The Millionaire Fastlane is the first book that I have completed this year. Like every year, I joined a Reading Challenge on Goodreads. And my target is 24 books for the year or 2 books a month. Lately, I have been consuming a lot of content around the topic of financial freedom and I also shared some of my knowledge in my blog series – In Pursuit Of Financial Freedom. Maybe it is the pandemic or maybe I am growing up. But I have (finally) started investing in gaining financial literacy and I am amazed (and enraged) at myself that it took me so long.
So, here are my thoughts on book 1/24 – The Millionaire Fastlane : Crack the Code to Wealth and Live Rich for a Lifetime!
Lessons to learn from The Millionaire Fastlane
M J Demarco divides people into three categories or paths – The sidewalk, the slowlane and the fastlane.
- The sidewalk is where people live pay check to pay check, have no savings or investments and are a few months away from ruining their lives. For example in the current situation like the pandemic, if a sidewalker looses their job, they could be in a homeless position really quickly.
- The slow lane is the path which most people take. This path is where you invest your savings into mutual funds or stock markets etc in the hope that you will have a decent retired life. This path feels ‘safe’ and will make you rich but only after your have been at it for a large period of time (like 30-40 years). In this path, you trade your time for money.
- The fastlane is the path where you build your own business, your own empire. This is a relatively get rich quicker path (5-10 years). You give all your time and energy for these 5-10 years to build a business that can give you passive returns for the rest of your life. So, you trade your time only for a few years. But, ultimately take control of your time as you get established.
Money grows on trees –
Demarco says Money does grow on trees. But you need to build your own money trees first. And the ways to do that is by building one of the following systems –
- Rental System
- Software System
- Content System
- Distribution System
- Human Resource System
Leverage one or multiple of these systems and you are on your way to the fastlane.
Pay yourself first
If your primary income source comes from a job, your ability to pay yourself first is paralyzed because the governments are paid first! For pay yourself first to be legitimate, you truly need to pay yourself first in infinite amounts and the government last. You must own your vehicle.
M J Demarco, The Millionaire Fastlane
Crack the code – Move from a consumer to a producer
Instead of buying products on TV, sell products. Instead of digging for gold, sell shovels. Instead of taking a class, offer a class. Instead of borrowing money, lend it. Instead of taking a job, hire for jobs. Instead of taking a mortgage, hold a mortgage. Break free from consumption, switch sides, and reorient to the world as producer.
M J Demarco, The Millionaire Fastlane
The five commandments
The book lays down 5 commandments. If the business you are setting up fulfil these commandments, you are on the right track –
- Need – Is there a need for what you are offering? Are you really offering value or solution to an existing problem?
- Entry – The easier it is get into a business, the more competitive it is. You want to enter in a business with the least competition.
- Control – Do you have full control of the product you are selling?
- Scale – Does your business have the potential to scale quickly?
- Time – Does your business demand all of your time for a very long period? If your income can’t be passive after a while, you will not have control of your time.
The Law of Effection
Effection is not even a real word but something the author has coined. The law of Effection basically means – “To make millions, you need to impact millions”. It kind of ties back to the scale argument. If you open a restaurant or a barber shop you can only reach a bunch of people within 4-5 mile radius. But if you scale that restaurant or barber shop into a franchise with multiple outlets, you will reach millions and that is when you make millions. The easiest way to reach millions these days is through the internet.
What I didn’t like in the book
- The writing style – I am not a big fan of Demarco’s writing style. Although he does drive the point home. But sometimes it was outright rude and felt a lot like tough love.
- Repetition – I felt there was a lot of repetition in the book. The same point has been explained in multiple different ways. WE GET IT. Stop hammering the same points over and over, please!
Verdict
The Millionaire Fastlane is a good book if you look past the writing style and the tough love attitude. There are a lot of practical concepts that the author has introduced which I will surely follow. Is this book another ‘Get rich quick’ ones that the market is flooded with? I don’t think so. MJ has proven that money can be made if you are really into making it. You need to own it, not just show interest.
I would definitely recommend this for anyone who are on their journey to achieving financial freedom.
Have you read this book? How did you feel about it? What are your other favourite money-related books? Please mention in the comments below. And stay tuned to my reading journey for more book recommendations and reviews!
