Being “upside down” is usually a negative term when applied to financial matters, but multimillionaire Robert Shemin believes that sort of thinking is … well … upside down.

Shemin, author of “How Come That Idiot’s Rich and I’m Not?” feels there are two positions when it comes to wealth: right side up and broke, or upside down and rich. Shemin prefers upside down. The best way to build and maintain wealth, maintains Shemin — once considered the “least likely to succeed”– is by breaking the rules you think and hear about when building wealth.

Following are eight rules worth breaking — in upside-down order — and what Shemin and other financial gurus have to say about them.

8. Before investing, learn enough so that you’re not going to make any mistakes

The problem here: Fear causes inaction, Shemin says. “Everything in life has a risk and a cost for doing it, and a risk and a cost for not doing it. Rich idiots focus on the risk of not doing something.” In his experience, most people don’t get started on stock market or real estate investing, or in estate planning, because they’re so scared of making mistakes, they’re overwhelmed.

“Of course you should expect to make mistakes when you start investing (or any time),” agrees Ramit Sethi, who writes the popular blog, IWillTeachYouToBeRich.com. “But if you start with small amounts, any mistakes won’t hurt you too bad. Plus, any mistakes can be mitigated by time.”

…continue reading 7 thru to 1 HERE

…related: The Way To Wealth By Benjamin Franklin