Total Money Makeover

I made the mistake of mentioning to a supervisor that I was reading Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kyosaki. He immediately pounced with the high and mighty aspirations of Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover which he promptly gave to me. I downed the children's book in about three sittings. It was full of stories about people who were very in debt but through the Total Money Makeover, they were now debt-free or almost there. It is quite an accomplishment to have so many people thank him for helping them see that there is a way out of debt and out of credit. The book explains the simple steps that follow, but if you want to save yourself a few hours, just call me and I can explain that whole process in about ten minutes (It is simple, but he had to make the book hefty enough for people to take it seriously.) Before you begin with step one, you have to be committed to getting out of debt. That means creating and sticking to a budget at all costs. Easy enough to say when there isn't a buy one get one half-off sale going on...anyway.
Step one: Save one thousand dollars as fast as possible (for emergencies)
Step two: Start the debt snowball, pay only the minimum payments on everything except the smallest debt and pay every extra penny you have toward getting rid of that debt. Pay off your debt, one creditor at a time.
Step three: Build a real emergency fund (3 to 6 months of survival money)
Step four: Fund your retirement with fifteen percent of your income
Step five: Save for your child's education
Step six: Pay off your mortgage
Step seven: Build wealth and enjoy it
In my opinion, this is a very simple, very good plan. I started calculating how long it would take to pay off our debt, and it looks like we can be debt free (besides the house) in only 11 months. Once we are out of debt, we will have more money to save and invest, and we won't be seriously scared by a downturn in the economy. That sounds pretty good to me. My family will have a total money makeover.

Assets and Liabilities

I have been reading the book Rich Dad Poor Dad. It is an interesting story of a person being trained from a very early age to simply understand money. The book was written to the financially inept with a lack of actual information. It seems that the author tries to tell his story in a way to exonerate him from actually giving advice. With that said, I am glued to this book. It explained the one concept that I needed to understand. Assets make you more wealthy; they provide you with money. Liabilities make you less wealthy; they provide you with expenses. Therefore, in order to be wealthy, you must acquire assets rather than liabilities. I did not come from a wealthy family, I do not expect to receive an inheritance other than momentos. In order for me to be wealthy, I have to work for money, I can then use that money to acquire assets which will then put my money to work. The author symbolically describes your dollars as employees, you can give away your employees, or you can put them to work.

Anyway, I have put myself in a situation that makes acquiring assets more slow. But eventually, I will have it figured out. I really hope I don't have to work for the next 40 year just to die on the street because I couldn't afford a nursing home...