Dave, Suze, and the Gang

I have been reading a lot about personal finance which is something I had never done before. Kicking myself for not knowing better and doing better all these years.

Right now I am reading How to Get Out of Debt, Stay Out of Debt, and Live Prosperously by Jerrold Mundis and it's terrific. It's based on the principles of Debtors Anonymous. While it doesn't address BK as a possibility, it does address the psychology behind compulsive indebtedness. It's very insightful.

I just finished Women & Money by Suze Orman. I learned a lot about savings and investing from her book.

I have several finance books out from the library and quite a few coming from Amazon. Mary Hunt is an author I am looking forward to reading. I am also looking into books on teaching finance to children.

I'm curious what everyone's favorite personal finance books and/or websites are.

My favorite personal finance site use to be BankOfAmerica.COM

Now it's Pacer.psc.UScourts.GOV!!! ;)

I've read some of Suze's stuff, and it's good, but seemed very generic to me. However, there are certainly practical things that she discusses, and I've watched her a few times on TV including Larry King Live. I haven't found one that really stands out for me.

Ugh. BoA. Looking at my bank acct and cc accts used to make me sick!

I know a lot of the more popular "gurus" give advice and info that most people consider very basic, but for me it was almost overwhelming. A lot of stuff that most would assume is a given was not even on my radar before now.

I think Suze is a little overboard on women protecting themselves in case they end up alone, but a little preparation JIC is not bad.

My major complaint with Suze is her over zealous attitude toward credit score. She contributes to the unjustified fear that filing BK is the end of your ability to get credit, which is absolutely false.

As for Dave, his anti BK rants are, well, they are what they are. He takes an unjustified moral line to the issue that is causing people not to seek the help that they need. For goodness sake Dave, BK is in the constitution.

As Mundis, don't, know as I am not familiar with his work.

For the most part, financial health is common sense. Only spend what you have, spend on things you need, and SAVE, SAVE, SAVE.

Suze has a deal with FICO. She has a little kit you can buy.

I kept that in mind when reading her cc stuff. I think Dave is somewhat hypocritical or dishonest in his stance regarding bk. I like how he simplifies a lot of financial concepts though. That is what I need. Very broken down simple information.

I knew nothing about 401ks, IRAs, mutual funds, apys, etc. before. My maternal grandparents have substantial savings and I called them a couple weeks ago to ask for saving advice. He just told me to put it in a savings account, LOL.

I feel like I have much more understanding of the different choices in savings and investing and the risks and benefits of each. I know for us the best choice is the more basic stuff -- thrift savings plan for retirement and a high yield savings account for savings that we would want ready access to.

I never before understood breaking yearly expenses into monthly chunks to prepare for it. There is so much I didn't know. And I always thought that unless I could afford to save a lot each month it was wasted effort.

D'oh!

When it comes to savings, you need balance. Without getting into details about how to specifically invest money...

You should balance pre-tax and post-tax savings. Pre tax means you are investing money before taxes are taken out, but when you withdraw the money at retirement, you are taxed on it. Back in the 80's, when there were 15 different tax brackets and a max rate of 70%, it made sense to invest nearly all your money into a 401K's (pre tax money) because the amount you needed to live on at retirement would put you in a lower tax bracket. That is not the case anymore. Realize, that most people now a-days, need retirement income equal to about 80% of their current annual income. With today's tax climate, that will generally mean you will stay in the same tax bracket. Thus, you need to shift your focus to post-tax savings vehicles (Roth IRA, Whole Life Insurance, etc).

You still want to maximize your 401K (at least up to company matching) and Thrift Savings plan if eligible, but you should be devoting at least half your savings money to post tax savings. Post tax savings means you are depositing money into the Roth IRA that has been taxed, but when you withdraw the money at retirement, the income is tax free. This way, you get a good balance between taxaable and tax free income such that you will typically lower your tax bracket at retirement. Post tax savings are Roth IRA and Whole Life Insurance.

Thanks for the info.

Do you think it would be beneficial for us to meet with a financial planner? I believe the military offers personal financial counseling services for free.

It wouldn't hurt. I would definitely go with the free service. I am not sure you are at a level where you really need to pay someone. You can find out most of the basics on your own for free.

I am a huge fan of Mary Hunt - I highly recommend "Debt Proof Living". She also has a monthly newsletter that I subscribe to, mainly for the DPL forums. But the newsletter is great too. Warning, though, the topic of BK on that forum is a touchy one. But there is a wealth of knowledge and support for living day-to-day financially smart and frugal.

I'm also a Dave fan. DH & I are actually taking Financial Peace University right now. I so wish we had done this at the beginning of our marriage. It would have saved us a lot of stress & heartache. I read his "Total Money Makeover" and it was great - very inspiring and do-able. At FPU, we are learning step-by-step in great detail how to manage our money - the RIGHT way. Not the dumba$$ way that got us into BK in the first place. :dry:

I like listening to Clark Howard on the radio, although I disagree sometimes (it's usually an area where he lacks experience, like student loans). I don't remember where I read about the snowball debt-reduction technique (probably Suze). I've done it, and it works, and it's very satisfying. As long as nothing goes wrong.

Credit scores matter, but it's a pretty dodgy system and it can make you crazy. There's a reason that scores and reports were off-limits to the consumer (until they figured out how to sell them!). We're just supposed to have faith that all the data is correct, and the formulas are totally fair, and your score determines your interest rate. Oh, and this whole shebang is supposed to prevent discrimination!

Well. I may believe in Bigfoot and the Loch Ness monster, but I am not THAT gullible.