Seven Years to Seven Figures: The Fast-Track Plan to Becoming a Millionaire

258 Pages·2006·1.22 MB·English

by  Michael Masterson

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Seven Years
to
Seven Figures
The Fast-Track Plan
to Becoming a Millionaire
MICHAEL MASTERSON
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Seven Years
to
Seven Figures
The Fast-Track Plan
to Becoming a Millionaire
MICHAEL MASTERSON
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Copyright © 2006 by Michael Masterson. All rights reserved
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
Published simultaneously in Canada
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Masterson, Michael.
Seven years to seven figures:the fast-track plan to becoming a millionaire/
Michael Masterson.
p. cm.
ISBN-13:978-0-471-78675-7 (cloth)
ISBN-10:0-471-78675-6 (cloth)
1. Wealth—United States. 2. Millionaires—United States—Case studies.
3. Success in business. 4. Finance, Personal. I. Title.
HC110.W4M375 2006
332.024'01—dc22 2006024005
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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CCOONNTTEENNTTSS
Acknowledgments v
Foreword by Steve Sjuggerud vii
INTRODUCTION 1
Part I Seven Years to Seven Figures:
Is It Really Possible? 5
CHAPTER ONE What the Heck Do I Know? 7
CHAPTER TWO Are You Ready for Wealth? 17
Part II Eight Stories, Eight Successes 43
CHAPTER THREE Audrey Maxwell:How a Good
Employee Can Become a Great Partner,Build a Dream
House,and Become a Millionaire in Seven Years 45
CHAPTER FOUR Alan Silver:Converting Selling Skills
into Millions of Dollars of Equity in Five Years 73
CHAPTER FIVE Bruce Buffer:Giving Up a Six-Figure
Income to Generate a Seven-Figure Net Worth 99
CHAPTER SIX Justin Ford:Achieving a Radical Financial
Transformation—How to Go from Bankruptcy
to Millionaire in Six Years 109
CHAPTER SEVEN Ken Morris:Coming to America and
Cashing In on the American Dream—From $10,000 to
$10,000,000 129
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iv Contents
CHAPTER EIGHT Monica Day:Getting Started—How to Boost
Your Income from $26,000 to $134,000 in Two Years 135
CHAPTER NINE David Keller:You Don’t Need
a Medical Degree to Make a Million Dollars 157
CHAPTER TEN Brad Solomon:Even Accountants
Can Get Rich—How to Hit $4 Million in Six Years 179
Part III Why You Must Act Now 209
CHAPTER ELEVEN The Baby Boomer Challenge:
Why 50- and 60-Year-Olds Must Follow the
Seven Years to Seven Figures Plan 211
CHAPTER TWELVE Lessons from Life:
What I’ve Learned about Building Wealth Quickly 219
Afterword 227
Index 233
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AACCKKNNOOWWLLEEDDGGMMEENNTTSS
First, I want to thank Suzanne Richardson, an extremely bright and
capable young woman who worked as my assistant on this book.
Suzanne did a good deal of the research and all of the interviews.
None of my writing would be readable were it not for the intelli-
gent edifications of Judith Strauss. Judith has been my editor longer
than either of us would care to admit. I wouldn’t feel comfortable
publishing anything that hadn’t been trimmed and polished by her.
I want to say special thank yous to Charlie Byrne, editorial director
of my e-zine Early to Rise, and Steve Sjuggerud, editor of True Wealth,
whose insightful and experienced comments helped me identify
which, of the many ideas I initially wrote down, were important and
worth keeping. Thanks also to Dave Lashmet and Gary Lundberg,
whose financial expertise was invaluable in reviewing, correcting, and
updating the financial planning portions of this book.
The folks in Agora Inc.’s book publishing department—Michael
Ward, Wayne Ellis, and Danielle Morino—were, as usual, extraordi-
narily patient and helpful in working with the John Wiley team. In
particular, I’d like to thank Joan O’Neil, my publisher, for her faith in
the book and willingness to make last-minute changes.
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vi Acknowledgments
And, finally, my admiration and gratitude go out to all of those
people who inspired this book and whose wealth-building ideas,
strategies, and techniques deepened and extended my own: Audrey
Maxwell, Alan Silver, Bruce Buffer, Justin Ford, Ken Morris, Monica
Day, David Keller, and Brad Solomon, I thank you.
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FFOORREEWWOORRDD
I haven’t hit 35 yet, but . . .
By the time you read this book, my million-dollar-plus Florida
home 100 steps from the ocean will be fully paid for. And I’ll be debt
free, with plenty of investments in other things as well, thanks in part
to the author of this book. As he’s done for so many others, he taught
me how to do the right things to dramatically increase my income and
net worth. Life is good.
It wasn’t always like this . . .
When I was 23, I had zero net worth and a $23,500 a year salary. I
went looking for something better, and met Michael Masterson on a
job interview. I took a position with a company he consulted with.
Soon after that, I started using Michael’s techniques and strategies
to build my wealth. I knew he had succeeded (and failed) in many
businesses over the years—and, watching him, I saw that he really ana-
lyzes every detail of what it takes to “make it.” As a shortcut to suc-
cess, I thought I could use what he’d learned so I could avoid mistakes
and do the right things.
Following his lead, the changes in my financial situation were
almost immediate. I knew exactly what to do to get ahead in my job,
and I was doing it.
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