Author's 47-year career consisted mostly of systems engineering and project management roles as an employee of prime defense contractors, is a recent retiree, and has been a DIY investor in the stock market for over 30 years. Objective of this book is to show each young adult (or beginning investor) how he/she can become a self-made millionaire within their 40-year working career.
What motivated the author to write this book? Discussions over the years with many of his well-educated colleagues indicated their personal knowledge of investing could be described as "abysmal" - many middle-aged engineers and managers expressed interest but had not yet started to save and invest for their future. Author became concerned because financial literacy is not being taught in our public schools. Traditional behavior would have been for the author to continue trying to grow his (and his wife's) personal wealth by investing throughout his life - followed by transitioning whatever wealth might remain to his children. However, that still does not address his concerns regarding financial literacy of his children and grandchildren. Rather than wait for his demise, the author decided to take following steps:
a) Author wrote this book as a DIY guide which can be used by young adults (and beginning investors) to learn what steps are needed to begin investing - without paying for expert 'advice'.
b) Author established and funded tax-advantaged accounts for adult children (Roth IRA) and grandchildren (529 Plan). Author will work with each account holder until he/she is ready to assume responsibility for managing and funding the account.
c) The price each has agreed to pay is that he/she will read this book and provide feedback on how it can be improved.
This 275-pg HOW TO book includes a lifetime of experiences and practices which have been used by the author in his personal life. The book consists of eight sections (or chapters) as follows:
1. Setting The Stage (Career Preparation) - Describes various types of businesses and how one's future career will likely be as an employee in one of them. Discusses role of education in career preparation.
2. Personal Asset Management - Describes strategy author uses to manage his family's personal asset information while protecting it from identity theft. Also, provides means by which spouse and/or children can easily identify ALL of the family assets and debts.
3. Managing your Household Finances - Provides strategy and tips by which one can learn to 'live within their means' - which is a necessity if one is to save money for investing.
4. Career Management - Provides strategy and tips on both job search techniques and in maintaining your current job. Discusses how applicant might establish basis for obtaining a higher salary as part of any job offer.
5. Building Wealth Through the Power of Compounding - Discusses mathematical basis by which a person has the potential to amass personal wealth during his/her career.
6. The Stock Market - Describes the various players in stock market and how these players are likely to impact individual's efforts to grow his/her personal wealth.
7. Beginning Investors - What do you Need to Understand? - Describes principles which beginning investors need to understand if he/she is to successfully grow their personal wealth.
8. How can I become a Self-Made Millionaire - Describes simple DIY strategy by which even the 'proverbial caveman' can amass $1M portfolio during his/her 40-year working career through stock market investing.
DIY investment strategy presented in this book focuses how you can maximize your retirement portfolio using only four sources of funds:
1. Employee pre-tax contributions to Traditional 401K account
2. Employer matching contributions to Traditional 401K account (free money)
3. Employee pre-tax contributions to Health Savings Account (HSA)
4. Employee contributes tax savings
What motivated the author to write this book? Discussions over the years with many of his well-educated colleagues indicated their personal knowledge of investing could be described as "abysmal" - many middle-aged engineers and managers expressed interest but had not yet started to save and invest for their future. Author became concerned because financial literacy is not being taught in our public schools. Traditional behavior would have been for the author to continue trying to grow his (and his wife's) personal wealth by investing throughout his life - followed by transitioning whatever wealth might remain to his children. However, that still does not address his concerns regarding financial literacy of his children and grandchildren. Rather than wait for his demise, the author decided to take following steps:
a) Author wrote this book as a DIY guide which can be used by young adults (and beginning investors) to learn what steps are needed to begin investing - without paying for expert 'advice'.
b) Author established and funded tax-advantaged accounts for adult children (Roth IRA) and grandchildren (529 Plan). Author will work with each account holder until he/she is ready to assume responsibility for managing and funding the account.
c) The price each has agreed to pay is that he/she will read this book and provide feedback on how it can be improved.
This 275-pg HOW TO book includes a lifetime of experiences and practices which have been used by the author in his personal life. The book consists of eight sections (or chapters) as follows:
1. Setting The Stage (Career Preparation) - Describes various types of businesses and how one's future career will likely be as an employee in one of them. Discusses role of education in career preparation.
2. Personal Asset Management - Describes strategy author uses to manage his family's personal asset information while protecting it from identity theft. Also, provides means by which spouse and/or children can easily identify ALL of the family assets and debts.
3. Managing your Household Finances - Provides strategy and tips by which one can learn to 'live within their means' - which is a necessity if one is to save money for investing.
4. Career Management - Provides strategy and tips on both job search techniques and in maintaining your current job. Discusses how applicant might establish basis for obtaining a higher salary as part of any job offer.
5. Building Wealth Through the Power of Compounding - Discusses mathematical basis by which a person has the potential to amass personal wealth during his/her career.
6. The Stock Market - Describes the various players in stock market and how these players are likely to impact individual's efforts to grow his/her personal wealth.
7. Beginning Investors - What do you Need to Understand? - Describes principles which beginning investors need to understand if he/she is to successfully grow their personal wealth.
8. How can I become a Self-Made Millionaire - Describes simple DIY strategy by which even the 'proverbial caveman' can amass $1M portfolio during his/her 40-year working career through stock market investing.
DIY investment strategy presented in this book focuses how you can maximize your retirement portfolio using only four sources of funds:
1. Employee pre-tax contributions to Traditional 401K account
2. Employer matching contributions to Traditional 401K account (free money)
3. Employee pre-tax contributions to Health Savings Account (HSA)
4. Employee contributes tax savings
