Some of the things are a bit hard to believe...

books:


	• The Automatic Millionaire : A Powerful One-Step Plan to Live and Finish Rich David Bach Broadway, 2004 - 256 pages average customer review:based on 287 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

This is wonderful!!

We have been giving the Automatic Millionaire to graduates instead of cash so that hopefully they will learn to save their cash as they go through life. We truly believe in the automatic way to save and invest our way to becoming millionaires!!!

Some of the things are a bit hard to believe...

Okay, I LOVE financial books. Love them. I like David Bach, he's okay, but this book is kinda hard to believe.
First, when he tells the "story" of the couple from when David Bach was back in his 20's, so that would be back in late 70's or early 80's(?) - he talks about how the people told him about his "coined phrase" the Latte Factor (insert trademark symbol here).

Uh, was a Latte even a common phrase drink back them? Not that I recall, so that little "PR" move for his "catch phrase" AUTOMATICALLY put me on guard as to what was real vs. not real.

His info is a bit far-fetched if you want to truly read into it, but on the whole the book gives great ideas on how to set aside money for your future. Without picking it apart, it's not bad advice.

Easy to read, but the stories are totally unbelievable to me. I kept thinking that he totally made them up, or how embellished they were.

Get it from your local library. Also recommend Jean Chatzky books.

for more information click here

Great/easy to read book!

I find this book as a good reminder of what I already know. Simple things like:
1) If your money is deducted automatically-there goes the saying 'the money you don't see, you don't spend"
2) It's not how much you make but how much you keep that matters.
3) Living below your means will make you rich-spending less, saving more

Yes, it takes a lot of discipline to apply Mr. Bach's advice. But as he said, do changes in your life gradually, it will become second nature to you then things will get better.

No, you won't have a miserable life just to have a lot of money saved up. The point is to plan ahead of time. It's also choosing what you prefer to have. For example, my family and I would rather go for expensive vacations like cruises and international destinations than live in a 'gigantic' house. Drive a Honda or any reliable vehicle until it dies instead of having a Mercedes and keep trading it every 2-3 yrs., etc. It's a matter of choice....David mentioned that there's nothing new on what he's going to say but he wrote the book in such a way that people will see little things they take for granted. Little expenses they don't realize adding up....I know having money deducted from my paycheck automatically for different things like retirement, emergency savings, college for kids, vacations, future vehicles, etc...is easy said than done. But it really can be done...As I said earlier, it's all about planning and prioritizing...I've done it before...it takes $50/week for 4 years to save >$10,000 (don't forget the interest!)....That was my vacation fund.....during those 4 years, I didn't even have to skip putting money away for retirement and other things; no credit card debt either....It's all up to you! Use time to your advantage....David mentioned that we all need to have balance in our lives. We can have fun and financial security at the same time....Good Luck!

for more information click here

Become Wealthy in One Easy Step

The basic premise of Bach's book is to automate as many financial aspects of your life as possible. With today's technology, this is much easier and more accessible than in the past.

A main focal point of the automation is having automatic deductions from one's paycheck go into a retirement account. The benefit being that one learns to live on the lower net income and does not even notice the automatic deduction. At the same time the investor is saving tax if investing in tax deferred accounts such as a 401(K), 403(b), SEP, or traditional IRA retirement account.

So for example if you take a $1,000 paycheck and deduct 15% to go directly into a retirement account, that would be $150. In contrast if you did not put anything into the retirement account first, you would bring home $800 assuming a 20% tax rate. By "paying yourself first" you avoid tax today on the $150 and rather than only bringing home $650 based on the $200 tax on a $1000 paycheck, you would actually bring home $680 due to not paying tax on the $150. This may not seem like much but can make an enormous difference over time.

The millionaire part comes into play by following this system of setting it up one time to automatically deposit the money and letting the power of compound interest work over the course of a number of years.

He also recommends automating things such as a house payment by having payments drafted from your account once every 2 weeks rather than once per month. This results in an additional full payment each year with the advantage of paying off a 30 year mortgage (if using one that long) in only 22 years. This cuts out a huge amount of interest paid and gets you out of debt that much quicker. Rather than relying on discipline and remembering to send in a payment every 2 weeks you've automated it and don't ever have to worry about it.

An additional idea Bach presents is that most people have a "Latte Factor." This essentially is little things through out the day which you may not think about spending money on such as picking up a $3.50 latte and $1.50 muffin at Starbucks in the morning. While this is ok from time to time, the point is that if done on a regular basis without thinking about the total cost, it can really add up to substantial amounts of money in time. Say for example you did this on the way to work each morning (5x50=250x5=1250) $1,250 per year in coffee and muffins. In my book that's a decent chunk of change.

An idea Bach does not mention but which is effective is to give oneself a monthly budget for random purchases. Dave Ramsey calls this the blow category in a budget. Money which can be spent as you please without having to fall in a specific category. If your blow category is $50 for the month, at the beginning of the month you put $50 in an envelope and can spend it any way you choose. But when the money runs out and the envelope is empty, you don't spend any more. It really helps in making you pause to consider a purchase before whipping out the plastic and swiping away that $1,250 in muffins and coffee.

Other elements which Bach promotes are paying off debt and giving money away. Debt will really hamper one's ability to become wealthy so by attacking it, you free yourself to run unfettered towards wealth. The giving aspect helps put things in perspective and give you a sense of wealth and generosity even before becoming "wealthy."

One aspect that I would give caution to the reader about is Bach's chapter on real estate. If not read in a proper context, the reader could get the impression that taking on large amounts of debt or "leverage" great ideas with limited risk. One should always incorporate a big risk factor whenever introducing large amounts of debt. Regardless of how leverage is couched, real estate prices do not always go up as seen recently, and renters do not always make payments. So if taking on a mortgage to purchase real estate, it would behoove the person to make a large down payment and pay off the mortgage as quickly as possible.

Overall, The Automatic Millionaire offers some good ideas on helping to reduce the discipline needed to attain financial independence and comfortable retirement. Automation of investments is a great way to consistently build wealth over a long period of time.

for more information click here

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

What?s the secret to becoming a millionaire?

For years people have asked David Bach, the national bestselling author of Smart Women Finish Rich, Smart Couples Finish Rich, and The Finish Rich Workbook, what?s the real secret to getting rich? What?s the one thing I need to do?

Now, in The Automatic Millionaire, David Bach is sharing that secret.
The Automatic Millionaire starts with the powerful story of an average American
couple--he?s a low-level manager, she?s a beautician--whose joint income never exceeds $55,000 a year, yet who somehow manage to own two homes debt-free, put two kids through college, and retire at 55 with more than $1 million in savings. Through their story you?ll learn the surprising fact that you cannot get rich with a budget! You have to have a plan to pay yourself first that is totally automatic, a plan that will automatically secure your future and pay for your present.

What makes The Automatic Millionaire unique:

You don?t need a budget
You don?t need willpower
You don?t need to make a lot of money
You don?t need to be that interested in money
You can set up the plan in an hour

David Bach gives you a totally realistic system, based on timeless principles, with everything you need to know, including phone numbers and websites, so you can put the secret to becoming an Automatic Millionaire in place from the comfort of your own home.

This one little book has the power to secure your financial future. Do it once--the rest is automatic!