Mike Summey

It has been my experience with debt that people who are older with more consumer debt and mortgaged home are less happy.  When you have non-productive debt meaning this debt does not produce income or cash flow, it is only an expensive item creating a greater burden or a need for more cash out.   Productive debt meaning the debt creates cash flow or more cash in than out.  Normally this is in rental real estate but it could be a small business.

 Joining us for our discussion on Life of Debt is Mike Summey is an entrepreneur in the truest sense of the word. From a humble upbringing in the poverty-stricken coalfields of Southern West Virginia, he struck out to make his fortune at the tender age of 15. With little education and no money, he stumbled his way through several menial jobs ranging from carpenter work to factory jobs and even door-to-door encyclopedia sales. In 1967, at age 21, after being laid off from his factory job and given $300 in severance pay; he paused to contemplate his future.

After considerable thought, he wrote down a simple sentence that he carried in his wallet for the next 30 years. The sentence read, “I will become a millionaire by age 30 and retire by age 50.” What followed was like a fairy tale and speaks volumes about the power of having goals.

His latest book is Financial Security Bible .  Welcome Back to Mastering Your Money, Mike Summey.