The Lazy Millionaire
Page 1
Frederick Fell Publishers, Inc
2131 Hollywood Blvd., Suite 305
Hollywood, Fl 33020
Copyright © 2008 by Marc Fisher. All rights reserved.
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever, For information address to Frederick Fell Subsidiary Rights Department, 2131 Hollywood Boulevard, Suite 305, Hollywood, Florida 33020.
First Frederick Fell trade book edition September 2008
For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, Please contact Frederick Fell Special Sales at business@fellpublishers.com.
Designed by Elena Solis
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Fisher, Marc, 1953-
The lazy millionaire / Marc Fischer.
p. cm.
ISBN 0-88391-165-5 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Success in business. 2. Millionaires. 3. Wealth. 4. Success–Psychological aspects. I. Title.
HF5386.F41556 2008
650.1–dc22
2008023697
ISBN-13 978-0-8839-1165-5
ISBN-10 0-88391-165-5
eBook ISBN 9780883912690
Table of Contents
PART I
CH1 What is a lazy millionaire?
CH2 Why aren’t you already a lazy millionaire?
CH3 The lazy millionaire loves work…particularly when his assets do all the hard work!
CH4 The lazy millionaire grows rich quicker thanks to his mentor.
CH5 The lazy millionaire lets his objective work for him
CH6 The lazy millionaire preserves his sanity by following the Principle of Least Effort
CH7 The lazy millionaire plays according to Parkinson’s Law.
CH8 The lazy millionaire loves work … that of others!
CH9 The lazy millionaire is positive
CH10 The lazy millionaire tackles the most profitable tasks first
CH11 The lazy millionaire always strives to pay the lowest price
CH12 The lazy millionaire tracks minor, invisible expenses
CH13 The lazy millionaire saves without suffering
CH14 The lazy millionaire lives like a king on a beggar’s salary!
CH15 The lazy millionaire trusts his intuition
CH16 Give yourself the lazy millionaire’s agenda!
PART II
THE ART OF ALWAYS
BEING ON VACATION
CH1 Take your time, because…It’s your time!
CH2 Free yourself from the tyranny of work!
CH3 Don’t buy until you decide to buy.
CH4 Free yourself from false obligations
CH5 Write: “Do nothing!” In your agenda
CH6 Are you afraid to stop?
CH7 To get there on time, leave…early!
CH8 Why I shave in my car.
CH9 Do you spend your time…vacuuming?
CH10 The ultimate secret to making the most of your time
BIOGRAPHY
MARC FISHER: Born in Montreal, Canada, in 1953, Marc Fisher studied philosophy, literature and worked several years in the publishing business.
His first success came in 1987 with THE INSTANT MILLIONAIRE, (New World Library) a short philosophical fable. The book sold 2 million copies around the world, and has been published in more then 30 countries (including Japan, Germany, Russia, U.K., China, Sweden, Norway, Greece, Italy, Spain, Korea…)
Author of THE MILLIONAIRE’S SECRETS (Simon and Schuster) THE GOLFER AND THE MILLIONAIRE (Prima Publishing), Marc Fisher also penned several psychological thrillers.
Avid golfer, he also likes jogging, yoga and travels regularly in Europe. He lives in Montreal, Canada, with his wife Deborah and daughter Julia.
“Geniuses often accomplish more when they work less”
—Leonardo da Vinci
DEDICATION
To my partner in good and… extremely good times: Deborah
PART I
CHAPTER 1
WHAT IS A LAZY MILLIONAIRE?
“There are only four types of officer: First, there are the lazy, stupid ones. Leave them alone, they do no harm.
Second, there are the hard-working intelligent ones. They make excellent staff officers, ensuring that every detail is properly considered.
Third, there are the hard-working, stupid ones. These people are a menace and must be fired at once.
Finally, there are the intelligent lazy ones. They are suited for the highest office.”
These wise and humorous thoughts, written by General von Manstein about the German army, hit me like a ton of bricks when I first read them.
Because ever since I was young, I was taught the virtue of hard work.
Because ever since I was young, —and throughout my adult life —I was told over and over again that lazy people are good for nothing. In some cases this is actually true.
But what about you?
You have probably also been told until you were sick of hearing it that nothing in life comes easily, “no pain no gain,” and frustration and sacrifices are par for the course.
Of course, a lot of hard-working people do become millionaires.
The fact is: by the time those people have achieved financial independence they are generally so old, that they are unable to really enjoy the fruit of their labor during retirement.
What’s worse is that they have sacrificed almost EVERYTHING to achieve their goal: their family, their free time, and very often their health.
Is it worth it?
NO!
At least in the eyes of the Lazy Millionaire.
The Lazy Millionaire wants to become financially independent, but he does not want to stop living for 30 or 40 years in order to achieve this goal.
This is what sets him apart, not only from most people, but also from regular millionaires.
Take John Paul Getty, as an example.
In his time, he was the richest man in the world. However, in How to be rich, one of his autobiographical works, he confessed that in spite of his millions, he was never able to take more than seven consecutive days of vacation, and that even when he was on vacation, he was never able to go an entire day without receiving or making several telephone calls in order to resolve various urgent problems!
What’s the point of being a millionaire (or a billionaire, in Getty’s case) if you can’t spend a single day without being inundated with problems?
I’d rather be a lazy millionaire!
But first, just so that things are perfectly clear, let me explain what I mean by the term “lazy millionaire”.
It’s simple: a lazy millionaire is someone who has acquired a significant fortune of between $1 million and $10 million quickly and relatively easily.
Why between $1 million and $10 million?
The lower number is easy to understand, of course. You can’t be considered a millionaire unless you have at least… $1 million! The upper limit requires some explanation.
I set the upper limit at $10 million because, among all of the millionaires in America, 95% have a fortune of between $1 million and $10 million. For the most part, they are regular people like you and me; people who rarely make the headlines…
I must specify that, even though I set the lower limit at $1 million, with today’s interest rates and the ever increasing cost of living, having $1 million in the bank by the age of 40 will not provide a very exciting lifestyle without touching the principle.
And once you start to reduce your principle, you will not be able to enjoy the life of a lazy millionaire for very long.
Today, you need $3 or $4 million in order to
live the life of a lazy millionaire.
If you manage to accumulate $10 million, which is very doable if you already have $2 million or $3 million by the age of 50 or 55, and if you live 25 or 30 more years, which is the average lifespan these days, you will most definitely enjoy a much more comfortable life …
If you want to accumulate a significantly greater fortune ($50 million, $250 million, or more) you would have to give up the mentality, habits, and comfort level of a lazy millionaire.
∼∼∼So what else is a lazy millionaire?
A lazy millionaire doesn’t need a university degree, or an exceptional talent, to make it.
Unlike rich heirs, or those who have received a small (or large!) cash injection from their parents, a lazy millionaire doesn’t need more than one generation to become wealthy.
He doesn’t need 50 years, or even 30 years…
He becomes independently wealthy in less than 20 years, which means that if he starts early (which is an exception), at age 20, or even 40, he will die of laughter, and not of exhaustion like his peers!
The Lazy Millionaire can be successful in achieving his goal, possibly, in 10 years. He may even do this in 5 years, even though this would indeed be quite an achievement, and is rare.
Looking at the path travelled in such a short time, and at his bank account, the Lazy Millionaire is often amazed that the task that he accomplished was so easy.
The Lazy Millionaire has a way of thinking, of spending and of using his time that is completely different from ordinary people.
And this is why he is a lazy millionaire!!
But what exactly is the difference between a lazy millionaire and you —and why aren’t you already one?
CHAPTER 2
WHY AREN’T YOU ALREADY A LAZY MILLIONAIRE?
What is the one fundamental difference between a lazy millionaire and you?
It’s easy: you HAVE to work 8, 10, or 12 hours per day; 5, 6, or 7 days per week; 48, 50, or 52 weeks per year!
The Lazy Millionaire… DOESN’T!
But why do you spend so many hours working?
For one of these 12 reasons:
1. The reason that comes to mind most spontaneously is that you are underpaid for the work you do. Yes, you are U-N-D-E-R-P-A-I-D because you are not sufficiently aware of your real value. You agree to work for $8, $15, or $75 per hour when you could be earning $200, $500, or $1,000! Yes, $1,000 per hour without having to be a lawyer or a plastic surgeon!
2. You manage your time ineffectively, and spend too much time doing what you do. You spend your time confusing urgent matters with important matters, and more importantly, you spend most of your time on tasks that pay very little, because you don’t follow the Principle of Least Effort, or the 80/20 rule (i.e. the Pareto principle), which could help you to double or even quintuple your income…
3. You don’t realize that small and frequent invisible expenses have a huge negative financial effect on your life. More to the point: you live beyond your means, which means that you have to work more than ever without stopping, and without ever being able to invest anything or put any money aside…
4. You always pay the full price when you make purchases, when you should be paying the price of the lazy millionaire, and thereby saving thousands of dollars … (for example: $2,800 on a brand new car!)
5. You haven’t grasped the amazing virtue of (early) saving… and never figured out how the money used for a daily pack of cigarettes could be used to build a real fortune…
6. You are the exact opposite of the lazy millionaire: you are a conscientious slave! You are a worrier or a perfectionist who is incapable of delegating and having others do the work for you…
7. You have no sources of alternative revenue, especially residual which would free you from the obligation of working many hours each day until the age of retirement, or even longer, because you are aren’t able to maintain your comfort level without your salary…
8. You aren’t using the powerful secret of the objective to your advantage, which could enable you, for example, to earn $15,000 more in just two hours, year after year or get your hands on your first million in three years. (Or you are using the power of the objective, but in a pernicious way, without even realizing it, and you are losing thousands of dollars per year as a result!)
9. You rarely use the leverage effect, while the lazy millionaire uses it systematically.
10. YOU don’t have a fiscal structure that enables you to reap all of the possible legal benefits of your revenues. In short, you mimic the vast majority of people, who work from January to May just to pay their taxes and benefits!
11. You are unaware of benefits of the invisible “Bucket and spade” technique in your relationships with others: colleagues, employees, family —and you may be less positive than you think you are…
12. Finally, and more generally speaking, you went to school but you did not receive the education of a lazy millionaire so you are convinced that lazy millionaires do not deserve to earn so much money, because they only work half or one-tenth as much as you!
You are convinced that they are even less deserving of driving a car that is nicer than yours, or having a nicer house (not to mention their cottage or ocean side condo!), or taking vacations so often to the most exotic places that you will spend your entire life only dreaming about!
CHAPTER 3
THE LAZY MILLIONAIRE LOVES THE WORK… PARTICULARLY WHEN HIS ASSETS DO ALL THE HARD WORK
A few years ago, I drove home from the dealer at the wheel of a two-year-old BMW 525. It was in excellent condition. I had wanted to buy it with an unexpected check I received from the publisher.
I excitedly showed it to my wife, who was “busy” watering the flowers.
Instead of congratulating me on my new acquisition, as I had hoped she would do, she frowned and asked me flatly:
“You bought yourself a new car?”
“Uh, no… I put down a $200 deposit to hold it. I wanted to show it to you before I bought it…”
“We already have a BMW! Why buy another one? And we have a mini-van. We don’t need three cars!”
“Exactly. The guy is prepared to give me $10,000 for our old BMW, and I convinced him to lower his price by $8,000. He’s almost giving it to me! I’m getting a $48,000 car for $30,000.
I stood proud of my clever answer.
“Not $30,000,” my wife correctly observed, as she explained: “$40,000, because, in exchange, you’re giving him a car that’s worth $10,000.”
Now, if you’re anything like me, you hate it when your wife contradicts you.
Especially when she’s right!
I quickly went on the offensive. “True, but it’s an opportunity that doesn’t come along very often, and our BMW is already five years old, and is beginning to look tired, don’t you think?”
My wife remained stony faced: “What I think is that you should buy that little white house I showed you the other day instead.”
To make a long story short, we went to visit the little white house that very night, at the wheel of… my old beamer, because I had given the key to “my” shiny new car back to the seller, who was kind enough to return my $200 deposit.
The house wasn’t much to look at, and the price the seller was asking seemed a little excessive: $125,000 (A price that’s unheard of these days —I know!). His daughter, who had lived there for years, didn’t want to leave, which was making it even harder to sell, considering that most people buy a house so they can live in it.
I thought about it for a while. I could use this situation to my own advantage since I did not intend to live there, of course. So I made a fairly low offer of $75,000, BUT I assured the owner that I was willing to sign a 3-year lease with his daughter without increasing her rent.
The seller, who had owned the house for 20 years, made me a surprising counter-offer of $82,000 (I found out why later!), which I accepted without further negotiations. I did not want to push my luck any further!!!<
br />
I then realized I had bought a house instead of a new car (well, almost new)…
A house that would generate small monthly revenue. After taxes, which were low, the mortgage and insurance, it left me with $300 every month.
“You see,” my wife said, “this is much better than making car payments of $300 per month. It gives a differential of $600 per month.”
“But I was going to pay cash for the car!”
“I know, but what I mean is that IF you were to make a $300 payment, you would have a differential of $600.”
She had contradicted me again.
And she was right yet again.
And I was annoyed again.
But deep down, I secretly congratulated myself for having chosen this woman —assuming of course that it was me who chose her and not the other way around, because generally speaking, it’s the woman who chooses the man, even though the man may think differently!
Yes, I patted myself on the back once again for allowing myself to be chosen by this woman, who in addition to being extremely beautiful, knew how to handle money and wasn’t a big spender, unlike the wives of some of my friends. How do they survive?
If you are unclear on the concept, a differential is not just a part of the car that… well, I don’t really know what it does!
In financial jargon, a differential means the following:
If you use your money to earn $300 instead of spending $300, you add these two amounts together to determine the real impact of your actions on your bank account: the sum ($600) is known as the differential.
Here is another equally interesting example of a differential.
We have a tiny cottage that, for various reasons (maybe because we have a swimming pool and a yard at home), we don’t even use three times per year. Despite its small size, it generates a few expenses, including heat, electricity, a total of around $200 per month.