Smart Women finish rich

• Book Title: Smart Women finish Rich
• Author:David Bach
• Year written/published: 1999
• Book Source: Google Books, Library
• Summary: Personal Finance for Women
• Some extracts:

some myths…

• Make more money and you’ll be rich - My husband (or father or brother or son..) will take care of me - The government has finally gotten inflation under control

File folder system…

1. Tax Returns 2. Retirement accounts 3. Social security 4. Investment Accounts 5. Savings and Checking Accounts 6. Household Accounts 7. Credit Card debt 8. Other liabilities 9. Insurance 10. Family will or trust 11. Children’s Accounts 12. Inventory Planner

Quantum leap system…

1. Until it’s written down, it’s not a goal – it’s just a slogan 2. Goals must be specific, measurable and provable
2. take some immediate action within the next 48 hours to start moving towards your goal 4. Once you have written down your goals, put them someplace where you can see them every day 5. Share our goals with someone you love and trust 6. Develop goals that fit in with your values 7. Review your goals at least once every 12 months

For protection…

1. You must have at least 3 to 24 month’s worth of living expense saved in case of emergency 2. You absolutely positively no matter what must have an up to date will or living trust 3. Get the best health insurance you can afford 4. If you have dependents, you should have life insurance 5. You need to protect your income with disability insurance

dream basket…

- for short term (less than 2 years) – money market accounts, certificate of deposits, treasury bills - for mid-term (2 to 5 years) – treasury notes, corporate bonds, municipal bonds - for long term (3 to 10 years) – stock, mutual funds, exchange funds DRIP

Investing…

A great way to invest systematically in individual stocks is to start what is known as Dividend Reinvestment Program (DRIP) Essentially DRIP plan allow investors to purchase stocks directly from the companies that issue them. Once an account is set up, investors can continue to buy more stock systematically and have stock dividends they earn reinvested automatically, often with no commission costs.

Some mistakes…

1. Becoming an investor before you are organised and have a specific goal in mind 2. not taking credit card debt seriously 3. having a 30 year old mortgage 4. waiting to buy a house 5. putting off savings for retirement 6. speculating with your investment money 7. building a portfolio that’s not diversified 8. paying too much in taxes 9. buying an investment  that is illiquid 10. giving up

Determining your net worth…

1. you family info 2. personal investments – cash reserves, fixed income, stocks, mutual funds, annuities, other assets 3. retirement accounts 4. real estate 5. estate planning 6. cash flow 7. nest cash flow 8. net worth 9. financial objectives