Book SummaryWe Should All Be Millionaires, by Rachel Rodgers

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of We Should All Be Millionaires

In We Should All Be Millionaires, self-made millionaire Rachel Rodgers argues that all women, especially women of color, can and should strive to become millionaires. According to Rodgers, society and media perpetuate disempowering stereotypes about women and money that keep them from earning more. She rejects common advice to simply work harder or to live more frugally and argues that women must instead change how they think and feel about money, reclaim their time and energy, and stop underselling themselves. By following Rodgers’s advice, you’ll learn to be financially confident, grow...

We Should All Be Millionaires Summary Part 1: Transform Your Mindset About Money

According to Rodgers, the first step to becoming a millionaire is to transform the beliefs you have about money that hold you back from earning more and building wealth.

(Shortform note: In The Success Principles, Jack Canfield writes that you develop limiting beliefs about money as a result of your childhood experiences. Your parents might have told you that wealthy people exploit others, for instance, making you reluctant to become wealthy yourself.)

Rodgers writes that for most of American history, the government has prevented women from gaining economic power. In the United States, women have only been financially independent for half a century. Before the mid-1970s, women couldn’t own their own bank account, pursue higher education, start a business, or make use of other financial resources without having a man involved.

(Shortform note: Women have faced obstacles to gaining economic opportunities and financial power not only in the US but globally. Although the US and other nations have passed laws in recent...

We Should All Be Millionaires Summary Part 2: Maximize Your Time and Energy To Make More Money

We discussed how shifting your mindset and attitude about money can help you overcome self-imposed barriers, but Rodgers believes that’s not enough to make you a millionaire. To build your wealth, you must also make decisions that free up your time and energy, things women tend to give away too easily. In the following sections, we’ll explore Rodgers’s advice on how to reclaim your time and energy.

(Shortform note: To better make decisions that free up your time and energy, it may help to get clear about what you value. In The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, Mark Manson argues that most people feel compelled to care about too many things and that, to be happy, you must reject anything that doesn’t align with your goals or values or bring you joy. To identify your values, Manson suggests you recognize when you’re experiencing a negative emotion and ask yourself why you may be experiencing it. This can often...

We Should All Be Millionaires Summary Part 3: Recognize Your Value and Increase Your Wealth

Now that you’ve learned how to adopt a better mindset about money and make time and energy to build your wealth, how can you actually make more money? Rodgers writes that women often underestimate the worth of their work and do more work for less pay than men. So to become wealthier, you must overcome imposter syndrome and start charging what you’re really worth. In the following sections, we’ll look at Rodgers’s insights on how to do so.

Exploring Factors Behind the Gender Wage Gap

Research shows that the gender wage gap has been relatively unchanged over the past 20 years—women still earn about 82% of what men earn. While Rodgers argues that women work for less pay because they tend to undervalue their work, others write that parenthood norms are behind the pay imbalance. Fathers receive a “fatherhood wage premium,” participating more in the labor force and earning higher pay than men without children.

On the other hand, women who become mothers encounter more disadvantages in the workplace and often work fewer hours....

Shortform Exercise: Adopt a Positive Money Mindset

Work on adopting a positive money mindset that empowers you to make changes and take action to earn more money.

First, reflect on your current money mindset. What’s one limiting belief you have about money? How does that thought make you feel? For example, you might think that making money takes time away from more important things in life, which makes you feel unmotivated to earn more.