Ten Roads to Riches by Ken Fisher

The Ten Roads To Riches the Ways The Wealthy Got There (And How You Can Too) by Ken Fisher with Lara Hoffmans

This book outlines ten different ways to become rich; start a company, become a CEO, ride along with the CEO (Charlie Munger rode along with Warren Buffet), become famous, marry into wealth, become a plaintiffs lawyer (sue people), manage other peoples money, become a land barron, invent things (songs, patents, books, intellectual property), and manage your wealth slowly and frugally. There is a chapter on each road along with an introduction and conclusion. The book is not rocket science but it is entertaining.

Ken Fisher is one of the richest people, he is on the Forbes 400 list and manages $45 billion in investments. He wrote this book because "he likes to write", not because he needs to make money. He should know a little bit about becoming rich.

I like the combination of humor, irony, and straightforwardness in this book. Ken Fisher said he had his lawyers go through the book twice to make sure he would not be sued for libel. He reminds us that not every way which people get rich is appealing to many people, a lot of people hate stock brokers, distrust plaintiffs lawyers (modern day pirates), and think it is tacky to seek out rich people to marry.

Each chapter also includes a section on how to not break the law and still make money. Carly Fiorina and Bill Lerach are two examples of how not to do this.

At the end of many chapters there is a reading list. I found two books that I plan to read, The Ultimate Gift by Jim Stovall and Beyond Entrepreneurship by James C. Collins and William C. Lazier. There is also a short bulleted list of the basic first steps you need to take down each path.

This book is not complicated. It is methodical and straightforward. There are no secret formulas, no complex charts, and no incredible promises. It is so real at times that it becomes darkly humorous. I can recommend this book for people who are interested in building wealth. It is currently on the New York Times bestseller list.

Fairytale, Good Morning

The Frog Asks To Be Allowed To Enter The Castle - Illustration For "The Frog Prince" by Walter Crane 1874. The Frog Prince is one of my favorite tales.

Fairytales

Snow white, rose red, briar rose

they run through my dreams

singing, dancing, flitting about

sweet voiced, pure, clean

I imagine jack, anansi, coyote

tricking them away from their

handsome frog princes, prince charmings

to take them to fairyland

Where they live in wooded cottages

serving dwarfs, trolls, and ogres

They dream of more common saviors

puss n'boots, tom o'thumb, the little tailor

Good Morning

Last night I started reading The Ten Roads to Riches The Ways The Wealthy Got There (And How You Can Too!) by Ken Fisher and Lara Hoffman. I am really enjoying this book because he tries to tell you how people got wealthy in an honest manner without hype. There are points where it be can be darkly ironic and quite fun. He is attempting to tell a truth.

Afternoon Thoughts

Continuing from yesterday...

Afternoon Thoughts

On the morning train, I read a bit of Writing The Mind Alive, The Propioceptive Method for Finding Your Authentic Voice by Linda Trichter Metcalf, PH.D. and Tobin Simon, PH.D. It is a very syncretic book, it combines three different methods of western medition, listening to baroque music to increase your concentration, lighting a candle to indicate the start and stop of an event, and free writing in a journal. This makes for an interesting meditative form of writing. I may try it soon. I have to buy a candle, some Bach, and a blank journal to do the exercises properly.

This morning, I checked my displays, weeded some books, and made sure my area was in proper order. Things are moving along very nicely.

I asked to do an order for financial literacy titles. The director gave the alright. So, I have one more ordering project to do. I also worked on a flier for a film program. While I was ordering financial literacy titles, I found an interesting title Kenneth Fisher with Lara Hoffman, The Ten Roads to Riches: The Way The Wealthy Got There (And How You Can Too!). Kenneth Fisher is a portfolio manager on Wall Street and is very wealthy. He also wrote The Only Three Questions You Need To Ask.

His father, Philip Fisher wrote Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits which is the basis for much of the growth investing strategy in the stock market. He would be a person who knows about creating wealth.

Rolling

The day goes slowly,
Rolling by with sweet predictability,
Smooth as coffee and cream

On the evening train, I read some more of Writing The Mind Alive. I contemplated the exercises in the book and realized that in terms of time, five one half hour sessions a week, it would not work out very well. I am already doing blogging and it would take up too much time.

There were a few insights in the book which were interesting. It is rather easy to be afraid of your own writing. I have learned that it is easier to express your feelings in writing than leave them simmering in the background where they make you do things unconsciously.

When I got home this evening, I found my American Library Association membership fees waiting for me. I am a member of the Intellectual Freedom Roundtable and the Reference and User Services Association as well. I don't really do anything with these memberships. I really have not figured out what to do with them. I do rather like the magazine, Reference and User Services Quarterly. So I paid my dues. Maybe, I should figure out what to do with the membership now.