Millionaire Teacher (Second Edition): Book Review and Giveaway
The financial landscape can change a lot in a short period of time, which can make even the best personal finance book obsolete in just a few years. Ask David Chilton, who after 22 years brought The Wealthy Barber out of retirement and gave it a significant makeover in The Wealthy Barber Returns.
That’s why I was pleased to see that, after just five years, Millionaire Teacher author Andrew Hallam decided to release a second edition of his international best seller. The investment landscape had changed (for the better) and Hallam wanted to introduce readers to services such as robo-advisors, plus highlight new and cheaper products with which to build an investment portfolio.
There’s also some new and entertaining stories, like when Hallam offered four Gen Xers in Victoria $50 each to book an appointment with a financial advisor at a different Canadian bank and ask him or her to build them a portfolio of index funds. The results were hilariously predictable, as one advisor suggested the index funds were somehow riskier than actively managed funds, and another said an index fund isn’t as diversified as an actively managed balanced fund, as if you couldn’t buy more than one index fund in your portfolio.
“The higher fee balanced funds are worth the extra costs,” said one advisor, “because the money is managed. The index funds would just sit there, not doing much of anything.”
Andrew Hallam became a debt free millionaire in his 30’s. He wasn’t a corporate CEO, doctor or lawyer. He worked as a high school English teacher – in Singapore, no less – without the comfort of a traditional defined benefit pension plan enjoyed by teachers here in Canada.
Hallam wrote Millionaire Teacher for two reasons. One, as a high school teacher he saw first hand the type of personal finance education students received in school. And two, Hallam was motivated by his friends and colleagues who were getting bad advice from the financial industry on how to invest their money.
I highly recommend listening to Andrew Hallam chat with Dan Bortolotti in this edition of the Canadian Couch Potato podcast. You’ll learn why this Millionaire Teacher transformed from a stock-picking extraordinaire into a staunch proponent of index investing.
Millionaire Teacher: Second Edition
In Millionaire Teacher, Hallam shares his personal experiences with saving and investing in a witty and easy to read style. Throughout the book, Hallam explains the nine rules of wealth that you should have learned in school.
Rule #1: Spend like you want to grow rich – To stay out of harm’s way financially we need to build assets, not debts. But too many people hurt their financial health by failing to differentiate between their wants and their needs.
Rule #2: Use the greatest investment ally you have – Starting early is the greatest gift you can give yourself. If you start early and invest efficiently, you can build a fortune over time.
Rule #3: Small fees pack big punches – Instead of recommending actively managed mutual funds, advisors should be directing their clients toward index funds. With just three index funds you’ll beat the pants off of most financial professionals.
Rule #4: Conquer the enemy in the mirror – Whether it’s an index fund or an actively managed mutual fund, most investors perform worse than the funds they own because they like to buy high, and they hate buying low. That’s a pity.
Rule #5: Build mountains of money with a responsible portfolio – Ensuring that your account has a bond index, a domestic stock index, and an international stock index provides you with a greater statistical chance of investment success.
Rule #6: Sample a “round-the-world” ticket to indexing – A detailed look at indexing in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Singapore and Australia. Regardless of where you live, if you build a diversified account of index funds, you’ll beat 90 percent of professional investors. In a taxable account, you’ll do even better.
Rule #7: No, you don’t have to invest on your own – This rule replaces “the 10 percent stock picking solution…if you really can’t help yourself.” A new rule with a look at intelligent options for investors who may need a bit of hand-holding. Get the low-down on target date retirement funds and robo-advisor platforms.
Rule #8: Peek inside a pilferer’s playbook – Many financial advisors have mental playbooks designed to deter would-be index investors and they initiate their strategies with remarkable success. If you’re prepared for what they might say, you’ll have a better chance of standing your ground.
Rule #9: Avoid seduction – It’s important to control the seductive temptation of seemingly easy money. There’s a world of hurt out there and rascals keen to separate you from your hard-earned savings.
Final Thoughts on Millionaire Teacher
Andrew Hallam knocked it out of the park with Millionaire Teacher, and the updated second edition means this must-read book for investing beginners won’t go stale.
Hallam does an outstanding job breaking down complex topics into simple terms, often using personal stories and anecdotes to really drive the point home. He blasts the financial industry over their excessive mutual fund fees and deceptive marketing tactics, and he encourages investors to take control of their own finances.
There’s an overwhelming number of mutual funds and ETFs to choose from, and countless “perfect portfolios” that experts have designed for the do-it-yourself investor. Hallam’s simple solution is to buy a domestic index, an international index, and a bond index – and rebalance annually to your age-related allocation breakdown.
Million Teacher is an outstanding personal finance book and deserves to be on your bookshelf next to gems like The Wealthy Barber Returns and Wealthing Like Rabbits. It should be required reading for high school and university students.
Time for a Giveaway!
The author of Millionaire Teacher was kind enough to send us a copy of the newly updated second edition to give away to one lucky blog reader. Let us know in the comments what you wish you learned about money in school and we’ll enter your name into the contest for a chance to win a copy of Millionaire Teacher: Second Edition.
The contest closes on Saturday March 4th at 5pm EST and we’ll announce the winner in the next edition of weekend reading.
Good luck!
I wish I had learned about how the stock market works. It would have taken the fear of the unknown is investing. Also reading a company’s finanicial sheet in order to understand if a company was being run successfully. Knowing the basics would have helped in undestanding and picking stocks.
I wished I understood the pitfalls of the mutual funds compared to ETFs and should have not withdrawn some RRSPs for a HBP when I bought my first home.
I wish I had learned about compound interest in school and the impact purchasing a home can have on your personal finances.
In the final year of high school, we did a stock market simulation where the winner who would pick the best stocks. I remember one the winners bragging about how they picked random ticker symbols and won the contest! There was never any mention of how we were all chasing a fools errant. No mention of index investing whatsoever. A book such as Millionaire Teacher would have been beneficial to have
I have mutual funds and stocks. My stocks always have better returns than my funds. Mutual fund managers are paid very well but not sure if they earn their money as far as our returns. The Millionaire first book was interesting, I would love to read his updated version.
I wish I’d learned that a bargain isn’t a bargain if you pay interest on it for months. Since we’re inundated with credit card offers once we start university, it would be a great idea to get some independent information before we sign up!
The only thing we learned in school was “save 10% of your income” but absolutely nothing about investents. Even though I’m much closer to retirement now, the Millionaire Teacher book would still provide valuable advice that we can pass on to our young adult children! Besides, we are never too old to learn!
The one item I wish I was taught back in high school was about investing in stocks. I don’t believe ETFs were around when I was in high school. If I had someone teach me about the risks and rewards of investing, it would have alleviated all the noise from family about ‘losing’ everything by investing in the stock market. I would have bought Apple during its IPO! 🙂
I wish I had learned about stocks and bonds, and about the importance of starting to invest early. But teens are all about instant gratification, so I’m sure the lesson would have to lost to some!
I wish I’d learned about mortgages and interest rates. We bought our first home when we were quite young after moving to another province for work. Not knowing any better we locked in for five years at 11.5%! Interest kept going down after that for years. At least learning mortgages would have helped us. We went in blind. All is well now though!
I wish there had been an investment club in high school and university to help me learn by practising how to invest in various financial products. I wish I had learned to stay the course with my early investments to realize the long term gains.
I wished they thought me how to invest.
I wish I learned about popular sales tactics in school. It all seems like common sense now, but the first few major purchases I made as an adult, I was entirely too trusting of salespeople and definitely did not get the best value for my money.
I wish I had learned about investing when I was in high school. Having even basic knowledge of stocks, bonds, insurance and other financial products would have helped me start investing young, when I should have started. My sons have told me that the financial education curriculum isn’t much better now.
I wish I had learned that having debt (e.g. Vehicle loans, credit card debt, etc) doesn’t have to be normal! You can actually save first and buy after you have the money. My parents normally had a variety of debt and so I originally thought that was just how life was. Now I know it doesn’t have to be that way and that you can buy a vehicle with “cash.”
I wish I had learned about index funds, ETFs and dividend-paying stocks. We learned about the stock market and did those exercises where you spend fake money on individual stocks and track for them for a few weeks.
But honestly, I think most high schoolers are trying to figure out if and how they can afford a post-secondary education. I think the whole needs versus wants conversation is the most important!
I wish I would have learned investing basics and household budgeting in high school. These are real life skills that would benefit most more than some other subjects!
I wished I learned about what different investments were available and how to use them. How to become financially independant.
I wish I had learned to pay myself first. I think it’s seriously the best piece of advice out there, especially for young people who haven’t even thought about it the idea. Plus, by saving a set amount every month and investing it, you get to see both dollar cost averaging and compound interest at work.
I wish I had learned about investing. All I was always told was that you should pay off your mortgage as fast as possible and not to worry about investing. In the end the mortgage gets paid off fast but you are left with no investments other then your house.
I wish they would teach basic information on banking, saving, budgeting. How debt is a wheel that is hard to get off and how to read your pay slip, your bank accounts. I see people all the time that never look at the papers, that say to me they don’t understand and its all gibberish. They don’t know what they are getting, why things are deducted from their pay, and what they are paying to have the things they have. Investing and saving are important but if you don’t understand the basics, even thinking about that part is just overwhelming.
I wish I had learned to start saving at least 10% of my paycheque from the very start, even when I was just making minimum wage as a teenager. It would’ve started a habit that would continue as I made more money.
I wish I would have learned this a long time ago. As a late starter in saving money, I’m always looking for ways to boost the end result
The first thing they should teach in school is how to make a budget on your first pay check. This goes a long way for saving for retirement and investing those savings properly.
I wish I had paid attention to the details such as fees , and researched more the end results of what those fees have doe to my hard earned dollars . the new calculators on line and blogs have been a great help in the past few years.
I wish I’d been taught about the advantages of saving early and how compounding would be your friend. Most of the other things I’ve learned since have been due to changes to financial services availability ie diy stock. Just having someone say save it today and you’ll have more to spend tomorrow may have changed my ways.
I wish I would have learned about indexing and also saving for the long haul. I did learn about budgeting and then never used it, but going forward I will be as I go through my divorce and have to seriously look at spending and saving.
I wish there was some club for investing in high school where we could invest in stocks, bonds, ETFs etc with play money. This is just to send the message through on how to invest with real money later in life!
There was nothing taught about finances when I was in school.My parents never invested so I also only knew to save with a bank saving account until later in life.The interest rates were much higher then so I did do ok. I have pushed investing to my adult children and this is another book I will recommend they read.
I wish I had learned about markets and investing while in school. I would be in a better position to retire if I had.
I wish that I had learned the power of compounding. I also wish that Investing and Personal Finance was taught as a standard subject in school, as part of a balanced curriculum. I also wish that I had been shown the power of time in the equation and how investing, consistently, a modest amount, when you are younger adds up to financial freedom. Yes… I wish…
There wasn’t even an offering for a personal finance course when I was in high school. While you can rely on your family and peers to learn, that doesn’t always necessarily happen, especially as a teenager. Would have been nice to learn the basics of personal finance to at least start the learning off on the right foot.
I wished i had learned that when you invest with an advisor they will charge you large fees for every withdrawal from a plan. I was taught about fees while with an advisor about not when you leave.
I wish that we were taught to recognize the conflict of interest that exists in our relationships with most advisors, as they both “advise” and sell you products. I switched to a “fee-only” advisor only 5 years ago, after I finally woke up. Twenty years of high fees with you Investors Group was no different that keeping my funds in a pillow-case under my bed.
As a woman I wish I had been taught to take care of my own financial future rather than relying on others. I also wish I had learned about investing in blue chip dividend stocks rather than mutual funds.
The basics of and on investing and diversification.
Something
I wish I would have learn the simple rule of pay yourself first right when I got my first job. It is so simple and you get the benefits of compounding early.
I really wish that I had learned about the power of compounding, but then again, personal finance was not taught at my school. While I am in a reasonably good position now, at age 39, in retrospect I lost valuable time in my 20s because I had no idea just how valuable an early start would have been. Although my income was very modest in my 20s, I certainly could have set aside $100-200 a month, and allowed compound interest and dividends to work their magic.
I wish schools taught everything! Interest, mortgages,saving for yourself, living within your means, investing and divesting in retirement. All these things are learned as you go and a lot of mistakes are made through lack of understanding.
I wish I learned more about investing. For the longest time it seemed so scary. I definitely would have been much more comfortable with it had I actually been given background on it early on.
I wish high school taught me anything about finances. Maybe it was just my school but I don’t recall learning anything about “real world” finances after high school. A core class on budgeting, saving, investing and borrowing etc. should all be taught over several years in high school.
I wish that I had learned in school how to make a realistic budget.
In so many households money, like the consumption of alcohol is not discussed. Then once you reach the legal age you are expected to know what to do. A personal finance course should be part of the public education system. I saved and invested but my financial advisors looked out for their own interests not mine. Today in retirement I still do not have the confidence to invest on my own. Thankfully my children have heeded my advice to become financially literate and save.
I wish that the little that was taught about budgeting had more practical, hands on and experiential learning about what debt is, does and means to an individual, as well as the benefits of savings (and compound interest). Teaching about budgets is not enough.
I don’t remember any financial education in school. My parents are savers and so am I. I’m pondering my investments with the lens of avoiding that which will damage the planet. It is important to me to walk the talk.
Twenty-seven years ago I was on the QE2 crossing the Atlantic and attended a wealth seminar given on board talking about how to invest 50k. It was an interesting talk lasting 90 mins. During question period I got up and said, I have only one question, how does one get the 50k to invest? Lots of tithering ensued from the audience. I read the original Wealthy Barber and numerous other financial advice books and my trouble with them is they never answer the question of how you get the 8% returns. Life is very different than what is written in books or presented in seminars. For instance if you are between houses and have to rent due to work, where do you park your house money for 2-3 years? You can’t risk 300k in the market, banks will give you 0.5%, EQ might give you 2%, and then there is the risk of the housing market skyrocketing while you are out of it, jassels of being a landlord, new tax regulations on primary residence…Etc etc nothing is as simple as it is portrayed in these books. To teach this in school to people who let’s face it, do not have a long attention span is insurmountable. We all learn from our mistakes and that is life.
A personal finance class should be mandatory, or at least part of Civics class. The basics of bank accounts, investment products, budgeting, income tax, and the mechanics of compounded growth are fundamentals for financial success.
I wish I had learnt the basics of personal finance, literally as a separate subject. It’s one of those things that one can NOT do without. Especially, traps that gets students right out of school – like credit cards, student loans, car loans etc.
We had an economy class in high school, but we mainly learned broad concepts (supply and demand, interests, etc.). I wish I had learned more about investing, in a way that can be used outside of the classroom. The economy class was actually removed from the cursus a couple years after I did it in 2000.
I wish I had learned compounding interest and how credit cards work!
I wish I had learned the basics of finance: tracking money, creating a budget, learning how to save, how to invest. And how line of credits and credit cards can be traps. But back when I went to school no one had lines of credits and few had credit cards.
I wish I had learned that equity mutual funds only follow the stock market trends. I may as well have bought an index fund for less cost.
I wish I learned how to properly invest my money at an early age!
I wish I knew earlier that I could take care of my own finances and investing, all I needed was to educate myself, and that is the first step.
I wish I’d learned anything about investing. I remember ONE lesson in saving and compound interest. That was it.
What you wish you learned about money in school? Seriously I need to know everything!!!!
School did not teach me anything, I learned the hard way after university when I had a load of student debts plus all of the “living” expenses.
Good thing I am a quick learner and now I am paying off those debts and trying to save some money at the same time.
I think this would be a great read for someone fairly uneducated on money!
The Millionaire Teachers book would be a nice addition to my library
I would have liked to learn basic budgeting, saving, and how to do my own taxes. I’ve found that there’s so much to learn that you have to get started simply and then assimilate new information as you go. I never could have learned a tenth of what I know now through any sort of high school course. Staying out of debt has to be the first step.
I wish I had learned about savings goals for young people (such as home ownership, rent vs buy), and ways to save for such short but flexible term goals. I could have been saving more than I did.
I also wish I had known a lot more about negotiation. Both how to do it and things you can do it for. I think very few young people are any good at negotiating salary and raises, for example. But also on the consumer side, knowing the price isn’t always the price.
I wish that I had learned the basics of personal finance, such as the miracle of compound interest while in school and to pay myself first!!
Now, at the age of 57 I am doing everything I can to make up for lost time. Andrew`s book would definitely be of great help to me.
I would absolutely love to win a copy of it!
I wish I learned about how to invest and think long term and not just the safety of GICs.
I wish I learned the power of time and the importance of starting saving and investment at an early age. I didn’t realize this until I graduated school, worked for three years, moved to Canada, and finally started talking with my colleagues about this topic. But never too late! I am glad that now I know the lesson, and also found this book.
I’m old – we weren’t taught anything about finances. Today, folks just need the basics – how to make a budget, power of compounding, pay yourself first, spend less than you earn and keep it simple.
I wish I had learned basic financial information in school. Back in my day, there was nothing in the curriculum.
What I wish I learned about money in school is that high investment management fees do not guarantee big returns and that small fees pack big punches. If only I had learned about index funds in school.
I wish I was taught more about the stock market and types of financial instruments, including the cost of owning certain types of assets. It could have helped me avoid wasting my money in my early investing years investing in high priced mutual funds.
learning the ins and outs of insurance – vehicle, house, life would have been very helpful.
I wished I’d learned about simply living within your means. It’s financial suicide to try to keep up with the Jones.
I wish that I could have learned about investing in the stock market and the dangers of credit card use from an earlier age.
Something I wish I had heard in school was “live BELOW your means” Living ‘within’ your means will just keep your nostrils at the waterline — at best. Living below your means is the only way to get started saving, build your net worth and start acquiring any wealth.
I wish I had learned about the basic fundamentals of mortgages in school, i.e., the advantages of weekly and bi-weekly payments, lump sum payments on mortgage anniversary dates, etc. I never even saw an amortization table until after we had moved into our home! It’s a shame personal finance hasn’t been taught in school. Andrew’s book would be a very welcome addition in our home and would certainly be put to good use!
I wish I had learned that buying ‘stuff’ doesn’t make you happy.
We were taught nothing about personal finances; at least not in the core curriculum. I wish they had included that instead of some of the other material that I seldom have an excuse to use.
Learned about compound interest in school.
I wish I’d learned about the power of compound interest!
Would love to read this book and then donate it to our local library for more to benefit from!
I wish I would have learned about money management – period. When I was in school, there was no such thing.
I wish I learned that you had to file your taxes every year! Believe it or not I didn’t realize this even though I worked a part time job through junior/high school. I ended up filing a bunch of years at a time after graduating. Such a basic requirement of being a Canadian citizen should be taught in schools but perhaps I was partly to blame for being a young punk for lack of better words.
I wish I had learned the benefits of variable rate mortgages. So many years of fixed rate 5 year mortgages in declining mortgage rates markets!
I wish I’d learned about life insurance and if it was a worthwhile investment for estate planning.
It’s got to be Compound Interest! TIME is the variable that is so easily overlooked. We focus on the dollar value. In financial terms, nothing is a powerful to a high school kid than time, and the earlier we’re educated on this, the richer we become!
I really wish I had known the invest early concept. I am in my 50s and eyeing retirement with a limited portfolio as I started LATE! I now tell my students (a children), as I am/was a High School English teach as well, to jump on investments esp RRSPs early and keep contributing what you can throughout your working caeers. will buy the book if I don’t win it!
Terry K
I wish my first knowledge about finance wasn’t from the credit card companies or banks wanting to sell products like overdraft protection or accounts with high fees.
I wish I learned more about investing in school. The concept of saving was discussed, but it would have been much more helpful to learn the best means to do so.
I wish I had learned at an earlier age about investing in general, budgeting, income taxes, and managing debt (i.e. mortgages and loans).
I wish that I had learned how good, Buy and Hold, of good companies can be, much earlier. The power of compounding, and dividend investing would have helped me if I had started earlier.
I am trying to install these ideas in my adult children.
I wish I had learned about interest compounding and why people tend to overspend.
Having a single mom , I learned early to save money. Unfortunately ,school did not teach me anything about saving and investing. I was lucky enough to have people around me and some good books to learn how to invest. Now , my son is 14 and showing interest in learning how to invest , watching BNN and Bloomberg and reading the wealthy barber.
I just wish there had been some advice period when I had been in high school. It could have been a simple course like the saving ten percent idea and watch and eliminate debt. It just seems the education started about twenty years too late but at least I took my own iniative to investigate.
I wish I learned something about money matters in school. anything would have been better then nothing. “All I know about money matters is that it sure does” (farside quote)
I wish I learned the fundamentals about how the stock market worked and differences between different investment strategies. Most importantly, I wish I learned about index investing at that time.
All of it! Budgeting, Investing, Financial Planning…these topics should be taught to all students!!
I wish I learnt about the basics of personal finance in terms of saving, debt, spending and investing and how they correlate and affect each other. I wish I read more books about personal finance in my teens so that I can manage my finance in a different and better way. Going forward, I am planning to educate myself in this area by reading more books, blogs and news. And my ultimate goal is to educate both my kids (4 and 9) about the importance of managing personal finance early and invest smart.
I wish I had learned about the magic of compound interest and the benefits of making contributions automatic.
Your question implies that there was something missing in my education, regarding money. I’m frankly not convinced that financial literacy education in school is going to make that much of a difference. My parents and my personal predisposition toward frugality were probably the most significant things for me. In other words, it’s about character formation, something that I don’t think schools are particularly good at. I would like the book, though! Thanks to you and Andrew for making this opportunity available.
I wish I had learned the relationship between different types of investment (stock, mutual funds, bonds, cash, property, art or collectibles, insurance etc) and taxes. It’s complicated and there are so many ways of diversifying. I’m still confused even though I’ve been investing for a number of years. I keep putting money in and am afraid of selling because I don’t understand the possible implications and am afraid I’ll end up with having to pay lots of tax.
I wish I learned about compound interest and the benefits of investing when you are young.
Wish I would have learned about taxes and how they work. Especially marginal rates.
I wish there was at least some general interest finance classes in the high school ciriculum about the various investment vehicles available and which investments work best from a tax perspective. Maybe not a lot of it would have stuck because it is not a time one has a lot of money to work with, but there is a lot to be said about providing some awareness at minimum. I believe most of us learn from how our parents dealt with their financial matters so we are at their risk and do most of our learning from the school of hard knocks…education doesn’t always come cheap! A free book is a great place to start.
I wish I learned more about diversification and time in the market. Thanks for the great giveaway!
In school, I wish I would have learned more about money and how to budget it most effectively. We only learned about interest – not too helpful for real life situations.
I would really like to win a copy of this amazing sounding book to learn how to do type of personal investing with the little funds I have. While learning, I’d like to take my young adult children (22 & 25) on the journey and we could all learn together. I think it’s incredibly important for young people to learn these skills since the financial landscape has changed so much over the years.
I wish I knew the stock market and investing is actually easy and straightforward to understand. The wealth of information available can be mostly reduced to simple terms and a little bit of reading. The intimidation factor that there was somehow a greater chance of losing before you even bought made it an unappealing option to save in the first place. Knowing that there are many options and that you don’t need to take on the risky ones made it immediately understandable and clear about building the most basic of portfolios.
I wish I would have known about budgeting, putting 10% away NO MATTER WHAT and the power of compound interest. I graduated out of high school and went to work in the oilfield which was booming. My boose budget back then was$500 per week. I made enough in the winter to take most of the rest of the year off, a tropical holiday every spring break and a new vehicle every 3rd year. There was no thought of anything but how good life was. I was injured on the job 8 years ago and struggle to hold a full time job now. I think back to my youth with much regret, but my kids know different.
I wished I had learned that RRSP’s are not for everyone, especially if you are 23 and are in the lowest income tax bracket. The only good thing is that the money is there, compounding for the next 40 years or so.
Lisa,
I did RRSPs in my early 20’s and the tax free compounding will make up for the small difference in tax rates if you need the money for emergency and esp for when you retire. Worked for me as it enabled me to retire at 54.
TFSA is a good early alternative too.
We learned very little about finances in high school. However, the school of hard knocks offered many valuable lessons.
I was lucky enough to have been shown by example from my parents a frugal lifestyle. Saving came naturally for me which was lucky since personal finance trumps investing. But I wish I would have been taught that Canadian Mutual funds have some of the highest fees in the world and index funds allow you to be frugal in investing.
I wish I had learned about DRIPs (Dividend Reinvestment Plans). I was fortunate enough to win some common shares from a big bank when I was in grade school. They have doubled 3 times over the years, turning into a nice little windfall. But, had I signed up for the DRIP instead of receiving the cash dividend payments over the years, it could have been worth a lot more!