire.
None. Life would be less of a struggle if there were. But as we all
discover sooner or later, what worked for your father or mother, for your
siblings or best friend, is probably wrong for you. Even what your well-intentioned
teachers, mentors, coaches, or favorite uncle think is best for
you may be wrong.

In fact, research studies show that the vast majority of college graduates
aren't working in their major field of study. Moreover, studies show that
most graduates will make at least three career changes in their lifetime.

Like it or not-you've got to find the path that fits you and you alone.

To Thy Own Self Be True-Period!

The only real mystery-if there is one-is discovering the real you and the
millionaire within you. We've heard this great challenge so often since
ancient times.

Writing in the Tao Te Ching 5,000 years ago, Lao Tzu tells us to "follow
your true nature." Twenty-five hundred years ago, Plato repeated the
message: "Know thyself." Down though the ages, great mystics of all
faiths tell us to "listen to the still, small voice within," for there lies the
truth of our being.

Get in touch with the real you and your mission in life-and then your
unique path to getting rich in spirit and in fact will become obvious.

America's 42 Million Millionaires
in Training!

You can avoid the false starts and increase your odds of becoming a millionaire
by first identifying your unique personality code-yes first, before
you start saving and investing and all the rest of the stuff you need to do
to accumulate a million bucks.

Know your code, and get into action, and you'll join a powerful yet
quiet subculture in pursuit of the new American Dream-retiring as a millionaire.

Statistically, we know there are already 8 million millionaires in
America. That's about 3.6 percent of the total population of 283 million
people. Some experts predict the number will grow to as many as 50 million
American millionaires by 2025.

That means that today we could have as many as 42 million Americans
on the path to retiring as millionaires. Of course, inflation will have
some impact on the results. But however you look at it, there are roughly
42 million millionaires in training in America today, searching for the
best way to capture this new American Dream.

The New American Dream: Discovering
Your Path to Financial Freedom

What's the best way for you? It's probably not what your boss says you're
great at. Not something that's one of the latest top 20 hot career fields in
America. Probably not something you score well on in some standard tests.
And it's likely not even the job you've been doing for a few too many years:

Shifting into high gear: You could be one of the 35 percent of Americans
who are already building a nest egg-but you just want to
accelerate things and retire early.

Running on empty: Maybe you're doing all the right stuff (at least
what seemed like the right stuff years ago). You're making a good
living, but you're unhappy with your life and feeling as though
you've been wasting time in the wrong career.

Happy, but broke: Maybe you are doing exactly what you want to do,
perhaps fulfilling your life's mission helping the handicapped, but
you're not making much money, or you'd just like to find ways to
better fund the work. At least we can help confirm that you're doing
the right thing.

Still searching: More likely, you're one of the 65 percent of Americans
who really aren't doing much about becoming a millionaire,
very possibly because you haven't discovered the real you, your
mission in life, the millionaire within.

Whatever the case, something tells you it's time to get in touch with your
secret millionaire's personality code, time to get in sync with your true
self, time to get in the millionaire's spirit, now, today.

How to Get the Most out of This Book

We know there are 16 unique millionaire personality profiles. We have
The Code and you can easily self-test to find yours. That's the first step:
Get in sync with your personality type.

If you want get the most out of this process, work your way through
the four parts of the book:

Part 1. "Introduction: Unleash the Millionaire within You." Get an
overview of the background, history, and science supporting
personality profiling, why it works and how we have taken this
powerful tool to the next step, profiling the 16 millionaire personalities.

Part 2. "Test Yourself and Discover Your Unique Millionaire's Code."
Here is a simple self-test that will help you identify the four distinguishing
factors in your Millionaire's Code, along with an analysis
of how you can use any ambiguities to transform your life, going
in a whole new direction and becoming a millionaire in spirit and
in fact.

Continues...

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Excerpted from The Millionaire Code
by Paul B. Farrell
Copyright © 2003 by Paul B. Farrell.
Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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