Lynnette Khalfani

“The measure of success is not whether you have a tough problem to deal with, but whether it is the same problem you had last year.” — John Foster Dulles

When the complimentary review copy of Lynnette Khalfani’s latest book “The Money Coach’s Guide to Your First Million” arrived on my doorstep, I didn’t want to like it. Why? I have an aversion to personal finance books when the author’s face overwhelms the cover. It makes me think that the content is going to under whelm me.

This is why I’ve never actually purchased any of Suze Orman’s books. I like her advice and quote her often but it’s hard for me to buy a book that is just going to make Suze richer than she already is. Suze’s face is a brand… a brand that sells books. It makes me wonder: is the content all that different from her first six titles or is it just repackaged to create another bestseller. At first glance, I was thinking the same thing about Lynnette.

But I’m glad I read her book and it would have been worth the money had I actually purchased it. I didn’t though. My big blogging perk to date: receiving free review copies from publishers. I’m still waiting to receive something from Suze’s people. I suspect that Suze is too big for bloggers which makes me like Lynnette even more. Move over Suze… Lynnette has something to say and I liked it.

Lynnette doesn’t say anything new, but she writes with clarity and simplicity. It sinks in whether you’re hearing these principles for the first time or just reading it as refresh. We all could use a refresh now and then.

She begins by providing a Millionaire Success Formula — the acrostics throughout are a bit gimmicky but they keep things organized:

M – Make a personal prosperity plan.
I – Invest first, last, and always in your reputation.
L – Live like a lender, not a borrower.
L – Leverage the power of property.
I – Increase your fortune with proven methods, not shortcuts.
O – Overcome setbacks and minimize risks to your financial health.
N – Never forget the next generation.

I’ll elaborate on two of the above:
1. Invest first, last, and always in your reputation – This is one of the best chapters I’ve read about building good credit. She recites the story of Bill and Skip… similar guys that work for the same company and applying for the same promotion. Bill had excellent credit and Skip had skipped one too many payments.

She does a quick case study of what each pays for Mortgages, Auto Loan, Credit Cards, Life Insurance and Auto Insurance. It’s amazing to see what poor credit costs Skip due to higher rates and higher premiums. Over Bill’s lifetime this will be a savings of $413,000 because of perfect credit. After the company ran background checks, Bill was offered the promotion because his credit report was stellar in comparison to Skip’s.

Bill earned an extra $25K annually which meant over the next 25 years, he’d generate an additional $625,000 before retirement. She writes, “As you can see, paying his bills on time allowed Bill to save and earn a total of $1,038,100 more than poor Skip.” She goes on to show the reader how to achieve perfect credit. P-E-R-F-E-C-T credit… yes, another acrostic… I’ll let you buy the book to find out what it means.

2. Leverage the power of property – She writes, “Leverage is the truly the language of millionaires. Leverage, simply put, is the ability to spend the least amount of a given resource — whether it’s time, money, effort or something else — and get maximum results… Real estate provides you with the chance to use leverage to dramatically add to your net worth in ways that no other investment can match.”

She also explains, “That to become a successful real estate investor, you must diversify five ways: geographically, by tenant, by tenant industry, by lease term, and by property sector. Spread out your risk.” Also, remember, “Real estate investments are far less liquid and typically require a much longer holding period than stocks or bonds.”

So buy and hold. She continues, “As a property owner, you also build equity with every mortgage payment that’s made. Your tenants basically pay your monthly mortgage — and hopefully provide you with additional profit — while your property increases in value and your mortgage balance decreases.”

She makes it all sound so simple. S-I-M-P-L-E. Go check it out. It’s worth the read.

Other Queercents book reviews can be found here.