As you’re reading this, I am nowhere near my computer. In fact, I’m not even in the office today. I spent the last three days increasing my “wealth.”

We all have different definitions of the word. Some of us give it a strictly monetary connotation. There is nothing wrong with that. In its most straight-forward definition, wealth is the abundance of money.

But if I can take the risk of getting touchy-feely for a minute or two, I’d like to take it a bit further. To me, wealth is the abundance of everything good in our lives.

If that truly is the case then move over Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, I am one wealthy guy. I bet you are too.

Like I said, I just spent the last three days with my beautiful, young bride and her equally stellar mother.

We spent the weekend at the beach. It’s Alaskan mother-in-law’s first trip to waters of the Atlantic. The opportunity to share my life-long passion with somebody that has never witnessed its majesty before is something I wouldn’t trade for even the hottest of stock tips.

But we had to cut our trip short. You see, in just a couple of hours, I’ll get the first snapshot of my largest investment yet (literally and figuratively). My wife is just ten weeks into what is going to be a lifetime love affair. She gets her first sonogram at five this afternoon.

Talk about wealth.

I could go on and on, but you don’t care. What you care about is your own wealth. There has never been a better time for an audit.

With soldiers killing soldiers, hedge fund managers stealing billions, a government that has lost its way and a country that appears to have dropped all moral responsibility, it is vital for folks like you and I to figure out how we value ourselves.

What is it that we want?

Health. Family. Stability. Food. Love. Life. Liberty. Happiness.

Of course, financial wealth plays a large role in all of those things. After all, if money is the root of all evil, isn’t the foliage of that is good?

As so many of us out here in the world of finance fight against Washington’s latest moves, it is important to set the issue of money aside. Too often, our political thoughts hinge on the question, “What’s this going to cost me?”

But what about all those other things?

How is healthcare reform going to affect my unborn child? How is a bigger government going to make it easier for me live a stable life? How are bonus caps going to make it easier for me to stay in love with my wife?

None of those things impact our real “wealth,” yet our government is hell bent on the idea that they are going to make all of our lives better.

Like I said last week. Vote ‘em all out. You’ll be wealthier for it.

But Apple isn’t the only corporation with similar founder/leader issues.

Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A), and Dell, (NYSE: DELL), for example, both have stocks tied to the brand name of their founders – Warren Buffett and Michael Dell.

And when investors worry about the health of these figureheads, they send the stock price plummeting. But does this mean that the fundamentals of these companies are also in danger?

Far from it.

Microsoft (NYSE: MSFT) hasn’t collapsed since Bill Gates stepped down. Martha Stewart’s Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (NYSE: MSO) hasn’t gone under because of her legal troubles. And Sam Walton’s Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) is up 324% since his death in 1992.

Too many investors still believe that if something happens to their stock’s leader, the company will fail. But, in fact, operations will continue, dividends will be paid, profits will be made and the stock will correct itself.

A smart investor will use these irrational plunges to buy these companies when emotion, not logic, spins out of control.

Source: A Question of Leadership at Apple (NYSE: AAPL)

The weather was so nasty – and the water so rough – the tenders couldn’t take us ashore. It was just a cold, grey, wet, rainy day. The perfect day for a book, in other words.

So I spent the afternoon perusing money manager Ken Fisher’s new book “The 10 Roads to Riches.”

According to Fisher, a member of the Forbes 400, there are only 10 ways to get rich. (This is after discounting things you can’t control like a lottery win or a big inheritance.)

10 Roads to Riches

Here are Ken Fisher’s 10 roads to riches:

• Start a successful business. This is the richest road. Prime examples are Bill Gates, Charles Schwab, Sam Walton, Larry Ellison and Michael Bloomberg. Of course, you’re unlikely to do nearly as well as any of these men. But that isn’t necessary. With enough time and effort, you can get plenty rich filling a need for a local product or service in your hometown. (That includes starting a plumbing business or putting braces on kids.)
• Become CEO of an existing firm and juice it. This was the method for Jack Welch, Steve Balmer and others. This requires a lot of years of experience – and generally a lot of loyalty to one company. But if you have the drive and ambition, the salary and option compensation can make it well worth your while.
• Hitch your wagon to a star. This method involves tying your fortunes to a successful business visionary. Charlie Munger did with Warren Buffett, Jeffrey Skoll with Jerry Yang, and Peter Chernin with Rupert Murdoch. This is a tough one though. You have to recognize a visionary early, offer him something of value and stick with him. Not easily done.
• Turn celebrity into wealth. We all know that celebrities are loaded. But unless you’re a world-class athlete, a terrific singer/songwriter or have Lana Turner’s profile, you should probably give this one a pass.
• Marry well – really, really well. This seems shallow, I know, but a 2007 Wall Street Journal poll found that two-thirds of women said they’d be “very” or “extremely willing” to marry for money. Half of men surveyed said they’d marry for money, too. Who’d have thought? (Also, expect a prenup.)
• Steal it, legally. Some people think plaintiff’s lawyers are crusading saviors. Fisher sees them as bloodsucking leeches and extortion artists. (He quotes the age-old Mexican curse: May your life be full of lawyers.) But if you can handle law school and pass the bar, this method is a possibility.
• Use other people’s money. This is the most common road for the ultra-wealthy. Managing other people’s money is how bankers, brokers, insurance companies, mutual fund managers, hedge fund managers and personal money managers like Ken Fisher make their millions. (Whether their clients are getting what they pay for is another story entirely, one I cover in my new book “The Gone Fishin’ Portfolio.”)
• Invent an endless future revenue stream. In this scenario, you create something – a book, a movie, a Broadway play – and find a way for it to create long-term royalties. This, admittedly, is a long shot. If you’re going to try this path, says Fisher, “Think lunch boxes.” Products that end up on lunch boxes – Spiderman, Star Wars, etc. – are the really big moneymakers.
• Monetize unrealized real estate wealth. Millions of Americans have gotten rich in real estate. And many will in the future. But Fisher says skip the idea of flipping houses and condos – the transaction costs alone will kill you – and concentrate on good properties in desirable areas with predictable cash flows.
• Take the Road More Traveled. This is the method we focus on here at Investment U. It’s about maximizing your income, controlling your outgo, religiously saving the difference and then managing your investment portfolio intelligently.

The Classic Way To Riches For Everyday People

The Road More Traveled is the classic way for everyday people to get rich. Most of us don’t have the time, the capital or the expertise to found and run our own business. But we can always use the stock market – the quintessence of capitalism – to become business owners.

This takes time and discipline. But it is the surest way to long-term wealth.

This is not the route for high-paid professionals only, incidentally. Fisher’s firm doesn’t accept accounts starting at less than $500,000. But he has plenty of former middle-class workers as clients.

Fisher writes, “If your passion is truly social work, teaching kindergarten, or quilting – fine. Then focus on frugality. It can be done! I have clients who were postal carriers, teachers, cops, etc. They did it. Frugal!”

How is this possible? There is no magic. These people live beneath their means and save.

“Skip mocha-caramel-triple-lattes,” says Fisher. “Pay off credit card debt. Avoid designer labels. Buy used cars. Eat in more, out less. Total no-brainers. Yet some can’t do this – just can’t.”

If you can, great. If you can’t, Fisher warns, you better find a higher paying job.

Source: 10 Roads to Riches: Nine Ways to Get Rich – Plus One Foolproof Way

Bill Gates, of Microsoft and ‘world’s richest man’ fame snapped up 3% of the high-street retailer Carpetright (LSE: CPR) through his Cascade Investment fund. The move has given shares in the FTSE 250 stalwart a boost.

Gates’ £15m investment comes at a time of great turbulence for the group. So, why has the Microsoft maestro opted for a stock that has (carpet) bombed in the last year?

Having fallen 28% since June 2007 the carpet and floorings retailer disappointed the City in April. A so-so trading statement suggested that profits for the year would be ‘in-line with expectations’ but that the trading environment is deteriorating.

Group-wide sales increased by 5.6% and Carpetright widened their net, boasting 675 stores, but the three months to April saw sales growth of only 0.6%… raising the spectre of a profit warning to an already panicky investor base. Niche broker Pali International suggested the shares look overvalued and according to Retail bulletin, it was one of the most shorted stocks in the bearish sector with as much as 22% of the stock ‘on loan’ to traders driving down the price.

Investors are also quizzical of where exactly the company is going. Lord Harris had to scrap plans for an £800 million buyout in December as a result of the credit crunch. He wanted to take the business private to speed up expansion in the UK and abroad, thus escaping the constant scrutiny of the press, “Every six weeks I have to think about what I’m saying to the City in six weeks’ time” said Harris.

Perhaps Gates’ foray into the world of carpet will facilitate the move? Or Bill could be taking advice from his old pal Warren Buffett whose Berkshire Hathaway owns Shaw Industries, the world’s largest carpet maker. They may not be as flashy as you’re average oil explorer but way-ahead in terms of consistency… Bill could be onto something. Take a look at the firm’s prospective revenue stream:

2006: £451.4m 2007: £475.9m 2008: £514.8m* 2009: £527.1m* 2010: £550.0m*

* Analysts’ Estimates

Exciting, it ain’t… but it’s not difficult to see what’s caught Mr Gates’ eye here. As retail goes, Carpetright operates in a fairly defensive, counter-cyclical part of the sector.

The allure of boring stocks

American fund manager Allan Roth made a career out of boredom. His ‘Dare to be Dull’ mantra is the foundation of his firm Wealth Logic. He says that if you are having fun investing, and if you find it exciting, you are probably doing, or are about to do, something wrong. In his world, investing should be as dull as receiving interest payments from the bank… only more lucrative!

Now it’s not a panacea, in fact following this belief would have prevented you from getting into the uber-exciting energy and mining stocks that have yielded triple digit returns over the past few years. However, it also would have saved you from buying investment banks with their mysterious, clever-sounding structured investment vehicles that have turned out to be very costly duds.

So what other dreary deals can we find on the UK market?

Paypoint (LSE: PAY)

Another member of the steady incline club, Paypoint’s revenue and earnings charts look very appetising, much more interesting than the business model anyway… Paypoint operates thousands of chip & pin terminals and ATMs around the country. Their latest set of figures showed strong growth in sales and profits thanks to a 22% jump in transactions.

“We expect further growth in revenues in the UK by increasing market share in bill and general payments, mobile top-ups, ATMs and from Post Office closures,” it said. The group is also to install 1,500 terminals in Romania this year, adding that current trading is in line with growth expectations.

Lloyds TSB (LSE: LLOY)

As investment strategies go, sitting on your hands seems to be working for Lloyds TSB. The credit crunch has been the bane of the banking sector, but Lloyds’ business has been left relatively unscathed. They’ve not had to boost capital via a rights issue, and they’re not going to either according to Sanlam’s Kokkie Kooyman.

In his view Lloyds will escape the crunch, due to a lack of exposure in mortgage-backed assets and structured products, hence limited related losses. Described as a safe haven, Lloyds revealed a fair set of figures and Collins Stewart promptly upped their target price for the high-yielder to 609p.

Speaking of boring, my colleague Ben Traynor has just informed me about a recent Fleet Street Letter tip that specialises in a unique arm of the retail market. Like Carpetright, they have managed to dodge much of the fallout of the credit crunch and look good value at today’s prices. Check out his free pack today…

Theo CaseySource: Bill Gates Buys Stake In Carpetright