I first read this book about 12 years ago and it has been the foundation of information that shaped our financial life. The Be-Have-Do mentoring exercise first started as an idea I read here. We did the value circle, year after year. We bought a file folder and organized our documents. We built our dream fund and started plotting out how we were going to make those dreams happen. I ear marked the charts and graphs, and whenever I was feeling discouraged by how slow our progress was, I would flip open this book. This was the book that got me to take the plunge and start filling up our Roth IRA’s every year.
Where Broke Millennial is the first step to master all aspects of your financial life, this is the book you have to read if you are building your financial life with a partner.
It’s everything you need to know to manage your money along with living true to your values and being able to chase down your bigger dreams.
My pages in my copy have faded into an orangey-brown color now. They have been earmarked and poured over again and again. More importantly, we applied them. It wasn’t quick or easy, but David Bach made it simple. It took 10+ years of chipping away for us to create the financial freedom to live a life fully aligned with our Be-Have-Do, values wheel and dream bucket.
David Bach is going to be the keynote speaker at FinCon this year, and I would very much like to shake his hand and thank him. This book laid out a clear path from where we were (broke, just having paid off our $50,000+ of debt) to where we are now. If he would have said it was possible, I wouldn’t have believed him, but instead, he simply showed the way.
I can’t think of a better way to spend $9 (new copy) or $4 (used copy)!
Sadly I wont be at FinCon this year to hear David speak, but it was his Automatic Millionaire book that started me on this journey about 8 or 9 years ago. Money well spent. Over the past few years, I have given the Smart Couples Finish Rich to all the young people I know who are getting married, including my own kids, as part of their wedding present.
That is an awesome wedding gift! In the end, probably the one that could have the greatest effect on their net worth and happiness. =)
This was the second book Mrs. Groovy and I read after we decided to get our financial life in order (the first was Total Money Makeover). I can’t recommend it highly enough. It belongs in any FIRE enthusiast’s core library. And as you pointed out Ms. M, it should be re-read every few years. I hope you get to meet Mr. Bach at FinCon this year. And I hope you get a picture of it. That would certainly enliven your FinCon 2017 wrap-up post. Cheers.
It would be great to meet him! And I agree about the core library. Few books not only do such a good job walking us step by step through getting our financial life in order, but also make us think about what we really want in our lives and how money can make that happen.
Hi Ms M! When will the discussion be for this one? Cant wait!
I think I’m going to do all of them at the end of the summer. Keep it simple. =)