Your Money Ratios: 8 Simple Tools for Financial Security

By Charles Farrell

Book Overview

A leading financial adviser offers a groundbreaking and simple approach to tackling personal finance by breaking down formulas used by the most successful businesses. A troubled economy calls for... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1583333630
• ISBN13: 9781583333631
• Release Date: December 2009
• Publisher: Avery
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.89 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 1.0" x 5.9"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 12 and higher

Customer Reviews

Clear and Simple

Gives 8 simple ratios to guide your entire financial life, with sensible explanation of what they are, why they matter, what they should be as you get older, and common sense suggestions for doing them. It is all the common advice gathered into one integrated, comprehensive table of four investing ratios and four insurance ratios. The explanations and advice help keep turn those standard dictates into meaningful, motivating messages and help to explain how things can go wrong. (Pointing out that real estate cannot go up faster than salaries to pay mortgage should have always been obvious.) With the goal of being financially independant and yet protecting against catastrophe it leads you from how much school loans is enough or too much, thru working years of savings rate and mortgage paydown with disability and life insurance, to your golden years and the kinds of health insurance and long-term care insurance. Contents: Introductionn - A Simple, New Perspective 1. The Capital to Income Ratio 2. The Savings Ratio 3. Social Security 4. Where to Save Your Money 5. The Debt Ratios 6. The Investment Ratio 7. Stocks and Bonds 8. Ignoring Wad Street 9. The Disability Insurance Ratio 10. The Life Insurance Ratio 11. The Long-Term Care Insurance Ratio 12. Health Insurance 13. Getting Professional Health 14. Putting It All Together Appendix - Special Situations

A Valuable Source of Information & Guidance

What a valuable source of information and guidance for financial health. "Your Money Ratios" gives crystal clear advice for how to prepare for retirement. I also appreciate the honest and sincere approach to educate people in a straight forward way about their personal finances. This book is especially important for young people just entering the work force to read and carefully, faithfully follow. I will be purchasing copies for my young adult sons and encouraging them to follow the ratios to ensure peace of mind with regard to their financial future.

Perfect book to make sure I am on track for retirement

Most people know that they are supposed to save for retirement, but this book actually lets you check if you are on track. It gives simple formulas that let you figure out if you will be able to retire when you want to and what percentage of your income you will be able live on in retirement. It taught me two important things that I need to do now to make sure I will be able to retire. I didn't realize how important disability insurance is, considering 1 in 8 people will need it. I also wish I had read his section on investment allocation before the recession started.

Great, common-sense ideas and goals for troubled times with some humor thrown in!

I found this book to be really helpful in terms of setting some reasonable goals for myself while coming out of my own "era of overspending". Well-written and often humorous, the author manages to convey the importance of saving without being a bore or being unrealistic about what's possible today. While I certainly don't find myself in ideal financial shape right now, the ratios have provided me with great goals to work toward, and helped me be conscious of where my money goes and what I'd like (and will need) it to be able to do for me later.

Finally, financial planning that makes sense!

For years I have struggled to figure out what my family should be doing with our finances. I knew I wanted to be able to retire with a decent lifestyle, but had no idea how to do it. The primary reason I struggled is because of my deep distain for anything having to do with numbers. It all just seemed too difficult for me. When I read this book, it all became clear to me. Everything is laid out in clear and simple terms in a way that even a financial dim-wit like me can understand. Unfortunately for me, I read this book about 20 years too late! The good news is that I still have some time to get back on track, and I can't feel too guilty, because the book just came out. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a clear and simple formula for planning for retirement. I would also recommend that you give this book as a graduation gift to anyone you care about who is graduating from college! Having this book then would have made a big difference in my financial future.