Andrew Hallam (Millionaire Teacher): How to be Wealthy (and Happy) (EP.99)

May 21, 2020

Join Andrew Hallam, author of Millionaire Teacher and Millionaire Expat, as he shares his insights on achieving wealth and happiness. He defines true wealth as the ability to spend double the median income indefinitely. Andrew discusses the fleeting nature of material purchases, the impact of debt on misery, and the importance of aligning financial values in relationships. He emphasizes the benefits of index investing while cautioning against common advisor pitfalls. Plus, his thoughts on geographical arbitrage offer transformative ways to enhance financial independence.

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INSIGHT

Wealth Is Financial Independence, Not Salary

Wealth is the ability to sustain a lifestyle without working, not high income alone.
Andrew defines wealthy as affording double the median household income indexed to inflation forever.

INSIGHT

Experiences Outperform Stuff For Happiness

Material purchases give brief happiness spikes but quickly revert to baseline feelings.
Experiences and relationships produce longer-lasting happiness while debt strongly correlates with misery.

ADVICE

Assess Others' Purchases Before Imitating

Reframe visible consumption by assessing the real cost, depreciation, and financing of others' luxury items.
Use that perspective to resist 'keeping up with the Joneses' and protect your financial goals.

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We often talk about better planning, reduced spending and a consistent long-term strategy on the show and today we have a guest who not only gives that advice himself but clearly lives it too! Andrew Hallam is the author of the new book Millionaire Expat in which he details some strategies for what has been called geographic arbitrage, or moving to another part of the world in order to maximize your financial independence! His earlier book, Millionaire Teacher took a similar approach to education abroad and he has built out his philosophy from there. We hear from Andrew about his definition of wealth and why so many people who earn a relatively large amount of money can never be called wealthy. Andrew lays out the researched correlations between happiness and money and more clearly between debt and misery. He also shares how he has approached spending, saving and budgeting in his own life and relationships before we get into some more technical investing topics such as the benefits of index funds and why many advisors try to persuade clients away from them. Andrew weighs in on finding the right advisor for your needs and when to seek out help with your portfolio. The last part of the show is spent on the topics of education and expatriation. Andrew is a strong believer in leading by example for your children to learn about money matters and he explains his reasons for moving abroad and the gains he has accrued. For all this from a wonderful guest, tune in today!

Key Points From This Episode:

How Andrew defines the term 'wealthy' and why it does not depend on income. [03:43]
Links between spending and happiness, and debt and misery. [06:51]
How Andrew and his wife have managed their own values around spending. [11:55]
Benefits and costs of borrowing; could you handle it if interest rates doubled? [13:32]
Andrew's thoughts on index investing and why it is a good idea. [19:06]
Common tactics that financial advisors use to steer clients away from index funds. [22:40]
Advice for staying steady for the long term, through market volatility. [25:45]
Considering the place of investing in gold and the 60/40 portfolio model. [27:46]
Ignoring all the false information that gets broadcasted and sticking to the data. [35:05]
Why to only consider certified financial planners and how much this cuts the options down. [39:53]
Going it alone versus using professional advice; average reactions to volatility. [41:22]
Education for the younger generation and Andrew's advice for parents. [45:18]
Who could benefit from moving abroad and the idea of geographical arbitrage? [49:56]
How Andrew defines success in his own life! The importance of relationships. [54:01]