Joseph S. Moore, a college professor and an enthusiastic investor, shares what he has learned from years of trying to get Rich. In essence, Moore believes this is a perfect time to get Rich. So many options! Step by step, Moore discusses your investment choices. Real Estate has been a popular option for years, but now with flooding and wild fires, maybe not a great choice.
In the Past, people were encouraged to get into debt. Mortgages, car payments, home equity loans were all popular ways of feeling Rich by pushing off payments into the Future. At one time–the 1950s and 1960s, owning a GM or Ford franchise and selling cars and trucks was a certain way to wealth. That’s when people used to buy a new vehicle every two or three years. Today, with cars and trucks costing $50,000+, that doesn’t seem to be a great way to get wealthy.
Moore points out timing is a key variable in getting Rich. Sure, if you bought Microsoft 40 years ago, you’d be Rich today. But look at all the people who lost their shirts owning stock in Enron.
The people investing in canals in the U.S. lost money, but the people who actually built the canals made lots of money. Moore presents plenty of stories of winners and losers throughout U.S. history with lessons to be learned in the ways of wealth.
I found How to Get Rich in American History a fun, entertaining, and educational book. Are you Rich yet? GRADE: B+
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction: Go Ahead! — 1
Part I: Your Money and American HistoryGetting Ahead is Easier Than Ever — 9
Fast Time, Slow Time — 11
Crypto Isn’t the Future, It’s the Past — 25
Financial Advice: Inflation’s Oops Baby — 34
Gurus are Selling Something, You Should Buy — 43
Your Net Worth is Wrong (So I Made Myself a Billionaire) — 53
Part II: Investing Then and Now— 61
The next big thing is a bad idea –63
;Compound interest and passive income are overrated — 73
Diversification won’t make you rich — 82
You can beat the market, you probably shouldn’t — 89
Women were always active investors — 103
Stocks used to be bad for the long run — 112
Part. II: Financial freedom the American way — 127
Financial independence isn’t what you think — 129
Real estate is a terrible way to make money — 140
House hacks and side hustles before Uber and Airbnb — 150
Yes, people retired before social security — 160
Immigrants make the best capitalists — 171
Scams: the Nigerian prince is actually from Spain — 180
Part IV: The Feds and the family— 191
Budgets are new, hating them isn’t — 193
Debt isn’t (necessarily) dumb — 202
The government was always involved — 213
Going broke is better than ever — 224
Marriage (and dual incomes) mattered… a lot — 235
Generational wealth doesn’t last long — 249
Part V: It’s getting better, much, much better — 261
People really did get ahead, and you can, too — 263
Conclusion: the real lessons of financial history — 277
Acknowledgements — 297
Notes — 299
Index — 331
I’m sticking to the tried-and-true method: slot machines!
Bob, slot machines are one-armed bandits! And so are lotteries!
Not materially, except compared with entirely too much of humanity.
Todd, most of the world will be starving if the Iran War continues much longer!
Basically what Todd said. John and I are comfortable: we’ve paid off our mortgage and have no outstanding car notes. Our investments have been moved to very low-risk instruments because we don’t have time to recoup catastrophic losses. We’re doing the best we can—and far better than so many other people in the country and on the planet.
Deb, same here. Our pensions, Social Security, and IRAs fund a comfortable Life. And, with the success of our two great kids, we’re Happy!
Yeah, ditto. Rich compared with Trump and his Cabinet? No, not close. But comfortable enough for us and our needs, and (hopefully) enough to make it the rest of the way down the road.
Jeff, our chief worries are future health problems (so many of our friends are sick!) and the state of the economy. Will Social Security run out of money? Will gas go to $10 a gallon?
Rich is a relative term and none of my relatives are rich. While not exactly a life choice, poverty keeps trying to knock at my door and I keep shoving a chair under the doorknob to keep it out; with luck that will work until my warranty expires.
Money has never meant that much to me. I delude myself by thinking that is because my heart is pure.
Jerry, your heart is pure and you mind is sharp! Many of the Rich people I know are beset with anxiety and depression. Money comes with problems…
Continuing warnings of a meltdown and societal collapse make me less than secure.
Patti, with Trump running things, everything could go sideways…like the Iran War.
It appears we’re in much the same place as you and others in the group, Comfortable in retirement and likely to remain so barring catastrophic health issues that Medicare, secondary insurance, and our LTC policy would fail to cover. Much credit to my wife for steering the course over five decades. We hope to leave a decent inheritance for our kids. I don’t think SocSec or Medicare will disappear overnight, but give it time; the GOP and the Musks of the world will keep chipping away at entitlements behind smoke and mirrors, and the incompetent Dems will kowtow with much bluster and hot air. My FDR/JFK dad would be aghast at a spineless Party that no longer has any interest other than raising money by whining about Trump.
Fred, the Democrats need a Blue Wave in November or their political future will be dire. Trump has a stranglehold on the Justice Department and will use it to damage his enemies (just about everybody) and fracture Democracy.