The Millionaire Maker: Act, Think, and Make Money the Way the Wealthy Do (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "Even without winning the lottery, your chances of becoming a millionaire are a lot better than you think..." (more)
Key Phrases: direct asset allocation, mathematical multiplier, wealth team, Wealth Cycle, Gap Analysis, Team-Made Millionaire (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Millionaires don't get there by working hard for others and saving pennies, insists this high-wire personal finance self-helper. Instead, "master coach" Langemeier urges the nonwealthy to quit their jobs, start businesses, plow money into real estate and other "aggressive, unconventional" investments, construct a maze of tax-minimizing business "Entities" and amass "assets that create more assets." The result is dramatic makeovers of people like Mike and Mary, a mechanic and laid-off administrative assistant with two kids; Langemeier quickly convinces them to start a dune-buggy company, buy 12 rental properties and a promissory note and turn their family into a financial empire consisting of two limited liability companies, an "S corporation" and "a trust to serve as an umbrella for all of their companies and holdings." The author calls this taking personal control of one's finances, but doing so, she emphasizes, requires a vast support staff of lawyers, accountants, realtors, business brokers, "sector analysts" and miscellaneous "field partners." She provides many case studies of skyrocketing wealth, but never seriously addresses the risks her daredevil financial strategies pose, and relegates the critical details to unexplained balance-sheet entries. Complete with motivational hectoring and an offer of a free phone consultation, Langemeier's primer feels like an infomercial. (Jan.)
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Review

"Breaking into the bestseller club is especially hard in personal finance and investing … because any author who wants to compete in the financial big leagues needs a great, fresh idea; a proven track record; and a big, charismatic personality.

"Despite the tough requirements, the next few months promise not one, but two serious contenders for the title of Next Big Thing: Loral Langemeier and Phil Town. Both of them avoid the psych-heavy approach to personal finance.

"'Most people talk about psychology,' says Langemeier, 'and what's working/what's not working in their business. But [my team and I] really go tactical. We're truly planning through what we call a gap analysis: where people are, where do they need to go.'

"A go-getter from a young age, Langemeier started her first business while she was still in college. By 35, she was a multimillionaire. Her book, The Millionaire Maker (McGraw-Hill, Jan.), showcases the concepts she honed with her coaching-consulting company, Live Out Loud, which emphasizes aggressive, multilateral investing.

"'What we noticed,' she says, 'was that the millionaires who got created faster, it was how they sequenced. They got their assets invested; they learned to make more money; they were running their personal finances like a business-for profitability. They were incorporated; they had diverse assets. But they do it all pretty simultaneously. Whereas a lot of plans would say get out of debt then we'll work on it. We would never say that. It's too slow. It's not what millionaires do. Millionaires don't worry about a latte a day, you know.'

"So far [Langemeier and] Live Out Loud have made over 200 millionaires, and not one of her 10,000 clients has filed for bankruptcy."--Publishers Weekly (Publisher's Weekly )

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (December 31, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071466150
• ISBN-13: 978-0071466158
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (97 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #36,992 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

154 of 169 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Eye-Opener, A Starting Point, And A Strategy, February 2, 2006

By	Randy Gilbert "Best Seller Mentor" (founder of 'BestSellerMentoring.com') - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Loral Langemeier has, to put it one way, a straightforward writing style. She's not especially interested in going through every reason and detail for everything she teaches, but rather seeks to get straight to the point "this is what you need to do." In so doing, she keeps her book from weighing less than a gallon of milk, makes it readable for just about everyone, includes enough information to get started, and apparently opens herself up to criticism from readers who don't understand her.

I was really surprised by some of the reviews I read here on Amazon, so I decided to write my own in order to answer some of the difficulties I saw people bringing up.

First, a little about me. I've actually moved beyond the employee mentality that she talks about already, and am doing fairly well for myself. I have my own businesses, and though not a millionaire yet, I think I'm on my way. But I still like to read the various wealth-building books out there, especially now that I am "playing the game" as Langemeier calls it. The rigors of entity-structuring, bookkeeping, and asset allocation are all too important not to at least have some understanding of them. I served in the Coast Guard for 22 years before starting my own business, and these things just weren't included in any of my training. What I personally got most out of the book was Loral's team-building approach. Basically, she explains that in order to become wealthy, you've got to have a group of people supporting you. This theme is the clearest example of where Loral Langemeier provides truly "new" information that I hadn't seen before.

I'll elaborate. I have yet to meet a millionaire who does their own taxes. I have yet to meet a millionaire who doesn't hire an assistant. And I've met quite a few millionaires. I knew this before reading the book of course, and I've even assembled portions of my legal and secretarial "team," but a team made millionaire is much more than that according to Loral. She explains the importance of finding a mentor, of working with people who can teach you to be wealthy because they already are. It's no secret that her own program is one of the more reputable at doing this, but her reasoning is extremely compelling, and she explains ways of finding these people on your own. And I was impressed that she mentioned her own program only as an example, rather than a sales pitch, which I don't think I could have really faulted her for if she had.

As to one reviewer's charge that she's putting people into huge debt rather than helping them get out, I understand the concern, but I prefer to think of it as a matter of perspective. Two negative reviews mentioned the Rick Noonan vignette from the chapter on Direct Asset Allocation, so I'll go ahead and use that example as well. In that story, Mr. Noonan managed to reallocate his assets and buy 15 rental properties. This wasn't so unreasonable as it would seem to some. First it isn't unheard of to find properties at that price (although I admit it's a very happy day when you do and they happen to be in a decent neighborhood to boot). We're probably not talking about houses, but more likely townhouse units, which are much cheaper. And mortgage debt isn't such a terrible thing to have. I've still got a mortgage on my own home, and I've had the ability to pay it off all at once for almost two years now. But if I had, I would have lost the opportunity to keep that money invested and create new wealth opportunities for myself. So back to the Noonan example, with a fixed low-interest secured debt, and a rental income per property that's $200 higher than the combined monthly mortgage, management dues, and property tax payment for each of the 15 units, Mr. Noonan was making $36,000 per year off of a $90,000 investment! He can then either apply that money to other investments or spend it on himself. And if one of the properties should ever foreclose for some reason, the worst that happens is the bank takes that property - but he only ever invested $6000 into each one to begin with. Where's the problem here?

One of the premises of Langemeier's book, which I sort of thought was self-evident even before I read it from her, is that secured, low-interest debt used to get into good deal opportunities as they arise is not bad. Provided the cashflow value of the assets purchased with the line of credit is greater than the payment on the liability incurred by the loan, one can afford to go deeply into that sort of debt. And, in a sad tribute to our times, it's less risky than trusting to the solvency of many corporate pension plans.

There are other good wealth-building books out there of course, and lots of writers who know how to take someone and make them wealthy over 35 years' time. Loral Langemeier is unique in that her aggressive advice may be too much to swallow whole for many people (even several of her own vignette characters decided to keep their jobs rather than quit them to get penalty-free access to their IRA and 401(k) accounts). Yet if she were followed diligently and wisely, I can accept that a person could go from debt to millionaire in only 3 - 5 years as she claims. The numbers make sense to me, at least.

If you get this book, and you really are too intimidated to go full-throttle with Loral's advice, consider some of the other, slower-paced wealth-building experts like David Bach (Finish Rich series), Stephanie Frank (Accidental Millionaire), or Thomas Stanley (Millionaire Next Door). A hybrid approach might be more your style, or maybe this book just isn't for you. Although, if you're serious about becoming wealthy, however you go about getting there, you should probably pull out the 4th, 6th, 7th, and 12th chapters once you've got your assets straight. And actually, anyone carrying too much consumer debt could probably benefit from chapter 9. It looked like pretty solid advice.

Becoming rich armed with nothing more than Langemeier's book probably isn't likely. Anyone who does become rich after following her advice is going to need to do a whole lot more research than just what's in The Millionaire Maker. But for someone who is serious about becoming wealthy, and wants to do it quickly, you could do worse than starting here.

77 of 83 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent - not for the faint of heart, January 10, 2006

By	Dennis R. Mitton "tolstoy" (pacific nw, usa) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is no book for the faint of heart but rather is for someone committed to the business of personal wealth and finance. While the author touts real estate, maximizing your investment dollar, and using tax advantages the real difference in her approach is the use of a team of professionals you develop to improve your success. She aptly explains the need for a team and offers suggestions on developing one.

While the writing is good I would say that the art of gentle persuasion is not her forte: she's a much more from the Vince Lombardi school of coaching. She's light on the psychology of investing and heavy on the doing. Her tactics are for the more established investor: not many people can afford to quit their jobs, buy a dozen or so rentals, and incorporate their family business. Still, though, anyone can learn something useful from the book.

The take home message is two-fold. First, she emphasizes the need to doggedly and passionately make your money work for you. Keep as much as you can, invest as much as you can, and make as much as you can, and then do it over again. And again. Secondly she stresses the need for a well thought out step-wise plan of attack, and, again, she offers many suggestions for this.

Excellent book that will be a great help to almost any investor.

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Do not try this at home, professional driver on closed course, January 28, 2006

By	Baby Boomer (WV, USA) - See all my reviews

This was a much more exciting book to me before I read it. Unfortunately, the author sets up each example and then flees to the next without following each story to its end or showing what to do when there are personality or market obstacles to success. We never find out how the dune buggy family fared running a business together, for instance. Why? Because it's a composite rather than a real example of a success story.

As for all these wonderful real estate buys that are the basis of the new cash flow, the author is talking about atypical, special investment deals that aren't available to rank beginners. You can't get the deals without the experts. You can't get the experts without the money to pay them. You don't even know where to get the money until you find the experts. Most people reading this book won't be able to overcome these contradictions. I would have welcomed a simple pitch for new clients, an honest "Pay my team $50,000 and I will make you $500,000 in one year" to the "You all can do this" speech. We all can't do this.

I do applaud the author's desire to get people to see beyond drudgery as employees to the possibilities of leveraging their assets to create wealth. And to learn to use the tax code to shelter income. There are nuggets of interesting ideas here. But this book is not a substitute for the author's boardroom of experts.