How To Become A Millionaire: If A Black Guy Can Do It, So Can You!

By Paul Alleyne and Daniela Weil

According to statistics, a black guy has the lowest probability in the world of becoming a millionaire. So if I did it, so can you!

This is unlike any other personal finance book you may have read. Conventional thinking plus conventional actions equals conventional results. I want so much more for you. My hope is that, after reading this b

• Language: English
• Publisher: WMLB Publishing
• Release date: Oct 17, 2017
• ISBN: 9780998868318

Paul Alleyne

About the Author Born in New York City, NY, but a Texas resident since 2002, Paul Alleyne is an emergency physician; entrepreneur, investor, and a first-time author whose purpose and passion is helping others reach their ultimate potential. He holds a MD from Stony Brook University and a BS from Duke University.

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INTRODUCTION

OR: WHO IS THIS GUY? AND WHY SHOULD I LISTEN TO HIM?

When you saw the title of this book, you probably had a few questions: Who is this Paul Alleyne guy? Is he really a millionaire? And why the self-deprecating tagline – what does being a black guy have to do with making money?

So, first things first: My name is Paul Alleyne. Or Paul Alleyne, M.D., or Dr. Paul Alleyne if you want to get technical about it. And, for those of you who give a damn, my last name is one of those names that no one knows how to pronounce at first glance. Let me help you: It’s a-leen (with a soft a). As in, "A lean, mean, fighting machine." I know that’s terribly corny, but it’s the best I could come up with in the last 40 years.

But I’m guessing that what you really want to know is this: Yes, I am a millionaire.

And, although you probably figured this out already, I am also a black guy. This is important because, statistically speaking, a black guy – even a college-educated black guy – is the least likely person in America (or the world) to become a millionaire (I’ll get into just how unlikely in the next chapter).

Now, I’m not saying that becoming a millionaire is easy if you’re Asian or Latino or white. It’s not. Becoming a millionaire requires hard work and dedication, no matter who you are.

But I am saying that, if I could become a millionaire – even with the statistical deck stacked against me – you can too. I am so convinced of this that I left a high-paying job as a medical executive to write this book.¹ And if I can help even one person achieve a seven-figure net worth, I will feel as though I have succeeded in my mission.

This is not an autobiography in the traditional sense, and I must emphasize that the purpose of this book IS NOT for me to boast about my success. That said, much of what you’ll read here is based on my own experiences.

I’ll talk about my journey throughout this book, but the Cliff Notes version goes something like this: I grew up in Queens, New York, in a single-parent household. My mom valued education, discipline, and spirituality. From fourth grade on, I attended private Catholic schools because she didn’t think the local public schools were very good, academically or morally. My mom was a nurse with a master’s degree, so we weren’t exactly destitute, but we lived in the inner city and would never have been considered well-off. And yes, finances (or lack thereof) were often a source of stress in our household.

In other words, I didn’t come from money. I worked hard and got good grades. After high school, thanks to an attractive financial aid package that included loans, grants, and work study, I was able to attend a four-year university. From there, I went to medical school.² My education helped me secure a job as an ER physician.

At this point, you may be thinking, "Of course he’s a millionaire. He’s a doctor!" But before you give up and stop reading, you should probably know that doctors are terrible at managing their financial lives. Yes, they make a lot of money, comparatively speaking – but the overwhelming majority are not millionaires.

So I want to re-emphasize: My journey is unique to me. It represents just one path to wealth. And it’s one of many. Your path is unique to you, and it’s important to me that you find it. Maybe you went to private school like I did. Maybe you attended public school. Maybe you were home-schooled or have a GED. Maybe you have a graduate degree. Maybe you didn’t attend high school or college at all. None of that matters. You don’t have to come from a certain background or have a specific level of education. And you certainly don’t have to be a doctor.

I wrote this book because I honestly believe that anyone can be a millionaire if they are willing to do the following:

1)BE TEACHABLE. How do you know if you’re teachable or not? Here’s a quick test: If you think you know sh*t, but don’t have – or haven’t done – sh*t, then guess what? You don’t know sh*t. Please try to humble yourself and be willing to learn from people who are more successful than you.

2)HAVE A GREAT WORK ETHIC. Unfortunately, this is not something that can be taught. The passion for being productive and successful is the fire that will keep you going long after multiple failures, common sense, or laziness tell you it’s time to slow down or quit.

3)BE PERSISTENT AND RESILIENT – AND KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO. You’ll need to cultivate both of these qualities if you want to succeed in your journey. Persistence means never giving up; it means staying flexible and teachable. You keep trying until you make it. Resilience means the ability to emotionally cope with failure. Because you will fail. Maybe once or twice. Maybe 10 times. But no matter how many times you fail, you must be able to get back up and try again.

4)TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR LIFE. Are you self-aware? In my opinion, developing self-awareness should be one of the goals of the human journey. Unfortunately, many people don’t take the opportunity to reflect on why they are in their particular situation or why they may be perceived a certain way. I suggest that you quickly adopt a zero-excuse policy: No matter your financial standing at this time, you must accept that your past decisions have shaped the way your life looks today. To quote Stephen Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People:

And to quote Paul Alleyne:³

I came up with that as way to remind myself of the cold-hearted, painful truth contained in that statement. If you really want to become a millionaire, it will be up to you to make the right choices.

Before we go any further, I think I should make one thing very clear – if it’s not already: This is not your conventional personal finance book.

I have taken the time to read almost every best-selling personal finance and/or investment book on the market in the last 20 years. What I found is that the majority of them just rehash the same concepts over and over.

Do any of these sound familiar?

1)Live below your means

2)Save at least 10% of your annual salary

3)Have a three- to six-month emergency fund

4)Minimize your debt, especially bad debt like credit cards

5)Never lease a car or buy one new

6)Maintain a great credit score

7)Save for retirement

8)Save for college

9)Cut unnecessary daily expenses, like lattes or lottery tickets

10)Invest in a diversified stocks and bonds portfolio as early as possible to maximize the effect of compounding

11)Invest in real estate (usually your primary home with a 15-year mortgage)

12)Buy life, disability, and long-term care insurance

Most conventional finance books imply that if you do all of the above things – AND if everything goes according to plan – you will be rich.

Here’s the truth as I’ve experienced it: Following the rehashed, cookie-cutter financial advice above will definitely put you on better financial footing than most people. It’s not bad advice. But it won’t make you wealthy. It’s not enough. Think about it for a minute: Did all the millionaires out there get rich by cutting back on their daily Starbucks consumption? Did Warren Buffet get where he is today because he stopped buying scratch-off cards?

Not a chance.

All of these books share one common flaw, in my opinion. They never ask you THE most fundamental question; THE question that you must answer in order for you to do any or all of the things they recommend.

It’s a question so critical to your financial success that I decided to increase the font size so that it stands out both on the page – and in your mind.

THE question is:

HOW WILL YOU MAKE YOUR MONEY?

You need money to live. This is true regardless of your race, ethnicity, gender, religious beliefs (or lack thereof), sexual orientation, or political affiliation. You can work for it, borrow it, beg for it, marry for it, have sex for it, compete for it, gamble for it, or commit crime for it.

As an individual, you must accept the following unfortunate truth as soon as possible:

The amount of money you have or have access to affects the way you live.

More importantly:

The amount of money you have greatly determines the level of control you have over your life.

This is the reason why we are ALL in pursuit of money. This is why we fantasize about what our lives would look like if we hit the lottery. When we get money, it lifts our spirits (at least temporarily), but if we lose it or don’t have as much as we need, we can become stressed, depressed, or physically ill.

The funny thing is, no matter how much money we have, there remains an undercurrent in each of us that always desires more. This probably makes money life’s most addictive drug.

I know everyone has a different definition of financial success. For the purposes of this book, I have defined financial success as being a millionaire. This means that you must have a minimum net worth of at least $1 million (not including the value of your primary home or retirement accounts).

But $1 million is just a start. Due to the decreased purchasing power of the dollar, $1 million doesn’t go nearly as far as it used to. My hope is that, after reading this book AND applying the information contained within, you will exceed the million-dollar mark by several multiples. If you’re bold enough to have lofty dreams, it’s entirely possible that you’ll reach billionaire status.

If you’ve seen the movie The Matrix, you may remember the scene where Laurence Fishburne’s character, Morpheus, gives Keanu Reeves’ character, Neo, a choice between the red pill and the blue pill. If Neo takes the red pill, he wakes up: all of the truths about life will be revealed to him – even the unpleasant or harsh ones. For the first time, he’ll really understand the world around him. If he takes the blue pill, he’ll stay in his dream world forever. He won’t have to deal with the unpleasantness of reality, but he’ll be living a lie – and he won’t even know it.

So, take the red pill and come with me.

Nothing I tell you in the following chapters will be especially complicated. I wrote this book to be conversational and easy to follow. The challenge comes in taking the advice as you start your journey to wealth. That won’t be easy – but if you do, I’m almost 100% certain that you will experience increased financial success and be on a more direct path to becoming a millionaire.

I just have a few final notes:_

First of all, I sincerely apologize in advance for the profanity contained in this book. I went to Catholic school, and I come from a very religious family. That kind of language wasn’t acceptable (and it still isn’t). That said, sometimes, sh*t and f*ck are just the right words at the right time. So, I censored them to appease my family, and I left them in because I wanted the information in this book to keep it real.

Second, I have tried to keep this brief and remove unnecessary fluff. Most people no longer have the attention span to read books that are more than 100 pages unless it’s about kinky sex, wizards, or vampires.

Lastly, please keep in mind that this book is far from conventional. But that’s my intention, and all the words used (even the bad ones!) are 100% deliberate. Conventional thinking brings conventional results.

Who the f*ck wants that? Not me!

I hope you feel the same way.

Let’s get started.

1Of course, this is easier to do when you’re a millionaire. As a millionaire, I could afford to take time off from my job to pursue other interests.

2Again, this was courtesy of more student loans. Sallie Mae, God bless her soul.

3And yes, I know that people who talk about themselves in the third person are pretty much universally viewed as a-holes. But it took me a while to come up with this, and, well, I’m kind of proud of it. But I promise this is the only time I’ll refer to myself as Paul Alleyne.

CHAPTER 1

THE ODDS, THE CHALLENGES, AND LEARNING TO SAY F*CK IT

This is Sisyphus: