Day #12: The Automatic Millionaire Workbook; Introduction pt 1

I read The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach a year ago (yay library!), and it was an amazing piece about saving and how to go about it.  It inspired me to purchase The Automatic Millionaire Workbook.

I thought that reviewing and working through each chapter would be a good exercise for me and a helpful insight for you.

Bach discusses the "American Dream" and how the baby boomer generation is not faring well with their savings and retirement accounts.  He continues with posing the question, "What's your idea of the American Dream?"

So then, what is my American Dream?

I want to live debt free (except a mortgage, or perhaps a car loan if the conditions are right).  After I retire, I hope to have income passively and work only when I want to.  I want to cook whatever kinds of food strike my fancy.  I'd like to travel to different parts of the world (United States, Western Europe, Iceland, New Zealand, Israel, Japan) and not worry about money. I'd like the equipment and space to compose and record, assuming I still have my wits about me.  Of course, I'd like to taste some of these wants before I retire so money management is very important now and in the future since my wants are rather expensive!

After this exercise is completed, Bach asks to fill out a table titled, "American Dream Snapshot"

What are your top three American Dreams?


What are your top three American Dreams?
What do you want?
 What will it take?
 Why is it important?
The equipment and space to record
 $100,000
 Music is my life, and I want to be able to create it anytime I want
Travel the world
 $1 million
 I'm not sure how much it will cost, but I feel that $1 mil should cover it!
Live comfortably without the need to work
 $2 million
 I want to be able to live on a small(ish) percentage of my retirement income (around 5%) so I won't have to worry about money.

Lastly, Bach wanted to have readers take "The Automatic Millionaire Truth Tester".

Habit
 True or False?
 What can I do to change it?
I buy things I can't afford
 False
I often spent "some" of my paycheck before I even get it
 False
I shop for fun, not because I need to
 False
I say "yes" to new credit card offers
 False
I only pay the minimum on my credit cards
 False
I'm often late on my credit card payments
 False
I don't balance my checkbook or check bank statements
 False
I promise to save money every month, but don't
 False
I don't save anything towards a down payment on a home
 True
 I am not thinking about purchasing a home soon anytime soon, but I know my 10% savings account will be part of that payment when it happens
I put money aside for future emergencies and I end up spending it
 False


These exercises are a great beginning to looking at what your lifestyle is now and how you want it to be in the future.  Next post, I'll discuss the last half of the introduction!

«Laura»

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Halloween Party and my costume

Image
This weekend, I attended an awesome Halloween party, and even dressed up as Hermoine Granger. I admit, it was a bit fun to dress up as Hermoine Granger. I took a lot of thought for my costume. I started searching for costumes on August 26th, and found a costume site on September 13th:  https://www.moviescostume.com/harry-potter-gryffindor-uniform-hermione-granger-cosplay-costume-adults-ver.html However, I didn't want to just drop over $100 on a costume I'll likely only wear once. What else can I do? Can I just build the costume from regular clothes? After all, Hermoine mostly wore a school uniform for the first few movies. Certainly I could do that. I set off to build my uniform. I got the skirt from Lands End. The socks , blazer , patch ,  tie  and wand from Amazon. The shirt came from J Jill, but I bought that about ten years ago or so, and the shoes I purchased last year from Belk. I referenced this guide to learn how to tie a Full Windsor Knot, a tie style wit
Read more

Board games and near the end of the gym challenge

Today was another success! Went to the gym after my two cups of coffee, warmed up the rest of the Picadillo for lunch, and finished a few chores. This evening, I was invited to a board game night with a few friends. We played Spinjas and Stuffed Fables. The gym was my last arm/chest routine day until the 31st, where I'll do the full body routine and see where I gained. I'm certain I didn't lose weight - way too many cookies and candies around to snack on, but hopefully I'm stronger. I certainly feel stronger and better, and that is enough to keep going. I'm looking forward to getting a better diet in January by not having sugar for the month, and continuing to go the the gym - just not daily. Stuffed Fables is a really cute game! We played Story 1 where a girl's blanket is stolen from a little girl's bed, and the Stuffed animals characters, Theadora, Stitch, Flops and Lumpy have to travel through the underworld to rescue the blanket and get back to bed b
Read more

Jose and Sons review

 I went with one of my friends to Jose and Sons Mexican restaurant on Glenwood Avenue and Pleasant Valley Road. I picked this place as I'd hear a lot of good things about it, and we were there early before the place got busy.  We were not impressed. The server was slow to get us our drinks, and did not get us chips and salsa, bur I could see his other tables got chips and salsa - turns out it was from a runner. We got ours eventually, (not from the server) but the first five minutes of our meal, we just stared at a bowl of guac and our two waters. No matter, maybe he was new. Maybe the kitchen was frying a new batch of chips. Maybe the bartender was new. While waiting, we noticed that the place looked like it needed new paint. In our booth, the pink paint was chipping off the wall. I was confused, because I thought they just moved here from downtown. They didn't even give the place a new coat of paint before moving in? The chips were warm, not hot, and the salsa was very sweet.
Read more