Who is Make Your Money Count for?Everybody, All the Time
Many books about financial management focus almost exclusively on those who are deeply in debt. That’s a significant audience, but the financial principles that bring fulfillment and adventure apply to all of us. Getting out of debt brings tremendous relief, but connecting our resources to what matters most produces a delicious blend of contentment and excitement. I believe that’s what most of us long for.
The message of this book is for three distinct audiences: those in their 20sand 30s, who are just starting out and facing new responsibilities, those in their 40s and 50s, who are in their most productive years, and those in their 60s and above, who live with either great joy or regret because of past choices. Let me describe these audiences a bit more.
• 20s and 30s
I talk to a lot of young singles and couples who realize that their new responsibilities of work, marriage, children, and a home require them to learn to manage their money. Just out of college, many of them spent every penny they made on clothes, cars, ski trips, and anything else their friends were doing. But now, they want to get serious about their finances, and they’re looking for some good advice.
• 40s and 50s
Many people in their 40s and 50s have settled into habits that are established—and maybe as hard as concrete. They’ve found a peer group they want to run with, and they have determined that they need to spend a certain amount of money to be accepted by them. In some cases, these habits include sound financial management, but often, these habits are monsters that need to be fed with more and more money. They’re making a lot of money, but they’re spending virtually all of it.
Others in this stage of life have a lot of money in home equity and in various investment and retirement accounts, but their finances leave them with a mysterious sense of emptiness. Beyond a comfortable retirement, they aren’t sure what their money is for.
Some in this stage have only a modest amount of money in retirement accounts, but not nearly enough to provide the security their families need.Unless things change, they know they’ll need to work until the day they die.
• Over 60
Older people who come to my office seem to be full of either hope or despair. In most cases, their best income-producing years are over, and they look back on their decisions with either thankfulness or regret. Important lessons,however, are learned either way, so they still have a wonderful opportunity to impart wisdom to their children and grandchildren and leave a strong legacy.
Vision, Intention, and Means
A Very Personal Journey. In my own life and in the lives of countless people I’ve counseled, I’ve realized that change happens most readily and permanently if people have a clear picture of the future, a commitment to take steps of progress, and good handles on the steps they need to take. Elements of change, then, are vision,intention, and means.
This book is structured with these three features in mind:
Clarifying Your Vision, Values, and Purpose
The first three chapters focus on creating or clarifying our vision or our purpose in life.
As we got though those chapters, some people may think,Why is he taking so long to get to the nuts and bolts of budgeting and investing? The reason is that these three chapters are essential to give us direction and motivation for the choices we make in the rest of the book.
The Blueprint for Financial Success™
Chapter 4 takes us through “The Blueprint for Financial Success.”
The analysis we do in this step stimulates our intention to make the changes we need to make.
The rest of the book, chapters 5 through 8, describes the principles and resources we can use to achieve the goals we set in the...
