I’ve been an avid reader my entire life and have bookshelves groaning with investment titles.
Every once in a while, I like to revisit some of the more interesting ones.
And so I spent a recent rainy afternoon paging through billionaire money manager Ken Fisher’s book The Ten Roads to Riches.
According to Fisher, there are only 10 ways to become wealthy.
(This is after discounting things you can’t control, like a lottery win or a big inheritance.)
Here are his 10 ways:
- Start a successful business. This is the richest road. Prime examples are Bill Gates, Charles Schwab, Sam Walton, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. Of course, you’re unlikely to do nearly as well as any of these men. But that isn’t necessary. With enough time and effort, you can get plenty rich filling a need for a local product or service in your hometown. (That includes starting a plumbing business or putting braces on kids.)
- Become CEO of an existing firm and juice it. This was the method for Steve Balmer, Tim Cook and others. This requires many years of experience – and generally a lot of loyalty to one company. But if you have the drive and ambition, the salary and option compensation can make it well worth your while.
- Hitch your wagon to a star. This method involves tying your fortunes to a successful business visionary. Charlie Munger did with Warren Buffett, Jeffrey Skoll with Jerry Yang, and Peter Chernin with Rupert Murdoch. This is a tough one though. You have to recognize a visionary early – offer him something of value and stick with him. Not easily done.
- Turn celebrity into wealth. We all know that celebrities are loaded. But unless you’re a world-class athlete, a terrific singer/songwriter or George Clooney’s profile, you might give this one a miss. Yes, it’s possible to become an “internet influencer.” But with 8 billion people on the planet, the competition is ferocious.
- Marry well – really, really well. This may seem shallow, but a Wall Street Journal poll found that two-thirds of women said they’d be “very” or “extremely willing” to marry for money. Half of men surveyed said they’d marry for money, too. Who’d have thought? (Downside: Expect a prenup.)
- Steal it, legally. Some people think plaintiff’s lawyers are crusading saviors. Fisher sees them as bloodsucking leeches and extortion artists. (He quotes the age-old Mexican curse: May your life be full of lawyers.) But if you can handle law school and pass the bar, this method is another possibility.
- Use other people’s money. This is the most common road for the ultra-wealthy. Managing other people’s money is how bankers, brokers, insurance companies, mutual fund managers, hedge fund managers and personal money managers like Ken Fisher make their millions. (Whether their clients are getting what they pay for is another story entirely, one I cover in my book The Gone Fishin’ Portfolio.)
- Invent an endless future revenue stream. In this scenario, you create something – a book, a movie, a Broadway play – and find a way for it to create long-term royalties. This, admittedly, is a long shot. If you’re going to try this path, says Fisher, “think lunch boxes.” Products that end up on lunch boxes – Spider-Man, Star Wars, etc. – are the really big moneymakers.
- Monetize unrealized real estate wealth. Millions of Americans have gotten rich in real estate. And many will in the future. But Fisher says skip the idea of flipping houses and condos – the transaction costs alone will kill you – and concentrate on good properties in desirable areas with predictable cash flows.
- Take the “road more traveled.” This is the method we focus on here at The Oxford Club. It’s about maximizing your income, controlling your outgo, religiously saving the difference, and then managing your investment portfolio in a smart and disciplined way.
The road more traveled is the classic way for everyday people to get rich.
Most of us don’t have the time, the capital or the expertise to found and run our own business.
But we can always use the stock market – the quintessence of capitalism – to become business owners.
This takes time and discipline. But it is the surest way to long-term wealth.
This is not the route for high-paid professionals only, incidentally. Fisher’s firm doesn’t accept accounts starting at less than $500,000. But he has plenty of former middle-class workers as clients.
Fisher writes, “If your passion is truly social work, teaching kindergarten, or quilting – fine. Then focus on frugality. It can be done! I have clients who were postal carriers, teachers, cops, etc. They did it. Frugal!”
How is this possible? There’s no magic. These people live beneath their means and save.
“Skip mocha-caramel-triple-lattes,” says Fisher. “Pay off credit card debt. Avoid designer labels. Buy used cars. Eat in more, out less. Total no-brainers. Yet some can’t do this – just can’t.”
If you can, you have a good chance of becoming “The Millionaire Next Door.”
If you can’t, Fisher warns, you better find a higher-paying alternative.
In other words, see 1 through 9.