The Millionaire Fastlane (2 page)

That road?

It's financial mediocrity, known as “Get Rich Slow,” “The Slowlane,” or “Wealth in a Wheelchair.” That tedium sounds like this:

Go to school, get good grades, graduate, get a good job, save 10% of your paycheck, invest in the stock market, max your 401(k), slash your credit cards, and clip coupons... then, someday, when you are, oh, 65 years old, you will be rich.

This dictation is a decree to trade life, for life. It's the long way, and no, it isn't scenic. If wealth were an ocean voyage, “Get Rich Slow” would be sailing around the horn of South America, while the Fastlaner uses the shortcut-the Panama Canal.

The Millionaire Fastlane
isn't a static strategy that preaches “go buy real estate,” “think positively,” or “start a business,” but a complete psychological and mathematical formula that cracks the code to wealth and unlocks the gateway to the shortcut. The Fastlane is a progression of distinctions that gives probability to the unspeakable: Live richly today while young, and decades before standard norms of retirement. Yes, you can win a lifetime of freedom and prosperity, and it doesn't matter if you're 18 or 40. What “Get Rich Slow” does in 50 years, the Fastlane shortcut does in five.

Why Can't You Drive the Shortcut?

If you're a typical wealth seeker, your approach to wealth can be predictably foretold by a timeless question: What do I have to do to get rich? The quest for the answer-wealth's Holy Grail-throws you into a mode of pursuit where you chase a variety of strategies, theories, careers, and schemes that supposedly will bring great wealth into your lap. Invest in real estate! Trade currencies! Play pro ball! “What do I have to do?” screams the wealth seeker!

No, please stop.

The answer is more about what you've been doing than what you haven't. There's an old proverb that has mutated a few times but the gist is this: If you want to keep getting what you're getting, keep doing what you're doing.

The translation?

STOP!

If you aren't wealthy, STOP doing what you're doing. STOP following the conventional wisdom. STOP following the crowd and using the wrong formula. STOP following the roadmap that forsakes dreams and leads to mediocrity. STOP traveling roads with punitive speed limits and endless detours. I call it “anti-advice,” and much of this book follows this prescription.

This book lists nearly 300 wealth distinctions designed to crack the code to wealth and get you off your current road and onto a new road where you can expose wealth's shortcut. The distinctions are directional markers to “STOP” your old ways of action, thinking, and believing, and reorient you into a new direction. In essence, you have to unlearn what you have learned.

Your Reality Doesn't Change Mine

This section is for the haters. I present the Fastlane with brash cynicism. This book contains a lot of “tough love,” and while it is opinionated, you ultimately have to seek your own truth. The Fastlane might insult, offend, or challenge you because it will violate everything you've been taught. It will contradict the teachings of your parents, your teachers, and financial planners. And since I violate all that society represents, you can bet mediocre minds will take issue.

Thankfully, your belief (or disbelief) of Fastlane strategy doesn't change my reality; it only changes yours. Let me repeat: What you think of the Fastlane doesn't change my reality; its purpose is to change yours.

So let me tell you about my reality. I live happily in a big house overlooking the mountains in beautiful Phoenix, Arizona. There are rooms in my house that I don't visit for weeks. Yes, the home is too large, and that story is a horrifying epic best forgotten.

I can't remember the last time I awakened to an alarm clock-everyday is a Saturday. I have no job and no boss. I don't own a suit or a tie. My cholesterol level confirms that I dine at Italian restaurants far too often. I smoke cheap cigars. As of this edition, I drive a Toyota Tacoma for work (“work” means going to the gym and grocery shopping) and a Lamborghini Murcielago Roadster for play. I almost lost my life street racing a 750-horsepower Viper laced with nitrous oxide. I shop at Costco, Kohl's, and Wal-Mart if I'm in the neighborhood and it's past 12 a.m. No, I don't drive the Lamborghini to Wal-Mart; that might cause a disruption in the space-time-continuum. Trekkies know better.

I don't own a watch more expensive than $149. I enjoy tennis, golf, biking, swimming, hiking, softball, poker, pool, art, travel, and writing. I travel whenever and wherever I want. Other than my mortgage, I have no debt. You can't buy me gifts because I have everything I want. Prices for most things are inconsequential because if I want it, I buy it.

I made my first million when I was 31. Five years earlier, I was living with my mother. I retired when I was 37. Every month I earn thousands of dollars in interest and appreciation on investments working around the globe. No matter what I do on any day, one thing is sure: I get paid and I do not have to work. I have financial freedom because I cracked wealth's code and escaped financial mediocrity. I'm a normal guy living an abnormal life. It's a fantasyland but my reality, my normal, my deviation from ordinary where I can pursue my most implausible dreams in a life free of financial encumbrances.

Had I chosen the preordained road, “Get Rich Slow,” my dreams would be on life-support, likely replaced with an alarm clock and a heavy morning commute.

How about your dreams? Do they need resuscitation? Is your life on a road that converges with a dream, or is one? If your dreams have lost probability it's possible “Get Rich Slow” has killed them. “Get Rich Slow” criminally asks you to trade your freedom for freedom. It's an insanely outrageous barter and a dream destroyer.

Alternatively, if you travel the right roads and leverage the right roadmap, you can resurrect your dreams to possibility. Yes, as a Fastlane traveler you can create wealth fast, screw “Get Rich Slow,” and win a lifetime of prosperity, freedom, and dream fulfillment … just as I did.

If this book hasn't found you early in life, don't worry.

The Fastlane doesn't care about your age, your job experience, your race, or your gender. It doesn't care about your “F” in eighth grade gym class or your beer-drinking reputation in college. The Fastlane doesn't care about your Ivy League college degree or your Harvard MBA. It doesn't ask you to be a famous athlete, actor, or a finalist on American Idol.

The Fastlane is merciful on your past if you just unlock the gateway into its universe. Finally, at the risk of sounding like a late-night infomercial, let me clarify: I'm not a self-proclaimed guru nor do I want to be. I dislike gurus because “guruness” implies know-it-all status. Call me the “anti-guru” of “Get Rich Slow.” The Fastlane is a lifetime school with no graduates; 20-plus years into this and I humbly admit, I have more to learn.

Sorry, No Four-Hour Work Week Here

First, let's get something clear: This isn't a “how-to” book. I'm not going to tell you every nuance about “how I did it” because how I did it isn't relevant. This book doesn't contain a list of Web sites that outline ways to “outsource” your life. Success is a journey, and it can't be outsourced to India in a four-hour work week.
The Millionaire Fastlane
is like a yellow brick road paved in psychology and mathematics that put the odds of massive wealth in your favor.

During my Fastlane journey of discovery, I always sought the absolute, infallible formula that would lead to wealth. What I found was ambiguity and subjective imperatives like “be determined” or “persistence pays” or “it's not what you know, but who.” While these tidbits compiled part of the formula, they didn't guarantee wealth. A workable formula uses mathematical constructs and not ambiguous statements. Does wealth have a mathematical formula, a code that you could exploit to tilt the odds in your favor? Yes, the Fastlane quantifies it.

Now for the bad news.

Many wealth seekers have false expectations about “money” books and think that some fairy-guru will do the work. The road to wealth has no escort and is always under construction. No one drops millions on your lap; the road is yours to travel and yours alone. I can open the door but I can't make you walk through it. I don't claim the Fastlane is easy; it's hard work. If you expect a four-hour workweek here, you will be disappointed. All I can be is that creepy munchkin pointing off in the distance with a stern directive, “Follow the yellow brick road.”

The Fastlane is that road.

Coffee with a Multimillionaire

I've approached this book conversationally, as if you're my new friend and we're having coffee in a quaint neighborhood cafe. That means my intent is to educate you-not to upsell you into some expensive seminar, membership website, or a backend marketing funnel. While I will interact with you as if you're my friend, let's face it: I don't have a clue who you are. I don't have intimate details about your past, your age, your biases, your spouse, or your education. Therefore, I need to make some general assumptions to ensure that our conversation seems personal to you. My assumptions:

• You look around your life and think, “there's got to be more.”
  
• You have big dreams, yet you're concerned that the road you're traveling will never converge with those dreams.
  
• You're college-bound, college-enrolled, or college-educated.
  
• You have a job you don't enjoy or isn't going to make you rich.
  
• You have little savings and carry a load of debt.
  
• You contribute regularly to a 401(k).
  
• You see rich people and wonder, “how did they do it?”
  
• You have bought a few “get rich quick” books and/or programs.
  
• You live in a free, democratic society where education and free choice are standards.
  
• Your parents subscribe to the old school: “Go to college and get a good job.”
  
• You don't have any physical talent; your chances of becoming a professional athlete, singer, entertainer, or actor are zero.
  
• You are young and full of enthusiasm about the future, but unsure where to direct it.
  
• You are older and have been in the workforce for some time. After all these years, you don't have a lot to show for it and are tired of “starting over.”
  
• You've put your heart and soul into a job only to be laid off due to a bad economy or cutbacks.
  
• You've lost money in the stock market or traditional investments championed by mainstream financial gurus.
  

If some of these assumptions reflect your situation, this book will have an impact.

How This Book Is Organized

At the conclusion of each chapter, there is a subsection titled “Chapter Summary: Fastlane Distinctions” which chronicles the critical distinctions to Fastlane strategy. Don't ignore these! They're the building blocks to engineering your Fastlane. Additionally, the stories and examples in this book come from the Fastlane Forum and other personal finance forums. While the stories are real and come from real people with real problems, I've changed the names and edited the dialogue for clarity. And finally, feel free to discuss Fastlane strategy with thousands of others at the free Fastlane Forum (
TheFastlaneForum.com
). When the Fastlane changes your life, stop by and tell us how or email me at
[email protected]
!

It took me years to uncover and assemble the Fastlane strategies, learn them, use them, and ultimately make millions. Bored, retired, and yes, still young with hair, I give you
The Millionaire Fastlane: Crack the Code to Wealth and Live Rich for A Lifetime
! Fasten your seat belts, grab a ten-buck latte, and let's go on a road trip!

PART 1:
Wealth in a Wheelchair… “Get Rich Slow” is Get Rich Old

CHAPTER 1: THE GREAT DECEPTION

Normal is not something to aspire to, it's something to get away from.
~Jodie Foster

The “MTV Cribs” Episode that Never Happened

Host:
“Today we visit 22-year-old Big Daddyhoo and his 8,000-square-foot crib here on the beautiful Atlantic coastline live from sunny Palm Beach Florida … so, Big Daddyhoo, tell us about your rides!”

Big Daddyhoo:
“Yo dawg, we gotz the Ferrari F430 over there with the 22-inch rims, the sick Lamborghini Gallardo over there with the custom 10-speaker stereo, and for those nights when I just wanna chillax with the ladies, the Rolls Royce Arnage does my do.”

Host:
“So, Big Daddyhoo, how can you afford all these gorgeous rides? And this mansion on the beach? It must have cost more than $20 million!”

Big Daddyhoo:
“Yo let me tell you dawg, Big Daddyhoo got rich chilling in mutual funds and popping phat money in my 401(k) down at my Win-Go Wireless job.”

Suddenly, you hear a record screech off the turntable.

Silence.

As you can imagine, this scenario would never happen. Big Daddy's answer is preposterous and laughable. We're smart enough to know that wealthy 22-year-old kids don't get rich investing in mutual funds and stashing money in their 401(k)s from their job at the cell phone store. We know that people who get rich young fall into a unique subset of society: pro athletes, rappers, actors, entertainers, and famous people. Those of us outside this demography are left with the traditional advice showered upon us by financial experts.

It's called “Get Rich Slow” and sounds something like this:
Go to school, get good grades, graduate, get a good job, invest in the stock market, max-out your 401(k), cut up your credit cards, and clip coupons … then someday, when you are, oh, 65 years old, you will be rich.

“Get Rich Slow” Is a Losing Game

If you want to get rich and “Get Rich Slow” is your strategy, I have bad news. It's a losing game, with your time wagered as the gamble. Do you seriously think that the guy who lives in that palatial beach estate with the $500,000 supercar in the driveway got rich because he invested in mutual funds? Or clipped coupons from the local Super-Saver? Of course we don't. So why do we give credence to this advice as a legitimate road that leads to wealth and financial freedom?