The Ten Roads to Riches

I think I have read most of the personal finance books worth reading that can be found at our little local library. However, I am always on the lookout for anything new that comes through the door. When I found The Ten Roads to Riches written by Ken Fisher on the recent arrivals shelf, I gave it the once over. To tell the truth I was suspicious. Ken Fisher runs an investment service that is heavily advertised on TV and the Internet. I suspected it would be a thinly disguised sales pitch, but it looked interesting enough to make it home with me.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover it was actually a well written, humorous exploration of nine different ways to become seriously wealthy and one way to financial freedom that was unlikely to make you a member of the Forbes 400, but highly likely to allow you to live a comfortable retirement and leave a legacy to your children. The author includes not only stories about those who have succeeded, but tales of failure that ended up in bankruptcy court or jail.

"Don't you know that a man being rich is like a girl being pretty? You wouldn't marry a girl just because she's pretty, but my goodness, doesn't it help?"
Marilyn Monroe

Thus, the author begins his chapter on how to marry money. Not only is Cinderella looking for a well healed prince charming, but men, like John McCain and John Kerry, can play at that game as well as the gals. It turns out that in today's world, both men and women are calculating the financial condition of potential mates as an important component to increase the potential for future marital bliss. With a sometimes-wry sense of humor that can become a bit tongue in cheek, the author explores the complexity of state divorce laws and the importance of prenuptial agreements, especially in community property states. As in every chapter, the author supplies a short bibliography of recommended texts on the subject. From my knowledge of books that appear on these lists that I have actual read, the bibliographies alone are probably worth the price of a used copy of this book. He ends all his chapters with a brief guide summarizing the contents of that chapter. He begins The Guide to Marrying well with, "Jane Austen told us it is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in need of a wife." Then lists some must dos, like working (or playing) in places where you are most likely to come in contact with rich singles and don't do anything stupid that will land you on the short end of the stick in divorce court.

In the chapter on Inventing Income, using creativity to earn money, the author explores a number of topics, including one that is of interest to me, Writing for Dollars. As a writer, the author recommends choosing another vocation if you want to become wealthy. Even if you grab the brass ring and make the New York Times Bestseller List, as he did, you will not earn enough to become wealthy. His most successful book generated $400,000 in royalties, enough to fund a very comfortable lifestyle for a year or two, but hardly enough to become a billionaire. Taking two examples of spectacularly successful authors, Stephen King and JK Rowling, Fisher sadly concludes that unless your deathless prose can be converted into a two hour movie, it is unlikely you will ever earn enough at your craft to become rich. If you must write, Fisher suggests that you always think, lunch boxes and action figures. A cheap lunch box sells for $5.00. The same box painted with the images of Harry Potter and his magical world can go for $25.00. Every time one of these items is sold, JK gets to dip her beak. That, Fisher concludes is where one can find riches in writing.

The final chapter, The Road More Traveled, covers pretty much the same topics as this blog and a host of classic texts on the subject. Although, the author would recommend keeping a much higher percentage of my liquid net worth in stocks and mutual funds than the amount that would allow me to sleep soundly at night, but if you want to retire with a couple of million in the bank (no-at your broker or his investment service) this is an option that is available to many Americans.

His summary Guide to Saving and Investing:

1)Get a decent job paying a good wage
2) Figure out how much you want/need to achieve your goal
3) Calculate what you need to save each month
4) Now save
5) Make your money work

Of course, the chapter itself explores all these topics in detail that pretty easy to understand. Even when the math might seem a bit obscure to those who didn't have four years of math in high school, the author does a pretty good job of explaining what the formulas actually mean.

All in all, a fun entertaining book that contains enough nuggets of wisdom and paths for the curious to explore, to more than justify the time I spent reading it. I might even buy a copy-if I can get it cheap.