The Five Lessons a Millionaire Taught Me About Life and Wealth

November 21, 2005
Originally self-published, as was his bestselling fable, The Christmas Box
, Evans's pithy little financial guide lays out the five principles common to many self-made fortunes. While seemingly simple—decide to be wealthy; take responsibility for your money; keep a portion of everything you earn; win in the margins; and give back—the lessons require discipline and commitment from their practitioners. They also require curtailing spending and eliminating debt. Evans shares his lessons through poignant personal stories, a few well-placed statistics and philosophical observations such as: "freely giving of our wealth is also the only way to fully protect ourselves from our wealth." The slim book even manages to squeeze in lists of sidelines for boosting income, family budget saving tips, two financial planning forms and dozens of inspirational quotations. Thankfully, Evans forgoes the cloying, self-aggrandizing prose common to how-to-be-rich-like-me books and refrains from padding the volume with ads for tie-in ventures. Instead his friendly advice brings the secrets of wealth accumulation to common readers.

December 15, 2005
In 1993, best-selling novelist Evans wrote " The Christmas Box,"a popular, self-published inspirational book. His new book was also self-published, but it has been picked up by a big publisher and is now being given wider exposure. By his words here, he would like readers to learn what he learned from a millionaire whom he met as a teenager; this man taught Evans, even at that tender age, how to manage a dollar or two, with the intended goal of financial independence. Evans is concerned that people accrue big bucks responsibly--that is, mindful of self-improvement and social good. To that end, he shares what the millionaire he knew years ago taught him. The first thing required is realizing that superior intelligence is not a prerequisite for being a millionaire; nor is wealth, generally speaking, the result of the luck of inheritance. The real requirement, Evans posits, is putting into practice five principles of wealth accumulation, which Evans explains and illustrates in cogent, lively terms: "Decide to Be Wealthy," "Take Responsibility for Your Money," "Keep a Portion of Everything You Earn," "Win in the Margins," and "Give Back." Librarians should be aware that the book contains several pages of blank forms for readers to fill out to keep track of their personal financial situations.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)