New book offers practical advice for achieving financial security
In Your Money and You: How to Increase Your Chances of Achieving Financial Security, Deborah Ellis, a longtime Certified Financial Planner (CFP), provides readers with a wealth of information on stocks, bonds, saving, investing, allotment of your investments and even advice for people in different industries. While the book is packed with information, it is also written in a very accessible way. Ellis shares her personal stories of how she began saving money as a child and young woman, how her aunt taught her to invest and buy stocks, and how things have changed in the decades since she started saving. . Her personal experiences then branch into her professional experiences with clients and years of investment in the market.
I know investing can be scary and confusing, but that’s usually due to a lack of information or a fear that we won’t understand the information. As Ellis shows us, investing really isn’t that hard. In fact, anyone who has passed high school math classes can figure it out. What is more difficult is learning to save and breaking some negative beliefs we may have about money so that we can stop working solely for money and learn to make it work for us. The book begins with a quote from Napoleon Hill, author of the classic book Think and Grow Rich, who says, “If you let it, you’ll be surprised how money attracts money.” Nothing could be more true, and Ellis shows us how it can be true for all of us. She states, “I believe that the stock market today is a gateway to opportunity in America. I believe it is a way for almost anyone from any walk of life to build wealth and share in the American Dream.” Your Money and You shows you how to get through that door.
The first few chapters of the book teach us how to take a leadership role with our money. Ellis helps us learn how to plan for retirement and what to expect. She walks us through the elements of a financial plan. She then asks us to take a financial inventory of where we currently are so that we know what we have to work with and what is required to reach our goals. She teaches us how to develop a savings and spending plan, and ultimately how to put together a team to help us, a team that might include an accountant, financial advisor, maybe a lawyer, etc. We don’t turn our financial affairs over to these people, but rather learn to lead them to help us achieve our goals. Ellis advises us “if one of your team members has different priorities, a bias, or wants you to go in a direction you don’t agree with, you need to find another team member!” That’s just one example of Ellis telling it like it is. Another example that I love and know to be very true is “if you want to charge for something that you can’t pay in full, you can’t pay for it.”
Next, Your Money and You goes into all the essence of investing. Ellis explains the power of compound interest and how investing over time can benefit us. She explains the differences between stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. She clarifies exactly what stock and stock indices are, and teaches us how to understand how different companies and their stocks are rated.
Once Ellis makes sure we understand the market, he gets involved in the more personal aspects of investing. She helps us understand our risk tolerance for investing, how to diversify our assets, and all the various scenarios we may encounter, from inheriting money to winning the lottery to ultimately retiring.
The book closes with some chapters for people in special situations, including those in the military, those who work in industries like film and television, where it can go from feast to famine at different times, and those who work for own account. An additional section includes various articles on how to achieve financial security.
Your Money and You is the perfect book to start saving and investing your money. Don’t stop reading it; it’s time to invest in yourself. As Ellis warns us, “Money is not static. If you nurture it, it will grow. If you neglect it, you’ll end up with very little. It’s up to you.” Furthermore, Ellis tells us that “investing is not difficult. Developing an investment mindset may take a little more effort.” Your Money and You can help you develop that mindset, and once you do, your money will start working for you so that ultimately you don’t have to work.