Eight Steps to Seven Figures: The Investment Strategies of Everyday Millionaires and How You Can Become Wealthy Too Hardcover – March 14, 2000

I regard Chuck Carlson as a trusted source of good, solid financial information. After all, this is the guy who gave us such investment classics as Buying Stocks without a Broker, The No-Load Stock Investor and Free Lunch on Wall Street. Thus, when he penned Eight Steps to Seven Figures, I had to get a copy and glean its secrets.Now, one could say that his use of statistical data may well be an attempt to cover up the fact most of the material found in the book could be gleaned with a fair bit of old-fashioned horse-sense. However, for me, much of the information served to confirm what I have always suspected, but had precious little in the way of evidence to support. Carlson's use of statistical data to back up his claims does indeed make his book look impressive, and the statistician in me does have to take issue with a few things associated with his numbers, such as:1) I can understand his reticence to disclose personal info on those sampled, but I found it odd that he did not disclose the sampling method (basically, how did he go about getting his sample? Most likely, it came from those who subscribe to his investment newsletter). Nor did he report the response rate to his survey.2) He was not really consistent in the reporting of his results. In some cases, he reported averages, and in others, he reported medians, and in no cases did he report variations or present us with distributions associated with the various answers to questions.3) He seeks to make the leap from his sample of millionaire investors to all investors like them, and from those individuals to the reader. However, without knowing something about the composition of his sample, we really can not infer anything useful in general which we may reasonably apply to ourselves, at least with any degree of certainty.That is why I say that the contents of the book, if true, would mean renewed hope for the Hopeless (aka, the typical wage-earning, rent-paying, or if unlucky, mortgage paying, indebted schmuck).Since I regard Chuck as a trusted source, I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt; however, interested readers should take note of the following:1) In reading the book, it sounded like most of the respondents are fairly well-to-do, and can be considered white-collar or managerial-class workers.2) Most of them have been investing for at least twenty years, with their investment success coinciding precisely with the extended bull market lasting from 1980 to 2000. The bull market may have had more to do with their success than their investing acumen.3) We really do not know what their total returns were (on a compound average basis) nor do we know what their asset breakdowns were, so we do not know the extent that IRAs and 401ks , the two critical pillars of Carlson's eight step approach, played in the respondents' investment success.4) Most of them appeared to have had an intimate experience with poverty at some point in their lives, which they recalled vividly, and this experience spurred them to save frantically. This alone makes them atypical as compared to the general American public, who as a group have a negative savings rate.Thus, although I really can not say how applicable the statistics in the book may be, I can say that the book contains many juicy, common-sense tips that anyone, be they white-collar or blue-collar, well-to-do or of modest means, male or female, can put to use. While you could glean the general ideas and the eight steps by reading solely the preface and introduction of the text, you would miss out on a lot of valuable insights and information.I highly recommend the book to anyone looking to achieve or maintain financial safety and security.

What does it take to be a millionaire when you retire? Less than you think. Certainly less than I thought.Charles Carlson gives eight steps to achieve that goal:1. Start investing right now. Every day you wait is lost money.2. Establish a goal that matters to you. If possible, make it measurable so you can track your progress.3. Buy only stocks and mutual funds. Forget about the rest.4. Buy only high quality stocks that are leaders in their field or, if you know the area, you are sure will be leaders. Buy what you know and when you don't use no-load index funds.5. Invest monthly, no matter how small. It adds up through compound interest and forces you to invest when the market is down. Diversify through time, not assets.6. Buy and hold. Sell only when necessary. Never daytrade, which just makes your broker and government rich. Buying and holding makes you rich through better returns and tax reduction. And it's less stressful to boot.7. Limit taxes as much as possible by taking advantage of tax breaks. Hold stocks for at least a year (though the longer the better) and put in the maximum legal contributions into your 401(k) and/or IRA, or as much as you can afford.8. Live a stable and simple life. Limit shocks to your finances - don't divorce, don't job or house hop, don't get into debt, don't have ten kids, don't daytrade. Dare to be boring.Sounds simple enough. Here's an example. If a 20 year old invests just $67 per month into a 401(k) (assuming 11% average annual return), he will have a million-dollar portfolio by age 65. That's less than $37,000 turned into $1,000,000, the magic of compound interest.But the longer a person waits, the harder it gets. By age 30, the monthly requirement increases to $202 per month. By age 40, it's $629 per month. That's why the number one step is to start now, especially if you want to retire early.If you want to be a millionaire, it isn't that hard. It just takes a willingness to contribute regularly to your retirement account and live on less than your income. That's something even I can do. And so can you.

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.

Good, no nonsense overview of long term buy and hold investing. I would disagree with the author on a few things - there is a place for cash in an investment portfolio ; LEAPs options are aligned with a buy and hold strategy and should get a look in.Also, the logic (from a societal point of view) of large numbers of individuals saving and living frugally over a lifetime for a fortune to be enjoyed when one is at the end of one's life will jar with many readers. For any economy to thrive, some people have to spending, and a more balanced approach to savings would be a better approach.There is a lot of wisdom in this book however, and it cuts through a lot of the hype about markets and investing. The case studies are interesting and informative.This book plus a value-line subscription and some discipline and patience will see you well as an investor.

Great useful book

Charles B. Carlsons Buch "Eight Steps To Seven Figures" erschien in der Erstausgabe im April 2000. Zum Zeitpunkt der Herausgabe dieses Buches hatte sich der amerikanische Aktienmarkt etwa seit dem Jahr 1981 in einem jahrzehntelangen Aufwärts-Trend befunden, der nur kurzfristig durch Korrekturen unterbrochen worden war. Die grundlegende Aussage dieses Buches ist es, dass man frugal leben soll und alles Geld, das man sparen kann und sparen möchte, in den Aktienmarkt investieren soll. Da dieser - wie doch fast jeder damals glaubte - immer nur steigt, sind auf lange Sicht jährliche Renditen von 10 % p.a. möglich. Und jahrelang war dies ja auch so, wenn man sich nur die passenden Zeiträume aussuchte, um dies statistisch zu belegen. Um seine Hypothese zu beweisen, läßt Autor Carlson am Ende jeden Kapitels dieses Buches echte Amerikaner zu Wort kommen, die fleißig gespart, die Ersparnisse in den Aktienmarkt gesteckt haben und dadurch wohlhabend oder sogar sehr reich geworden sind. Doch ach, kaum war das Buch erschienen, passierten verwirrende Dinge, die "Dotcom"-Blase platzte und der Aktienmarkt ging in einen dreijährigen Sinkflug über. Jeder, der CFA Chuck Carlson geglaubt hatte, konnte sein Vermögen in dieser Zeit auch mit Aktien von Qualitätsunternehmen mühelos halbieren und wird den Autor verflucht haben. Der Zeitraum von Anfang 2000 bis Ende 2009 war überraschenderweise auch eine jener Dekaden, in der man sein Geld nicht automatisch vermehren konnte, wenn man in Indexfonds investierte, die den Dow Jones oder den S & P 500 Index abbildeten (aber bereits im sehr langen Zeitraum von 1966 bis 1981 hat man keinerlei Gewinn mit dem Dow Jones Index gemacht und inflationsbereinigt sogar sehr viel Geld verloren). Ganz zu schweigen davon, dass man - ohne Ahnung zu haben und völlig mühelos - jene viel zitierten 10 % Rendite erwirtschaften konnte, mit denen hilfreiche Finanzberater und/oder skrupellose Finanzparasiten gerne die Ahnungslosen und/oder Geldgierigen auf das Börsenparkett locken. In sofern ist das Buch leider wenig hilfreich und bleibt nur ein Zeitdokument, in dem sogenannte "Bull Market Genies" zu Worte kommen. Für jeden, der an der Börse reich wurde, gibt es auch andere, die dort arm wurden. Für jede Firma, die einen Mehrwert erwirtschaftet und ihre Aktionäre reicher macht, gibt es als negatives Gegenbeispiel jene Firmen, die nicht überleben und ihre Anteilseigner somit ärmer machen (kreative Destruktion). Es kann an der Börse kein Geld aus dem Nichts geschaffen werden. Ich wollte, ich hätte das Buch nicht gekauft. Es ist in etwa mit den Büchern vergleichbar, die die Gardner-Brüder ("Motley Fools") produzieren, z.B. "You have more than you think" (ein reines Hype-Produkt). Charles Carlson aber schreibt auch heute noch weiter Bücher über "Geldanlage in Aktien". So kann man jedenfalls immer ein sicheres Einkommen mit Aktien erwirtschaften.