The Wealthy Barber, Updated 3rd Edition: Everyone's Commonsense Guide to Becoming Financially Independent

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Wills are important. If you die without a will things will not work out as planned. When there is not a will, the estate assets are frozen and the court manages it. No thought is given to the deceased or the family of the deceased. Each state as different rules. Donations, scholarships, gifts for children, none of it would be given to the people it was intended for. A living will is a document that states that if a person is ill they do not have to be kept alive but machines. People should buy life insurance so that wen they die, they can allow for their financial affairs to wind down and provide a standard of living for their dependents. it guarantees dependence and is financial protection. Your living estate and insurance must provide enough money to cover all debt, future obligations, and support dependents. Save 10% of your income for long-term growth. Pay yourself first. He talks about mutual funds and investing here too. My favourite line from this chapter is when he talks about why it's harder to budget for individuals than it is for businesses: "...for too many people, a want becomes a need."

Happily, I can report that David Chilton's Canadian classic, The Wealthy Barber, has done what financial lectures, slide shows, and personal experience would never have provided: understanding. The Wealthy Barber is the best book of its type that I have ever read. In fact, for many Americans, it is possibly the only book they need. I wish I had written it.” —Jerry Mason, director of Education, Interanational Association of Financial Planners The Wealthy Barber: The Common Sense Guide to Successful Financial Planning. Toronto: Stoddart. 1989. ISBN 0-7737-5318-4. Investment and income tax. If you have debt, pay off the loan with the highest interest rate first. Credit cards before mortgages. Investing is hard.Overall, The Wealthy Barber is lauded for its straightforward, jargon-free language and ability to break down financial subjects without talking over its audiences’ head, while also not talking down to them. The book’s novelistic form provides just enough character development, plot, and dialogue to keep things moving while not distracting from its primary purpose: Dispensing financial advice. Cathy is already rich but relates to the audience members who don't necessarily understand the market and how it works, thus do not generally invest their earnings. I like to think I'm a halfway intelligent human being, but an understanding of the financial world has evaded me for longer than I would have liked. I cringe at government paperwork, nod and agree with suggestions at bank meetings, and hand over bank statements to my more money-savvy wife. My brother, an accountant, has tried to break down some key facts for me, but it's always come out as too jargon-filled or has made it seem like excessive effort would be required. The eldritch and arcane world of finance just didn't seem like anything I'd ever master. That's right. He later describes home ownership (and paying a mortgage) as "the ultimate forced-savings program", and talks more about mortgages, but I appreciated that he wasn't like: "Buy, buy, buy!" This is the first personal finance book I've ever read, and I'm really, really happy to have done it. By presenting a boring topic in a conversational format--including lots of baseball chiding--Chilton makes personal finance accessible to anyone and everyone.

The basis of the book is Roy's advice to "save 10 per cent of all that you earn and invest it for long-term growth." In that, it draws from the advice first set forth in The Richest Man in Babylon. Subsequent chapters discuss wills and life insurance, RRSPs, buying a home, income tax and saving and spending.This was recommended to me when I said "I know nothing about finances or investing and I want to learn" but I'm honestly not sure why because it's SO dated. Even I know the maximum annual contribution to an IRA has changed since 1998.