When you're living on a teacher's salary, you don't imagine the word millionaire ever being remotely associated with your name.
I mean, at least not unless you magically inherit a fortune from a long lost uncle - or win the lottery or something....(Good luck with that....)
​But it's okay. You chose this profession because you're in it for the outcome, not for the income. And money certainly won't buy you happiness.
​There is however that little matter of retirement.... I know, none of us really want to think about it. I mean, of course we want to think about ​retiring​ (rest, travel, no more grading - hooray!!)
But we don't want to think about how we're going to save enough money ​to retire comfortably. At least I sure don't.
​The thought of taking my hard-earned (and limited) money and stowing it away in some IRA or 401K never to be seen or heard from again....no fun.
Okay, I know that's not how it works, but it's sure how it feels sometimes.
​At least, it was how it felt until I read Andrew Hallam's book ​Millionaire Teacher
​In this book, Andrew shares how he become a millionaire - even on a minimal teacher's income. And he outlines how pretty much anyone can retire quite comfortably if you make the right investments.
Suddenly, the thought of saving for retirement got a little more exciting. Or, at least, felt a little less like throwing my money in a bottomless pit.
Suddenly, the thought of saving for retirement sounded a little more exciting - and realistic.
At this point your skeptical radar is probably going crazy!
If he's gonna' try to talk me into some "business opportunity" or try to get me to invest in some crazy Ponze scheme...
​​But no. His answer for how to retire a millionaire is actual quite simple.
​​How to Retire a Millionaire on a Teacher's Income
Ready?
Stay out of debt, spend wisely, and invest a little each month (or as much as you can). The key is where you invest it, and Andrew makes everything so simple in his book.
I won't leave you in suspense: The key is to invest not in actively-managed mutual funds but in index funds instead. The fees are way less (you might not think it matters but the compounding interest formula proves otherwise) - and they consistently beat actively managed funds over time.
The key is to invest in index funds instead of actively-managed funds.
​All right, I'm probably losing you already. Honestly, I had no idea what an ​index fund was before I heard Andrew talk about it. And the whole concept of investing and retirement was just way too much for me to think about (I mean, there are way more pressing things to worry about!)
But reading Millionaire Teacher has really opened my eyes to how simple investing really can be. Andrew explains the concepts in a way that is not only easy to understand but full of humor and wit and fascinating stories that I actually breezed through the whole book in about a week.
Turns out, investing doesn't have to be complicated after all. You can invest more wisely than the majority of investors and only spend about a half hour a year managing it.
​​So what's your retirement plan?
​As a teacher, you may be simply counting on your pension to be enough for retirement. But do you know that it is?
​Or, if you teach in a Christian school, your retirement account might be so empty that your only real retirement plan is the rapture.
If so, you need to grab this book right now. You'll be encouraged to start saving - even if it's only a little bit. And invest in a way that you're confident your money will grow over time.
Grab Your Copy of Millionaire Teacher
​You'll no longer be tricked and taken advantage of by financial advisers who, although hopefully well intentioned, often have ​their own ​best interests at heart.
And you'll see how, if you start early enough, it's not so crazy to imagine retiring a millionaire - or, at the very least, retiring comfortably - even on a teacher's income.
p.s. I firmly believe life is not about money - it's about serving God and serving others. Pursuing wealth will never truly satisfy, and that is certainly not the point of this post.
The point is that we are also called to be wise stewards of our money, and Millionaire Teacher has made me realize how much of my money is being wasted on fees and poor management. I hope it can help you be a better steward & more able to use your finances to serve others as God leads.