Late Bloomer Wealth

Late Bloomer Wealth

Dedicated to Helping K12 Teachers with their 403(b) & 457(b) plans.

RE-Introducing myself to what I do, and WHY?

Leave a Comment / Financial Education/Literacy, Late Starters, LAUSD Employees, PreK-12 Educators / By

Hi all,

Since I am a retired teacher from Los Angeles Unified School District, some of you know who I am and why I write this blog, and that you might have heard me present at the investment workshops at UTLA (union headquarters).  I thought that would be a good time to re-introduce myself because I was recently interviewed by Tim Ranzetta, the founder of Next Generation Personal Finance.

Tim has a website to-die-for, especially for teachers. He offers free professional development and materials for public school teachers across the country to begin teaching the impossible–personal finance to students! Personal finance is a subject dear to my heart, and our students will appreciate knowing a little about finances when they become adults.

MMM — Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co.

As a youngster, I learned about stocks and investing from my 8th-grade educated mother who worked at Minnesota Minning and Manufacturing Co for 25 years and she bought their stocks. By discovering how to invest and manage my money, I learned so much about living a less stressful life by rejecting material things, thinking long-term, delaying gratification, so I can save and invest a little for the future, and living a simple life.

What My Mother Never Knew! Her Modeling for a Simple and frugal life, with investing acumen was a HUGE PAYOFF for me!

Knowing about personal finance opened up a whole new world for me during my entire adult life but especially in the last 25 years. At that time, I begin this journey to educate my teacher colleagues not to get ripped off by the annuity sales that are everywhere on our PreK-12 public school campuses, but there is much more too that can be found on Tim’s podcast and my free downloadable PDF books (see below for more information about my books).

While Tim is on a different mission from me, our target audience–1. public classroom teachers–and our subject matter–2. personal finance–are identical. Tim and I have a lot in common. We should all be grateful for Tim’s passion for students and teachers.

Steve’s message to my colleagues–Teachers

My message since the early 1990s was to educate my colleagues on their own personal finance? Why? Especially when so little interest is expressed by my colleagues. Tim helped answer that question in the podcast interview. And while you are on Tim’s website, take advantage of Tim’s free offer to train you in personal finance so you can integrate his ready-made materials into your teaching program whether its math, science or English. Students love the real-world applications of the subject matter. Time has it all covered! 

Tim wrote: Ten years into his retirement, former LAUSD elementary school teacher, and author Steve Schullo is still fighting the good fight for teacher retirement plans. This go-getter shares the insights from his teaching career and his passion to fix the current 403(b) mess. As the author of Late Bloomer Millionaire, (complimentary download) you will learn how Steve’s savings and investing plan helped him achieve a healthy nest egg. Listeners will also learn why he wrote Fighting Powerful Interests (another complimentary download) and the changes he would like to see to the current retirement plans for teachers. The topic of these retirement contribution plans is near and dear to his heart, and that’s evident from his personal anecdotes and the advice he offers to teachers. Be prepared to be inspired!

Details:

  • 0:00–1:03 Introduction
  • 1:04–2:27 Retirement hasn’t slowed him down
  • 2:28–5:45 Back in his teaching days…
  • 5:46–13:00 Annoying annuities and other dilemmas
  • 13:01–15:03 The decentralized decision-making process of dealing with 403(b)s
  • 15:04–17:35 Unintended consequences of LAUSD’s defined contribution plan
  • 17:36–19:45 403(b) versus 457(b)
  • 19:46–20:12 A word from NGPF
  • 20:13–24:42 Steve’s advice to teachers: be prepared to get involved
  • 24:43–25:53 No fiduciary would dare sell fixed annuities, but it’s happening
  • 25:54–29:11 Steve discusses Fighting Powerful Interests
  • 29:12–30:54 How to become more knowledgeable & start advocating
  • 30:55–34:33 His take on target date funds
  • 34:34–37:27 It’s your money
  • 37:28–39:15 Conclusion

Here is the podcast, hope you enjoy it:

https://www.ngpf.org/blog/podcasts/ngpf-podcast-tim-talks-to-403b-crusader-steve-schullo/

 

Don’t forget to download my free books. Both are true stories about how a couple of Los Angeles educators went from nothing to multimillionaires on educator’s salaries, after surviving two of the biggest stock market crashes in history and still retiring early with a healthy nest egg. But don’t believe me, here are what readers said about each book.

Fighting Powerful Interests: Educators Challenge Tax-sheltered Annuities and WIN!   Click here for free download so you can begin reading immediately!

What readers have said about Fighting Powerful Interests:

5.0 Stars out of 5 stars
Truly committed people do make a difference
By Barbara on April 21, 2015
Steve tells a very engaging true story about taking on bureaucrats with combined tools of integrity and tenacity. He is a true advocate for all investors but especially the K-12education employee. This is a great narrative on actual events that lead to “retirement plan” reform at Los Angeles Unified School District. I am honored to know Steve and be part of this story. I am honored to work with all the Retirement Investment Advisory Committee and LAUSD and applaud their commitment and hard work.
5.0 out of 5 stars 
The courage to stand up for what is right.
By Daniel on August 2, 2018
An excellent account of the problems that face the 403(b) education markets and the headwinds experienced by those attempting to make positive change. Fighting Powerful Interests is a powerful and inspiring true story of leadership, tenacity and courage.
5.0 out of 5 stars
vastly superior returns realized by using low-cost index funds greatly …
By Denise on February 6, 2017
This book provides a detailed and informative account of the steps and information required to establish fair retirement choices for workers currently enrolled in costly 403b and 457 plans provided by school districts especially throughout the country. This work clearly explains the harm done to long-term investors by various, often hidden, high fees routinely charged by so-called active management companies. The vastly superior returns realized by using low-cost index funds greatly impact the security of those hoping to retire someday. This author provides a detailed account of his challenging pursuit to get the State of California retirement system to provide low cost, diversified index funds for the benefit of retirees. This work can serve as a manual for those who wish to change the active management, often including the purchasing of an annuity, offerings of most school districts. In any case, this is a well-written, most readable account of the value of low cost diversified index funds and all the steps needed to bring about change in systems that are not working in the best interests of stakeholders.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Steve Schullo tells it like is.
By James on December 11, 2017
Boy, does Steve Shullo tell it like is. As former President of an RIA firm who has a J.D. degree; I’ve done a fair amount of plaintiff’s recovery work as an expert witness until my recent retirement. Fighting Powerful Interests lays bare the inner workings of the insurance industry, It’s the most truthful account I have seen in my 27 years in the financial services industry. Teachers everywhere should know of and appreciate this account of an exhaustive two person crusade spanning a number of years to free teachers and non-profits from predatory practices not permitted to occur in other professions.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A shocking account of a bad LAUSD 403b plan that was open-access by California state …
By Yogi on November 29, 2015
A shocking account of a bad LAUSD 403b plan that was open-access by California state law. Open-access meant that any vendor could be listed resulting in a huge number of plan vendors and options. Not all 403b are like that. A solution was found by switching to LAUSD 457b. The CA state law should be changed as open-access conflicts with fiduciary guidelines from the IRS. In my retirement plan in Illinois, both 403b and 457b with selected options were available.
5.0 out of 5 stars 
Must Read for all Public Servants
By Michael L. on February 13, 2017
Fascinating book. Every public servant with a 403b plan should read this. For the small price of this book, you can literally save yourself thousands of dollars of money lost to annuity fees. Found the book through the Boglehead forum and I hope it catches some momentum. If you read the recent NY Times articles on the 403b plans then this should be on your reading list.

Late Bloomer Millionaires: A Financial Story and Investment Guide for Late Starters. Over 11,300 readers have taken advantage of the free ebook download from Amazon Click here to download this book for free right here in my blog and begin reading immediately!

What 6/93 readers have said about Late Bloomer Millionaires:

5.0 out of 5 stars
good read if you like first-person investing memoirs
By Virginia on February 8, 2013
I’ve read many of the investing classics but Late Bloomer Millionaires is the first first-person investing memoir that I’ve read. I found Steve and Dan’s personal investing history and education, along with their mistakes and revelations along the way, enjoyable to read. The authors strike a good balance between telling their own story, and also describing passing investing in general. If you like reading about and learning from personal anecdotes around investing and finance, as opposed to just reading impersonal investing theory, then you might enjoy reading about Steve and Dan’s own investing journey as much as I did.

 

5.0 out of 5 stars A MUST READ for Teachers

By El Scotto on December 20, 2013
As a teacher myself, I was fascinated by the authors’ (who also happen to be teachers) journey through the fog of financial enormity, and what it took for them to learn their financial lessons. It comes from a very beginning bare-bones approach that is easy to follow and will no question yield results. As someone who invested a great deal of my own savings into the tech bubble, I wish I had this kind of sage advice before I lost it all. Of course, they go over losing it in the bubble as well and the slow and steady approach they took to get it all back. As a teacher that makes a lower income on the professional spectrum, this gave me hope to know that through the slings and arrows of unpredictable markets, there is still hope for us all.

 

5.0 out of 5 stars 
A candid history of investment ups and down
By Fls Run on December 30, 2012

Well-written and surprisingly candid, this is less of a “how-to” book and more of an autobiography that chronicles the investing mistakes made over the course of the authors’ lifetimes, and how they were able to turn things around and get back on track in their later years. Many investment books are not only dull reads, but rely too heavily on academic studies to present the “perfect” scenario that you should follow. Since very few people do everything exactly as they should, these types of books always seem a step or two removed from reality and some readers may have difficulty taking them seriously. By discussing their mistakes and subsequent learning process in detail, these authors present a more “human” face on investing, and many novice or even intermediate investors may be able to relate their own situations to those described in the book, and use the information provided to fix some of their own mistakes.

Passive, buy-and-hold investors who already have a good grasp of asset allocation (in other words, those who are already on the right track) probably won’t get much out of this book, but others might want to take a look. I enjoyed it.

 

5.0 out of 5 stars  I wish I had this advice 20 years ago!!!

By K. Reed on August 29, 2013
As a teacher myself I always felt uncomfortable making financial decisions regarding my retirement account. I knew I needed to save yet I wanted to leave the decisions to the “experts”. Yet this approach ended up costing me many thousands of dollars due to the lack of transparency with many of the “lunchroom advisors” we as teachers are subject to at work. I decided to begin doing my own research into investing and stumbled upon Late Bloomer Millionaires. The authors gave me concrete examples of how to invest, which funds to study, and even tools for finding how much my existing financial advisor was costing me. It was a revelation. I have begun to take control of my finances and now feel empowered to make the decisions that are best for my portfolio, not my financial advisors. This is a must read for anyone wanting to learn from the mistakes of others and then benefit from the advice of financial masters. The authors were also on an excellent Frontline documentary regarding retirement accounts.

5.0 out of 5 stars Real Life Investment Lesson

By Julia on September 17, 2013 

While reading this book I found myself identifying when they should have pulled out of the market or done something differently. But that is that is the purpose of this book. So many investors make the same mistakes as Steve and Dan yet we often don’t recognize these behaviors while we experience them in our own lives. This isn’t an investment book but a real-life story that is so honest about investing behavior it will make you cringe when you see you have felt the same way or made the same mistakes.

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent resource!
By Bill on February 26, 2013
This is a very useful investing guide based on an interesting personal story of how this couple acquired smart skills and perspectives for building their retirement funds. It cuts through a lot of the “hype” out there regarding investing and provides guidelines for effective, low/no cost investing in passive investment vehicles and engaging (only a few) investment professionals on your terms, with your interests, not theirs, at the center. I have recommended this to a number of friends who are, to say the least, at the “late blooming” stage of their lives and should find reassurance and excellent advice herein.
For the remaining 87 reviews, check out Amazon (but don’t buy the book unless you want a paperback).

 

* I have given away over 11,300 eBooks and a couple hundred paperbacks. I have earned about $3000.00 from selling about 900 books from Amazon, both paperback and eBooks. I am nowhere near making a profit as it is very expensive self-publishing books. By the time I paid for a professional editor, hired a designer, creating this blog and all of the advertising, I have spent over $20,000.00 over the last 5.5 years since I published Late Bloomer Millionaires in early 2013 (An professional editor alone cost $4000.00). But it was never my purpose to make a profit as I have enough money and want to have my work available to anybody who is interested. Thank you to all of you who did purchase, or borrow (via Amazon’s loan program) my books.

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