Ask the MailmanA Simple Plan for Uncommon Wealth

“The best way to teach your children about money is to not have any.” That was one of many proverbs I heard while growing up. There are thousands of stories like mine across this country, and many are more dynamic and dramatic. This is not really a rags-to-riches story. It is about the quest to maximize all the resources available to you, dig for ways to advance your money safely — without tremendous risk — and systematically and confidently increase your invested money, regardless of the climate of the stock market.

Many before me have been fortunate enough to carve out their own successful paths. This book is fulfilling my need to help others find a way to get their dreams within reach, persevere, and hit their goals. My real driving force is to share the formulas that have maximized my investment efforts.

I would venture to say that most people's dreams in some way, shape, or form are connected to money. For me, money has been the sharpest, most versatile tool you can have in your toolbox. A good carpenter always has a wide variety of sharp tools to handle any task at hand — and that is what you should have to tackle the daily challenges and build your dreams.

The first time I ever heard about stocks, mutual funds, and investing I was in junior high school. My father was a mailman in the sixties, and he would bring home day-old Wall Street Journals saved for him by a resident on his delivery route. Yesterday's paper — old information. He was so hungry for that information but had no money to spend on that daily paper. He found a way to get what would help him in the most painless manner he could.

His first investment was an oil stock that paid 11 percent — a preferred stock, not common stock. If there were any dividends to be paid, the preferred stockholders got the payout first. That little tidbit, along with a few others, was my introduction into boring chatter from my father about stocks. He proceeded to make extra money and prompt me to join him in the investment world. He hounded me to take some of my money from cutting grass and shoveling snow and invest into his preselected mutual fund — and I caved.

I bought ten shares of his selected mutual fund, at about $21 per share, which paid about 8 percent annually. In turn, it netted me a check once a year for about $16. At first, I watched the fund's activity in that day-old paper. It moved up and down, which was not very exciting for a teenager. It was almost like watching paint dry.

From that point on, I have had total control and self-directed all my investments. All this searching for the investment panacea led me right back to my childhood kitchen table — where I had my very first exposure to investing. I did not want to make my investments my career, but I was willing to put enough effort into it so that I could have a retirement account that was worth something and would yield a bounty that could afford me the flexibility to do whatever I wanted in retirement. A secure retirement through my investment became my mission.

Pay particular attention to investing for income, noting that if you have a $60,000 investment that pays you $1,000 a month ($12,000 annually), it will take only five years to get your money back. I encourage you to use this simple plan for achieving uncommon wealth by investing in high-yield stocks and start making your cash work for you and your family.