Start Late, Finish Rich
Filed under: Books, Education, Finance, Money, Saving, Spending
Tis the season for resolutions.
A lot of people will make the resolution to read more and learn to take control of their finances.
Here is a good book that I recently finished and it fits 2 of my requirements for a good book. It was easy to read and contained some really good information.
Getting Started
Filed under: Discounts, Getting Started, Saving, Software, Spending
I hope you have a sense of humor because I can go off on a rant from time to time.
In todays times, more and more people are struggling. Some are victims of unscrupulous loan agents and some are victims of their own lack of financial education.
If you are living paycheck to paycheck, you have 4 choices.
Cut back on spending
Increase income
Both
Or the worst, neither
We all have things we can live without so that is a definite choice.
Personally, I chose to increase my income and cut my spending. But if you want to get your finances under control, the first thing you need to know is where the money is coming from and where it’s going. I use Microsoft Money Home and Business which you can try for 60 days for free. If you like it, you should look into Amazon and check prices. I chose Money simply because of the free trial and it was pretty easy to learn. I also love the cash flow forecast since you can play with different scenarios and see what happens if you chose to spend or earn more money.
You may chose a different program such as Quicken, one of the new web based programs or some other way.
Regardless of how you track your money, you must if you want to get ahead.
NAKED RETIREMENT
Naked Retirement strips down the old traditional models of retirement planning and replaces the it with a more creative and intuitive one that helps people take control of their retirement planning, saving, and investing.
The book details the evolution of retirement and uses it to help baby boomers and retirees understand why they are behind in saving and what they can do about it.
"Retirement planning can no longer be one-dimensional, focused exclusively on merely providing information such as how pensions or a 401(k)’s work. It needs to extend beyond financial planning to include aspects of health and social issues that will impact future retirees," according to author, Robert Laura.
Billed as the ultimate defense against the scary, anxious, and stressful feelings people get on their first day of retirement when they have only a financial plan full of numbers and charts to guide them, Laura simplifies the mental and emotional aspects of retirement planning with thought-provoking questions about your definition and approach to retirement as well as important retirement conversations that foster strong relationships in retirement.
The book culminates into a one-page Naked Retirement plan that will help people as well as planners successfully estimate retirement preparedness and future success.
Book is available at NakedRetirement.com and is emailed in pdf format directly to participants.