The

Franklin Prosperity Report

‘a penny saved is a penny earned’ June 2013 / Vol. 5, No. 6

“My Best-Ever Money Move”

Seven Millionaires Reveal Habits for a Lifetime of Wealth

Humans, as we know, are creatures of habit. We easily fall into patterns

and cling to our established ways of doing things. Day after day, we repeat
our behaviors, our methods, and our rituals that give us comfort in a very
uncertain world. But at some point, it’s smart to stop, look at your own
habits, and ask yourself this: “Are you where you want to be in life? Is
your nest egg growing? Are you on the path to financial freedom?”

If not, you probably need to change your routine. After all, it’s your own
actions that forge the path toward success, or simply keep digging you
deeper into a rut that you can’t escape.

Making changes for the better, then, requires a commitment on your part to
reformulate your daily patterns and to establish new habits. Like someone
concerned about his or her health who vows to start exercising and eating
right, you have to make a promise to yourself to make better financial
decisions, starting today, and then stick to it.

That’s the bad news. Change can be hard. It can take some strong mental
efforts to break free of your particular way of doing things. But now the
good news — just as those bad habits were learned over time, good practices
can be learned, too, and then ingrained into your life.

According to financial adviser and wealth researcher Tom Corley, CPA, the

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INSIDE . . .
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www.franklinprosperityreport.com
 Continued from page 1
path to financial success is clearly marked by behaviors that anyone can
learn and emulate. Over several years, Corley interviewed hundreds of rich
and poor people about their financial practices and habits. He found a
difference “the size of the Grand Canyon” in the way the two groups view and
manage money. An example: One hundred percent of the rich save 10 percent
or more of their net income; only 5 percent of the poor do.

That observation is just a start. To learn more about the money habits
of the wealthy, our editors asked seven millionaires to share what they
thought of as their most important money management practice that helped
to grow and secure their wealth. Here’s what they had to say.

“Read omnivorously. Use your money to create more money.” — Robert Smith
Corley’s research shows that 85 percent of the rich read two or more educa-
tion or career-related books per month; only 15 percent of the poor do. That
fits with the experience of millionaire Robert
Robert Smith is the Smith, founder of Champion Media Worldwide, a
founder of Champion full-service public relations and marketing firm.
Media Worldwide, a full-
service public relations and
Smith, who started out poor, believed that read-
marketing firm in North
ing books about how to attain wealth, written by
Carolina and Illinois.
the wealthy, was essential to success. “I didn’t
know any millionaires,” he says. “I’d read a book and write to the author
in care of the publishers or find them on the Internet and email them.”

Some of the millionaires he contacted agreed to act as Smith’s long-distance

mentors. “There are a lot of opportunities to learn,” Smith counsels. “Try
to find information in a book, online, and attend seminars where people
actually teach you how to do what they’ve done.”

The other behavior Smith advises would-be millionaires to adopt is learn-

ing how to retain the wealth they create and using it to create more. “Most
lottery winners go broke because they don’t know how to manage money,”
Smith observes. “Same thing with professional athletes who get multimil-
lion-dollar contracts. Within five years, 95 percent of them are broke.
It’s not just about getting the money. It’s about what you do once you’ve
got it. Without the mindset, you lose it.”

“Stay agile, and provide investors with evidence and vision.” — Paul LeJoy
Real estate investor Paul LeJoy bought his first home for $280,000 in 2001,
shortly after emigrating from Taiwan. He sold it four months later for
$400,000. Two years later, he’d acquired a real estate license, and in 2007
launched Pacific Realty Partners in Newark, Calif., now worth $50 million.

When the real estate market started tanking in 2007, LeJoy immediately
began contacting banks and asset management companies to get them to invest
in his expertise by hiring him to provide broker price opinions (BPO).
Soon he had secured not only BPO work but also listings to sell bank-owned
homes. “People are always looking for leaders and leadership,” he says.
“Provide that and investors will provide you with money.”

2 FranklinProsperityReport.com June 2013

 LeJoy makes the point that getting investors requires a good track record
and a vision. “Investors want a profit on their money,” he says. “My track
record told them what the future might look like. My vision is creating
wealth and relationships that last, so they felt encouraged to ally with
me. Because in the past I have been honest with
Paul LeJoy is a Southern- them, people know I will be honest in the future.”
California-based real estate
investor and sought-after
Tact is another quality LeJoy firmly espouses,
consultant. He founded
one that dovetails neatly into another Corley
Pacific Realty Partners in
2007. finding: Only 6 percent of millionaires speak
their minds, while 69 percent of the poor do.
“The wealthy told me it’s a good idea to censor what starts in your head
and comes out your mouth because if you don’t, you risk insulting someone
or putting your foot in your mouth,” Corley says. “Speaking your mind too
freely is a bad habit that could cost you a lot of money.”

“Buy used, not new.” — Marshall Brain

Corley found that while 69 percent of the poor he interviewed would buy a
new car if they could, a mere 6 percent of the wealthy considered a new
car worth buying. Millionaire Marshall Brain, author and founder of the
HowStuffWorks website (howstuffworks.com), emphatically agrees.

We are so bombarded by car marketing that encourages us to buy a new car

that many people mistake the ads for axioms, notes Brain — to the point
that they believe buying new is a smart finan-
Marshall Brain is an cial move. “We are programmed to believe that as
author and the founder of our income goes up, the cost of the car we own
HowStuffWorks.com. He should follow in lockstep,” he says. “We are also
previously ran a software
training and consulting programmed to believe that expensive cars will
company. make us happier.”

The fact is, he counters, “These ads are not true. An expensive car does not
buy happiness, and there is no law of nature that says you have to buy one.”

Brain and his wife, Leigh, lived for two years with just one car, an unusual
move for a family of six living in suburbia. When that was no longer prac-
tical, they bought a second vehicle, a used yellow Toyota Yaris hatchback.
“We bought it from a dealer who had repossessed it, so it had 6,000 miles
on it and cost $11,000,” Brain says. “It is
a tiny two-door car, but it can still carry Important
up to four kids, a dog, and one adult.” As a Franklin Prosperity Report
subscriber, you may have opted
Brain says his new ride is not only economi- !" #$ " %&'" ($)'*$+$," )& %" !-,"
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says. The car gets great gas mileage. The will be billed each year; you’ll see
tires on it are small and cheap. It hasn’t NMX*Franklin Prosperity on your
needed a bit of service (except oil changes) credit card statement. Thank you.
in 40,000 miles. Insurance is cheap.

June 2013 Moneynews.com 3