I was wandering through the nonfiction section of the library a couple of weeks ago when I came across The Automatic Millionaire. Naturally, I was skeptical of such a title. I took it home with me as somewhat of a joke, but I was pleasantly surprised. This was a informative book, free of the typical get-rich-quick schemes.
The core principle of the book is taking steps to automating your finances. Bach throws out the common practice of budgeting (which I thoroughly enjoyed...perhaps because I do such a poor job of it), concluding that it is a waste of time and effort. In it's place he provides several strategies for automatically taking money out of your hands and putting it into a safe place before you get a chance to spend it. The book includes resources for finding and establishing retirement and emergency savings accounts. I found all of it to be rather intriguing.
The last chapter of the books describes the process of giving 10% back to the community in the form of tithing or supporting local charities. I was pleased to see someone outside the church put their stamp of approval on tithing. It provides a satisfying conclusion to the book.
I have already started applying several of the principles in Bach's book. I discovered that the interest rate on my savings account with Mountain America was a dismal .9%. I had previously thought that it was much higher. At the suggestion of Bach I looked into the online banks ING and HSBC. Turns out that ING offers a rate of 3% and HSBC 3.5%. They both have very credible reputations. They both offer resources for automatically deducting funds from your checking account according to your own desired schedule.
I would highly recommend this inspiring book to anyone wondering about how to better handle their money and prepare for the future.
I took off a half a point for how many times David Bach uses the word automatic. The book was read by the author. The drawn out emphasis on the word every time he used it wore on me. Get the book in print to avoid this...
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2 comments:
Dude, its all about the credit union. Better interest and no silly fees.
Not to get into a Bank vs. Credit Union debate, but that isn't always the case. It's always best to shop around and while typically CU do have better rates, they don't offer as many services. For example, if you ever need foreign currency ;) you're not likely to find it at a credit union (at least in Utah)
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