[Ep. 106] How to Become a Millionaire on an Average Salary with Andrew Hallam

I don’t normally, or ever, get excited about investing in books. Since I started the podcast, you wouldn’t believe how many authors, agents, and publishers infiltrate my inbox with their latest investing book they like me to check out.

Hey, it’s nice to get free books to check out, but I’ve got limited time and I can really only sit down and spend time with the books I know my blog readers and podcast listeners will love to. Millionaire Teacher by Andrew Hallam is one of those books. To find out more about the book and what you can expect to learn when reading it, check out my book review.

I think the single most fascinating thing about Andrew’s book is that his strategy for investing and becoming a millionaire isn’t anything we haven’t heard before. He preaches living within your means, not spending like a millionaire before you are, and sticking to simple index funds and ETFs for your portfolio. Then just be patient and consistent. That’s it!

There’s no such thing as a get-rich-quick strategy that’s not a total scam, and the only way to truly build wealth is by being mindful of your money and intentional with your spending. It’s that simple.

I’m not exaggerating when I say that I whipped through his book in a weekend and then couldn’t wait to tell the world about it. His book actually made me realize “Hey if he can do it on a teacher’s salary, my husband and I can do it as two self-employed people.” We’re still young, we’ve moved our investments over from actively managed mutual funds to low-fee ETFs, and we’re making a very conscious effort to curb our spending and live a frugal lifestyle.

I’m not exactly sure if we’ll be able to attain millionaire status as Andrew did at 38 (that’s only 8 years away), but you never know! I’ll just be happy if we can achieve that in our late 40s or 50s, and I’m excited to put Andrew’s tips into practice to help us get there.

Also, in case you’re scratching your head about the giraffe photo I mentioned at the end of the episode when I was emailing Andrew to set a date to chat for the podcast, he was traveling around Kenya. Because he’s awesome, he shared this really cute photo of himself getting headbutted by a giraffe and I literally laughed out loud when I got it. So there you go!

Watch my Book Club Video Interview with Andrew

To join my book club, click here for details.

Check Out Andrew’s Books

• Millionaire Teacher: The Nine Rules of Wealth You Should Have Learned in School
• The Global Expatriate’s Guide To Investing – From Millionaire Teacher to Millionaire Expat

Andrew’s Investing Book Recommendations

• The New Coffeehouse Investor: How to Build Wealth, Ignore Wall Street, and Get on with Your Life by Bill Schultheis
• The Lazy Person’s Guide to Investing: A Book for Procrastinators, the Financially Challenged, and Everyone Who Worries About Dealing With Their Money by Paul Farrell
• The Smartest Investment Book You’ll Ever Read: The Simple, Stress-Free Way to Reach Your Investment Goals by Daniel Solin
• The Elements of Investing by Charles Ellis
• How a Second Grader Beats Wall Street: Golden Rules Any Investor Can Learn by Allan Roth

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