Tricks of the Rich

Chapter 1

What is financial freedom? Why the rich have it and how you can have it too

Back in April 1996, together with two good friends, I started a business named Financial Engineering Network Ltd. Up to this point, all three of us had worked in the life insurance industry, mostly in front-end sales. In Ireland, this is the industry that delivers most of the investment and financial planning products, selling a range of investment vehicles, such as unit-linked funds, pension plans and life and disability insurance.

Each of us, over time, had become disillusioned with the industry, coming slowly to the conclusion that, although we carried business cards with fancy titles like Financial Consultant or Financial Adviser, we were not financial ...