Rich Is a Religion Breaking the Timeless Code to Wealth Mark Stevens John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ffirs.indd iiiffirs.indd iii 8/14/08 10:45:09 AM8/14/08 10:45:09 AM ffirs.indd iiffirs.indd ii 8/14/08 10:45:09 AM8/14/08 10:45:09 AM Additional Praise for Rich Is a Religion “Mark Stevens has done it again. He has a wonderful ability to shed new light on much examined topics. In Rich Is a Religion, he is insightful and inspiring in his treatment of creating and protecting wealth.” — Richard A. Eisner Founding Partner Eisner LLP “In Rich Is a Religion, Mark Stevens shows us in a compelling way how money and life intersect, and that true wealth and personal contentment are one in the same.” — Randal Selkirk Managing Director Mapleridge Capital Corporation ffirs.indd Affirs.indd A 8/14/08 10:45:07 AM8/14/08 10:45:07 AM ffirs.indd Bffirs.indd B 8/14/08 10:45:08 AM8/14/08 10:45:08 AM Rich Is a Religion ffirs.indd iffirs.indd i 8/14/08 10:45:08 AM8/14/08 10:45:08 AM ffirs.indd iiffirs.indd ii 8/14/08 10:45:09 AM8/14/08 10:45:09 AM Rich Is a Religion Breaking the Timeless Code to Wealth Mark Stevens John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ffirs.indd iiiffirs.indd iii 8/14/08 10:45:09 AM8/14/08 10:45:09 AM Copyright © 2008 by Mark Stevens. All rights reserved. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey. Published simultaneously in Canada. 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HC110.W4S74 2008 332.02400973—dc22 2008019684 Printed in the United States of America. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ffirs.indd ivffirs.indd iv 8/14/08 10:45:09 AM8/14/08 10:45:09 AM To my father, who taught me to challenge every single thing in the world and to ask “Why?” ffirs.indd vffirs.indd v 8/14/08 10:45:09 AM8/14/08 10:45:09 AM ffirs.indd viffirs.indd vi 8/14/08 10:45:10 AM8/14/08 10:45:10 AM [...]... seventeenth-century philosopher John Locke wrote that man is born with a mind like a blank slate: a tabula rasa How and what he comes to think is imposed on him by parents, teachers, and others: what is seen or heard, what is taught, what is read All these influences shape the person and his assumptions about the right way to manage (or fail to manage) money Although Locke never would have thought it at the. .. change the The religion of the rich way they view money They can and will change the cannot reveal the powerful way you handle and truths that lie beneath the think about money charts The religion of the More importantly, it will rich can and will change the way you handle and facilitate the accumulathink about money More tion and preservation of importantly, it will faciliwealth tate the accumulation... religion.They see its wisdom, they learn from their mistakes or the failings of others, and they come to understand what money is and what it is not They shed the behavior that would prevent them from leading truly wealthy lives and proceed to achieve this goal by joining the religion It is up to you And only you You can join at any time that you have the vision and the discipline to do so *** The great... judiciously and cautiously • Always lived below his means • Never had a dime of debt • Always had an exit strategy Throughout Slim’s adult life, he always planned for his payoff day Now it was here On that day, I discovered a key piece of the life-andfinance puzzle My 40-year-old dad was waging a constant battle with debt, and soon would fall victim to a fatal heart attack because of it And while my dad wondered... 10:48:30 AM The Epiphany Think of it this way: Millions of otherwise intelligent men and women have allowed themselves to enter the august stages of their lives without sufficient wealth to retire Even if they want to continue working forever, there is a major difference between wanting to and having to And the major reason they have to is because they have never been taught to think of rich as a religion...Contents Acknowledgments First, A Foundation and a Firewall ix 1 Chapter 1 The Epiphany 5 Chapter 2 The Vision 17 Chapter 3 The Invisible 33 Chapter 4 Fairy Tale Finance 47 Chapter 5 The Congregation 67 Chapter 6 The Atheists of the Religion of the Rich 87 Chapter 7 The Paradoxical Secret 105 Chapter 8 The Real Value 127 Chapter 9 The Metamorphosis 137 Epilogue: Dividing Day 149 Appendix: The Unconventional... personal finan- is based on thinking cial strategy—all with a focus before counting on the timeless concepts embedded in the religion of the rich At the bedrock of this religion is the understanding that the conventional wisdom on wealth creation and protection is off-base, narrow-minded, wrong, and, most important, The art of living easy as useless for all who want to join the ranks of the rich to money... our Rich Is a Religion prism Typically, financial services firms advise us to engage in an asset allocation process that provides for diversification among a variety of stocks and bonds, thus creating greater opportunity and minimizing risk While this objective may be theoretically valid, it can reduce the major facets of our lives to a rigid mathematical formula This commonly practiced way of allocating... 10:49:57 AM The Vision was a millionaire and he was a debtor, Slim was not only cashing a big check, he was also opening a door to a new life he had also planned for years: living out the rest of his years on a gentleman’s farm he bought for cash in upstate New York On that day, I had a vision and saw the power of the religion of the rich It came to me in sharp relief when I woke in the middle of the night—which... illustrate one of the great powers of the religion of the rich: It is a philosophy that leads to a set of action steps that help you break the timeless code to wealth It comes from within 19 c02.indd 19 8/14/08 10:49:57 AM rich is a religion and radiates outward to affect how you live It is never too late to adopt In fact, it is essential to start now As you begin to live this philosophy, its impact is . Foundation and a Firewall 1 Chapter 1 The Epiphany 5 Chapter 2 The Vision 17 Chapter 3 The Invisible 33 Chapter 4 Fairy Tale Finance 47 Chapter 5 The Congregation 67 Chapter 6 The Atheists of the. visit our web site at www.wiley.com. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: Stevens, Mark, 1947– Rich is a religion : breaking the timeless code to wealth / Mark Stevens. p. cm. . 10:45:09 AM8/14/08 10:45:09 AM Additional Praise for Rich Is a Religion “Mark Stevens has done it again. He has a wonderful ability to shed new light on much examined topics. In Rich Is a Religion,