On my journey to financial independence, I’ve read close to 100 personal finance books.
This week, Sam Dogen of Financial Samurai fame, released Millionaire Milestones: Simple Steps to Seven Figures.
I pre-ordered my copy of Millionaire Milestones and read it cover-to-cover in three days. You may have noticed my posts this week have been slightly delayed. Now, you know why.
Earlier this year, I ranked my five favorite personal finance books here.
When I next update my list, it’s going to be hard to leave Millionaire Milestones out of my top five.
If you’re serious about becoming financially independent, I highly recommend you read Millionaire Milestones.
Who is Sam Dogen aka The Financial Samurai?
Dogen has been a leader in the personal finance space since he launched Financial Samurai in 2009. Since then, he’s shared his experience and knowledge for free with three posts per week. I do my best to read every post.
Millionaire Milestones is his third book. Dogen’s also written the Wall Street Journal Bestseller Buy This, Not That and the bestselling e-book How to Engineer Your Layoff.
What separates Millionaire Milestones from other books?
As many of you know, I’ve been on my journey to financial independence since 2010 when I was drowning in credit card debt. Since then, I’ve read every personal finance book I can get my hands on.
Allow me to over-generalize and separate the books I’ve read into two broad categories.
The first category of books are written by authors who are at a very early stage in their personal finance journeys. These authors tend to be in their 20s and early 30s. They are intelligent people, good writers, and have a lot of valuable advice to share. I certainly gained a lot of insight from these books.
The second category of books are written by authors who had not only achieved, but also sustained, financial independence. Contrary to the first category, these authors are typically in their 60s and 70s. They have decades and decades of experiences and knowledge to draw upon. They are absolute legends in the financial wellness space.
With those overly broad categories in mind, do you see where I’m going with this?
Category 1: Too young.
Category 2: Too old.
Enter Dogen AKA The Financial Samurai.
AKA… Goldilocks?
Millionaire Milestones is the Goldilocks of Personal Finance books.
Yup, Dogen is part samurai and part golden-haired girl.
Let me explain.
Dogen is in his mid-40s. He’s not too young. He’s not too old. His book hits just right.
In Millionaire Milestones, Dogen covers his journey from finance bro in New York in his 20s to present day life as a writer, investor, and husband and father.
What separates Millionaire Milestones from other personal finance books is that Dogen’s still on his journey. Don’t get me wrong, he’s been financially independent for more than a decade. He certainly has accumulated decades of knowledge since his time working on Wall Street.
But, Dogen’s still in the thick of things. He’s not preaching from the rocking chair on his patio overlooking his immaculate yard.
Dogen’s presently raising kids. He’s focused on his website and his investments. Like you and me, he can relate to the present day challenges of personal finance because he’s still on his journey.
To recap, Dogen’s not wet behind the ears. You don’t have to question his credentials.
At the same time, he’s not so far removed from his peak earning years that his advice is outdated.
That’s why I think Millionaire Milestones is the Goldilocks of personal finance books.
In Millionaire Milestones, Dogen doesn’t pull any punches.
Now, Dogen might be part Goldilocks.
But, make no mistake. He’s still all samurai.
If you read Millionaire Milestones, Dogen will tell it to you straight. He’s not going to sugarcoat anything for you. The journey to financial independence is hard. Most people don’t have it in them to make the sacrifices that Dogen recommends.
The fact that Dogen doesn’t run away from that reality is what separates his book from others I’ve read.
If you want the truth about what it takes to become a millionaire, Dogen will give it to you.
Throughout his multiple decades studying and teaching personal finance, Dogen has seen many ups and downs. He’s not shy about sharing his mistakes in hopes that we can learn from those mistakes.
He opens up about his relationship with his wife and his young kids. This is key because it helps understand why money even matters to him in the first place.
Dogen has felt the pain.
Importantly, Dogen has felt the pain. I’ve previously expressed my opinion that personal finance education is best suited for people that have already begun their careers or are just about to start.
This is why I teach personal finance to law students and launched Think and Talk Money for lawyers and professionals.
I know that personal finance education didn’t matter to me until I felt the pain. By feeling the pain, I’m talking about that struggle that comes with balancing rent, debt, and a social life for the first time with your own money.
I don’t know Dogen, and I wouldn’t presume to put words in his mouth. But, my impression after reading Millionaire Milestones is that he would agree that personal finance education is best suited for people that have felt the pain.
Dogen is not shy about sharing how he’s felt the pain at various stages of his life.
In fact, he will tell you that if you want to be truly independent, you’re going to have to feel the pain, too. And, it won’t come easy.
But, he’ll also convince you that it’s well worth it.
Read Millionaire Milestones to the very end to see why it’s all worth it.
Reaching financial independence is hard. If you make excuses, Dogen will be the first to tell you that you aren’t going to get there.
But, if you take responsibility for educating yourself about money, Dogen will also be the first to tell you that it’s all worth it.
Read Millionaire Milestones to the very end. If you think you might not be cut out for the journey, seeing what it looks like at the finish line may persuade you otherwise.
Dogen does an excellent job of not only showing you how to amass wealth, but also what you can do with that wealth you’ve worked so hard for.
That was my favorite part of the book.
At this point in my personal finance journey, I know the steps I need to take to become financially independent.
What I’m still sorting out is what to do with myself once I’m there.
Reading Dogen’s perspective on what is possible once you’ve amassed enough wealth was fascinating.
I found his conversation about how much to spend each year once you’ve left full-time employment especially valuable. As he puts it, there’s a sweet spot between spending too much and spending too little. He gives you the tools to find that sweet spot.
Dogen also talks about spending money in ways that boost your happiness. That could mean something as small as leaving a generous tip or as large as a once-in-a-lifetime trip for your friends.
Most of all, his conversation about helping others through the knowledge he’s acquired really resonated with me.
I started teaching personal finance and launched Think and Talk Money because of all the knowledge I have acquired from people like Dogen. My life has been greatly enhanced through this education.
I’ll be nothing short of thrilled if I can carry the torch and share my personal finance journey in order to help others like Dogen has helped me.
I highly recommend you read Millionaire Milestones.
Wherever you are on your journey to financial independence, I highly recommend you read Millionaire Milestones.
Dogen has not only done it all, he’s still doing it.
Dogen won’t pull any punches. The journey to financial independence is not an easy one.
But, as he makes clear, it’s well worth the sacrifice in the end.
- Have you read Millionaire Milestones?
- Let us know what you think in the comments below.
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