Material Excerpts: MONEY: Make, Manage, & Multiply It!

 

The following sections are taken from different chapters in the book, MONEY: Make, Manage, & Multiply It!, Copyright © 2008, Donald F. Barkman, The Business Center, Oak Ridge, TN, All Rights Reserved.  A single copy of this sample material may be made for personal use.

 

 

Introduction

 

Imagine you had a delicious hot-fudge or caramel sundae – scoops of your favorite ice cream, mounds of whipped cream, syrup running down all sides, topped by a plump red maraschino cherry. When would you eat that cherry? On the first bite? Half way through? In the last spoonful of syrup and ice cream? Answer the question, please.

 

How you treat the cherry may give you an indication of how you treat your money. Eat the cherry first = spend today, pay later. You need this book! Eat the cherry last = save today and purchase later. You want this book! What if you eat the cherry in the middle or don't eat it at all? You decide what that means! While it would be nice if this theory had a scientific basis, it doesn't. However, if it seems to hold a bit of truth for you, then we may be onto a psychological breakthrough in money management!

 

In MONEY: Make, Manage, & Multiply It!, we will look at managing your personal finances. We'll focus on how you make money and how you spend it. How you save it and invest it. We'll give you ideas on what you can do to make the most of what you earn. Whatever you decide to do is up to you.

 

Think about how many hours you spend each week to earn your paycheck. Then, ask yourself how many hours do you spend thoughtfully managing that money in a year? It may be a scary thought.

 

There are a lot of decisions about handling your money that you have already made. Some big, many small. They all add up to create your financial health. You be the judge of the value of what we'll share with you. It's your money and you know what you want it to do for you.

 

We want you to think about five things when it comes to your money:

• Earning It
• Spending It
• Saving It
• Investing It
• Enjoying It

You could change the order of these items, but all five are worth thinking about. We can also look at your money management from another angle – your future wealth building behavior.

 

How old are you now? _____

 

Consult the table below to see if you are saving enough to retire. The examples assume you begin with a zero balance.

 

Savings Rate Table
Age	% of Current Net Income* to be Saved	$5,000/mo. Net Income Example	$2,500/mo. Net Income Example
25	10%	$500/mo.	$250/mo.
35	16.4%	$820/mo.	$410/mo.
45	29.4%	$1,470/mo.	$735/mo.
55	66%	$3,300/mo.	$1,650/mo.

 

Taxes – and Legally Avoiding Them

 

One way to reduce your tax bill is to keep your income from being taxed in the first place. This can be a big help to your long-term savings and investing. Here's how:

• A married couple has $8,000 of income deposited each year into their separate IRA accounts ($4,000 each).
• Their marginal tax rate is 25%.
• They avoid paying 25% taxes on the $8,000 until they retire (after 59 1/2).
• That means they escape a $2,000 tax bill this year!
• It also means they only use $6,000 of their income to be able to invest $8,000. The other $2,000 comes from what would have been paid as taxes.
• The invested $8,000 generates more earnings that escape taxation until they are withdrawn.
• Do this every year for 40 years and it adds up to big bucks! (How's $2,000,000 + sound?)

 

Checking Your Credit

 

It is a good practice to check your credit file every year or two. This can be done for free by going to www.annualcreditreport.com. This web site is the officially free site. You can also call 877-322-8228. Through this one site or phone number you can check your files at all three of the major reporting services: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Each service is legally required to give you one free report every year if you request it. If you find outdated or incorrect information on your report, notify the credit bureau and get it adjusted. Do not be fooled by firms that advertise a free credit report or credit score. These sites require you to sign up and pay for a "credit monitoring" service in order to get the same information you can have free at the official site.

 

 

Building Wealth by Investing

 

If savings is the first step, what else can you do to build wealth? You must invest your savings. There are many paths to the same destination. The earlier you start investing, the longer your investment has to grow. Time is your friend if you have lots of it. Save now and you can play later! As you invest, you need to consider four characteristics of your investments:

• Purpose – to grow or to generate current income?
• Risk – can you afford to lose the principal?
• Liquidity – can you easily tap it for spending?
• Taxes – can you defer paying taxes, minimize them, or escape them entirely?

Investments are quite different in these four characteristics.

 

MONEY: Make, Manage, & Multiply It! Contents

 

 

 

MONEY: Make, Manage, & Multiply It! Book | Order Page

 

The Business Center
120 Westview Lane
Oak Ridge, TN 37830
888-988-2275

 

Back to Material Excerpts