Customer Reviews

Eight Steps to Seven Figures: The Investment Strategies of Everyday Millionaires and How You Can Become Wealthy Too

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I have been searching for an investment book, and finally decided to purchase this one. It is definitely well written, and easy to read, even for a 27-year-old beginning investor like myself. The author illustrated his strategies with real-life stories and historic data. This is a book for everyone who understands the joy of delayed gratification, and wants to have financial freedom. Some of its strategies coincide with my own: start investing NOW, establish a goal, buy only stocks and stock mutual funds, invest every month, buy and hold...and hold....and hold..., and take what Uncle Sam gives you. The book also warns you about the common mistakes investors make: acting on a tip/news, trying to time/beat to markets, trading a lot instead of investing, etc. It is very insightful and informative. I consider buying this book one of my best investments.

Before I read this book, I already mentally decided that it was probably full of information I've read many times before. Yes, it did contain a lot of information that I've heard over and over before, but I must say, I really liked this book.

This book is strictly about stock investing and stock picking and nothing else. It is about how to accumulate a large amount of money over a period of years strictly by acquiring and holding good quality blue chip stocks. That's basically about it.

The eight steps are fairly standard. The first step is just to start investing. Do it now and don't wait any longer. Even if all you invest is $25 per month, do it. The second step is to establish a goal. This is a critical step because many of us don't invest because we don't have a goal or more particularly, a reason to invest. Other than retirement, there's not a whole lot of reasons to invest, and that is what makes this step so important. Setting a goal is critical, and it should be more than just retirement. The third step is to buy only stocks and stock mutual funds. That's the whole point of this book. It's about why and how to buy stocks and stock mutual funds. The fourth step is called "swing for singles." This means stop trying to get rich quick by picking that one stock to hit a home run on. Just invest in good quality companies and don't worry about outrageous, quick returns. The next step is to invest every month. This is important because as the market goes up and down, if you continually invest month in and month out, you'll benefit from dollar cost averaging. The sixth step is to buy and hold. This is important because it keeps selling commissions very low and keeps taxes very low. If you buy and sell often, the government takes a part of the profits through taxes and you miss out on long term compounding growth. Step seven again refers to taxes, in a way. This chapter is particularly about maxing out the 401(k) at work due to its tax deductible feature and your employer's matching funds. There is also discussion about IRAs. The last step is about avoiding "shocks to your finances" by avoiding divorce, catastrophic medical bills and so forth. Obviously it would be hard to accumulate a lot of wealth if you're suddenly faced with losing half of it.

In terms of recommending this book or not. The following are reasons to buy and not to buy this book (in my opinion):

Reasons to buy: If you're new at investing and need some motivation to get started, then this would be a great book to start with. It's motivating and very practical. It doesn't take a lot of money to get started investing as the author points out. So, if you know very little about investing and are interested in getting started, this would be the book. Also, if you're a heavy stock trader, you might want to read the chapters on buying and holding. I took much of that information to heart.

Reasons not to buy: If you have been investing in stocks for a while and already have a firm grasp on investing, then you probably won't find a whole lot of new information in here. I've outlined the eight steps, so unless one of the steps sounds revolutionary, you've probably heard it all before. In this case, I would just check the book out of the library and scan through it for some tidbits of information that might sharpen what you already know. At the least, it is a very motivating book. It motivated me to invest even more each month than I already am.

I'm giving this book 4 stars. I was going to give it 3 because I feel in a sense that it is an average book. 1 star if you already have a firm grasp on investing and 5 stars if you know nothing. Still, even for experienced investors, I still found some useful information. Step two regarding setting a goal was very important to me. That chapter made the book worth it, and that is why I am giving it a higher than average rating.

Just finished Chuck Carlson's latest book, "Eight Steps To Seven Figures". Real down-to-earth, common-sense investing strategies, just like Carlson's other books ("The Individual Investor Revolution", "The 60-Second Investor" and "Buying Stocks Without A Broker") and his DRIP Investor newsletter. This guy is the guru for long-term investors.

I recently read "The Millionaire Mind" by Thomas J. Stanley. Not nearly as good as Carlson's "Eight Steps....". Carlson gives the reader a lot of practical information on how people make money by investing long-term in stocks. Very interesting and useful stuff.

I believe this is one of the best books ever writtten about investing. The 8 steps are an excellent guide to a sound investment program. Many people feel you must have a lot of money to start investing. You don't. Follow these steps and let the power of time and compounding go to work for you. One of my favorite examples from his book is of a lady who never made more than $15,000 a year yet left $18 million to a hospital.

This book will not only be valuable to beginning investors but will also be useful to long-time investors (such as myself) in focusing on why we invest. A reporter interviewing Warren Buffett was amazed at how there were no computers in his office. "You run a multibillion dollar company yet you have no computers or quote machines to help you." Mr. Buffett replied "It's not that complicated."

The theme of this book echoes that sentiment. One of the most important messages of this book is think LONG-TERM. Ignore the everyday noise coming from Wall Street and Washington. The examples and stories from the book illustrate that the 8 steps do work. This book should be required reading by everyone who works on Wall Street.

If you are interested in retiring wealthy, this is a must read book for you. The basic strategies in this book are the true fundamentals to living a very wealthy and prosperous life for your future. It also contains information about how everyday Millionaires in the book created their 7 figure accounts. This book gives detailed information about taking advantage of a 401(k) program as a tool to create that 7 figure retirement account. One of the parts of the book I particularly liked is how he really explains that "stuff begets stuff"...meaning that a big house needs lots of stuff. New clothes need other new clothes to match. That expensive hobby requires lots of expensive gadgets..etc. Stuff begets stuff. It is a great chapter on watching your spending habits and knowing that every dime you spend on "stuff" you cannot get back to invest. This is not the only great chapter. The whole book is chock full of great "no Brainer" proven strategies to create independant wealthiness. Time is a big factor in most of the strategies. It suggests Buying and holding quality stocks for a long time to make 1000% and 5000% instead of trading a stock for a quick 100% profit. In holding these quality stocks for a long time (5 or more years), you will have saved giving the Federal Goverment a lot of your profit. The book also outlines a lot of ways to avoid taking advantage of the goverments rules (long term capital gains tax, Roth IRA's)to create wealth. The entire book is profiles everyday millionaires, and their strategies of what tools they used to create their wealth, how their strategies worked, some of their quotations, and tips for investors. This books provides a good foundation for every investor. The strategies are invaluable to everyone interested in retiring like a king.

Before buying and reading this book, be sure you understand what it is. This is a ministudy of 170 investors whose stock portfolios are now worth over one million dollars. The work focuses on their investment-related habits. It is a sort of "investment habits of the millionaire next door."

Such a study fails to answer many questions that you are may interested in. These questions include:

(1) What are the best ways to become financially independent today?

(2) What investment methods have allowed people to become financially independent recently in the least amount of time?

(3) What are the frequency and degree of failures associated with those ways and methods in (1) and (2)?

In other words, the typical questions of identifying best practices are not yet reported in any investment book, including this one.

This book, however, is a nice improvement on The Millionaire Next Door.

Here are the key lessons that Carlson drew from his sample:

(1) Start investing now if you haven't already begun.

(2) Establish a goal that means something to you emotionally.

(3) Buy only stocks and stock mutual funds.

(4) Swing for singles (this means just buying industry leaders in "must have" categories).

(5) Invest every month (you get better compounding effects and price averaging cost reductions that way).

(6) Buy and hold . . . and hold etc.

(7) Avoid and reduce taxes.

(8) Limit shocks to your finances by leading a steady personal and business life. (In other words, divorce and being unemployed reduce your portfolio.)

If you know anything about investing, these will be common sense to you. If this is your first investing book, these are valuable perspectives. This is one style of investing that will and has worked well for a lot of people. You will also enjoy reading detailed answers about what many of these people have been doing. One person is outlined in each chapter, and there is a whole chapter of insight quotes at the end.

A key thing to notice, however, is that almost none of these investors followed all 8 of these principles. So they are more like guidelines than necessities. Since no analysis was made of the specific investment track records of these people, we don't know which principles are more important. Presumably, number one is a necessity.

What is outstanding about this book are the contents of the chapters on these 8 points. For example, the chapter on starting your investing now takes the most common excuses that people have for delaying and provides counterarguments and valuable help. The chapter on setting goals has excellent material on goal-setting. The chapter on buying stocks cites Professor Siegel's excellent research on this point since 1802. The chapter on doing it better also provides specific investment ideas to outperform in following these principles.

I also liked the chapter on the 10 mistakes that these millionaires warned about most often.

Mr. Carlson is an investment professional, and he tells you which of these methods he uses, where you can get good information, and what to do with it. This detailed perspective is unusually good. It takes you way beyond what you get in a Suze Orman book, for example.

The key weakness of the book is that it does not do much to explore the psychological hurdles to investing. Anyone who spends time with investors knows that people make mistakes of omission and commission because of emotion, rather than limits to their ability to analyze. Buy and hold will not suit many people emotionally. What are those people supposed to do?

My biggest complaint is a sentence early in the book. "Anyone can invest his or her way to a million dollars." I am sure you can think of exceptions to this, such as the person who dies a year after reading the book. Why would anyone make such an outrageously false statement? I would have graded the book down for that, but I thought that the rest of the book was such an improvement over the various millionaire books that it deserved to be read.

Overcome your stalled thinking that only people of immense wealth, knowledge and skill can make large sums from stock investing!

This book clearly illustrates a "proven" system for making money and growing rich. It should be required reading in high school and/or college. This is a manual for lifelong investing. Not a fly-by-night get rich scheme. I only wish that I would have read it ten years ago.

Eight Steps to Seven Figures was given to me by a friend who became a millionaire at age 44. His story is very similar to the ones detailed in each chapter. He and I both found the book to be "right on" and a great read. In fact, I purchased additional copies and sent them to some of my younger customers and employees who have time on their side. Everyone who received a copy said the book was great. Buy a copy and pass it onto someone you care about. If they don't get the point, use the hardcover to crack em. Aloha.

This book is a gold mine of solid investment advice. Having read dozens of books on the subject, I am always skeptical of the latest investment book. This book is different. It's a pleasure to read with scores of personal stories of everyday indivduals who built seven figure portfolios with consistent investing. I would recommend this book as the first and only investment guide one need ever buy. The road to financial independence through stock investments is not complicatated. It just takes the dedication to invest regularly and the time to let it grow.

One hundred and seventy millionaires can't be wrong, can they? Probably not. That's why you should pay close attention to the simple wisdom of Charles B. Carlson's book, which analyzes the investment habits of 170 members of the seven-figure club. The results: Millionaire investors buy fundamentally strong stocks, pay little attention to market timing, never trade on news and maintain a dedicated buy-and-hold philosophy. Carlson straightforwardly presents these financial principles for a financially unsophisticated audience, complete with lists of organizations and companies to contact for further investment information. Profiles and examples of successful investors like Warren Buffett will keep you hooked, even if you tend to nod off at the first mention of a PE ratio. We [...] strongly recommend this book for its unintimidating style and logical methodology.

I was intrigued by this book. I found it interesting and informative. Plus the millionare bios at the end of each chapter were very interesting. I just wish that more information had been supplied surrounding the methodology and raw data found in the survey that was used as support for some of the basic philosophies.