The Ordinary Millionaire: From Poverty to Immigrant to Financial Freedom, Inspired by Dr. Stanley's The Millionaire Next Door

By MQ Hana

The Ordinary Millionaire is intended to show a perspective of a struggling immigrant who grew up in poverty yet became a millionaire within six years after being deep in debt with middle-class incomes for almost two decades.

Just like ordinary Americans, I had made many poor emotional choices trying to keep up with the Joneses…trying to be normal. I then share with you how we implemented other guru’s proven strategies to turn our life around from financial rock bottom.

My main reason for writing this book is to hopefully inspire you to get your finances in order and to pursue your dreams. I would like to impart our actual regimen to maintain a simple lifestyle and invest diligently in order to obtain our wealth.

In the grand scheme of things, becoming a millionaire is only a side effect of our short-term objective—our true aspiration is to be financially independent and retire early like what is often heard in the FIRE movement.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 30, 2021
• ISBN: 9781636301105

Book preview

Table of Contents

Cover

Title

Copyright

INTRODUCTION

To Share, To Inspire

Chapter 1: THE MEANING OF MONEY

The Misperception

Chapter 2: POOR VS. RICH VS. WEALTHY

The Competing Ideology

Becoming a Millionaire

Chapter 3: LIFE IN VIETNAM

Let the Journey Begin

The First Escape

The Second Escape

The Final Attempt

Blessing in Disguise

Chapter 4: A BRAND-NEW LIFE

As an Immigrant

Culture Shock

Chapter 5: SCHOOL IN AMERICA

Finding Oneself

Elementary School

Middle School

High School

Chapter 6: BECOMING AN ADULT

College and Beyond

Chapter 7: BUILDING OUR DREAM HOME

A Curse or a Blessing?

Chapter 8: GENERATION XENNIALS

Generation of Debt

Chapter 9: OUR PERSONAL FINANCES

Where Did We Belong… Financially?

Income vs. Expenses

Chapter 10: AUTOS AS AN INVESTMENT

I Love My Cars…to Debt!

When Buying Cars

Alternatives to Cars (Toys)

Chapter 11: OUR CAREER JOURNEY

The Long Hours

Entrepreneurship

Going Back to Vietnam

The Second Trip

My Wife, My Rock

Chapter 12: THE NEW BEGINNING

Let's Turn the Chapter

My New Career

Chapter 13: GERBIL IN THE WHEEL

Tired of Being Tired

Working for Others

Chapter 14: OUR DEBT-FREE JOURNEY

From Rock Bottom

The Baby Steps

Chapter 15: TACKLING OUR DEBTS

Let's Buckle Down

Lastly, Our Mortgage

Chapter 16: YOUR DEBT-FREE JOURNEY

Build a Solid Foundation

Good Debt vs. Bad Debt

Chapter 17: MY PERSONAL SUCCESS

Life-Changing Events

A Lifetime Opportunity

Chapter 18: WHO'S WEALTHY… WHO'S NOT?

How We Measure Wealth

From Riches to Rags

Michael Jackson. Also known as the King of Pop. Jackson's money issues involved large amounts of expenditures to accommodate his opulent lifestyle. At the time of his unexpected death in 2009, it was estimated that Jackson owed $400 to $500 million due to numerous expensive lawsuits.From Rags to Riches

Chapter 19: OUR WEALTH JOURNEY

Finding Our Whys

Chapter 20: STEPPING STONES

The Starting Point

Chapter 21: INVEST OR NOT?

Retire with Dignity

Chapter 22: SAY YES… TO INVEST!

Give Yourself a Chance

Compound Interest

Investment Types

Chapter 23: A FINANCIAL ADVISOR… OR NOT

Learn to Earn or Stagnate to Pay

Chapter 24: BE THE CEO'S BOSS

BE THE CEO'S BOSS

No Work… Full Benefits!

Be the Boss of Many

Chapter 25: A PATH TO FINANCIAL WELLNESS

Allocations, Buy-Low-n-Hold, Building Equity

Money: Master the Game

Portfolio Allocation

Buy-Low-n-Hold

Building Equity

Chapter 26: THE PROVEN STRATEGY

Winning the Money Game!

Fear and Greed

Chapter 27: THE ORDINARY MILLIONAIRE

Financial Independence!

The 4% Rule

Note of Caution

Our Trio-Arbitrage

Financial Freedom

Chapter 28: GRATITUDE

I Am Just Thankful!

My Parents

My Wife

My Family

Gratitude for Life

Giving Back

About the Author

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The Ordinary Millionaire

From Poverty to Immigrant to Financial Freedom, Inspired by Dr. Stanley's The Millionaire Next Door

MQ Hana

ISBN 978-1-63630-108-2 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-63630-109-9 (Hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-63630-110-5 (Digital)

Copyright © 2021 MQ Hana

All rights reserved

Revised First Edition

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020920475

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Covenant Books

11661 Hwy 707

Murrells Inlet, SC 29576

www.covenantbooks.com

The information provided in this book is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a source of advice or credit analysis with respect to the material presented. The information and/or documents contained in this book do not constitute legal or financial advice and should never be used without first consulting with a financial professional to determine what may be best for your individual needs.

The publisher and the author do not make any guarantee or other promise as to any results that may be obtained from using the content of this book. Any such statements made in the book are meant as theoretical and strictly came from our own experiences. You should never make any investment decision without first consulting with your own financial advisor and conducting your own research and due diligence.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, the publisher and the author disclaim any and all liability in the event any information, commentary, analysis, opinions, advice and/or recommendations contained in this book prove to be inaccurate, incomplete or unreliable, or result in any investment or other losses.

Content contained or made available through this book is not intended to and does not constitute legal advice or investment advice and no attorney-client relationship is formed. The publisher and the author are providing this book and its contents on an as is basis. Your use of the information in this book is at your own risk.

INTRODUCTION

To Share, To Inspire

Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you're doing the impossible.

—Francis of Assisi

Whilst the purpose of this book is not meant to provide you with in-depth strategies and technical details on how to invest like the titans Warren Buffet, Charlie Munger, or Sir. John Templeton, it is intended to show you a perspective of an ordinary immigrant who grew up in poverty, yet became a millionaire and financially independent (FI) within six years from the beginning of a financial journey after being deep in debt with a middle-class income for almost two decades.

When looking back at my success story, I think about all the wonderful people that I am surrounded by in my life. None of this could have happened without the blessings and the opportunities that were given to me. I'm also blessed to have the excellent support system from my family, and of course a major contribution and relentless encouragement from my lifelong partner, my wife Hana. I owe my success to those I hold near and dear in my life, thus one of the reasons that I want to write this book is to show my appreciation for them.

So, when it comes down to implementing success, how did we do it? What's the secret? How did we achieve our objective so soon?

I will lay out the details in the upcoming chapters on steps we took to achieve our dreams. Fundamentally, we obtained our mini goals along the way by listening to Dave Ramsey's talk radio show and studying investment books that contain ideas, concepts, and principles from the financial gurus listed above. These principles and concepts are very simple to follow by the way; they can be summarized as such:

Work hard.

Have a system.

Live below our means.

Be content and grateful with what we already have.

Invest the majority (~60–70%) of our earnings.

It is worth noting that none of the ideas that I'll be sharing with you are original. The only thing that's new here is the way I took other experts' tried-and-true strategies and applied them to our unique life situation. I don't have a creative bone in my body to be an originalist. Besides, originality is overrated—any proven concepts would take way too long to test, and who knows if there would be any strength left in us to complete the journey.

Why be original when we can learn so much from those that have done this before us? Their lifetime of research, experiences, failures, and successes are well-documented in their books, lectures, and podcasts. All you have to do is invest a little time reading, listening to them, and following their footsteps. With that, already at the start, you can steer clear 50 percent of the rough terrain ahead.

Even though we're now millionaires and financially independent, the road to become debt free and achieve financial wellness wasn't always easy for us—it required hard work and strong discipline. If you have read Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill—one of the best authors, lecturers, and philosophers of all time—the key to achieving your goals is to keep talking and acting like you are already there. Keep feeling like it—keep saying that you are a millionaire until you become a millionaire.

One of the greatest motivating factors to ensure your vision morphs into a reality is to keep seeing the end goal in as much detail as possible in high definition (HD). Keep envisioning it in your mind, take the proper steps, and you can be sure to reach it.

In the grand scheme of things, attaining millionaire status was only a side effect of our short-term objective. Our true aspiration is still to maintain financial independence, which means working is optional—not an obligation. It was the ultimate goal we were out to achieve. Our investing practices fulfilled our deep desire to retire early like what you often hear from the Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) movement. With a proven strategy put in place and a clear path to attain this goal, we are living that life—the life of doing what we desire most.

Hana and I educated ourselves as much as we could and then applied the knowledge to our own investment portfolios. Applied is the keyword here. People say knowledge is power but having knowledge without taking action to enhance your life is useless—a waste of your time and energy.

A prime example of this is professors and academics of the world (not to pick on them because their calling is an important one). Generally speaking, they typically accumulate very little wealth in spite of possessing a great deal of education and knowledge. Other moguls such as Steve Jobs, Henry Ford, or even Bill Gates, etc., possessed low to moderate educational backgrounds, yet they built great wealth due to their life's dedication and application of their specialized knowledge.

Neither Hana nor I are smart enough to comprehend all the minute technical details that we read in those books, yet we gained enough information to be able to apply what we know and have benefited so much from them.

As you and I go through the next several chapters together, I will chronicle my personal hardships and adversities, which predated my life here in the United States and as an immigrant starting over in this new land. As an adult, I had made many, many poor emotional choices—I was just trying to keep up with the Joneses…trying to be normal. I will then share with you our financial journey over the years and what I did to turn my life around from financial rock bottom.

Do you notice that I said I instead of we in the last paragraph? The reason is because Hana was the astute one in our relationship when it comes to personal finances. She did not participate in all the dumb money habits that I did. She was not the one who got us deep into consumer debt that cost us dearly over the years. Her work ethic and financial shrewdness gave resurrection to my own financial demise and carried me out of the slump. I am so grateful for her dedication that got us on this current path to financial wellness, which allowed us to reach the financial freedom that I believe we're all yearning for.

By the way, I do not write this book to flaunt our wealth (I would prefer to keep it private), because everybody knows there is a plethora of riches out there. Quoting from Bloomberg News: The number of wealthy households in the US reached a new high last year (2018), roughly equivalent to the entire population of Sweden or Portugal. More than 10.2 million households had a net worth of $1 million to $5 million, not including the value of their primary residence, according to a survey by the Spectrum Group. That's up 2.5 percent from 2017. I suspect that this number has increased quite a bit by now.

As you can see, we're just a small fish in the ocean—we're small potatoes compared to the rest of the millionaire and billionaire population. If anything, I'd like to impart our actual regimen to maintain a humble lifestyle, living on next to nothing, and investing diligently in order to obtain our wealth. The main reason for my writing this book is to hopefully inspire and persuade you to get your finances in order and to pursue your dreams. It is less important to me if you are a millionaire, multi-millionaire, or striving for something else entirely. I care more about how you got to your current place in life and what you do with the wealth you have. Moreover, it is paramount that you have a long-term strategy to retain your wealth and to do meaningful things with it.

It is hard to believe that just six years prior, Hana and I were in a lot of debt working our regular nine-to-five jobs. Now we are financially independent, worry-free, and stress-free. The aforementioned formula we implemented over the years isn't too complicated to understand and comprehend. It is common sense, though I have to admit the journey was quite difficult to stay on track at times.

The second reason for my writing this book is to share with you the knowledge, spread the word, and increase the wealth—informational wealth, that is. What I have learned over the years about sharing is everybody wins when everybody knows. Everybody wins when everybody shares. However, I understand that most people get a bit apprehensive when discussing money matters, and I respect that. I respect people's privacy and the uncomfortable feeling when conferring about money. Personal finances are exactly that: very personal. It is seriously a delicate topic to talk openly about or in a large circle of cohorts.

I do not wish to personally discuss this topic with just anyone. I only discuss it with someone who I can trust, who I care about, and with someone who is open to listening. Again, I truly believe we can all benefit from one another when the information is constructively shared and gracefully received. It does not matter how much of an expert we are about a particular topic; we all can benefit from each other's talents and knowledge.

Let me give you a quick example: a group of students sitting in a class, hearing the same lecture, and participating in the same activities does not mean every student will graduate with the same proficiency level. We can hear and understand the same information that was taught, but each will come away with different interpretations based on our own past experiences and thought processes. We all go to school or attend seminars in hopes to obtain the basic concept and principles of the subject, though we are unique in the way we expand and apply that knowledge through our individual observations, creativity, ingenuity, and life processes.

When we are comfortable enough to share the greatness of our individualism with one another, we can all learn and gain significantly from it. I am not arrogant enough to think that I know everything and that I have all the answers, so I'm willing to participate if you're willing to converse. Through my willingness to spread this wealth; hopefully one of these days, it will come back full circle with me gaining much more from you.

Regarding building wealth, I have tried a couple of business ventures, yet I find it no easier to enrich myself financially and intellectually than learning how to invest in the US economy, the stock market. It is the only thing that Hana and I feel most comfortable about in terms of building wealth. It allows us to control our own destiny and one of the few things, besides our relationship, that Hana and I are proud of building together. I hope the same dream is being realized for you as well.

Now I must warn you, if you're here looking for a get-rich-quick scheme, you're sorely mistaken—you're reading the wrong book. You may as well just close it right now and not even waste your time. You will also be highly disappointed to know that I didn't get here one fine day from a windfall, winning the lottery, or receiving a million-dollar inheritance from my rich uncle.

When it comes down to it, it is a matter of will: willing to not waste your time playing video games, participating in social media, or superfluous activities. Be willing to learn and read up on what's most important to you to succeed. Be willing to apply yourself, stay true, and be persistent with your goal. There have been no other times like today, in the US economy, where we all have the opportunity and the potential to win with money. If you work hard enough, you can reach out and touch the stars.

Having said that, I am ecstatic to have this opportunity to share with you my lifelong journey. Being that this is a revised edition, I'm going to update some necessary information to keep things current. Others, I may leave the original writing if it still serves a purpose. I'm pouring my heart and soul into this book in hopes that you will not only enjoy the journey with me, but you can also pick up a thing or two from my personal perspective to help you improve your finances as well. If I can persuade just one person out there to at least get started on improving their finances for the better, it will all be worthwhile for me.

Thank you for picking up this book. I really appreciate your interest and taking the time to read it. Hopefully for me, this is one of many to come. My only wish is that once you get there, be sure to pay it forward to other people—either by performing good deeds for those in need or through spreading your wealth of information so others can benefit from your teachings.

Let the journey begin.

Chapter 1

THE MEANING OF MONEY

The Misperception

For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

—Timothy 6:10 (KJV)

I often think about the meaning of money. Merriam-Webster's online dictionary defines money as: Something generally accepted as a medium of exchange, a measure of value, or a means of payment, such as:

officially coined or stamped metal currency,

money of account, and

paper money.

Something generally accepted as a medium of exchange, a measure of value, or a means of payment. That is it! Money is a means of payment that we use in exchange for goods and services. It doesn't mean anything more than that. It doesn't mean having more money is greedy, or having less money is generous. This is a huge myth that people see in others with a certain amount of wealth. Some even argue that the opposite is true—it's that the wealthy folks are usually the generous ones. After all, they're the ones that provide more products, services, and jobs for the general public. Now, what you do in your life to achieve your money means something else entirely. That's a whole other issue for another day to debate about, and I do not wish to open that can of worms.

People often misquote this Bible verse above from Timothy 6:10 when they say, Money is the root of all evil.

Not true! The correct quote is "For the love of money is the root of all evil."

This is an important distinction to make; the way you view money and handle your personal economics are integral to your success. Money is a basic commodity that everyone must have in order to support and provide the necessities for yourself and your family. Without it, you put yourself and your loved ones in peril. Money motivates people to be creative—to achieve great feats. Through their ingenuity, they are more inclined to provide excellent products and services for the general public. Money puts them in the position to be the best that they can be. Money makes the world go around. If you know how to nurture it and know how to manage it correctly, you can be very blessed with it.

I also believe the way you view money, positively or negatively, is the product of your level of wealth or lack thereof. You don't have to place money on a pedestal; hence, I italicized the first part of the quote "For the love of money is the root of all evil," though I do believe you have to respect it. People don't just have money, they earn money. Money must be respected in order to be earned. For those that do not earn the money they have, they do not get to keep it (for long). We should even be passionate about achieving it with a greater purpose: either for our loved ones or for the greater good of society if we want to achieve true abundance of wealth.

On the contrary, just like anything in life, you will not be able to achieve money when you do not respect or care for money. Once you dismiss money as the root of all evil, you often stay away from it and want nothing to do with it. You don't know how to deal with money matters because in your mind, you think it's just a necessary evil that needs to be dealt with negatively.

The question then becomes, can you afford to live without money? If you think you can, you're not living in the real world. You're not thinking logically, and you allow gloomy personal economic conditions and traumatic experiences with money to cloud your judgment. At this point, you become your own worst enemy, and that could be detrimental to you and your loved one's finances.

Think about a particular field of study, a career path you're striving for, a feat to accomplish, an issue you're passionate about, or a person you care for, etc., there's no way to experience success in them if you do not give respect and work hard to obtain and retain them. When all you do is bash money or feel negatively about the people who have it, then you would never be able to have money like them.

Here's my favorite example—the one that we all can relate to. Imagine a girl or a guy that you want to date. How long do you think that person will last in your life when all you do is talk trash about this person? How are you going to keep this person in your life if you do not respect them? Believe it or not, money has feelings too and your feelings toward money are mutual. If you don't care to keep and be a good steward with it, then it won't care to be in your company either.

Money to me magnifies an individual's persona with whether someone has more or less of it. This medium of exchange certainly brings out the best and the worst in human beings. If a person is a jerk, selfish, and greedy, they cheat and steal when they're poor. Lack of resources is often their excuse for committing these wrongful deeds. They justify their behaviors by thinking that others must put in their fair share, and this is a way to equalize that fairness. When these people have money, they're often 10 times the jerk to the people they interact with in their lives and to the less fortunate around them. They do not tithe or perform any charitable activities unless an emotional life-changing event happens that would cause them to reassess the way they treat others in relation to money.

Conversely, if someone is kind and generous, they find ways to give even with little money that they have. They do not make excuses for being poor—they're grateful for what they have and work harder to get out of the poor mind-set and that desperate situation. If they do not have money to give, they give their time, labor, or some other means to