Summer Reading List: Millionaire Teacher by Andrew Hallam

One of Hollywood’s favorite portrayals of teachers is of the dedicated, stern, and often second career professional who decides to give up a high-paying gig in the corporate world to make a difference in the classroom.  If this is the case for you and you’re independently wealthy, then the financial challenges some teachers face might seem hard to fathom.  As a personal example, in my last position before moving overseas, I made only $1550/month after taxes, despite working about 12 hours a day.  Plus if you add in the fact that many teachers spend some of their own cash on classroom supplies, take home pay becomes less and less.  Of course this is the case for many teachers and even in international education there are many challenges teachers must overcome.  Combined with cutbacks in school funding and rising student-teacher ratios, it doesn’t seem like teaching is the best place to maintain a finically secure life.  For many, the words millionaire and teacher may seem more like an antonym then any form of reality.  Andrew Hallam, an English Teacher at Singapore American School and author of Millionaire Teacher: The Nine Rules of Wealth You Should Have Learned in School, argues otherwise.

In his book, Hallam reveals nine important lessons he sticks to that has helped him create a large nest egg and live a great life now too.  Without giving too much away, he argues a few simple principles, which include, save more then you spend, invest that money into three low-cost  index funds (including a broad based US index fund, a international fund, and a global bond fund), and finally to reallocate your investments once a year.  Also he recommends resisting the temptation of following the rest of the herd, which during crises sell and boom times buy.

Highlights:

As an international teacher, Hallam, knows the benefits and challenges that teachers face working overseas.  In his book he specifically addresses ways for international teachers to save and invest money, and gives investment examples for Americans, Canadians, Singaporeans, and Australians.  Although I don’t think he reveals any earth shattering investments advice, that’s the point, as many people get caught up in investment gimmicks, popular stocks, or investing with a broker in historically high-performing mutual funds that are past their prime.  For people who have little or no investment experience, Hallam, does a good job of teaching the reader the ins-and-outs of investing in terms that are easy to understand.  Also, although a lot of his advice might seem basic for an intermediate or advanced investor, I think he has some valuable tips that are good to remember.  Finally as a teacher, his message resonates with me and I think is very relatable to other international teachers in particular.

Read, Skim or Pass?

That really depends on your investment experience.  If you’re working at Saudi-Aramco schools and just skimming by each year, then it’s a definite read.  On the other hand if you’re at a less established school with shoe-string benefits, and have an average investment gain over the last 15 years above 10%, you can probably skim through it.  In particular I thought his advice was valuable, and think it was worth reading.  Also since you can download a copy on kindle for $9.32, it makes it really easy to get a copy no matter where you live in the world (key for international educators).  What I find most impressive about Hallam’s advice is his that he maintains a blog with his up to date thoughts, current investment advice, as well as his what he is buying and selling.  Now for you teachers out there, when was the last time you told your students exactly how much money you made this year?  Now that sounds like true accountability.