The $7 Million 7 Years Wealth System

I’ve been a wallflower on this site for almost two months. I don’t remember how I happened on it, but I was trying to find help in getting my financial house in order and I discovered the world of personal finance blogs. (I never knew that there was such a community.)

As I went through the blog posts, I became enthralled with what I was reading. I had been wanting to do this for the past 5 or 6 years, but I never knew how! When I read about the millionaire in training experiment AJC ws doing, I wanted to become one of the 7-MITs. Well, as luck would have it, I missed the time frame to apply. One of my first posts I read was about the 15 finalists.

But I kept up with the two blogs. I even started reading the posts from day one. I was excited to learn that: 1) I could participate vicariously by mimicking what I learned, and 2) You actually encouraged (and expected) others like me to do more than that. You wanted us to join the community.

I don’t know how many other people like me there are out there, but judging by the number of subscribers you have to 7m7y.com (25) and 7million7years.com (199), there probably a few of us. (And that’s not counting email subscriptions, which is probably the bulk of the readers.)

My hat goes off to everyone in this community, not just AJC and the 7MITs, but everyone else like me. We are an integral part of what this is all about.

AJC, Thanks for this post. I commit to getting away from the wall. My challenge to the community: Do the same!

@ Michael – Hey, that’s great! I wonder how many more there are out there, just like you? Stand up and be counted! Well at least make a comment or two 🙂

Now that you’ve spoken up, please keep us posted on your progress, as well, Michael …

I don’t know about other ‘second-string’ millionaires in training (sorry, football season), but I will try to be more involved with the whole experiment. Not only will it give me the tools I need to succeed, it will keep me from being called a wallflower ;). Thanks to all our 7 Pro-Star lineup and our great coach…couldn’t ask for more. Well…I could, but that comes later.

Thanks AJ.

I appreciate you answering my email and taking time to encourage me and others outside the 7MIT to participate. I feel a bit like the little boy at a friends birthday party who get upset that his friend is getting all the presents, only to be embarrassed when he receives the party favor. 🙂 Good thing my skin is pretty thick.

I’ll take you up on the invitation to participate and will up the ante’ by sharing the results of my own soul searching and number crunching. Up til now I’ve only shared them with my wife, so it’ll be interesting to put them in the 7MIT crucible.

I have been in the US Navy for just over 16 years and have had the pleasure of flying high performance carrier based fighter aircraft for most of my career. Calling it a career is a bit of a misnomer. Life in a fighter squadron is a lot like life in a fraternity. The camaraderie, the buffoonery and the experiences have been unbelievable.

The working hours have been long, the deployments have been tough on my family (months away from home and a couple near death experiences), but the experience has been worth it and the life skills I’ve developed have been awesome. I don’t mean to toot my own horn, but I’ve learned to do great things under difficult conditions with little authority and even fewer resources. I’ve learned to build teams to accomplish these feats, and have seen people rise to levels of incredible performance in situations that would make many others crumble. Through it all I’ve learned to be a leader and have come to enjoy leading the teams of sailors and fighter pilots I’m honored to work with.

So what do I want?

A healthy marriage – check, just have to keep it that way
Financial Independence – That’s why I’m here
Excellent health and physical fitness – check, just have to keep hitting the gym
Plenty of friends – need to work on my people skills a bit.
Children whom I’ve shaped an molded into better and more successful adults than myself – This is a constant work in progress, but I need more free time to do this.
To fly – Uncle Sam is done paying for flight time, so it’s up to me now.
The Respect, admiration, and acknowledgement by others – I believe I need to do something great to achieve this.
To continue to be a leader – I will be leaving the military someday. I either need to find an executive position or build my own company to satisfy this one.

In my rear deck speech I focused on the love I have for my family and for the people I’ve met in life. I also expressed how much I enjoyed the wonderful leadership experiences I’ve had and how much I learned from and taught to those I led.

As I reflected on all the exercises you’ve posed to this point I arrived at the following:

My life’s purpose is to lead and empower others, and to teach them to do the same.

I’m not sure how I’m going to monetize it right now. I’m hopeful to put it into practice by building a company or companies. I have some aviation related ideas on the drawing board, but capital requirements look daunting. I also have a leadership blog on the drawing board….we’ll see.

Oh and my number??? Same as Scott’s, 10 mil in 10 years. I need the Ferrari to match the airplane, and the boat and the….

-Jeff
I’m managing my own money, are you managing yours?

MICHAEL, ADAN, & JEFF welcome to the blog. It’s a really great way to make some connections with people who might just very well change your life.

I’m looking forward to what you folks bring to the table and I’m ready to learn from everyone of you.

By the way Jeff thanks for the service you give to our country.

We appreciate you all and any knowledge and contribution that you/we can make to help each other achieve our goals!

@ Jeff – I echo Lee’s and Scott’s sentiments; the nature of this blog is actually to use these 7MITs as case studies for the rest of us to ‘experiment on’ (sssh … don’t let them hear this; they will be mortified) …

… so that WE can get rich(er) quick(er) 😉

I encourage you to think about your “Lee’s List” … what things (actions; people; places; possessions) do you NEED at a bare MINIMUM to put into place to “lead and empower others, and to teach them to do the same”

Thanks for sharing … keep it up … don’t be a wallflower 😛

Welcome, guys!

Glad to see you’re not just voyeurs in this thing called 7MITs… or life!

[…] there are no ‘bench warmers’ in our 7m7y Community – don’t be a wallflower (!) – but, you do get to choose your level of […]

I too have been a wallflower, my story is similar to Michael’s. I have made a few sporadic posts but that’s about it.

This site peaks my interest because I was tired of reading about other magazines/blogs about basic personal finance (ie. get out of debt, buy a house) I wish to achieve a whole lot more than the average person (a million in an IRA at 65). I am still working on my own “Life’s Purpose” and “Lee’s List”.

I am glad to find typical people who expect much more than the “norm” and are trying to navigate their way there like myself. I find it hard in my life to connect to others with similar attitudes, so this is insightful and much needed.

@ Randy – Welcome! I must admit that I, too, have been surprised by the level of financial ambition demonstrated by the 7MITs and the other members of the ‘7m7y Community’ (such as Jeff) who have shared their Numbers.

Feel free to share your lists etc. and contribute as you see fit … we are glad to have you aboard 🙂

I have appreciated the community and try to reserve Thursday evenings to follow along. What is so cool are the diverse backrounds eveyone brings-people are working towards their goals using venues I never thought about and I now am.
The Number: that is net worth? or cash on hand? or up to each individual to decide?
Finding this site has been fun. I am learning to stretch my mind in new directions, to never say never, to believe I can do whatever I make my mind up to do. And to tough it out with computers…

@ Celeste – Thanks for joining us here (and, on my Live Shows on Thursday nights, where you and I have even ‘chatted’).

I use The Number in the context of your Net Worth (incl. cars/houses/etc.) … stick around, because in the next week or so we will actually be reviewing this exact topic (your “Lee’s List” is just prelude to get you thinking ‘big ticket / life altering’ NEEDS for now).