Any books for how people become wealthy?

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Pizzasteve510
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Re: Any books for how people become wealthy?

Post by Pizzasteve510 »

Removed duplicate post
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Pizzasteve510
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Re: Any books for how people become wealthy?

Post by Pizzasteve510 »

For a different angle, consider that wealth is the accumulation of assets.

Your true wealth is therefore actually a mix of physical objects, recognized interests in human enterprises, recognized promises of future income via instruments like debts, notes (this is what money is), family assets, skills acquired, valuable information or knowledge, control over resources like land or water, etc.

Any of these areas can be developed with effort. Work to earn cash, study to gain skills, buy land to control resources, etc.

Also, it is important to understand that the basis for retaining your interest in these assets is build upon rules of law, scarcity in the market place and other factors beyond full control. All assets have a risk of lost value. Inflation can eat at value, things can get stolen if not protected, skills fade, govt or private debt can fall into default, enterprises can fail to remain profitable.

So one should study both asset accumulation and asset protection methods.

Since the value and retention of these assets can be complex, understanding wealth is a bit of a fluid thing. Does one want a wealth of knowledge, talent and relationships or a pile of money?

Wealthy people pursue what they want, but my notion of true wealth is less fixed and more fluid in nature. If you pursue only cash, you may find it does not really address what you are seeking.

The best advice I have found is in guidance about how to work with people (relationship/maturity), guidance on how to improve oneself and the market value of ones personal skills (education), living within a framework that protects your assets (live in societies that teach respect for the law), and balancing investment/thoughtful speculation/consumption such that you grow a diversified reserve).

I know odd advice, but I thought I would try to add something different.
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beyou
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Re: Any books for how people become wealthy?

Post by beyou »

You saying MIT does not have tougher math classes than Harvard.
Kinda hard to believe.
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TomatoTomahto
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Re: Any books for how people become wealthy?

Post by TomatoTomahto »

bleveine wrote:You saying MIT does not have tougher math classes than Harvard.
Kinda hard to believe.
If that was directed at me, that's not what I said. Math 55 is a very tough course, and is considered tougher than any UG math course at MIT.
In 1970, this demanding course covered almost four years worth of mathematics classes in two semesters, and therefore drew only the most dedicated students. In the class of 1970, only 20 of the 75 students who began the class finished it due to its difficulty. Similar drop-out rates were true for the class of 1976: "Seventy started it, 20 finished it, and only 10 understood it." and for the class of 2009: "[...] we had 51 students the first day, 31 students the second day, 24 for the next four days, 23 for two more weeks, and then 21 for the rest of the first semester after the fifth Monday," said Scott Duke Kominers.
Yale's Math 230 is a similar course, but not quite as tough. My son, pretty good at math, worked his butt off (spending as many hours as his other courses combined) and got a B+, of which he's very proud. A professor of his, who also got a B+ years ago, considers it an accomplishment.

Sorry for going off topic. MIT is a great school, and more to my taste than Harvard, but I want to give credit where due. Bill Gates dropping out of H should be regarded in the context that he'd already done more Math in M55 than most UGs do in 4 years.
I get the FI part but not the RE part of FIRE.
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topper1296
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Re: Any books for how people become wealthy?

Post by topper1296 »

Abe wrote:The Richest Man in Babylon. In it you will find the secret to wealth.

It's free. Just go here:

http://www.ccsales.com/the_richest_man_in_babylon.pdf
I'll second this. :sharebeer
goldendad
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Re: Any books for how people become wealthy?

Post by goldendad »

The Bible, The Millionaire Next Door, The Richest Man in Babylon
rustymutt
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Re: Any books for how people become wealthy?

Post by rustymutt »

Do you mean books like, "Getting Wealthy For Dummies"? Not that I'm aware of.
Even educators need education. And some can be hard headed to the point of needing time out.
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Clearly_Irrational
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Re: Any books for how people become wealthy?

Post by Clearly_Irrational »

I've read quite a few of them, most stories I've read can be summed up like this:

"I do X to make my money now, but I got my first couple of million in real estate"

or

"I do X to make money now, but I made my initial stake by starting and then selling my business"

If you read only one book on the subject then I recommend The Richest Man in Babylon, best of all it's free.
hq38sq43
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Re: Any books for how people become wealthy?

Post by hq38sq43 »

JustinTime wrote:Thanks a lot of good stuff. Also a lot of post about things to do to get wealthy, but this really wasn't what I was interested in just the stories of some of the successful people.
The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life: Alice Schroeder. For me, a page-turner for several reasons, one being that in the 1940's Buffett and I delivered newspapers in adjacent neighborhoods in Washington , D.C. I often relate the story in it of Kay Graham (publisher of the Washington Post) asking Buffett for a dime to make a phone call (how times have changed) and calling after him as he wandered off to find change for a quarter "Warren, the quarter will do." That's frugal.

Best regards,
Harry at Bradenton
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Taylor Larimore
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"How Millennials Can Get Rich Slowly"

Post by Taylor Larimore »

Any books for how people become wealthy?
Pizzasteve510:

I recommend Bill Bernstien's latest book, If You Can, How Millennials Can Get Rich Slowly

He writes:
Would you believe me if I told you that there's an investment strategy that a seven-year-old could understand, will take you fifteen minutes of work per year, outperform 90% of financial professionals in the long run, and make you a millionaire over time?

Well, it is true, and here it is: Start by saving 15% of your salary at age 25 into a 401(k)plan, an IRA or a taxable account (or all three). Put equal amounts of that 15 percent into just three different mutual funds:

* A U.S. total stock market index fund
* An international total stock market index fund
* A U.S. total bond market index fund
Best wishes.
Taylor
"Simplicity is the master key to financial success." -- Jack Bogle
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abuss368
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Re: Any books for how people become wealthy?

Post by abuss368 »

Didn't Trump write a book "How to Get Rich?"
John C. Bogle: “Simplicity is the master key to financial success."
sls239
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Re: Any books for how people become wealthy?

Post by sls239 »

The New Elite is a fascinating book and seemingly well substantiated. It talks about characteristics of wealthy people as measured by those who market products to them (or consult for people who market products to them or something like that...)

It won't tell you how to get rich though.

But I think most of the wealthy got wealthy by taking a lot of risk on something that paid off. There's not a whole lot of books written about people who took a lot of risk on something that didn't pay off but I suspect they outnumber the former.
dc81584
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Re: Any books for how people become wealthy?

Post by dc81584 »

Live well below your means, save enough cash for potential emergencies, and invest the remainder in low-cost equity index funds!
523HRR
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Re: Any books for how people become wealthy?

Post by 523HRR »

Abe wrote:The Richest Man in Babylon. In it you will find the secret to wealth.
+1 Read this when I was a still a teenager, and it set me on a path toward financial independence even before my first real job.
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knpstr
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Re: Any books for how people become wealthy?

Post by knpstr »

523HRR wrote:
Abe wrote:The Richest Man in Babylon. In it you will find the secret to wealth.
+1 Read this when I was a still a teenager, and it set me on a path toward financial independence even before my first real job.
A great book!
It is true the way to wealth is simple and is timeless.
However, don't confuse simple with easy!
:beer
Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking. -Marcus Aurelius
mptfan
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Re: Any books for how people become wealthy?

Post by mptfan »

The Wizard wrote:But to get a few HUNDRED Million $$$, you'll need a certain intelligence plus entrepreneurial spirit that I don't think everyone has...
Or the good fortune to inherit it, or marry into it.
Pizzasteve510
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Re: Any books for how people become wealthy?

Post by Pizzasteve510 »

http://www.amazon.com/Art-Happiness-10t ... 8&qid=&sr=

The Art of Happiness
by Dalai Lama XIV, Howard C. Cutler

Nearly every time you see him, he's laughing, or at least smiling. And he makes everyone else around him feel like smiling. He's the Dalai Lama, the spiritual and temporal leader of Tibet, a Nobel Prize winner, and an increasingly popular speaker and statesman. What's more, he'll tell you that happiness is the purpose of life, and that "the very motion of our life is towards happiness." How to get there has always been the question. He's tried to answer it before, but he's never had the help of a psychiatrist to get the message across in a context we can easily understand. Through conversations, stories, and meditations, the Dalai Lama shows us how to defeat day-to-day anxiety, insecurity, anger, and discouragement. Together with Dr. Cutler, he explores many facets of everyday life, including relationships, loss, and the pursuit of wealth, to illustrate how to ride through life's obstacles on a deep and abiding source of inner peace.

Also
http://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-I ... 0671027034
Relationships and people skills highly correlate with wealth creation. Dale Carnegie is the acknowledge master...with this classic guidebook.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Elements_of_Style
Communications skills are essential in business. Write that alliance deal or MOU clearly with this master work,
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randomguy
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Re: Any books for how people become wealthy?

Post by randomguy »

abuss368 wrote:Didn't Trump write a book "How to Get Rich?"
I hear writing a book on how to get rich is a very good way to get rich. Or offer seminars:)
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