Good Money Habits in 17 Minutes Per Day
The pandemic has caused most households to have dramatically increased levels of stress and anxiety about money matters. A major reason contributing to this situation is that most Americans have had no formal personal finance or money management training or education to deal with their affairs. In fact, they have been mandated to take more training to get their driver's license than to manage their money. In short, most Americans suffer from financial illiteracy. They have learned what they know about money through trial and error. The root cause of their money failures is that they don't have the basic financial knowledge they need. They lack good money habits.
Research has also shown that most households only spend one hour per month or about two minutes per day on their financial affairs. At the same time most adults under age 65 spend over two hours per day on social media. It is time to correct this imbalance and devote more attention to money matters.
Good Money Habits in 17 Minutes Per Day has been written to fill in the basic money knowledge gap most people have and put them on journey of lifelong financial improvement by allocating 17 minutes per day or two hours per week to learning about and understanding money matters. The book has been designed to be read in about two hours and to serve as a continuing reference for the reader to improve their financial situations. It addresses the expected financial challenges and opportunities individuals face in life and what to expect along the way. The book covers the following subjects.
Chapter 1 – The Pandemic Reset
• Overview
• Changes in Our Financial Lives
• The New Money Principles
• Why Personal Finance is More Important Than Ever Before
Chapter 2 – The Three Stages of Your Financial Life
• Adulting
• Striving
• Fulfilling
Chapter 3 – The Must-Do Actions of Each Life Stage
• Adulting
• Striving
• Fulfilling
Chapter 4 – The Six Building Blocks to Financial Security
• Determine Where You Stand
• Rethink Your Financial Values
• Improve Your Financial Knowledge
• Focus Your Money Mindset
• Develop Your Cash Plan
• Improve Your Money Habits
Chapter 5 – Determine Where You Stand
• Why Create a Financial Inventory?
• How to Create a Financial Inventory
Chapter 6 – Rethink Your Financial Values
• What Are Your Financial Values?
• Sample Questions You Might Ask Yourself About Money
Chapter 7 – Improve Your Financial Knowledge
• Today's Realities
• Your Imperfect Financial Education
• The Annual Cost of Financial Illiteracy
• What is Financial Literacy
• Moneytime – You Need More
• Spend2 – Two Hours Per Week
• Resources That Can Help
Chapter 8 – Focus Your Money Mindset
• What is Your Money Mindset?
• What Has Gone Into Creating Your Money Mindset of Today?
• Your Money Beliefs
• How to Break The Cycle of Money Mindset Negativity
• Positive Thoughts Drive Action
Chapter 9 – Develop Your Cash Plan
• Planning
• Tracking
• Taking Action
Chapter 10 – Improve Your Money Habits
• What is a Money Habit?
• 10 Good Money Habits for A Well-Lived Financial Life
• Summary
If there is one personal finance book to read, this is it. The book identifies the good habits that need to be developed to address life's key financial issues and of
Harry N. Stout is a published author and founder of the FinancialVerse organization. The FinancialVerse books and content are dedicated to improving America's financial literacy. He is an acknowledged senior leader in the global financial services business with over two decades experience in the advice, annuity and life insurance businesses. He has held marketing, sales, product innovation, and distribution roles over his successful career. He has over 25 years of financial services industry experience in the U.S. and abroad, working in Europe, Northern Asia, Africa, New Zealand and Australia. He is a past director of the National Association for Fixed Annuities, the Financial Services Council of Australia, the Insurance Marketplace Standards Association, and the Life Insurance Marketing and Research Association. He has been a governance fellow of the National Association of Corporate Directors. His U.S. business experience includes serving as President of Voya's U.S. Retail Annuity Business Group, where he directed the fixed, indexed and variable annuity businesses. He also spent over a decade with Fidelity & Guaranty Life Insurance Company where he served as Chief Executive Officer and President as well as holding key senior leadership roles for its parent companies USF&G Corporation, Travelers Corporation and Old Mutual U.S. Holdings, Inc. He has also been a corporate officer or Board member of several insurance marketing organizations. He began his career in public accounting with KPMG where he spent 10 years working primarily with multi-national enterprises. Mr. Stout's experience includes serving as Managing Director of Investments and Insurance with Australian and New Zealand Bank (ANZ), where he was based in Sydney and ran the Australian life insurance, investment, retirement services, general insurance and advice businesses for this large regional Australasian bank. During his time in Australia, he was also Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of ING Australia. Harry is a nationally known speaker, podcast guest and author covering annuities, life insurance and personal finance.