Discover the Wealth Within You: A Financial Plan For Creating a Rich and Fulfilling Life

Amazon.com
Ric Edelman believes you can't create a truly effective personal finance plan until you really know what you want out of life. In Discover the Wealth Within You he shows how to develop a realistic series of individualized goals for your future, and then how to construct an investment program to help you realize them. Edelman, author of New York Times bestsellers Ordinary People, Extraordinary Wealth and The Truth About Money, draws on these books to explain why we're ultimately more successful with our financial agenda when we focus on it as a means to an array of unambiguous objectives (such as "see an event in person during the next Winter Olympics" or "have plastic surgery in three years") rather than vague long-range aspirations (like saving "for retirement" or to "buy a house"). In the first section he unveils a step-by-step process for determining the precise objectives that motivate us; in the second he points us toward a mutual-fund-based savings plan that should be easier to capitalize consistently because we know where it's taking us and when we'll get there. Incorporating a profusion of appropriate cartoon strips, inspirational testimonials, persuasive statistics, and an unusual assembly of footnotes that are as amusing as they are informative, Edelman offers a clear and innovative course of action that could turn even procrastinating wannabes into enthusiastic money managers. --Howard Rothman


From Publishers Weekly
Personal finance specialist Edelman acknowledges up front that this is really two books in one. The first half aims squarely at readers of motivational self-help books, as the author exhorts readers to set exciting goals for themselves climbing mountains, collecting handbags that will inspire their quest for wealth. In the second half, he advises readers on investing in mutual funds, targeting his counsel toward those with at least some knowledge about the field. He attacks some common investing wisdom, particularly the value of Morningstar ratings and the advantages of index funds. Edelman painstakingly points out that he's criticizing the mutual fund industry's misuse of Morningstar ratings in advertisements, not the Chicago-based ratings agency itself. Fair enough, though his argument glosses over the point that ratings are helpful when used as one of many criteria to evaluate a fund. More troublingly, his dismissal of index funds stems from his premise that fees, including mutual fund loads, are the least important consideration in an investing decision. There is much good evidence to the contrary. Performance is unpredictable; fees aren't. Unlike his earlier blockbuster, Ordinary People, Extraordinary Wealth, Edelman's latest may strike a false chord with readers. On deadline, Edelman inserted some references to the terrorist attacks, apparently to compensate for the self-indulgent tone of the "goal statements" that clash with the newly sober national mood. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile
Well-known financial author Edelman has created one of the most congenial, relaxed, and inviting lessons on managing money you'll ever hear. He's humorous in an intimate, bantering sort of way, often prodding the fickle attention span of listeners by asking questions and reacting in an astounding way to his own statements. Just the sound of his voice may jolt you into action if you need a wake-up call. Add this quality to some well-organized investment advice, especially on mutual funds and the importance of balance, and you have an audio that people interested in their financial future ought to hear. The advice is supported by concise research summaries that lay a foundation for the author's recommendations. T.W. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine


From Booklist
The author of the best-selling Ordinary People, Extraordinary Wealth (2000) supplies a unique investment guide that focuses less on how to achieve wealth and more on the reasons for doing it. Following the lead of success-guru Anthony Robbins, Edelman uses a goal-oriented approach to help readers achieve what they really want in life. For instance, if your goal is to travel, Edelman lists popular destinations and has you write down two or three of your favorite vacation dream spots. He dedicates more than a quarter of the book to worksheets for stimulating life goals before getting into his version of financial planning, in which he compares investing to baking: boring, slow growth investments are like pound cake; and riskier, potentially higher rewarding investments are like cupcakes. His section on picking mutual funds dispels a lot of confusion and offers insight into how the Morningstar ratings system works. Wary investors can use this guide to get back into the kitchen and bake up some fresh cakes and pie charts. David Siegfried
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Book Description
Achieve a Healthy, Balanced, and Richly Rewarding Life! Have your goals and dreams gotten lost in your daily struggle to earn and provide for your family?

If so, join Ric Edelman on a journey to self-discovery and personal fulfillment. In Discover the Wealth Within You, he shows you how to choose fun, enriching ... and rewarding goals and gives you a simple, straightforward plan for achieving them.

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
Most people who save and invest do so for similar reasons: to buy a house, to secure their children's education, to be able to retire comfortably. However, as Ric Edelman reminds us, these worthy goals are just part of a much larger picture: What about traveling the world? Or taking oil painting classes? Or making a donation to a worthy cause? While it's crucial to plan for the most important events in your life, such planning needn't be an imprisoning or all-consuming process: In fact, it should still allow you to realize your more individual dreams as well.

In Discover the Wealth Within You, Edelman's fifth book, he offers a sometimes irreverent but always sensible take on financial planning that might just excite you -- especially those of you who would rather do anything else than make a financial decision. First, Edelman argues, you must have specific goals, and therefore he carefully guides the reader through the goal-setting process. He admonishes his readers not to list such items as retirement or college education, but to include the things that will make their present lives more fulfilling. If you're stumped as to possibilities, Edelman offers extensive lists in a handy journal section.

Once you've established your goals, it's time to make them happen. Edelman uses the analogy of baking a cake to liven things up, and it's a charming tactic. He lists various types of "cakes" (or financial plans) but advocates using mutual funds to create a diversified portfolio. There's plenty of charts and numbers to make his case, as well as an indispensable guide to understanding the Morningstar ratings. There are also warnings about Wall Street analysts, mutual fund "window dressing," and the noise of the less-than-informative news media.

Whether you're just beginning to invest or already have a plan in place, Discover the Wealth Within You should be a wonderful source for advice. The funny footnotes and asides (as well as pertinent cartoons) are icing on the cake, so to speak. Read, learn, and reap the benefits down the road. (Holly McGuire)

Holly McGuire is a book editor and consultant based in Chicago, Illinois.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Chapter OneDoes the Cabbie Know
Where You Want to Go?Have you ever gotten into a cab but refused to tell the driver where you want to go? Of course not. The whole point of hailing a cab is to have the driver help you get to your destination. You tell him your goal, and the cabbie both develops the plan for getting you there and implements it for you.Financial planning operates the same way. Thus, if you don't have goals, the planning effort is as pointless as asking a cabbie to drive you around town, with no destination in mind.I bet you can tell me what surveys reveal are the top three reasons people save money. They are:To buy a homeTo pay for collegeTo afford a comfortable retirementIf you were to expand this list, you could add:wedding costscapital expenses, such as a carcelebrations, such as a couple's 50th anniversaryvacationsmajor medical expenseselder care costsand, ultimately, leaving your money to your kids and/or other heirs.Each of the aboveis a common reason why people save and invest. Each requires or constitutes a set of goals. And when combined, each fits into an overall financial plan.But one thing bothers me about this entire list. And I imagine it bothers you, too. You know what the problem is?Simple: The entire list is boring.I mean, really boring. Yeah, I'll grow up. Buy a car. Get married. Have kids. Pay for college. Maybe foot the bill for a wedding or two. Retire. Wither away in some old-age home. Die.And to make this even more fun, I'm supposed to pay some financial planner to tell me I can't afford it.There's more to life than this, isn't there? Tell me there is! Please! Yes, there is much more to life than obligation and responsibility. There is also personal fulfillment and happiness. In fact, it's partly why our nation was founded.In the Declaration of Independence, the founders of our nation recognized our right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."The pursuit of happiness.The document doesn't say anything about financial planning.This is what makes the United States of America the greatest nation on earth. If anyone ever disputed that notion, no one has dared do so since September 11, 2001. On that day, our lives changed forever. At some point — was it days? weeks? I can't remember — I began wondering if this book's message would still be valid. So, I reread my manuscript, and discovered that you still need the message this book offers you, and that perhaps you need to hear this message even more so than before that horrible day.That's because this book is all about setting and achieving goals. More than ever, you need to focus on your future. But as you read, you'll see that my emphasis on goal-setting is of a personal, and in many cases, materialistic nature. And in the aftermath of September 11, I suspect that many of us will have replaced many such goals with different, more fundamental ones. Where in the past goals might have pertained to beach houses, fancy cars and exotic vacations, people increasingly are considering goals that involve their communities, charities and families. All of this is healthy, and as you'll see as you read on, it is entirely consistent with my message.Life is about the future. And our future is bright, thanks to the incredible foresight of our nation's founders. So, let's return to our nation's roots — and begin our journey, a journey in the pursuit of happiness.

Discover the Wealth Within You. Copyright © by Ric Edelman. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.

FROM THE CRITICS

AudioFile