The title above refers to a book by Robert Shemin about how to achieve wealth.  When I first heard about How Come That Idiot’s Rich And I’m Not, I was skeptical because, honestly, how many of these “how to get rich” books can there be?  At what point do people just write books about how to get rich in order to get rich themselves?

Not Just Another “Get Rich” Book

Well, I was wrong about this one.  Shemin has actually written a very good character study.  His story–a rags to riches tale–emphasizes the need to break out of the “rat race.”  He explains, in a witty tone, that what we learn growing up and how society maintains those values is a recipe for financial disaster.  Most important, he illustrates that, if you want to be financially independent, you can do it.  There is no holding anyone back.  In many ways, Shemin emulates Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Poor Dad.

Throw Away Everything You Know

In the book, Shemin reveals that, if you stick to the financial rules and lessons you learned growing up, you’re just going to be poor.  The only way to achieve wealth is to break those rules and turn them on their heads.  He shatters the mystery about how ordinary people have made millions and demonstrates that, in reality, it’s not a mystery at all.   

What Shemin does real well is focus on the average person.  He concentrates on people who are total financial disasters.  He shows us that he was one of those and tells us his own story, which defies all imagination.

Lessons From The Book  

Shemin does talk a bit about vague self-help notions like setting goals, thinking like a millionaire, etc.  However, he spends a lot of time giving you concrete information.  He writes about Kiyosaki’s ground-breaking principle that you need your money to work for you.  He also explains that, to achieve wealth, the universal rule is that we have to stop building someone else’s business (which is what we do as employees) and start building our own businesses (which is what entrepreneurs do).  He writes that leveraging other people’s ideas and efforts is essential to building a business. 

The Three Assets

Included within his lessons is a very important point.  So important, in fact, that I set this paragraph off by itself.  Shemin writes that, to become a “Rich Idiot,” as he terms it, you have to own three assets.  If you read my blog, you can probably guess what those assets are.  (Hint: They put money in your pocket.) 

Now Or Never

Even if you take all this information to heart, it won’t matter if you don’t do anything.  A lot of people put things off and rely on the dream that “some day” they’ll do something about their financial situation.  Well, Shemin attacks this mentality and underlines the important of taking action as soon as you can.  He talks about accumulating money, thinking of investments, starting a business, but he emphasizes that you should do all this stuff . . . yesterday.  And he shows us why there is no excuse for starting to take control of your financial freedom now in the present. 

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