Family Financial Freedom
Floyd Saunders
Copyright © 2012 Floyd Saunders
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior consent of the publisher. All rights reserved.
The Publisher makes no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any commercial damages.
2012-09-03
Dedication
This book is dedicated to the hard working middle class, who still believe in the American dream, that all things are possible if you believe and act to make those beliefs happen.
This book is not a quick rich scheme, but rather proven techniques for improving your finances and setting your family on a path toward financial freedom.
Acknowledgments
I would like to acknowledge the continued love and support of my family, as I spent countless hours researching this book. My wife, Jan is my number one cheerleader and her support in completing this book has been invaluable. Many members of my family were sounding boards for my thoughts and ideas. Each of them at different time have reviewed drafts and provided comments to improve the final version. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Introduction
Do you find that managing and investing your money gets harder every year? Do you know you want to reach your financial goals, but seem confused about how to make it happen? You are not alone. The recent economic and financial meltdown affected almost everyone. Across the globe, if you had money invested in any financial market you most likely lost money and haven’t seen the recovery you expected.
You are worried, frighten and perhaps mad as hell. You should be. Not just the American economy, but globally, investors and the people living on main street have lost a significant part of their savings, money intended for a comfortable retirement or to send kids to college.
You are not alone. Few of us were taught how to manage the money we earn (I know I wasn’t). And as we become busier and more successful, it seems we have less time to spend managing our own money. What’s worst, with the financial markets bouncing around like a yo-yo, ever-changing tax laws, and record low interest rates on your savings it’s hard to know what to do. Added to the national financial distress is record unemployment and home foreclosures. All in all a gloomy picture.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. You can take action and take charge of your money. For most Americans, personal financial planning is a good news/bad news story. The good news is that virtually anyone with a desire to learn and the willingness to plan can achieve a considerable degree of financial security. The bad news, is too many have given in to the story of gloom and are unwilling to set aside a few extra hours to establish a sensible plan for securing the family financial freedom we all desire and is within our grasp.
This simple book will help you develop a road map to personal financial freedom using proven concepts. There is no get-rich-quick scheme in this book, only proven methods for taking charge of your financial future and using just the money you have now to make that money work harder than you do. Ready to begin?
In the past several years many new investment products, services and sophisticated financial strategies have emerged from banks, credit unions, insurance companies and Wall Street brokerage houses to further complicate our financial decisions. Without knowing all of the available alternatives it can be difficult to make sound financial decisions or take the appropriate steps to a secure financial future. As a result many of us feel overwhelmed about managing and investing our money. With this book you will no longer need to feel that way.
A workable, common sense financial plan will help you put first things first. You will learn to stay within your income and start directing your income to do what you want it to do. This book, properly followed, will put you on the road to successfully managing and investing money. Remember, it doesn’t take a lot of money to make money, it just takes putting your money to work for you. Money never sleeps.
Getting Started
For most of us, managing our money is harder than it needs to be. We can get confused about: financial goals, asset allocation, exchange traded funds, short trades, universal life, alternative minimum tax and a whole more. A lot of people find the language of investing and money management rather daunting. You are quickly out of your element and ready to toss up your hands.
Don’t let the terms and the challenges throw you off, this is something you can do. Even doing a little is better than not doing anything. Let’s start with why people fail and what you can do to succeed. This is really the first step in financial security. You need to learn that your are not helpless, there are things you can do to improve your finances every day. That starts with having a more positive approach and a set of action plans to move your toward your goals. Change can be hard, but you can do this. Let’s start with removing some of the roadblocks.
Why People Fail and What You Can Do to Succeed
I first started writing about why people fail to succeed to achieve financial freedom more than 20 years ago. At that time a study by the U.S. government found that fully 95 percent of Americans reach age 65 were unable to retire with financial freedom. That number hasn’t changed much. I define financial freedom as freeedom from want; having the ability to travel and enjoy life and being able to afford the basics like good medical care. We can blame the government for the lack of planning and inability to properly fund social security. But realize that social security was never intended to be the sole source of retirement funds. Initially, social security was intended to provide just 30 percent of your retirement funds and with the average person living less than five years past retirement, the costs of funding your retirement was expected to be low.
We can blame our employer, after all many companies have stopped providing employer funded pensions, replacing then with employee funded plans like 401ks. Yet those employers with pension plans still in place find it difficult to fully fund the plans. It has been estimated that only about 30% of pension plans are fully funded.
People who have not gotten ahead by saving or building up assets, and now face sharp cuts in their pension realize they may need to continue working long after they planned to retire. For many young people, the idea of working for the rest of your life is pretty much standard, especially with Social Security possibly not available in the future and no guarantee of pensions.
But the real problem is your own attitudes are sabotaging your potential for financial freedom? See if any of the following statements sound like you:
“I’ll start tomorrow. Anyway, I don’t have the money to save now.”
Many of us reward ourselves by spending. In fact nearly 70% of the American economy is dependent on consumer spending, so your are bombarded with ads and messages almost requiring you to spend your money. You may be surprised to discover how much “discretionary spending” you do. Of course as so many Americans have suffered from the financial meltdown of 2008, with job loses running in the millions and millions more losing their homes, discretionary spending has dropped for all but the very wealthy. But here is the thing you should know, you may be surprised by how much more money you actually have available for savings and investing, simply by making a few changes. Additionally, if you put time and consistency to your advantage you really only need to set aside a small amount each month. Just make a financially secure future one of your priorities. Treat yourself to financial freedom for your