Best-Selling Author Commends RW Investment Strategies' Approach

Andrew Hallam, author of Millionaire Teacher: The Nine Rules of Wealth You Should Have Learned in School, says "If the average American Fund salesperson saw what Wasilewski charges, they would hide their pink heads under the covers of shame."  Nobody can ever say that Hallam doesn't have a way with words!

My conviction has long been that the financial services industry overcharges by charging sales fees, marketing fees, outrageous management fees, and  numerous additional hidden costs to individuals who are led to believe that market timing and stock picking are superior approaches.

I, of course, am not the only one practicing along the low-cost index approach.  Hallam mentions Assetbuilder as well, and there are others.  In fact, my sense is that the movement is growing - helped along by the works of Hallam et al. .

Although I work with all age groups, I am especially interested in getting the message across to young people.  Too many procrastinate with their investment program because they won't take a bit of time to learn how it works.  They convince themselves they are right whenever they see markets drop, when, in fact, they should see declining markets as a great opportunity.

Do Advisors Add Value?

This a fascinating two-part post by Andrew Hallam, author of Millionaire Teacher, of a particular case examining whether an advisor added value.  Much can be learned, especially in the exchange presented in the second post.

• http://andrewhallam.com/2011/07/did-my-friends-investment-advisor-add-value/
• http://andrewhallam.com/2011/07/did-my-friends-investment-advisor-add-value-2/

The practice of reporting comparative results by not including dividend reinvestment on the part of the advisor is especially disturbing.  Unfortunately, it points up the fact that everything must be questioned.

Millionaire Teacher on How to Be a Better Investor

I have often wondered how education could be improved if students read books by talented writers instead of the usual dry textbooks. I'm not talking so much about the classics and those who developed theories but, instead, the really good writers who tend to be tops in their fields and yet have a gift for explaining complex ideas.

In quantum physics, this would be Richard Feynman


 In evolution, this would be Richard Dawkins:


This even extends to history. How much more interesting is Ambrose's story of Lewis & Clark than is the usual text book version?













These thoughts were brought to mind by Andrew Hallam's recent post on how and why a soccer mom's portfolio comprised of low-cost indexed funds would most likely outperform up to 80% of professionally managed portfolios over the long term.

I deal with this fact on an ongoing basis. I meet many people who are invested in the market and are having their investments eroded by the excessive costs of professional investment management services. They have never seriously considered low-cost, indexed funds as an investment strategy. When the approach is initially examined, they are incredulous. As Andrew brings out in his article, the idea is counter intuitive. As he says, investing "...is a bizarre game...." Working harder at it (slight modification here explained below) doesn't yield better results as it does in just about every other area of life.

The one modification I would offer is this:  there is work in studying the evidence. There are books that need to be read to understand the voluminous evidence supporting indexed investing and why it outperforms professional management, after fees, over the long run.

An excellent place to start is with someone who has a gift for explaining complex topics:

A Millionaire Teacher

I am proud to introduce Millionaire Teacher: The Nine Rules of Wealth You Should Have Learned in School by my friend Andrew Hallam.

It is in the pre-release stage - expected in October.  Andrew is a remarkable individual teaching English at the Singapore American School. He also has taught fellow teachers at the school, as well as many others via his popular seminars and website, the principles of investing and building wealth on a teacher's salary.

To gain a sense of Andrew's creative approach and witty style, sample some of his writings at his popular blog. 

Some endorsements from giants in the field of personal investing:

Do you spend too much and save too little? Do you wonder why your investments always seem to roll behind the eight ball? In clear, compelling, and highly entertaining prose Andrew Hallam will explain to you exactly why, and what to do about it. And if you’re a non-US resident, there’s an added bonus: strategies for long-suffering Canadian, Australian, and Singaporean investors that can easily be applied to other nationalities as well.

          William Bernstein, author of The Investor's Manifesto

Andrew Hallam has distilled the timeless lessons for investing into nine easy to understand and easy to follow rules.  The newbie investor will not find a better guide than Millionaire Teacher.

          Burton Malkiel, author of A Random Walk Down Wall Street

You can pre-order this book by clicking on the  "RW Investing Bookstore" link on the right or going directly to Amazon.

A few hours with Andrew's book, reading the voice of experience, could very well change the financial path of many people for the better.

Disclosure:  For books ordered through the link on this site, I receive a small compensation from Amazon.