THE MILLIONAIRE

IN YOU
Ten Things You Need To Do Now To
Have Money and the Time to Enjoy It
MICHAEL LeBOEUF

MICHAEL LeBOEUF is a former business school professor who retired at the age of forty-seven in 1989 to
live off his accumulated wealth. Since then, he has occasionally worked as a business consultant,
professional speaker and seminar leader. Dr. LeBoeuf has also written six other books: The Perfect Business,
Fast Forward, How to Win Customers and Keep Them For Life, The Greatest Management Principle in the
World, The Productivity Challenge and Working Smart.
Dr. LeBoeuf’s personal Web site is at www.michaelleboeuf.com.

SUMMARIES.COM is a concentrated business information service. Every week, subscribers are e-mailed a
concise summary of a different business book. Each summary is about 8 pages long and contains the
stripped-down essential ideas from the entire book in a time-saving format. By investing less than one hour
per week in these summaries, subscribers gain a working knowledge of the top business titles. Subscriptions
are available on a monthly or yearly basis. Further information is available at www.summaries.com.
 The Millionaire In You - Page 1

MAIN IDEA
At the end of the twentieth century, one in every fourteen U.S. households had a net worth of $1 million or more. In practical terms,
that means the opportunity to obtain the financial freedom to do whatever you want is statistically closer now than at any other time in
history. For most people, however, the goal is not simply to achieve millionaire status, but to have sufficient time and money to do
whatever they feel passionate about. In other words, money alone, without the time to enjoy it, is not so great.
Put differently, true financial freedom means to have enough money and enough time to enjoy it. Toachieve that in practice, you have
to master four different skill sets:
1. You need to make enough money so you have discretionary funds to invest.
2. You have to learn how to save money rather than spending every dime you make (and borrowing still more).
3. You must mater how invest your money in such a way it will continue to appreciate in value regardless of the market cycles.
4. You need to know how to enjoy your money – something most people consider a no-brainer.
Relatively few people manage to master all four skills, but until you do, financial freedom will remain just like a mirage which is
consistently beyond your grasp. And yet, if you commit to learning and doing everything that’s required, you almost certainly will
become a millionaire.
So how do you create the millionaire which already lies inside you?
1. See the possibilities which lie in abundance everywhere around you every single day.
2. Do what it takes to create your fortune using your unique set of skills, talents and interests.
3. Know when to step back, celebrate your financial freedom and enjoy it.

. .4 .Key
. . Insights
. . . . That
. . . Will
. . Help
. . . You
. . .See
. . More
. . . Possibilities
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pages 2 - 3
Insight #1 Position yourself on the time and wealth grid

Insight #2 Invest your time actively and your money passively

Insight #3 Keep it simple

Insight #4 Realize you’re probably going to live longer

10 Choices For Creating Your Personal Fortune

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pages 3 - 7
Choice #1 Live the life you want, not what others expect

Choice #2 Make choices that stack the odds in your favor

Choice #3 Be a super-saver rather than a big spender

Choice #4 Increase the value of your time consistently

Choice #5 Don’t try and do it all; Do less better

Choice #6 Work hard to capitalize on the unexpected

Choice #7 Don’t try and beat the market; Own the market

Choice #8 Always limit losses; Don’t fall victim to bad luck

Choice #9 Listen to those who know, not those who sell

Choice #10 Do it now rather than regretting it later

4. Jobs
. . . That
. . .Will
. . Help
. . . You
. . Celebrate
. . . . . . Your
. . .Accomplishments
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pages 7 - 8
Job #1 Stay financially independent

Job #2 Keep physically and mentally active

Job #3 Give something back to the community

Job #4 Always remember the journey is the joy


4 Key Insights That Will Help You See More Possibilities
Insight #1 Position yourself on the time and wealth grid
Being wealthy doesn’t happen by accident. It’s a
conscious choice you need to make. A person who is
financially independent does not work for money.
Instead, they organize their finances so their money
works for them, generating more income than they spend.
The scourge of modern-day life is many people work so hard to
pay for their lifestyle they then have no time to enjoy what they
have. This time/money trap can be seen on a grid:
Business Financially
Owners Independent
Wealth
Employees
Slaves Unemployed
Discretionary Time
n The wage “slaves” are those who work at minimum wage jobs
– they have little wealth and must work long hours just to
make ends meet. They may even have several jobs.
n The unemployed have loads of discretionary time, but little or
no assets.
n Employees trade their time for money. They work hard to earn
a decent wage and do so their entire lives.
n Business owners have plenty of wealth but usually no
discretionary time with which to enjoy their assets. They are
consumed by their work and keep on acquiring more lifestyle
assets, even though they will never use them.
n A person who is financially independent has money and the
time to enjoy it. He or she works, not because they need to,
but because they enjoy what they do. They then use their
wealth as a means to an end – to live a fulfilling life rather than
getting caught up in owning more and more.
It’s important, every once in a while, to pause and think about
where you currently are on the wealth/time grid. In terms of
leading a happy, balanced life, financial independence is clearly
the optimum goal to have.
Insight #2 Invest your time actively and your money passively
In a nutshell, this is how you become financially
independent. The real accumulation of wealth begins
whenever you start realizing the true value of your time
and learn how to invest it effectively for long-term returns.
Strangely, the overwhelming majority of people do the opposite
– they invest their time passively and their money actively. That
is, they fail to maintain rigorous control over how their time gets
used and then hire brokers to manage their investments for a
hefty cut of any profits.
The Millionaire In You - Page 2
To actively invest your time means to decide where your time will
be spent rather than having other people or circumstances
dictate how your time should be allocated. In essence, your time
should be consciously allocated over four basic areas:
1. Learning – obtaining the know-how and knowledge required.
2. Earning – applying what you know.
3. Living – doing what’s required to be healthy.
4. Giving – to others or the community at large.
Keep in mind how much time you decide to allocate to each of
these four areas will vary according to your stage in life. Usually,
early years are learning oriented, middle years are earning
focused and later years devote more time to giving and living.
Money, on the other hand, should be invested passively – using
no-load, low-cost index mutual funds that reflect the
performance of the entire stock market. A passive investment
plan is very simple:
1. Choose how to allocate your investment funds between
domestic stocks, international stocks, bonds and cash. For
example, you might decide to allocate your investments:
• 50% in domestic stocks.
• 20% in international stocks.
• 20% to bonds.
• 10% in cash.
2. Buy no-load low-cost index funds that reflect your allocation.
3. Take 10% of every dollar you earn and add it to your
investment fund.
4. Check your portfolio every year. Do nothing if it is within 10%
of your original allocation. Rebalance it if your allocation
varies more than 10% from your plan.
“That’s all there is to it. It’s no-brainer investing that outperforms
at least 70% of the investment gurus who get paid to manage
money. Best of all, implementing it takes little time and minimal
financial knowledge. It’s a financial plan that anyone who can
understand and calculate simple percentages can do.”
– Michael LeBoeuf
Insight #3 Keep it simple
Simplicity is the key to wealth building. Use the 80/20
Rule to manage your time and compound interest (the
Rule of 72) to earn financial freedom. Instead of earning
to spend, earn to invest and build your $1 million nest egg.
The master key to becoming financially independent or wealthy
is to keep things as simple as possible. The simplest ideas really
are the most effective and powerful. In fact, all you really need
are two rules to do well:
1. The 80/20 Rule – which says 80% of your personal
effectiveness will come from 20% of your activities.
Therefore, to use your time productively, do those few
activities which have a high payoff and ignore all of the other
more trivial items.
2. The Rule of 72 – to determine how many years it will take an
investment to double in value, divide 72 by the rate of return.
Thus, an investment paying 8% per year will double every 9
years. Once you understand this rule, you’ll realize how just a
small investment made regularly and consistently will grow
to a sizeable sum thanks to the benefits of compound
interest. And that, in turn, will motivate you to harness this
wealth building engine to become financially independent.

That’s it. Those two rules are literally all you need to know and
apply to become wealthy. The more you try to introduce other
complexities, the less your returns will be. To maximize your
wealth building program, understand and then apply these two
rules conscientiously.
“Simplicity gives us the power to do less of what doesn’t matter –
and gives us the power to do more of what does matter.”
– John C. Bogle, founder, The Vanguard Group
Insight #4 Realize you’re probably going to live longer
Thanks to advances in the biosciences, your life
expectancy is increasing. Plan on taking advantage of
this bonus by providing for yourself financially for many
years to come.
To make an increased lifespan comfortable, you need to do
three things:
1. Get and stay fit.
Resolve to take care of yourself physically and emotionally
so you have the good health to enjoy the opportunity to live
longer.
2. Create your own endowment for the future.
Start thinking like a capitalist rather than an employee. Even
if you keep your regular job, do some consulting projects or
write a book in your spare time. Use that extra income to
invest for the future. Resolve to build a retirement nest egg of
more than $1 million on the back of the Rule of 72 and the
80/20 Rule. As a ballpark figure, work on the estimate you’ll
need a nest egg that is 20-times what you want to receive as
an annual retirement income.
3. Understand delayed gratification is not denied gratification.
Most people don’t even think of working hard right now so
they can have the bonus of retiring early. Instead, they live
from one paycheck to the next. To be certain, it will take some
time and effort to achieve financial freedom, but the results
will be well worth it. There is a wonderful quality of life
attached to being financially independent, so much so that it
is well worth forgoing some luxuries today to build a much
better tomorrow.
“Make smart choices today, and you’ll get to spend and enjoy the
money when there’s much, much more of it. And there’s an
added bonus: Knowing that you’re building a better tomorrow
makes you happier today.”
– Michael LeBoeuf
“An American today with basic common sense can become a
millionaire. It’s simply a matter of seeing the possibilities,
knowing how to proceed and following through.”
– Michael LeBoeuf
“When Michelangelo was asked to describe how he carved his
classic work David from a block of damaged marble, he replied
that the statue was already in the stone. All he did was see it and
then chisel away the unnecessary marble to reveal it. Like the
masterpiece inside the marble, there’s a potential millionaire and
a wonderful life of personal freedom inside you and every one of
us. The key to making it a reality lies in seeing the possibilities
and then making the right choices to create it.”
– Michael LeBoeuf
The Millionaire In You - Page 3
10 Choices for Creating Your Personal Fortune
Choice #1 Live the life you want, not what others expect
There will always be a myriad of other forces who will try
to decide for you how you should live. Ignore them all.
Instead, choose the life you want first and then select all
the other components on the basis they will be compatible
with your chosen lifestyle.
Everyone has a voice inside themselves that can provide the
answers to two important questions:
1. What do I want out of life?
2. How will I know when I have everything I want?
The more detailed the description you develop of your answers
to these two questions, the better. Never leave these questions
for others to decide – that will only generate confusion and
frustration for you. This is something you have to do for yourself if
it is to have any staying power.
The process for translating your dreams into goals is simple:
1. First, make certain the goals you’re working on are genuinely
yours, and yours alone.
2. Next, set goals using the BEST formula:
B – your goals need to be high but believable.
E – set goals that energize and enthuse you.
S – be specific about how you define the word “success”
T – set deadlines, a time when each needs to be achieved.
3. Write down your goals and read them frequently. This
increases commitment and forces you to think clearly.
4. Live a balanced life – set goals in all the major areas of life:
Career – something you passionately enjoy doing.
Family – improving your key relationships.
Recreational – the fun stuff you’d like to do.
Health and wellness – preventative maintenance.
Community – how you can contribute to society.
Personal relationship – improving and enjoying these.
Self-esteem – making you feel great about yourself.
Religious / spiritual – strengthening your inner peace.
5. Now, check your goals for compatibility and set your own
personal priorities. Make certain that in aggressively
pursuing one of your goals, you’re not in fact making it more
difficult to achieve another goal.
6. Translate your goals into action plans – the intermediate
goals that form a bridge between your daily “To Do” list and
your lifetime goals. Most often, action plans are projects that
take more than a day and less than a year to complete.
7. Always remember your lifetime goals are not carved in stone.
They need to be updated regularly. If circumstances change,
drop old goals and add new ones. Remember, the most
important thing is to have goals that enthuse you, not the
precise goals that you choose.
“Don’t expect things to always go according to plan, because the
one thing you can be sure of is they won’t. An old Yiddish proverb
says, ‘Man plans, God laughs’. But those who have a clear
picture of what they want and go after it are infinitely more likely
to enjoy the life of their dreams than those who passively sit back
and let life happen. I’m amazed at how wonderful opportunities
magically appear when I know what I want and go after it. In truth,
it isn’t magic at all. It’s opportunity meeting preparation.”
– Michael LeBoeuf

Choice #2 Make choices that stack the odds in your favor
Be aware of the financial consequences of all your life
choices – education, career, health, location, marriage,
family size, etc. – and make choices that stack the odds in
your favor rather than against you.
Your personal journey to financial independence will be easier if
you make smart lifestyle decisions:
1. Get a good education – but don’t go to the more exclusive
private universities. They’re just too expensive. Get a sound
educational grounding at a reasonable cost.
2. Choose the right career – something which interests you,
makes the most of your talents and gives you a feeling of
personal accomplishment. Make certain your career will fund
the lifestyle you want and provide money for investing.
3. Protect your health – by living moderately, exercising
regularly and avoiding habits that are bad for you. Without
good health, money is pointless.
4. Live in an area with a low cost of living – because it will be
much easier to save if you don’t have to pay huge property
taxes, home heating costs or enormous mortgage
payments.
5. Marry once to a spouse who shares your vision of financial
freedom – and who will be prepared to live frugally while you
work towards your financial goals.
6. Buy a moderately priced home – one that you can afford to
stay in for long enough for property values to rise. Even
better, look at buying a fixer-upper and improve it yourself in
your spare time.
7. Have a moderate number of children – since each one will be
a $175,000 or more drain on your wealth building program.
In other words, all of these decisions have financial
consequences. Be aware of those flow-on effects and manage
your financial risks astutely.
Choice #3 Be a super-saver rather than a big spender
The single biggest differentiator between millionaires and
others is their ability to save. If you aspire to be financially
independent, become a good saver. If you don’t, you
simply will not get there.
If you’re in the habit of spending everything you earn, you’ll end
up spending your life working for money rather than making
money work for you. Actually, saving is better than earning
because it’s tax free. To build wealth, you must have the ability to
save.
To become a good saver:
1. Always pay yourself first – by putting at least 10% of every
paycheck into your savings program.
2. Start early – because the earlier you start saving, the more
time there is available for compound interest to work its
magic.
3. Whenever you get a pay raise or a bonus, save more – rather
than spending that money on new luxuries.
4. Defer tax as far as possible – through the use of 401(k)
accounts and all other legal tax-deferral accounts your
employer may sponsor.
The Millionaire In You - Page 4
5. Harness a Roth IRA – because it allows your money to
compound tax-free.
6. Buy 2- to 5-year old cars for cash – and keep them until their
maintenance and repair bills start getting too high. Avoid
buying new cars because they are terrible financial
investments.
7. Pay off all your credit card debts – because they charge 18%
or more every year when you carry a balance. Pay your
entire credit card bill every month from now on.
8. Document your spending – to highlight areas of unnecessary
expenditure. Redirect those resources towards your wealth
building program.
9. Regularly calculate the cost of your lost wealth – what that
expensive car, jewelry or lifestyle elements are costing you.
Be aware of what that amount of money invested each month
in a savings program would generate.
10.Realize that some debt is an excellent investment – like
going into debt for a home, a business or an education. Not
all debt is created equal.
“The single greatest determining factor of whether you will
become a have or have-not is whether you choose to be a saver
or a save-not.”
– Michael LeBoeuf
“Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy
things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like.”
– Will Rogers
Choice #4 Increase the value of your time consistently
Don’t keep trying to earn more by working longer hours.
Instead, make the time you have available worth more.
Enhance your personal market value by doing more of
what you do well in the time available.
The way to get rich is not to wear yourself out working harder and
longer. Instead, try working smarter:
1. Focus on your employability rather than job security – so
you’ll be free to pursue new opportunities as they arise.
2. Learn more about your profession – since earning power in
any field is always directly related to how much you know.
3. Create a second income – by doing some part-time
consulting or starting your own small business.
4. Make it a habit to always deliver more than you promise –
your boss or customer will love it and your reputation and
market value will skyrocket in their eyes.
5. Build your own personal brand – so people know and
appreciate what you have to offer.
6. Be loyal – to the projects you work on, your partners, your
business and the community.
7. Be on the lookout for great new ideas – and take advantage
of your brain’s most valuable creative abilities.
8. Use feedback from others intelligently – as a basis for
improvement rather than to become offended or defensive.
Enthusiastically seek feedback from the people you respect.
9. Know your true market value – and don’t hesitate to leave
your current job if they’re unprepared to pay that. Put yourself
in a position where you feel good about doing your very best
work and your career will move forwards and upwards.

Choice #5 Don’t try and do it all; Do less better
The paradox of self-management is: The way to get more
done is to try and do less better. In other words, don’t keep
trying to do more each day. Instead, concentrate your
efforts. Do less but to a higher standard.
Becoming an effective time manager is essential, because
unless you can manage your time well, you will lack the ability to
be able to ever manage anything else. Making good use of your
time always come down to a few basics:
• Decide what’s important.
• Do what’s most important first.
• Never confuse activity (being busy) with productivity (results).
• Differentiate between urgency and importance.
To become financially independent, you don’t have to work
harder than the next guy, just more intelligently. To make more
effective use of your time:
1. Schedule a daily time for reflection and planning – since
every hour spent planning enhances the quality of the work
you do for the rest of the day.
2. Carve out large blocks of time where you work on the most
important activities – rather than letting your day fill up with all
the marginal value tasks.
3. Make the most of your personal prime time – schedule that
time for your most important work.
4. Say no readily and frequently – to everything that is
nonessential, distracting or counterproductive. If necessary,
suggest someone else who might be able to do that task.
5. Keep your schedule loose – so when things take longer than
expected (like they usually will), it doesn’t leave you feeling
frustrated. Always have a Plan B in mind and have the
materials you need close at hand.
6. Attack your high priority tasks with single-mindedness – and
focus on doing that one thing until it is completed. If you’ve
correctly identified your highest priority task, this will be the
best possible use of your time.
7. Automate as many repetitive tasks as possible – by setting
up automatic deductions from your checking account.
8. Delegate everything you possibly can – except for the
creative elements of a project you need to contribute
personally.
9. Conquer clutter – by making decisions immediately rather
than later. Also, look at every item and ask: “What’s the worst
that could happen if I throw this away?”
10. Take action to block any and all interruptions during your
creative time.
11. Master your telecommunication tools – so you can use them
to save time rather than trying to figure out how the gadgets
work. And realize there are times when it’s better to be
unplugged.
12. Ask yourself frequently: “What’s the best use of my time and
energy right now?”
13. Never take time for granted – treat time as your most
valuable, most irreplaceable asset. Remember, all the
money in the world cannot buy you an extra moment each
day. Therefore, make the most of this, the ultimate asset.
Stay focused.
The Millionaire In You - Page 5
Choice #6 Work hard to capitalize on the unexpected
Most things rarely go to plan. Good wealth builders
realize that, and stay on the lookout for ways to turn
lemons into lemonade. They have the mind-set every
setback contains the seeds of greater success.
Life is always full of second chances disguised as unexpected
and often unwelcome events. Those with a success attitude are
persistent, have genuine staying power and continually look for
new pathways when their original plans have not played out as
planned.
To become good at facing the unexpected:
1. Keep your eyes on your goal – and realize there are always a
number of ways to do anything. Therefore, if one road turns
out to be a dead end, have confidence you’ll be able to find
another equally rewarding path.
2. Overcome any fears of success – and move forward
confidently. Ask yourself: “What’s the worst that can happen
if this is wrong, and could I live with that if it eventuated?” or “If
I didn’t feel a little fear of the unknown, would I seize this
opportunity?”
3. Use disappointments as a spur to accomplishment – rather
than the permanent and definitive word on whether your idea
was good or not.
4. Never let the opinions of others limit your success – because
history is full of critics who said even superstars would never
get anywhere. Don’t listen to anyone else’s opinion. Get out
and do what you aspire to.
5. Always remember anytime one door closes, another opens –
and therefore it’s not worth dwelling on setbacks. Pick
yourself up and get moving again. Have the attitude if one
door is closed, you’ll find another open door or, if necessary,
build one yourself.
6. Relax and take your goals seriously but not yourself.
Remind yourself often the goal in life is to enjoy yourself. If
you try and take everything too seriously, that simply defeats
the purpose. You’ll be more successful if you treat life like a
game with wins and losses along the way.
7. Have tenacity and stick-to-it – because if you never quit, you
must ultimately achieve your dreams. If you persist long
enough at anything, you’ll win.
“If no one ever took risks, Michelangelo would have painted the
Sistine floor.”
– Neil Simon
“So long as there’s breath in me, that long will I persist. For now I
know one of the greatest principles of success; if I persist long
enough I will win.”
– Og Mandino
“Native intelligence, talent and education will all stack the odds
of reaching the winner’s circle in your favor. But the critical
ingredient to achieving any major long-term goal is a positive,
persistent attitude. Everyone’s journey to the winner’s circle is
filled with obstacles. There are no exceptions. Obstacles are like
death, taxes and presbyopia – you can count on them. You’ll be
given plenty of opportunities, distractions and temptations to
abandon your goal and quit.”
– Michael LeBoeuf

Choice #7 Don’t try and beat the market; Own the market
There actually are no experts who can help you invest
your money. Instead, ride the long term up-trend of the
stock market by owning shares in an index fund which
tracks the progress of the market as a whole.
Despite what any investment advisor tells you, all they’re doing is
making educated guesses about what may happen in the future.
You can do that as well as they can. As already mentioned in
Insight #2, passive investing through a no-load index fund is the
smart approach to building wealth.
No-load index investing works well because:
• There is no sales commission – all your money goes to work.
• Yearly expenses are low – usually 1 to 2%.
• You have the ultimate in diversity because you own all stocks.
• There is no emotional component involved.
• You have no turnover – and therefore no capital gains to tax.
• You don’t have to worry about the competency of the manager.
• You don’t have to pay someone to manage your investments.
Again, as mentioned earlier, your investment strategy is
disarmingly simple:
1. Decide your preferred allocation of stocks, bonds and cash.
2. Find a good no-load, low-cost index fund.
3. Invest regularly and consistently.
4. Check your portfolio once a year and rebalance.
5. Have a small amount of money (say 5%) in an account where
you can try trading and beating the market.
6. Keep working your program forever and ignore everyone
who tries to tell you they can do better with your money. Say,
“Thanks, but no thanks.”
“It usually takes a long time for investors to become
sophisticated enough to realize how simple investing can be.”
– Peter Di Teresa, senior analyst, morningstar.com
Choice #8 Always limit losses; Don’t fall victim to bad luck
You need sensible insurance because life isn’t always
fair. Bad breaks happen, even to good people, but they
don’t have to financially ruin you. Be prepared for storms
ahead by doing some damage control in advance.
An essential element of building wealth is to cover your
downside risks by being properly insured against contingencies
that may arise. In other words, sensible insurance is required.
The key principles in being properly insured are:
1. Insure only against the big calamities and life events that you
can’t afford to pay if they eventuate – like your death,
disability or serious illness. Put together a realistic level of:
• Term life insurance – for 5- to 8-times your annual income.
• As much disability insurance as you can afford.
• Good health insurance.
2. Always take insurance that has the largest possible
deductible you can afford – because it lowers the premiums
significantly and reminds you insurance should be used only
in the event of a major bad break.
3. Don’t buy insurance based on the odds of something bad
happening to you – but only to protect yourself and your
family from something you couldn’t afford to have happen.
The Millionaire In You - Page 6
4. Buy coverage only from the best-rated insurance companies
– because this is your backup plan.
5. Insure yourself against potential lawsuits – with a cheap
personal liability policy.
6. Take reasonable steps to prevent a disaster happening – by
doing the sensible things like giving up smoking, getting
regular exercise, eating the right foods, getting enough rest,
driving sensibly, wearing your seat belt, etc.
Choice #9 Listen to those who know, not those who sell
Never buy an investment from the person who is giving
you financial advice. Regardless of what they say, there
will always be a hidden agenda involved. These people
are always interested in their wealth first, not yours.
In this modern era, everyone gets bombarded constantly with a
multitude of “irresistible” offers. The way to stack the odds of
success in your favor are simple:
n Listen to a few credible sources of information you trust and
ignore completely all others.
n Say yes to just a few money making opportunities and no to
everything else that will dilute your focus.
n Understand completely what kind of legal and financial advice
you actually need and then get that advice at a realistic and
reasonable price.
Of course, an intelligent person attempts to learn from the
mistakes of others rather than making them all himself. Part of
this is learning how to protect yourself from being taken. Again,
this concept is straightforward.
To avoid bad investments:
1. Be a critical thinker – taking time to reflect and look at the
evidence rather than acting immediately on everything.
2. Do your homework – before investing rather than after the
fact.
3. Ask specific questions and get the answers in writing – and if
they won’t respond to your questions adequately, walk away.
4. Interview the references provided by the promoter – but be
aware most of these people will be shills who are paid to
make extravagant claims. Be skeptical – if it sounds too good
to be true, be very suspicious.
5. Resist pressure tactics to sign up immediately – because
good deals very rarely require immediate action.
6. Don’t invest in anything you don’t understand – and unless
you can explain what you’re doing to the average
twelve-year-old, walk away.
7. If an investment clears all these hurdles, consider paying for
a professional’s opinion – and let them go through all the fine
print you naturally gloss over.
“Education is when you read the fine print. Experience is what
you get if you don’t.”
– Pete Seeger
“Your broker could be on his way to Hawaii right now because
you brought the product of the month.”
– Arthur Levitt Jr., former chairman,
Securities and Exchange Commission
“Learn as much as you can: your best protection is knowledge.”
– Michael LeBoeuf

Choice #10 Do it now rather than regretting it later
Success takes more than knowledge – it requires action.
Execution is everything. Winners know financial freedom
isn’t won by what you know but by what you do.
Therefore, begin today.
Once you have the right financial know-how, there are only two
things that can stop you from being successful:
• Death.
• Your own behavior.
In other words, you can literally create the life of your dreams if
you properly invest your time and money, but you have to make it
happen. The magic lies in the doing rather than knowing what
needs to be done.
Therefore, to get under way and to keep moving onwards and
upwards, you need to:
1. Get out of your comfort zone – and replace contentment with
passionate commitment. We’re all creatures of habit more
than we care to admit. To make progress, you need to
cultivate new habits that will be more productive, even if this
produces a little initial discomfort. All great achievements are
difficult in the short run but easier over the long haul.
2. Be decisive and actually take action – rather than getting
bogged down in continually analyzing ideas from every
conceivable angle and viewpoint. Act thoughtfully but by all
means remember to act.
3. Keep rating yourself progressively – on how well you’re
making choices that will increase your personal and financial
freedom in the future. Set goals and start working on them.
4. Track, celebrate and then reward your progress – because
the journey is a long one and you need to enjoy it to stay
motivated. To make the journey more pleasant:
n Put a financial progress chart on your wall or develop a
spreadsheet on your computer where you can follow your
progress. That should remind you to spend whenever the
temptation to spend frivolously hits you.
n Choose a career you like and feel passionate about.
n Reward yourself appropriately whenever you hit specific
financial milestones. Just be careful not to celebrate so
much it halts any further progress.
5. Remind yourself frequently the key is to strive for excellence,
not perfection – and expect not to be able to do everything
perfectly right out of the box. Keep doing your best and keep
moving forwards and ultimately you’ll get to where you want
to be.
“Successful people don’t get in their own way.”
– Earl Nightingale
“A man must sit on a chair for a long time before a roast duck flies
in.”
– Chinese proverb
“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw
back, always ineffectiveness. The moment one definitely
commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things
occur to help one that would otherwise have never occurred.”
– Goethe
“Successful people know there is no free lunch.”
– Michael LeBoeuf
The Millionaire In You - Page 7
4 Jobs That Will Help You Celebrate Your Accomplishments
Job #1 Stay financially independent
There will always be a myriad of other forces who will try
to decide for you how you should live. Ignore them all.
Instead, choose the life you want first and then select all
the other components on the basis they will be compatible
with your chosen lifestyle.
Surprisingly, some people who reach the goal of being
financially independent don’t manage to maintain that status and
fall back into the time/money trap. What’s needed is a financial
strategy to make it last.
This isn’t difficult. All that’s required are the answers to two key
questions:
1. How should I allocate my investment portfolio?
One strategy is:
n Have two money buckets – one for growth and one for
safety.
n In the safety bucket, put the amount of money you plan on
drawing over the next seven years. Your income for the
next year should go into a money-market fund and the
other six years income into a short-term bond index fund.
n Everything else goes into your growth bucket. These
funds should be invested in stock index mutual funds.
n Arrange to have all dividends and interest from your funds
transferred into your money-market account.
This strategy means you won’t have to sell any stocks for
seven years, allowing you to ride out any bear markets which
historically have lasted an average of 9 months each. By
avoiding having to sell your stocks at depressed prices, you’ll
do fine over the longer term.
2. How much money can I safely withdraw from my investment
portfolio each year without diluting future earning power?
You should plan, at most, to withdraw no more than 5% of
your portfolio’s value in any one year. That level of
withdrawal, combined with the fact you have a seven year
cushion, will allow you to ride out the downturns.
At the end of every year, you can rebalance your
investments:
n If stocks are up and bonds are up, reduce the amount in
bonds from seven years expenses to six and sell stocks to
top up your money-market funds.
n If stocks are up and bonds are down, sell stocks equal to
the amount of profits you made in the past year, and then
draw down from your bond fund.
n If stocks are down and bonds are down, top up your
money-market account from your bond fund on the
understanding you will top up the bond fund once stocks
go back into an up cycle.
n If stocks are down and bonds are up, draw down from
your bond fund to your money-market account.
“It’s one thing to reach the winner’s circle and quite another to
stay there. They both take work but of different types. Doing what
it takes to stay financially free is Job One. Having an abundance
of money and time puts you in control of your life, but it isn’t
automatically going to make you happy.”
– Michael LeBoeuf

Job #2 Keep physically and mentally active
Most people don’t have enough time to do everything they
want. When you become financially independent, this is
no longer an issue, but don’t just sit there and vegetate.
Find new and interesting things to do.
Actuaries have found that people who find something they like to
do and who keep doing that have a greater life expectancy than
those who retire and reach for their rocking chair. Accordingly,
treat financial independence as an opportunity to learn more
about all those sports, hobbies and activities which attract you.
To fill your days with productive activities:
1. Keep working – perhaps on a part-time basis or as a
consultant taking on whatever projects capture your interest.
2. Take a lesson from the ancient Greeks – who believed we
should all do four things each and every day:
1. Exercise vigorously to cleanse the body.
2. Learn something new to cleanse the mind.
3. Listen to music to cleanse the soul.
4. Laugh to have fun.
3. Banish the word “retirement” from your vocabulary – and do
things that you find interesting, productive and useful.
4. Learn from the centenarians – and do all the things they do:
• Have a positive and resilient attitude.
• Celebrate life and remain an active participant.
• Stay connected to other people.
• Explore the spiritual side of your life.
“In summary, keep moving and learning, and stay interested in
the wonder of life. Enthusiastically tackle projects that you find
enjoyable and exciting. Exercise, eat sensibly, stay upbeat and
keep the faith. Surround yourself with positive people and avoid
negative people like the plague. None of this will stop you from
aging, but it sure will keep you from growing old.”
– Michael LeBoeuf
Job #3 Give something back to the community
Many people have found giving some of their time and
money to make the world a better place is extremely
rewarding. This may be your greatest source of personal
satisfaction in the future.
The key to success in this area is not to give money blindly to
every cause in the phonebook but to find a cause you care
deeply about and focus on doing something meaningful for that
specific cause. In other words, you have to do your homework.
For every cause you plan on helping in any way, ask:
1. Are the mission and values of this organization aligned with
and similar to mine?
You only want to support an organization that is striving to
make a difference in the world in a manner you feel
comfortable with.
2. Is this organization established and fiscally responsible?
You don’t want to become involved in an organization that’s
here today and gone tomorrow. Also, watch out for bogus
charities.
© Copyright 2002 All Rights Reserved Summaries.Com
The Millionaire In You - Page 8
3. Do the management of this organization have the know-how
needed to fulfill the vision?
That is, are they well-meaning but ineffective or do they know
about all the logistics involved.
4. Are these people you would enjoy spending time with?
If not, working alongside them would be a pain rather than
something you enjoy.
5. Is there financial transparency? Will you be able to see
precisely where your money gets used?
To generate pleasure, you have to be able to see the tangible
results of where your money goes and what it does.
Of course, if you can’t find an organization that meets these
criteria, you can always consider starting your own foundation.
It’s important that you plan ahead for how to handle your
donation from a tax viewpoint. Talk with a tax attorney or CPA to
get some advice on this.
Probably your best approach will be to attach some strings to
your donation. Specify that you will donate a set amount if others
make a matching donation and stipulate where the money
should be used. Get it in writing from the organization, and follow
up to see what actually happened. If it’s really something you’re
passionate about, this will be fun.
Job #4 Always remember the journey is the joy
Life is not a goal. It’s a process that’s meant to be savored
and enjoyed while it occurs rather than at some arbitrary
point in the distant future. Therefore, celebrate each day
for what it is – a gift.
“Life is not to be endured but to be enjoyed.”
– Hubert Humphrey, vice president and U.S. Senator
“In the quiet hours when we are alone and there is nobody to tell
us what fine fellows we are, we come sometimes upon a moment
in which we wonder, not how much money we are earning or how
famous we have become, but what good we are doing.”
– A. A. Milne
“Happiness is like a butterfly. The more you chase it, the more it
will elude you. But if you turn your attention to other things, it
comes softly and sits on your shoulder.”
– Aging Young Newsletter
“Don’t ever save anything for a special occasion. Every day
you’re alive is a special occasion.”
– Ann Wells
“The famous poet and playwright Oscar Wilde once remarked,
‘ When I was young I thought that money was the most important
thing in life; now that I am old I know that it is.’ My personal
opinion is that happiness isn’t determined by what you have, it’s
determined by what you think about what you have. If you think
you would enjoy being a millionaire, it’s a safe bet you will. So
let’s stop fantasizing and do something about it.”
– Michael LeBoeuf
“The bottom line: When you make smart choices about money
and time, your life becomes a masterpiece. Share it with your
children, your family and your friends.”
– Michael LeBoeuf