Make Money, Not Excuses

Book excerpt: Get Rich, Don’t Bitch “I don’t have time to deal with my money.” “Managing money and investing is too intimidating.” “I’m not a numbers person.” “My husband takes care of our finances.” “I’m just not good with money.” Jean Chatzky has heard all the excuses for why women don’t deal with their finances. She used to make them herself. For the first time, Jean tells you how she made every financial mistake in the book—not paying her bills, going into credit card debt, letting her 401(k) lapse—before finally making the decision to take control of her money and her future. Whether you’ve made these mistakes or you want to avoid them, if you’re ready to take charge of your financial life then this is the book for you. In it, Jean shares these valuables lessons: • Where to start • How to decode financial jargon (it’s easier than you think) • How to get over your “I’m not smart enough to deal with money” feelings • Why being a “good-enough investor” will make you more money in the long-term (while trying to be a “great investor” will drive you crazy) • Why you might think you are bad at math, and why that doesn’t have to be true • How (and where) to save your money • Why women make better investors—and higher returns—than men Jean is famous for her ability to explain money and investing. In a clear and accessible way, she breaks down all the scariest parts of dealing with money—from investing in stocks to saving for your retirement—to make them doable, easy, and yes, even enjoyable. She also includes throughout a “Map to a Million,” great tips on easy and quick financial changes you can make immediately . . . that really add up! Are You Ready to Be Rich? If you want to get rich, if you want to be wealthier than you are today, you really need to do only four things. That’s right, just four things. • You need to make a decent living • You need to spend less than you make • You need to invest the money you don’t spend so that it can work as hard for you as you’re working for yourself • And you need to protect yourself and this financial world you’ve built so that a disaster—big or small—doesn’t take it all away from you Everything else is just window-dressing. The fees—and how to avoid them. The advisors—and how to hire them. The deals. The scams. The ins. The outs. They are all interesting. Some of them are even quite important. But until you have conquered the heart of the matter, they are all minutia. The four cornerstones, by contrast, are the meat and potatoes of your financial life. If you do those things today, you’ll start getting rich tomorrow. And once you feel set financially, you’ll be able to start focusing on the truly important things in life. —from the Introduction