A simple, effective way to transform your finances and your life from leading financial advisor and New York Times columnist Carl Richards Creating a financial plan can seem overwhelming, but the best plans aren't long or complicated. A great plan has nothing to do with the details of how to save and invest your money and everything to do with why you're doing it in the first place. Knowing what's important to you, you will be able to make better decisions in any market conditions. The One-Page Financial Plan will help you identify your values and goals. Carl Richard's simple steps will show you how to prioritize what you really want in life and figure out how to get there. 'In a world where financial advice is (often purposely) complicated and filled with jargon, Carl Richards distils what matters most into something that is easy and fun to read' Wall Street Journal 'Feeling tormented by your finances? Read this book. Now. The One-Page Financial Plan helps you identify what you truly want from life, get crystal clear about the financial position you are starting from today, and develop a simple, actionable plan to narrow the gap between the two' Manisha Thakor, CEO at MoneyZen Wealth Management Carl Richards is a certified financial planner and a columnist for the New York Times, where his weekly Sketch Guy column has run every Monday for over five years. He is also a columnist for Morningstar magazine and a contributor to Yahoo Finance. His first book, The Behavior Gap, was very well received, and his weekly newsletter has readers around the world. Richards is a popular keynote speaker and is the director of investor education for the BAM ALLIANCE.

Whenever I tell people about my job as a financial advisor, the conversation inevitably turns to how hopeless they feel when it comes to dealing with money. More than once, they’ve begged, “Just tell me what to do.” It’s no surprise that even my most successful friends feel confused or paralyzed. Even if they have a shelfful of personal finance books, they don’t have time to make sense of all the information available. They don’t just want good advice, they want the best advice—so rather than do the “wrong thing,” they do nothing. Their 401(k) and bank statements pile up, unexamined or maybe even unopened. What they don’t realize is that bad calls about money aren’t failures; they’re just what happens when emotional creatures have to make decisions about the future with limited information. What I tell them is that we need to scrap striving for perfection and instead commit to a process of guessing and making adjustments when things go off track. Of course we’re going to make the best guesses we can—but we’re not going to obsess over getting them exactly right. The fact is, in a single page you can prioritize what you really want in life and figure out how to get there. That’s because a great financial plan has nothing to do with what the markets are doing, what your real estate agent is pitching, or the hot stock your brother-in-law told you about. It has everything to do with what’s most important to you. By now you may be wondering, “What about the details? How much do I need to invest each year, and how do I allocate it? How much life insurance do I need?” Don’t worry: I’ll cover those topics and many more, sharing strategies that will take the complexity out of them. The most important thing is getting clarity about the big picture so you can cope with the unexpected. Maybe you’ll lose the job you thought was secure; you’ll take a financial risk that doesn’t pan out; you’ll have twins when you were only budgeting for one. In other words: Life will happen. But no matter what happens, this book will help you bridge the gap between where you are now and where you want to go.

Financial Planning DIY Guide is the only Australian all-in-one handbook to getting the most from your money. Written by expert financial planner Sam Henderson, this comprehensive guide will help you build and manage your assets no matter what your stage of life, and show you how to create your own one-page financial plan and put it into practice. Inside you'll learn how to: reduce your tax, boost your savings and maximize your income structure your investment portfolio (including investing in shares and property) and manage risk make the most of your superannuation plan your income for retirement protect your wealth through estate planning. It's never too soon (or too late) to plan your financial future and this book will show you how!

"It's not that we're dumb. We're wired to avoid pain and pursue pleasure and security. It feels right to sell when everyone around us is scared and buy when everyone feels great. It may feel right-but it's not rational." -From The Behavior Gap Why do we lose money? It's easy to blame the economy or the financial markets-but the real trouble lies in the decisions we make. As a financial planner, Carl Richards grew frustrated watching people he cared about make the same mistakes over and over. They were letting emotion get in the way of smart financial decisions. He named this phenomenon-the distance between what we should do and what we actually do-"the behavior gap." Using simple drawings to explain the gap, he found that once people understood it, they started doing much better. Richards's way with words and images has attracted a loyal following to his blog posts for The New York Times, appearances on National Public Radio, and his columns and lectures. His book will teach you how to rethink all kinds of situations where your perfectly natural instincts (for safety or success) can cost you money and peace of mind. He'll help you to: • Avoid the tendency to buy high and sell low; • Avoid the pitfalls of generic financial advice; • Invest all of your assets-time and energy as well as savings-more wisely; • Quit spending money and time on things that don't matter; • Identify your real financial goals; • Start meaningful conversations about money; • Simplify your financial life; • Stop losing money! It's never too late to make a fresh financial start. As Richards writes: "We've all made mistakes, but now it's time to give yourself permission to review those mistakes, identify your personal behavior gaps, and make a plan to avoid them in the future. The goal isn't to make the 'perfect' decision about money every time, but to do the best we can and move forward. Most of the time, that's enough."

Whether you're already well-to-do or just beginning to build a nest egg, this book will help you to make smart financial choices based on what's important to you ...

The world of investing normally sees experts telling us the 'right' way to manage our money. How often do these experts pull back the curtain and tell us how they invest their own money? Never. How I Invest My Money changes that. In this unprecedented collection, 25 financial experts share how they navigate markets with their own capital. In this honest rendering of how they invest, save, spend, give, and borrow, this group of portfolio managers, financial advisors, venture capitalists and other experts detail the 'how' and the 'why' of their investments. They share stories about their childhood, their families, the struggles they face and the aspirations they hold. Sometimes raw, always revealing, these stories detail the indelible relationship between our money and our values. Taken as a whole, these essays powerfully demonstrate that there is no single 'right' way to save, spend, and invest. We see a kaleidoscope of perspectives on stocks, bonds, real assets, funds, charity, and other means of achieving the life one desires. With engaging illustrations throughout by Carl Richards, How I Invest My Money inspires readers to think creatively about their financial decisions and how money figures in the broader quest for a contented life. With contributions from: Morgan Housel, Christine Benz, Brian Portnoy, Joshua Brown, Bob Seawright, Carolyn McClanahan, Tyrone Ross, Dasarte Yarnway, Nina O'Neal, Debbie Freeman, Shirl Penney, Ted Seides, Ashby Daniels, Blair duQuesnay, Leighann Miko, Perth Tolle, Josh Rogers, Jenny Harrington, Mike Underhill, Dan Egan, Howard Lindzon, Ryan Krueger, Lazetta Rainey Braxton, Rita Cheng, Alex Chalekian

How to build a financial plan that really blends into your life The latest volume in the bestselling Ultimate series, Jim Stovall and Tim Maurer's The Ultimate Financial Plan: Balancing Your Money and Life is a one-stop, comprehensive, personal financial planning book exploring the intersection of money and life. The Ultimate Financial Plan examines the connection between actions, thoughts, and feelings when it comes to all things financial. The key to getting the most out of your wealth, the authors argue, is certainly found in the wise utilization of tools, like budgets, bank accounts, 401(k)s, IRAs, Roth IRAs, education savings plans, and real estate, as well as home, auto, business, health, disability, and long term care insurance, but even more so in the contentment found in balancing money's influence in our lives with personal values and goals. An insider's look into the recently humbled "Big 3"—the banks, brokerage firms, and insurance companies—and the inner workings that often set their proprietary goals and objectives above all A critical examination of the role of various financial sales people, advisors, planners, and consultants A guide to navigating Economic Bias—a conflict of interest involving money—and how it affects every financial decision we make The Ultimate Financial Plan is the application of the resources at your disposal for the purpose of living your life to the fullest, and this book will show you the quickest route to getting started on the path to ultimate success.

When it comes to money management, most of us take a hands-off approach because we're just not confident that we have the know-how needed. But personal finance is actually more personal than it is finance. Tim Maurer has made a career out of distilling complex financial concepts into understandable, doable actions. In this eminently practical book, he shows readers how to - better understand their values and goals in order to simplify their money decisions - budget major expenses intelligently - reduce and eliminate debt - make vital decisions on home, auto, and life insurance - establish a world-class investment portfolio - craft a workable retirement plan - and more Readers will be relieved to see that managing their money is actually not as complicated as they thought--and that they can take control of their financial future starting today.

“The newbie investor will not find a better guide to personal finance.” —Burton Malkiel, author of A RANDOM WALK DOWN WALL STREET TV analysts and money managers would have you believe your finances are enormously complicated, and if you don’t follow their guidance, you’ll end up in the poorhouse. They’re wrong. When University of Chicago professor Harold Pollack interviewed Helaine Olen, an award-winning financial journalist and the author of the bestselling Pound Foolish, he made an off­hand suggestion: everything you need to know about managing your money could fit on an index card. To prove his point, he grabbed a 4" x 6" card, scribbled down a list of rules, and posted a picture of the card online. The post went viral. Now, Pollack teams up with Olen to explain why the ten simple rules of the index card outperform more complicated financial strategies. Inside is an easy-to-follow action plan that works in good times and bad, giving you the tools, knowledge, and confidence to seize control of your financial life.

"This text/reference book is the most up-to-date integrated presentation of the field of personal financial planning. This sixth edition has been thoroughly revised to incorporate changes in laws and professional requirements applicable to personal financial planning."--