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BOOK REVIEW The Maui Millionaires: Discover the Secrets Behind the World's Most Exclusive Wealth Retreat and Become Financially Free by David Finkel & Diane Kennedy, CPA John Wiley & Sons, Inc. - October 2006
Reviewed by Dr. Jonathan Dolhenty When I was asked if I'd be willing to read and review The Maui Millionaires and I saw the subtitle, "Discover the Secrets Behind the World's Most Exclusive Wealth Retreat and Become Financially Free," my first reaction was that this was probably just another "get-rich quick" book, and I've read dozens of them. I was an editor of a newsletter back in the 1980s which evaluated and exposed get-rich quick schemes and financial frauds and I've seen enough of them (and the money consumers waste on them!) to last a lifetime. Possibility the most egregious and simplest of these schemes was the one where you're asked to send $5.00 for the information as to how to get "filthy rich" in just a couple of weeks. So we responded to the ad to see what this "secret" wealth-building method entailed. What we got back in a week or so was a postcard with only these words written on it: "Do What I'm Doing!" Well, fortunately, this book by David Finkel and Diane Kennedy doesn't fall into the "get-rich quick" category. One just needs to consider the fact that many people, including millionaires, willingly pay $30,000 to attend the authors' Maui Millionaire event and to return to it again. Either these attendants are very stupid, or they like to throw money around just for fun, or they are truly on to something and maybe we had better take a closer look at it. The latter is, of course, the case. Finkel and Kennedy are on to something and they take the reader behind the previously closed doors of the "World's Most Exclusive Wealth Retreat." While I found nothing really "original" in the book itself (virtually all the things discussed and recommended have appeared elsewhere), they do put many of these wealth-building techniques together in their own unique way. The importance of "thinking wealthy" is given due emphasis and special mention is made, for instance, of negative concepts about money that were accumulated during one's childhood, and exercises are provided to overcome these negative concepts. The readers are also encouraged to "rediscover their big dreams" and, again, concrete exercises are provided to "force" the reader to respond. In fact, there are various "thought" exercises throughout the book and the reader is encouraged to actually write in the book in the spaces provided; so, this is more than "just" a book to be read, it is a book to be "worked," designed to help readers on their way into "thinking wealthy." There are a series of wealth leverage strategies; the first one helps readers upgrade their "Wealth Operating System" and entails five steps, including pinpointing one's current limiting wealth beliefs and then advice about deleting one's limiting wealth beliefs. The second strategy is to "Dream Big," and includes 25 keys to dreaming big and the five essential ingredients for making one's big dreams come true, as well as the "Maui Millionaire Dream Game." Strategy three is called "Mastermind Your Way to Millions!" with six keys to minimize conflict and maximize results in any Mastermind Group (this Group is explained in the text) and discusses the seven most important wealth secrets of a Mastermind Group. Strategy four changes the emphasis a bit and for many will be the "meat" of the Maui Millionaire program. It begins with the intriguing topic of how to make money without working. At this point, some readers may be tempted to think that this book now falls into the "get-rich quick" category, but such thinking would be mistaken. It's possible to make lots of money without really "working," although the word "working" as used here could be misleading. One does have to "work," of course, but not in the ordinary sense. I'm not going to elaborate on this; you'll have to read the book to see what is meant here. If there is something which really distinguishes The Maui Millionaires from other books within this genre, it is probably wealth leverage strategy five. Here one is encouraged to "give" of one's wealth and discusses how to create a legacy that lives beyond the individual. The operating principle here is "the more you earn, the more you have to share." There are a number of real-life stories provided to illustrate examples of sharing done by real Maui Millionaires. "Giving," according to the authors, "is a fundamental part of a Maui business." The last chapter is devoted to a simple six-step plan to become a Maui Millionaire. This is the blueprint, given in "action steps," that summarizes all that has been read previously in the book. And finally the authors offer a free gift to all readers to help them on their way. This is a "Wealth Mentorship Program" via the Maui Millionaire website; the authors say this gift is worth $2,498 which, of course, is cheap compared to their $30,000 Maui Millionaire retreats. Here the reader will get online wealth workshops, a free download of the Maui Millionaire Big Dream Game, access to video footage from Maui, and much more. All in all, I would suggest that The Maui Millionaires fits quite well beside two other books which I've personally found helpful over the years: Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich and Robert Collier's The Secret of the Ages. Neither of these latter two books is a scheme for getting rich quick, nor do they engage in fraud, deception, or anything unethical. Hill and Collier, just like Finkel and Kennedy, provide psychological strategies, changes in thinking, and step-by-step tools to creating a wealth-building attitude. Since most readers would probably find it difficult to pay $30,000 for a Maui Millionaire retreat, this is a pretty good substitute. Finkel and Kennedy are to be commended for opening up the doors to the retreat and sharing their "secrets" to those of us whose credit limit is a good deal less than thirty grand. If nothing else, The Maui Millionaires will force readers to rethink their own ideas and attitudes toward wealth and personal success. 
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Enrich your life with a book about politics and current events... Enrich your political & social life with a politics or news magazine... |
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