Millionaire Teacher

Andrew Hallam's book is just the right one for novice investors. He not only provides the winning strategy in terms of your personal financial life, but in investing as well. The book contains Hallam's Nine Rules to become a millionaire, and he has them all right. If you know people who are financial train wrecks waiting to happen, recommend this book to them. It may be the best investment they make.

Larry Swedroe

Author,
The Quest for Alpha
, Principal and Director of Research, The Buckingham Family of Financial Services

Millionaire
Teacher
is an enormously thoughtful gem of an investment book that every serious investor should read, study, and learn from. This wise and witty book gives the reader a fresh perspective on the simple concepts needed to sustain financial freedom. Most of all, it is delivered with a genuine simplicity that will capture the reader's attention from the first page and hold it to the end.

Bill Schultheis

Author,
The New CoffeeHouse Investor
, Principal of Soundmark Wealth Management, LLC

Every once in a great while I read a financial book that I think should be shared with everyone I know.
Millionaire Teacher
is that book!

Charles E. Kirk,
The Kirk Report

Unlike most investment book authors, Andrew Hallam has become a millionaire by living frugally and investing HIS OWN MONEY successfully. His book is a great guide for the average person seeking financial independence.

Michael B. O'Higgins

O'Higgins Asset Management, Inc.,

Author,
Beating the Dow, Beating the Dow with Bonds

Andrew Hallam is proof that you don't need a high salary, complex stock trading system or even a financial adviser to achieve financial independence. You can get rich by living within your means and using simple wealth-building tools such as low-cost index funds.
Millionaire Teacher
is a sensible and highly readable guide to investing that packs a lot of wisdom into its nine simple rules. There are important lessons here for everyone, from newbie investors to experienced stock pickers.

John Heinzl,
Business/Finance columnist,
The Globe and Mail

Andrew's book is my “go to” book from here on out when asked for a recommendation for that graduating high school or college student. It is a joy to read and will undoubtedly raise the financial literacy of young people as well as adults.

Robert Wasilewski,
President RW Investment Strategies

Author,
Do-It Yourself (DIY) Investor
blog

Published in 2011 by John Wiley & Sons (Asia) Pte. Ltd.

1 Fusionopolis Walk, #07-01 Solaris, South Tower, Singapore 138628

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as expressly permitted by law, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate photocopy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center. Requests for permission should be addressed to the Publisher, John Wiley & Sons (Asia) Pte. Ltd., 1 Fusionopolis Walk, #07-01 Solaris South Tower, Singapore 138628, tel: 65-6643-8000, fax: 65-6643-8008, e-mail:
[email protected]
.

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.

Neither the authors nor the publisher are liable for any actions prompted or caused by the information presented in this book. Any views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not represent the views of the organizations they work for.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

ISBN: 978-0-470-83006-2 (Paperback)

ISBN: 978-0-470-83008-6 (ePDF)

ISBN: 978-0-470-83007-9 (eMobi)

ISBN: 978-0-470-83009-3 (ePub)

To my mom and dad (Roger and Hilary Hallam) for your love, guidance, and model of what a fabulous marriage is meant to be.

And to Pele Hallam-Young, for being such an amazing wife.

Acknowledgments

I'd like to thank Ian McGugan, for encouraging me to write this book, and for showing me what great financial writing is supposed to look like. To the teachers at Singapore American School, who prompted me to write an understandable guide for the layperson. Many of you have turned an important corner by saying no to the excessive fees charged by certain financial service operators, and I'm excessively proud of you for that.

Hats off to Kris Olson, Keith Wakelin, Deb Wakelin, Neerav Bhatt, Gordon Cyr, and Seng Su Lin for allowing me to pry into their financially empowered personal lives for the betterment of others.

And for helping a technological Luddite, cheers to Excel master, Dan Skimin; the Jedi of patience, Lavinia Vasundran; technological coach, Dianna Pratt; and graphics guru, Paul Welsh.

Thank you to Facebook master Alex Wong; webmaster of infinite degrees, David Dixon; artist supreme, Fang Yang; my secret agent, John Kimzey; and the supplier of nutritional power, Jane Antique.

Nick Wallwork, of John Wiley & Sons, deserves my sincere gratitude for believing in this project, as do production master, Janis Soo; editor extraordinaire, Jennifer Wells, and the marketing tag team of Cynthia Mak and Cindy Chu.

Finally, thanks to my wife, Pele Hallam-Young, for her unwavering encouragement. Every day with her is Christmas.

Foreword

Every magazine editor cringes when a plain brown envelope with an unsolicited manuscript arrives in the mail. Chances are, it contains a letter that begins: “Dear fellow truth seeker. The international conspiracy to control our minds with fluoride is revealed in the 15,000-word article enclosed. Call me immediately to discuss when you will be publishing it.”

Despite the cranks, an editor lives in the hope that one of those plain brown envelopes may lead to something great. I can tell you that once a decade or so, that hope actually materializes. My proof? Andrew Hallam.

I had never met Andrew when an envelope landed on my desk at
MoneySense
magazine
www.moneysense.ca/
. It contained a typewritten article about Warren Buffett. I remember reading the piece in my office and staring out over Front Street in Toronto as I debated what to do. The writer's enthusiasm jumped off the page; he also seemed unusually knowledgeable. On the other hand, who was the writer, this Andrew Hallam guy? And why did he spell Buffett's name with just one
t
?

I decided to phone Andrew and I will always be glad that I did. He explained to me that he was a teacher on Vancouver Island. Investing was his passion. And, sure, he would be happy to rework his piece a bit and even give Mr. Buffett his full consignment of
t
's.

The article turned out well, and over the next few years, Andrew became a regular contributor to our pages. He filed fascinating stories on the stock market, the art of haggling, and, eventually, on his decision to move to Singapore and take up a teaching job there at a school for international students.

Somewhere along the way, it became clear to me that Andrew was living, breathing proof that all the theory about personal finance could actually work in practice. He was a middle-income earner, and someone with no ties to Wall Street. But it was clear from his stories that he was amassing wealth at impressive speed.

Exactly how he was accomplishing so much was still unclear to me. Andrew and I always communicated by phone or e-mail, so I could only guess what he was like in person. That all changed when he arranged an opportunity for me to come to Singapore and teach a weeklong session on writing to his students at the Singapore American School.

Meeting Andrew face-to-face for the first time, I was struck by three things. First (and I realize how superficial this sounds) I couldn't help but notice that Andrew was seriously buff.

Unlike those of us who come from the keg-shaped end of the physical spectrum, Andrew is one of those annoying, long-muscled ectomorphs who look as if they were designed to lope endlessly across wide savannas. He had told me he was a distance runner; I hadn't realized he was good enough to win races against thousands of competitors. Every day in the week to come, I would see Andrew pull on a pair of running shoes and speed off to run distances that would have had me hailing a taxi and packing a lunch. He monitored his training with stopwatch precision.

The second characteristic I noticed about Andrew was his good cheer. That week, and in years to come, I would see Andrew face stress. I have never, though, seen him downcast or angry or petty.

The final thing about Andrew that caught my attention is his joy in teaching. Watching him bring a class of 15-year-olds to attention, then prompt, prod, and delight them through a lesson, made me realize that high school teachers are not given nearly enough credit for the miracles they accomplish every day.

So what does all this have to do with money? In this book, Andrew will tell you about his own experiences on the road to prosperity. But if I could underline one small portion of what he so ably communicates, it's the importance of seeing money as part of a much broader experience.

Andrew has managed to accumulate wealth while also being a competitive athlete and an involved teacher, not to mention a happy, contented individual. His book demonstrates that you don't have to be a tax accountant or a scrooge to wind up rich.

He approaches the topic of wealth building with an outlook that owes a great deal to his background in distance running. His recommended regimen begins with realism. Champions can't lie their way to victory. They have to accept that training for a race involves a sustained effort over time.

The same goes with personal finance. Unlike many authors, Andrew isn't here to sell you a get-rich-quick scheme. What he will do, though, is show you how a simple program followed over the years can help you build wealth faster than nearly all your neighbors. In fact, he explains how you can do better than 80 percent of investors simply by avoiding the high-priced products that financial advisers try to stuff into your portfolio.

Some writers attempt to scare you with predictions of financial apocalypse. Others try to thrill you with promises of the huge profits to be made in some hot sector. Andrew avoids both schools of silliness. Instead, with his usual good cheer, he shows you how a habit of optimism about the broad economy pays off in the long runâeven in the middle of financial crisis. Especially if you're a young investor, you will be fascinated to learn that you should be praying for the market to fall, not rise.

Andrew delivers his message in a way that anyone can appreciate. His writing is funny, personal, upbeatâand a withering critique of the many ways that the financial industry sabotages our attempts to build wealth. As you might expect from a gifted teacher, he manages to be both rigorous and accessible.

Andrew's book is a joyous but realistic guide to how middle-income earners can amass the wealth they deserve. I'm glad I opened that brown envelope many years ago; you'll be equally glad that you opened the pages of this book.

Ian McGugan

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