While there are potential quick roads, most of them are extremely high risk and heavy losses can set you back many years, for example: stock/currency/option trading. I don’t personally know of anyone who has made (and kept) a fortune using that route. I do know many newsletter writers, seminar providers, and book authors that “claim” to have made a fortune in trading, but I always ask myself: if they are so rich, why do they need to put on seminars? Trust me, I learned the lessons the hard way when it comes to day trading!
Short of founding/co-founding a company that is ultimately successful, my belief is that the best way to financial independence is to follow the philosophies set forth in the book “The Millionaire next Door”. The discipline espoused in that book takes care of the expenses side of the equation (the key message being earn & save “much” more than you spend, ala Suzie Orman) and then you couple that with the power of “Compounding” using a conservative and highly diversified portfolio and you will eventually get there. Demand a return on all your investments and re-invest all your profits, whether it be Stocks, Mutual Funds, Bonds, Real Estate, etc. Don’t buy any investment on a “wing and a prayer”, ever. This takes more discipline than it sounds. Here are my favorite writers/books:
1. The Millionaire Next Door and it’s follow-on (already mentioned)
2. Richard C. Young’s Intelligence Report (Newsletter)
3. Richard Russell’s Dow Theory Letters (incredible newsletter writer that lives right here in La Jolla)
4. Piggington.com!
5. The Intelligent Asset Allocator & The Four Pillars of Investing, both books by William Berstein. This will give you a solid foundation on the “Efficient Frontier”, diversification, risk vs. reward, and compounding.
6. NoLoadMutualFundX Newsletter – This system works incredibly well as proven over time and verified by Hulbert Digest. I recommend it for a portion of your portfolio (maybe 10%-20%).
Most everything else I have looked at is garbage. These writers above tell it like it is. Suzie Orman is always good for a “pep talk” and listening to her once in awhile will help keep you in line.
