Millionaire Teacher

Andrew Hallam built a debt-free, million dollar portfolio on a middle class salary before he was forty years old. He has shared his simple, evidence-based investment strategies on CNBC, in MoneySense magazine and with his columns in The Globe and Mail and Canadian Business magazine. He also writes a column for AssetBuilder, an online US-based investment firm. He and his wife are digital nomads. They travel the globe to explore new places. They often couple their adventures with talks around the world, inspiring others to effectively manage their money. Join the conversation and gain continued financial insight on his blog at www.andrewhallam.com.

• Acknowledgments xiiiIntroduction 1Rule 1 Spend Like You Want to Grow Rich 5The Hippocratic Rule of Wealth 6Can You See the Road When You’re Driving? 10One of the Savviest Guys I Ever Met—And His View on Buying Cars 13Careful Home Purchases 19Millionaire Handouts 20How Did I Become a Millionaire? 21Looking to the Future 24Rule 2 Use the Greatest Investment Ally You Have 27Compound Interest—The World’s Most Powerful Financial Concept 29The Bohemian Millionaire—The Best of Historical-Based Fiction 31Gifting Money to Yourself 34When You Definitely Shouldn’t Invest 36How and Why Stocks Rise in Value 36Rule 3 Small Fees Pack Big Punches 43With Training, the Average Fifth Grader Can Take on Wall Street 44Financial Experts Backing the Irrefutable 45What Causes Experts to Shake Their Heads 49When the Best Funds Turn Malignant 51Reality Check 58When Best Mutual Fund Lists Can Strip You Naked 61What’s Under the Hood of an Index Fund? 69Captain America Calls for Government Action 70Who’s Arguing against Indexes? 72Rule 4 Conquer the Enemy in the Mirror 81When a 10 Percent Gain Isn’t a 10 Percent Gain 81Are Index Fund Investors Smarter? 86It’s Not Timing the Market That Matters; It’s Time in the Market 88On Stocks . . . What You Really Should Have Learned in School 90Internet Madness and the Damage It Caused 96Taking Advantage of Fear and Greed 99Young People Should Salivate When Stocks Sputter 101Opportunities after Chaos 103Rule 5 Build Mountains of Money with a Responsible Portfolio 111What Are Bonds? 112Profiting from Panic—Stock Market Crash, 2008–2009 116Having a Foreign Affair 118Introducing the Couch Potato Portfolio 120Combinations of Stocks and Bonds Can Have Powerful Returns 123Rule 6 Sample a “Round-the-World” Ticket to Indexing 129What’s the Difference between an Index Fund and an ETF? 129Indexing in the United States—An American Father of Triplets 135Indexing in Canada 142A Canadian Couch Potato Strips Down Costs 145Indexing in Great Britain 148Indexing in Australia—Winning with an American Weapon 151Indexing in Singapore 153The Next Step 157Rule 7 No, You Don’t Have to Invest on Your Own 161Are You Wired Like a Buddha? 162How Does the Average Index InvestorUnderperform the Index? 163Intelligent Investing for Americans 165Intelligent Investing Firms for Canadians 172Intelligent Investing Firms for British Investors 179Intelligent Investing Firms for Australians 183Intelligent Investment Firms in Singapore 185Don’t Ask about Another Lover 186Rule 8 Peek inside a Pilferer’s Playbook 189How Will Most Financial Advisers Fight You? 189The Totem Pole View 197Is Government Action Required? 200Rule 9 Avoid Seduction 205Confession Time 205Investment Newsletters and Their Track Records 210High-Yielding Bonds Called “Junk” 213Fast-Growing Markets Can Make Bad Investments 214Gold Isn’t an Investment 216What You Need to Know about Investment Magazines 216Hedge Funds—The Rich Stealing from the Rich 219Don’t Buy a Currency-Hedged Stock Market ETF 223Beware of the Smart Beta Promise 225Don’t Jump Heavily into Small-Cap Stocks 226Conclusion 231About the Author 233Index 235