Richard Paul Evans - The Five Lessons a Millionaire Taught Me for Women: About Life and Wealth

I am very grateful for all those who helped make this book possible. First, to all the women who have shared with me their stories, successes, and hurts. Karen Roylance, my writing assistant, for her dedication, ideas, and insight. To my Five Lessons Institute team: Meagen Bunten, Karen Christoffersen, Barry Evans, Marc Steele (and his team), Chrystal Hodges, Judy Schiffman, and Laurie Liss. To Miche Barbosa, for taking such good care of me. To our 5 Lessons CRs, for your passion and hard work. (Especially you, Troy, Pamela, and Mo.) Also, Barney and Bonnie Hellenbrand at HBW. To my Giving Back team: Lisa Johnson and Lisa McDonald. And a special thanks to Mark Gompertz, Zachary Schisgal, and the folks at Fireside who, seeing the need, brought this book to market in record time.

Of course, thank you to my mentor, Kerry Heinz, for helping out a twelve-year-old boy who was down on his luck.

Dear Reader,

Before you read this book there are five things you deserve to know.

1. I Wrote The Five Lessons to Make You Rich, Not Me.

I believe that most get-rich books are written to make the author rich. I didnt want my readers to think that about my book and to possibly discount its message. I solved this problem by giving away all my author royalties from The Five Lessons to help abused children. I will continue to give away my author royalties from this book as well.

2. The Story of My Millionaire Mentor Is True.

My millionaire mentor, Kerry Heinz, taught me these powerful lessons when I was a twelve-year-old boy. Though Mr. Heinz is now retired, I am fortunate that my relationship with this wonderful man and his family continues to this day.

3. The Principles in This Book Work in Good Times and Bad.

In fact, they work exceptionally well in both. Ive spent a lifetime proving them. Ive also heard from women around the world whose lives have been changed by these principles. The foreword to this book, written by my niece Heather, is a great example of how powerfully these principles can work. If you follow them, you will see financial change in your life, likely much faster than you expect.

4. The Acquisition of Money Is a Psychological Process.

These Five Lessons work so well because they take into account natural psychological tendencies. The fact that these principles are simple to follow does not make them less effective. The simplicity of the process is its genius.

5. Like You, Ive Also Made Financial Mistakes.

I think Ive made every mistake I write about in this book. Every time I stepped from the path of the Five Lessons I paid for it. Literally. My mistakes have only proven to me the importance and efficacy of these lessons. May you wisely learn from my mistakes instead of your own.

In the course of writing a book for women I encountered two primary difficulties. First, no definition of a specific social group will apply to all of its members. Ever. There are exceptions in every group. In money matters there are women who are financial geniuses and those who struggle to balance their checkbook. In writing this book I decided to reach women at the most basic level to help as many as possible.

Second, the ability to substantiate usable research was often hampered by people or groups with political agendas. Not surprisingly, I frequently came across contradictory reports about womens financial trends. This book isnt a political treatise. The sole purpose and agenda of this book is to help women succeed financially. Period. In these difficult economic times and with the challenges women face today, nothing could be more important.

In the face of contradictory information, I have chosen to rely on my personal observations and research. Over the past three years Ive had the privilege of sharing the Five Lessons with thousands of women. Ive heard their stories firsthand and read about their experiences through letters and e-mails. Ive personally mentored groups of women for months at a time. I have an entire notebook filled with personal financial anecdotes sent in by women. The composite of these experiences has helped me paint a picture of where women are in the financial world. Not every woman, but the majority of them.