Beating Broke

Personal Finance from the Broke Perspective

The Millionaire Fastlane

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The Millionaire Fastlane

By: MJ Demarco

If there was ever a case for a little less “hype-y” title for a book, this is it.  I’m not sure what else I would have named it, but the title just seems like a whole bunch of get-rich-quick hype, and it kept me from reading the book sooner than I did.  Which turned out to be a bit of a downer, since it’s really a good book.  Demarco spends about half of the book describing his ideas on the different types of life travelers.  There’s the “sidewalkers”, the “slowlaners”, and then, the “fastlaners”.  Each describes a way of thinking about how we travel through our life, financially.

The “sidewalkers” are the people who subscribe to a 9-5 work life and save as much as they can in hopes that they can one day retire on a decent budget.  The “slowlaners” are those that have started to break away from the 9-5 lifestyle and have some side income coming in, but they just don’t (or won’t) make the jump and get into the fast lane.  The “fastlaners” are those who have made the jump to business ownership, entrepreneurship, and are making their money on their own terms.

The second half of the book is dedicated to the “fastlaners”.  Demarco talks about the dynamics of earning money and how the way you make and spend your money is so important to becoming a “fastlaner”.

As someone who regularly writes about frugality, saving, and making the most of what money you do make, I have to admit that I was a bit off-put by the first half of the book.  There is a large contingent of the world that will work most of their lives, save for retirement, and then enjoy the rewards of having done so.  His arguement, of course, is that we shouldn’t have to work our lives away until we’re 60+ years old only to have our body break down on us and not be able to enjoy our hard-earned money in retirement.  Instead, he talks about becoming a “fastlaner”, and creating your own wealth so that you have control over your life and your income.

On the flip side, as someone who recently quit my job, and am trying to make a go of it as an entrepreneur, I really felt that I connected with many of the “fastlaner” ideas.  Going to college, getting a job, and working until you’ve got enough to retire on does seem like a long, fruitless pursuit.  Going solo and building something worth a great deal of money that enables you to retire early and live life the way you want to sounds a lot less long and more fruitful.  I think he makes a great point that many won’t be willing to make that jump and will, instead, settle for the “slowlane” lifestyle.

If you’ve ever given though to starting your own business, or are just unhappy with your job, I think this is an excellent book to read.  It’s inspirational in that it really gives a good idea of what is really possible.  Demarco comes across as someone who really is trying to help people out of the “slowlane” and into a “fastlane” mindset.  I think some will struggle with the concept, and surely, with the ingrained mindset that we’ve all been taught growing up, but seeing that, and beginning to break away from it are excellent steps.  Steps that will be helped by reading this book.

 

The Wealth Cure

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The Wealth Cure

By: Hill Harper

When you first see the image of who Hill Harper is (He’s an actor on CSI:N.Y.), you assume that this is just another book by a celebrity to boost his status and pad his wallet.  What you get when you read this book, however, is another thing entirely.  Not only is this not a book that Harper had someone write for him and then published using his name, it’s a thought provoking book that happens to be about wealth.  If you’ve read many books on money and wealth, you know that a majority of them are dry, boring books to read.  Harper manages to take what is a very important message about the role that wealth plays in our lives and melds it into a very engrossing story about life, success, and the real worth of wealth in our lives.

He starts the story with a short few paragraphs setting up the story for the rest of the book.  Recently diagnosed with cancer, he decided to take a train from Los Angeles to Chicago.  The rest of the story is about the revelations he came to while riding the train.  It’s a wonderful book that really cuts to the core of what wealth really is, and how, so often, we pervert it into something entirely different.

This is a book about life, and how the way we treat our wealth, build our wealth, and live our lives really can make a difference, not only in our life, but in the life of others.  I would highly recommend reading it, especially if you find yourself struggling with the role that money plays in your life.

Disclaimer: I was sent a copy of this book for free as a review copy.

My eBook/eReader Conversion

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After Andrea’s wonderful post on Go Green Method to Save Money: eBooks, and the ensuing conversation that started in the comments, I though it might be nice to share my story in regards to ebooks and ereaders.

Where it begins.

I’ve been a reader for as long as I can remember.  Some of my earliest memories of reading are of reading the Chronicles of Narnia series and the Hardy Boys series.    All through my school years, I read voraciously.  I made my way from shorter books up through goliath undertakings like just about anything by James Michener.  Sadly, when I moved to college, I drifted away from reading.  Most of my reading time was taken up by schoolwork and socialization.  Later, while taking a break from college to pursue more nefarious things, I had a job which usually entailed a whole lot of doing nothing.  To pass the time, I began reading again.  The spark was back.  Heck, I even read the 5th Harry Potter book in a day.

I eventually got a real job, finished my degree, and then got married and started having children.  And, as I was pretty busy doing those things, my reading habits slipped off again.  It wasn’t until we cancelled cable shortly after our first born came along that I got back into it.  And, even then, it was not nearly with the same pace as I had before.  Throughout all of this, I’ve carted around my books.  Each time I wanted to read something new, I bought it rather than borrow it.  Why?  Call it OCD collecting.  I’ve always fantasized about having this huge library in my house with wall-to-wall books. In short, I had an infatuation with books.

59/365: Lectura

But, here’s the thing.  Of all the hundreds of books I had (have), I’ve only reread less than 10 of them.  So, I came to the realization that I was carting around all these books that I would never (probably) read again.  Moreover, they were slowly taking over every bookshelf in the house, and even some of the floor space.  When I came to this realization, I went through them all, and posed a large majority of them on PaperBackSwap.  But, all that did, really, was to swap the clutter of books I had read with a clutter of books I hadn’t read.  I’ve currently got well over 50 books on my “to read” shelf.  For reference sake, I only read about 35-40 books a year.  So, I’ve got close to a year and a half worth of books sitting, waiting to be read.

Through all of this, my desire to have less clutter in my space has led me to try to remove as much of it as possible.  I had downloaded the kindle reader app for my blackberry phone, but I found it absolutely terrible to try and read anything on the little, itty-bitty screen.  At that point, I decided that ereading just wasn’t for me.  At the time, I would rather have the physical book in my hands than try and read on a little screen.  Then, I upgraded my phone.

I traded in my blackberry for a new android based phone.  It’s got a screen that’s roughly twice the size as the old blackberry had.  A couple of books that I wanted to read were available only as ebooks.  So, I gave the cell phone reading another try.  On the larger screen, not only was it bearable, but I found that I liked it.  And, now, several ebooks later, I’m a convert.  An ereader has rocketed to the top of my wish list, although I haven’t decided whether it will be a kindle or a nook, or something else entirely.
photo credit: anieto2k