Seven Years to Seven Figures E-Book

Michael Masterson

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Serie: Agora Series
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2006

Seitenzahl: 390

Beschreibung

In Seven Years to Seven Figures, self-made millionaire and renowned wealth coach Michael Masterson reveals the steps you can take to accumulate seven-figure wealth within seven years--or less. Seven Years to Seven Figures will give you the tools to increase your income, get the highest possible returns on investments, save wisely--and secure your financial future faster than you may have ever dreamed.

Leseprobe

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Foreword

Introduction

Seven Years to Financial Independence

How long are you willing to wait to get Rich?

This Book is not just for Baby Boomers

Introducing the Seven Years to Seven Figures Program

Part I: Seven Years to Seven Figures: Is it Really Possible?

Chapter 1: What the Heck do I know?

How to make Decisions that Stick

Anatomy of a Really Big Raise

Don’t be afraid of your Underlings

Becoming a Chicken Entrepreneur

But that was just the Beginning

Chapter 2: Are you Ready for Wealth?

Perry Wagner

John Newman

Take your First Step toward Financial Independence . . . Right now

When it comes to Wealth, How Much is enough?

Four Levels of Seven-Figure Wealth

Coping with a Mere Million

The $2.5 Million Lifestyle

The Next Level: Living on a $5.5 Million Nest Egg

The Ultimate Lifestyle

But what if you can’t Possibly Save $335,000 a Year?

How much of your Income should you be Saving?

Part II: Eight Stories, Eight Successes

Chapter 3: Audrey Maxwell: How a Good Employee can Become a Great Partner, Build a Dream House, and Become a Millionaire in Seven Years

A Million-Dollar Career

When your Support Net Disappears

Follow Audrey’s Path to Seven Figures

How to get your Boss to give you Equity in the Business

Transitioning from “Valuable” to “Invaluable”

The First and Most Important Secret to getting what you want

Anatomy of a Great Self-Promotion Presentation

Reinventing the Price of your Company’s Product to Boost Growth

Establishing the All-Important Back End

Making a Wealth-Wise Decision about your Home

You Make your Money by Buying Right

Sniffing Out the Best Real Estate Deals

Audrey’s Future

Chapter 4: Alan Silver: Converting Selling Skills into Millions of Dollars of Equity in Five Years

The Payoff

Making the Big Leap—Running your Own Business, Full-Time

Downsizing the Company, Upgrading the Skills

Differentiating Yourself from the Competition

The Wise Decisions of a Wealth Builder

How Alan Became a Multimillionaire in Less than Five Years

Asking for Help

Riding on Coattails

Finding the Golden Key to your Future Wealth

Mastering the Mega-Power of the Back End

Treat Your Superstars Right

Chapter 5: Bruce Buffer: Giving up a Six-Figure Income to Generate a Seven-Figure Net Worth

Easy Profits Lead to Easy Spending

Recognizing the Potential for Colossal Wealth

Expanding the Money-Making Universe

A Million-Dollar Lifestyle

The Secrets of Bruce’s Success

What’s Next for Bruce?

How you can Follow Bruce’s Path to Success

Chapter 6: Justin Ford: Achieving a Radical Financial Transformation—How to go from Bankruptcy to Millionaire in Six Years

Making Tough Decisions

Asking for—and Ignoring—Good Advice

Falling off the Horse . . . And Finding the Courage to Climb Back on

Building Skills, Experience, and Income

Financial Security—and then Some

Becoming an Entrepreneur for the Second Time in Five Years—but Doing it Right this Time

Getting Your Money to Work for You

Becoming an Expert in yet another Field

Taking Real Estate to the Next Level

An Automatic Money Machine

What you can learn from Justin’s Experience

What does the Future Hold for Justin?

Chapter 7: Ken Morris: Coming to America and Cashing In on the American Dream—From $10,000 to $10,000,000

Branching Out Leads to . . . More Money

Where the Real Wealth Comes From

New Projects Mean Big Profits

Combining Two Winning Strategies

Five Elements of Ken’s Success

Chapter 8: Monica Day: Getting Started—how to Boost your Income from $26,000 to $134,000 in Two Years

Help in the Form of a Long-Forgotten Letter

Monica Lands her First Client

A Six-Figure Income . . . In Only Two Years

The Road to Seven Figures in Seven Years as a Copywriter

If you decide to become a Copywriter, Here’s what you need to Know

Finding Companies that Need Copywriters

Preaching to the Copywriting-Friendly Choir

Gathering Samples and Experience

Using your Current Career to Boost your Copywriting Career

Establishing your Fees

Developing a Network of Peers and Mentors

Copywriting Masters Reveal How It’s Done

Monica’s Bright Future in Copywriting

Chapter 9: David Keller: You Don’t Need a Medical Degree to make a Million Dollars

David’s First Opportunity Practically Fell in his Lap

He had to Work a Little Harder to Create a Second Opportunity for Himself

The Money Starts Rolling In

David Educates Himself for Success

Focus on Selling the Service . . . And Profits Will Follow

Help from an Unlikely Source

David’s Workday—Then and Now

What you can learn From David’s Experience

Finding a Good Mentor . . . And then Paying your Mentor Back

Understanding that Cooperation is Usually Better than Competition

Making Marketing your Primary Business Skill

Saving as Much as you can

Chapter 10: Brad Solomon: Even Accountants Can Get Rich—how to Hit $4 Million in Six Years

Brad’s First Year in Business

The Beginnings of a Strong Support Network

A Gradual Increase in Skills, Clients . . . And Profits

Using Direct Marketing to Stimulate Business Growth

Focusing on Customer Satisfaction

Creating a Second Stream of Income

Building a Portfolio of Assets

$2 Million Richer . . . without Doing a Thing

Looking Back

Looking to the Future

How to Replicate Brad’s Success

Choosing the Business Sector That’s Best for you

How to Find (And Take Advantage of) a Great Mentor

How to Find Your Mentor

How to Prove Yourself in the Marketplace

How to Grow your Rolodex

Partners and Superstars—How to Find and Work with the Right People

How to Develop a Second Stream of Income

Shooting for an Extra $25,000 a Year is a Good—and Reasonable—Place to Start

A Good Way to Create a Second Income is to start a Part-Time Local Service Business

Getting Started in the Service Business—Right Away

Part III: Why you Must Act Now

Chapter 11: The Baby Boomer Challenge: Why 50- and 60-Year-Olds Must Follow the Seven Years to Seven Figures Plan

Worried about Retirement? You are not Alone

What about the American Economy?

Chapter 12: Lessons from Life: What I’ve learned about Building Wealth Quickly

Starting with a Tabula Rasa

The Lifestyle you have always dreamed of . . .

Afterword

Index

Copyright © 2006 by Michael Masterson. All rights reserved

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Masterson, Michael.

Seven years to seven figures : the fast-track plan to becoming a millionaire / Michael Masterson.

p. cm.

ISBN-13: 978-0-471-78675-7 (cloth)

ISBN-10: 0-471-78675-6 (cloth)

1. Wealth—United States. 2. Millionaires—United States—Case studies. 3. Success in business. 4. Finance, Personal. I. Title.

HC110.W4M375 2006

332.024′01—dc22

2006024005

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First, I want to thank Suzanne Richardson, an extremely bright and capable young woman who worked as my assistant on this book. Suzanne did a good deal of the research and all of the interviews.

None of my writing would be readable were it not for the intelligent edifications of Judith Strauss. Judith has been my editor longer than either of us would care to admit. I wouldn’t feel comfortable publishing anything that hadn’t been trimmed and polished by her.

I want to say special thank yous to Charlie Byrne, editorial director of my e-zine Early to Rise, and Steve Sjuggerud, editor of True Wealth, whose insightful and experienced comments helped me identify which, of the many ideas I initially wrote down, were important and worth keeping. Thanks also to Dave Lashmet and Gary Lundberg, whose financial expertise was invaluable in reviewing, correcting, and updating the financial planning portions of this book.

The folks in Agora Inc.’s book publishing department—Michael Ward, Wayne Ellis, and Danielle Morino—were, as usual, extraordinarily patient and helpful in working with the John Wiley team. In particular, I’d like to thank Joan O’Neil, my publisher, for her faith in the book and willingness to make last-minute changes.

And, finally, my admiration and gratitude go out to all of those people who inspired this book and whose wealth-building ideas, strategies, and techniques deepened and extended my own: Audrey Maxwell, Alan Silver, Bruce Buffer, Justin Ford, Ken Morris, Monica Day, David Keller, and Brad Solomon, I thank you.

FOREWORD

I haven’t hit 35 yet, but . . .

By the time you read this book, my million-dollar-plus Florida home 100 steps from the ocean will be fully paid for. And I’ll be debt free, with plenty of investments in other things as well, thanks in part to the author of this book. As he’s done for so many others, he taught me how to do the right things to dramatically increase my income and net worth. Life is good.

It wasn’t always like this . . .

When I was 23, I had zero net worth and a $23,500 a year salary. I went looking for something better, and met Michael Masterson on a job interview. I took a position with a company he consulted with.

Soon after that, I started using Michael’s techniques and strategies to build my wealth. I knew he had succeeded (and failed) in many businesses over the years—and, watching him, I saw that he really analyzes every detail of what it takes to “make it.” As a shortcut to success, I thought I could use what he’d learned so I could avoid mistakes and do the right things.

Following his lead, the changes in my financial situation were almost immediate. I knew exactly what to do to get ahead in my job, and I was doing it.

And the benefits have compounded every year. In fact, my net worth has probably increased tenfold in the last five years—during a time when the stock market’s done nothing.

I credit Michael with getting me on track. I’m still influenced by him today—and not only in terms of wealth building. Michael has spent more time thinking about how to live a life that’s rich in every way than anyone I know.

For example, he recommends starting each year by setting one significant goal for each of four important areas of your life: your health, your wealth, your personal self, and your social self. He says to make each goal “significant, yet specific.” Once again, I’ve followed his advice . . .

On the last day of the year, I set significant, specific goals. And to keep myself honest, I share them with the more than 100,000 subscribers to my True Wealth newsletter. So far, I’ve followed through with all of them, and I’ve accomplished things I never imagined I could.

To succeed, of course, you have to put out some real effort. It will take your personal commitment, not just reading Michael’s suggestions. But I can tell you from my own experience, he knows exactly what it takes to get you there. He’s done it himself, time and again.

Seven Years to Seven Figures sounds like a tall order (unless, of course, you’re starting with eight figures). But with Michael Masterson, you couldn’t be in better hands.

Steve Sjuggerud

June 30, 2006

INTRODUCTION

SEVEN YEARS TO FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE

This is a book about how to create your own, personal retirement fund before it is too late to enjoy it.

In the bulk of this book, I’ll profile people who have followed that recommendation. These are real stories about people I’ve known, worked with, and admired. By reading their stories, you will be able to identify means and methods of increasing your own income and boosting the returns you are getting on your investments. Then, seven years from the time you begin your program to take charge of your future, you too can enjoy the comfort that financial independence brings.

Note: All the success stories in this book are true. Where the individual has requested that we use a pseudonym, the name is marked with an asterisk (*).

HOW LONG ARE YOU WILLING TO WAIT TO GET RICH?

So . . . how long are you willing to wait?

Whenever I ask this question—at dinner parties or seminars—I get the same answers.

Almost no one is willing to wait 40 years. Or 30 years, for that matter. The last time I asked this question at a conference—to an audience of about 350 people—I don’t think a single hand went up at 40 years or 30 years. When I asked how many were willing to wait 20 years to get rich, three or four hands went up. It was not until I brought the goal closer to the present—to the 10-year mark—that a significant portion of the audience responded.

Not surprisingly, I have discovered that most people want to get rich as fast as possible and are “willing to wait” about seven years.

When I reported this finding to my publisher last year, he suggested I write a book about how to become wealthy in seven years. And when I suggested that idea to a marketing group that was doing an audiotape version of Automatic Wealth (the book that contains most of my best ideas on wealth building), the idea of writing something called Seven Years to Seven Figures was proposed.

I’m not sure who came up with that title. It may have been me. But I remember thinking about it after we’d all agreed to go ahead with the project. And I remember that I felt very uncomfortable. A program that can deliver a million-dollar fortune in seven years or less?

I worried that I had gotten myself into a bad situation by agreeing to accomplish a seemingly impossible goal. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I knew how to do it. After all, I had done it myself.

In Automatic Wealth, I outlined what I believe to be a realistic program for achieving financial independence. It’s a balanced system that is based on a multi-tiered approach:

Increasing your income

Saving most of that extra money

Investing it in a combination of real estate, stocks, and bonds

Using your spare time (and some of your spare money) to start your own business

This system differs from most pinch-save-and-wait programs in that it recognizes an important truth: to get rich in less than 40 years, you have to radically increase your income.

In Automatic Wealth, my recommended method for increasing income involves real estate and entrepreneurship. If you are interested in a comprehensive wealth-building program that really works over a period of, say, 10 to 20 years, I recommend that book to you.

But if you can’t (or don’t want to) wait 10 or 20 years, you are reading the right book right now. Because the program that is laid out here is a proven, practical, completely realistic way of acquiring a seven-figure net worth in seven years or less.

It’s not easy. And it’s not guaranteed. But it works.

The program I’m suggesting here—the Seven Years to Seven Figures program—is based on the principles explained in Automatic Wealth . . . but modified to achieve a multimillion-dollar net worth in far less time.

Think of it as Automatic Wealth on steroids.

As I said, when I first began working on this concept of accelerated wealth, I was afraid I couldn’t do it. But when I thought about how long it took me to make each of the million-dollar fortunes I’ve earned, I realized that none of them took longer than seven years. Most of them, in fact, took three or four years. This is something to keep in mind as you read this book: the strategies I suggest—though designed to work for you in seven years—may do better than that.

THIS BOOK IS NOT JUST FOR BABY BOOMERS

The idea for this book came to me as the result of many conversations I’ve had about wealth with all sorts of people. Many of them were middle-aged and thus needed an accelerated wealth-building program so they could retire while they were still relatively young.

But many were younger people—people who planned to work another 20 or 30 or even another 40 years, but didn’t want to wait that long to become wealthy.

The truth is, it doesn’t matter how old you are. The principles and strategies (as well as the stories) presented in the following pages will help you learn how to become rich in seven years.

INTRODUCING THE SEVEN YEARS TO SEVEN FIGURES PROGRAM

Getting rich involves three components:

How

long

you invest

How

much

you invest

What

rate of return

you achieve on your investments

How long you will invest has already been figured out: seven years.

How much you will invest is largely dependent on your income. Pinch-save-and-wait programs are based on making small investments, which means they are based on the assumption that you aren’t going to have a high income.

Theoretically, you can become wealthy by increasing any one of these three components. And so, theoretically, you could develop a seven-figure income in seven years just by getting a very high rate of return on a modest investment.

For example, let’s assume you and your spouse have a combined income of $70,000 a year (which is actually about $9,500 above the average). If you saved 10 percent of that, or $7,000 each year, it would take a return on investment (ROI) of 82 percent to reach a million dollars in seven years.

There is no investment I know that can give you that sort of return.

Most financial planners will tell you that you can’t reliably achieve more than a 6 percent or 8 percent ROI over any length of time. As I’ll explain a bit later, I think that’s ridiculous.

But even if you calculate in the higher ROIs that I believe are possible using this program, your average rate of return on your savings will still be in the 15 percent to 20 percent range—hardly enough to turn $7,000 into a million in seven years.

To achieve a seven-figure net worth in seven years, it helps to get a higher ROI . . . but it is absolutely necessary to radically increase your income.

This book will help you do just that. But before we look at the way others have done it, I’d like to tell you my own story.

PART I

SEVEN YEARS TO SEVEN FIGURES: IS IT REALLY POSSIBLE?

I’ve broken this book into three parts so you can use it efficiently. Here’s what you’ll find:

In Part I, I make my case: that you can’t get rich quickly by following most of the advice you get from newspapers, television, booksellers, and the Internet. Such popular advice is all about passive investing. My experience (and the lessons I’ve learned from friends and colleagues who’ve made money quickly) suggests a different course of action.

Part II presents eight inspiring stories–step-by-step accounts of the successes of eight people I know personally. Read them once for motivation. Read them a second time for specific strategies and techniques you can use to build your own wealth.

If you’re a baby boomer nearing retirement–or someone younger who simply doesn’t want to wait 40 years to get rich—you’ll have a particular interest in Part III, which explains why the Seven Years to Seven Figures program is perfect for you.

Get ready to begin your path to seven figures. . . .

CHAPTER 1

WHAT THE HECK DO I KNOW?

This book is all about creating a seven-figure net worth in seven years or less. That may sound outrageous . . . even impossible. But it can be done. In fact, I’ve done it many times.

It started in 1983, when I first decided to get rich.

I was taking a 14-week Dale Carnegie course. Each week, we were given a challenge—to learn how to give a good “hello,” to refrain from criticism . . . that kind of thing. We would read what Dale Carnegie said about the subject in his book , figure out how we intended to implement that lesson in our lives, come into class and explain to everyone there what we specifically aimed to do—and then, the following week and for the rest of the course, we would practice that skill and report back to the class on our progress.