A Simple Way to Be Smart About Your Money - The One-Page Financial Plan

In his new book, The One-Page Financial Plan, Carl Richards does what he does best, writes and visually conveys financial guidance in a down-to-earth, conversational and thought-provoking manner.

Carl's writing is direct and easy to read. The book includes many of his excellent financial illustrations, which he is uniquely known for. I highly recommend this book for those who want to learn more than the next hot stock. If you want to be more comfortable with your financial life and attaining financial success, this is a book worth reading.

When I first started the book, I questioned the title. How can a financial plan be done on just one page? In the first few chapters, it becomes obvious what Carl means by his title. Of course a comprehensive financial plan that covers everything from retirement savings and investments can't possibly be covered in one page. And that is exactly Carl's point. To most people, dealing with lots of topics is totally overwhelming.

Carl provides a different approach. Understand yourself. Understand your goals and why money is important to you and your family. Then get out Carl's favorite tool, a Sharpie pen, and write down a few important items on a specific topic on an index card. That is today's "One-Page Financial Plan." Deal with those things, then move on to other topics.

This book will not tell you specifically how to invest your money, but it will help you to have important conversations with your loved ones and your financial advisor, about how to deal with these very important topics. Carl points out that a good financial advisor will help you to stick to your financial goals and plans...regardless of the uncertainties of life, and the ups and downs of the stock market.

Carl writes the weekly "Sketch Guy" column for The New York Times and has previously authored The Behavior Gap. Carl is the Director of Investor Education for The Bam Alliance, which my investment advisory firm is one of 150 national member firms.

Note: I received a complimentary pre-publication copy of this book, but this review it totally my opinion.

This book is well written and a fairly easy read. The author seems generally interested in helping people straighten out their financial lives. He delivers a lot of common sense advice. As compared to other financial books, he focuses on the big picture -- i.e. seeing the forest and not focusing too much on the trees. I think it's worth it for anyone interested in their personal finances to read this book to be reminded of the important factors to keep in mind when planning one's finances. However, after reading the book I felt I had finished an appetizer as opposed to a main meal. And it did feel like one of the main messages of the book was to find a good financial advisor who shares the philosophy espoused by the author. Perhaps adding more detailed examples would have helped to flesh out this book. In conclusion, if you've already read some personal finance books, it might be worth reading this book to be reminded of some big picture ideas. However, if you are looking to really do things on your own, you will need to do more reading or else find a suitable financial advisor.

I have admired Carl Richard's ability to illustrate financial principles simply and succinctly with his line drawings for a long time, so I was excited to hear of his new book, and even more excited when I was offered an opportunity to review a copy. I wondered if the book would be truly helpful for someone like me: not incredibly savvy financially, with a history of mistakes and regrets and not a lot of years left to make up for them. I have read (or attempted to read) other financial self-help books, but often ended up feeling like my situation was essentially hopeless.

Carl Richard's approach feels real, down-to-earth and doable. I spent a long time with his initial question, "Why is money important to you", and am still pondering that. Each chapter is a progressive step through clarification of values and goal setting, spending and saving, budgeting, investing and using a financial advisor. The line drawings sprinkled throughout the book illustrate and explain the concepts, and make them more memorable.

I believe this book would be of benefit to anyone who wants to be "be smart about their money." While many of the concepts in this book are explored by other authors of financial advice, this book stands out as a very clear and approachable take on the topic. If you read this you are not likely to be bored, intimidated or tempted to throw the book across the room in despair. For myself, though I received a hardcopy for review, I have since purchased a copy for my Kindle, so I can pass on the first copy as a gift.

Silly book for silly people. If you know what you really want out of life at an early age, fine.If you are like most people and don't know what life is really about until you are over 50, I'll save you the price of the book. 1. Make all the money you can. 2. Save all the money you can. 3. A big company index fund (S&P 500) is your best, most diversified investment if you have a 5-10 year horizon.

Author lost his home due to non-payment caused by over extension and now he writes a book because he thinks he is wise? That should have been disclosed and I would have saved my money by not buying this "tell all". Maybe his plan should have been 2 pages and he wouldn't have failed on a basic American activity.

I give this book five stars primarily because compared to standard financial planning literature, The One-Page Financial Plan is easier to digest, more adaptable to your unique circumstances, more humble, and more inspiring.

Whereas standard financial planning literature often reads as a checklist of things you should be doing in each stage of life, the One-Page Financial Plan is a big story tied together with smaller stories, making it a much more engaging read. The big story is “real” financial planning in the author’s view whereas the smaller stories are specific anecdotes and real-life stories to illustrate the details.

Typically, financial planning books and articles lay out a standard template of what you “should” be doing financially in each stage of life. This one-size-fits-all style may be fine if you are on that trajectory and don’t have any unique goals or dreams and may work as a decent point of reference. In contrast, The One-Page Financial Plan starts out by challenging you to list and prioritize your specific goals, by asking “why is money important to you?” Which then leads into figuring out where you want to go. Once you have clarity on where you want to go, the author helps walk you through figuring out where you are today so that you can make a plan to get there. It’s these specific thought exercises that allow you to develop your own custom road map rather than trying to fit yourself to the standard template of where you should be or what you should be doing.

I say this book is more humble than many other financial planning books and articles because the author intentionally eschews false precision when the future is highly uncertain. He preaches that it is much better to make some decent guesses in your financial plan and make adjustments as things change rather than pretending we know more than we really do or that the future is less certain than it really is. I whole-heartedly agree with the book’s humility in terms of predicting an uncertain future and its suggestion to focus on things we can control and not fret about those we can’t.

Lastly, this book was far more inspiring than others on the subject. Traditionally, I have almost exclusively focused on the investing side of our personal finances, but after reading this book, I want to figure out why money is important to me and to figure out my specific personal goals surrounding money (not the standard template goals & timelines).

Despite my positive comments above, the book is certainly not perfect. For instance, the author’s illustration of diversification falls flat on its face, in my opinion. He combines two portfolios (Portfolio 1 and Portfolio 2) and ends up with Portfolio 3 that has higher return and lower risk than Portfolio 2. However, the author does not address the fact that Portfolio 2 has lower return and higher risk than Portfolio 1. He would have been better served to use different data to illustrate the benefits of diversification. However, this one item of confusion does not even come close to negating all of the other valuable nuggets and common sense wisdom in the book.

A few last items, I believe this book has a very broad audience and is likely to be valuable to many diverse people. It reads incredibly fast. I’m a slow reader and made it through in a few hours in three separate sittings. And it appears to be fairly inexpensive despite containing basic advice and inspiration that far exceeds the cost of the book.

Happy reading!

I love Carl Richards' sketches -- Buy High, Sell Low, Repeat Until Broke is possibly the greatest sketch about investing of all time -- and liked his first book, The Behavior Gap. But here, Carl tries to do too much and ends up not doing enough. And some of it just doesn't make sense.

For example, his section on diversification has about the worst example I can imagine. First, he tells us about the "magic of diversification," which is that "you can take two individual investments, which when viewed in isolation are individually risky, and blend them in a portfolio. Doing so creates an investment that’s actually less risky than the individual components and often comes with a greater return." So far, so good. Then, as an example, he gives the returns and standard deviations of the S&P 500 and the MSCI EAFE index. He offers to show us the magic by blending them: 60% S&P, 40% EAFE. And the result? A portfolio with a *lower* return and *more* risk than the S&P 500! That's some magic! I think most people looking at that would say, Umm, I think I'll stick with the S&P 500 -- better return, lower risk. (For the record, I totally believe in diversification. For a much better explanation and illustration of the benefits of diversification, see Larry Swedroe's "Think, Act, and Invest Like Warren Buffett.")

And just a couple of pages later he tells us that "value investments" are "financially weak companies." Really? That's news to me. Here I thought that value stocks are those with lower price-to-book or price-to-earnings (or a similar metric) compared to stocks in general. Google "define value stock" and the first definition is "shares of a company with solid fundamentals that are priced below those of its peers, based on analysis of price/earnings ratio, yield, and other factors." Does that sound like a financially weak company to you?

At that point Carl lost, in my view, a lot of credibility. I still think he's great at the behavioral part, showing us how we get in our own way. But the technical stuff, even some really basic stuff? Not so much.

The one page financial plan. That says it all. This is an introductory book on personal finance. While the
author provides some general suggestions meant to help the reader develop a holistic outlook on finances
by first creating a one page overview of life's most important goals and then having clear knowledge of
what is being done with the money that is coming in (track it, save it, invest it..) in order to achieve those
goals, there are no deeply profound gems here. Nothing about financial software tools, stock market instruments,
retirement plans, etc.

While more financially savvy readers may look down on this book, it will be a valuable read for the right audience.
Overall a good book for the financial novice, especially a young person, to get ones feet wet with some practical
thinking on setting ones financial house in order.

Ideally, the store should give readers the ability to grade a book as novice, intermediate, expert. Once placed in the
right category, the book would then shine accordingly!

Financial planner Carl Richards knows how people think about money. His sketches and texts on behaviorgap.com explain our natural tendency to get money wrong.

His opening question to clients, “Why is money important to you?” is spot on. From there he goes on to present lots of good sense in an easy, conversational style. For example:

“We often tell ourselves stories in retrospect. We decide what we want, often for emotional reasons, and then we go looking for evidence to support the decision. As we gather the evidence, we carefully omit anything that doesn’t fit into the story that ends with a purchase” (p. 94).

To stop that from happening: before you buy that shiny new thing, give it 72 hours to stop being “new” (120).

Sometimes there’s just no way to proceed but to “put aside our emotions and focus on the facts” (79).

Know the difference between what you need and what you want (126).

Realize that investment risk is not the same as volatility (173), and know how to treat your portfolio with what Warren Buffett calls “benign neglect, bordering on sloth” (207).

You can’t go far wrong if you keep in mind that money is not about anything it buys … except “the time to do what matters most” (208).

Of the dozens of books about financial planning and investing that I’ve read, this is one of the shortest—it can be read in about four hours. It’s also one of the best—not because it gives you “all the details,” but because it shows how to think about the whole business so that when you get to the details, they’ll reflect who you are.

When you finish this, complement with Jonathan Clements Money Guide 2015—especially the final chapter, “Rules of the Road.”

Summary

Like so many personal finance books out there, The One-Page Financial Plan spends significantly more time focusing on the “psychology of money”, rather than the “how-to” steps. While understanding your life values is important, the book spends too much time focusing on this topic. Anyone who has read more than a couple of books about money will likely find this section slow and of little practical use. Roughly the first half of the book deals with psychology (the why’s of money and setting up goals). The second half goes into more practical information, such as spending and saving money. It’s not until the last few chapters of the book that the topic of investing is finally addressed. This section should probably have made up the bulk of the book. Instead, the “psychology of money” was emphasized all throughout. At the end of the book, readers are encouraged to hire a “real” financial advisor to help them avoid making the “big mistake” (i.e. buying high or selling low). The author provides some good tips on what to look out for in a financial advisor (conflict of interest, fees, commissions, etc.).

Pros

The book helps readers determine their assets and liabilities (which most people fail to ever compile on paper, much less keep track of over time). It also provides good tips on budgeting, spending and paying off debt. The “72-hour test” (which consists of waiting 72 hours before making a purchase online) can be especially useful for individuals who struggle with impulse purchases. The paying off of debt is also heavily emphasized throughout the book.

When making a financial plan, some people become overwhelmed when trying to figure out exact numbers for their financial projections and needs. The author encourages readers to make “guesses” when initially putting their financial plan together. This can be a useful approach, especially for people who keep putting off creating a financial plan. Eventually, of course, we need to come up with more accurate numbers but this method can help people come up with a “quick and dirty” financial plan. The author’s point is that a “simple” one-page plan is better than no plan at all.

Cons

The section on how much to save tells readers to save what they “reasonably can”, rather than suggesting a specific percentage or amount. While it is certainly better to save something rather than nothing, aiming for a “reasonable” amount could lead some readers to not save enough. Many people have no idea how large of a nest egg they’ll need to retire, much less how much they need to save monthly or bi-weekly in order to reach that amount. While it’s true that some people simply don’t make enough to be able to save any significant amount of money, many people are capable of saving a larger percentage of their pay if and when they make it a priority. Unless you win the lottery, the number one factor that will determine how soon you will be financially independent is the percentage of your salary that you save.

Another negative is the fact that the book provides too many examples from the author’s client base -complete with dialog- which makes the book slow to read. Many of the examples of client interaction could have been omitted. The book also focuses too much on the “psychology of money”, rather than practical information. Finally, the last quarter of the book should have been expanded to make up most of the book.

How practical is the information in the book: B-

The section on investing provides a couple of sample portfolios which could be implemented by anyone. That is if the reader ever manages to get to the final section of the book. Unfortunately, the first half of the book is rather slow, repetitive, and provides little practical information. Readers who are familiar with basic budgeting could easily skip the first five chapters in the book and jump straight into the investing part.

How sound is the advice in the book: B+

Most of the financial advice in the book is solid. Readers should be aware that a lot of the advice is very conservative and aimed towards beginners. For example, the “default portfolio” suggested in chapter 8 consists in investing 60% of one’s portfolio in stocks and 40% in bonds might not be appropriate for younger investors, unless they are extremely risk-averse. Also, the section on saving however much you “reasonably can” is of questionable value for some readers, as noted above.

Does the book live up to its claims: B-

By the end of the book, readers should have a one-page financial plan. However, the plan is partially made up of guesses which can be useful but prudent investors will likely want to refine their numbers. Readers are still advised to hire a fee-only financial advisor who will likely want to create a financial plan for them. This suggestion makes you wonder why you should come up with a financial plan if you're going to hire an advisor anyhow.

Overall Rating: B-

Readers who are new to investing will learn the basics of budgeting, saving, and investing. People with large amounts of debt (especially high-interest debt, such as credit cards) will benefit from the discussions on paying off debt. This book could also facilitate money-related discussions for couples who are not clear on each other’s financial goals. As for people familiar with the basics of investing, they can probably skip this book.

Carl has written a clear, no nonsense path towards understanding what the reader should expect from his/her money, an imminently enlightened direction to pursue as far as developing a direction to achieve financial goals ... while keeping true to the maxim that "a perfect financial plan is the enemy of a "good and sound financial plan"

Carl bares his financial soul throughout the book, giving examples of where he & his family have made financial mistakes. Far from denting his reputation as a financial planner, this helps all of us with limited understanding of finances and investments to give us appreciation that we don't have to be perfect, we should just commit to our goals and follow the path Carl has outlined.

I especially enjoyed his discussion on insurance, and the cost of "permanent" insurance vs "term" insurance.

Pick up a copy, you and your wallet, IRA or 401k will shout for joy!

A definite "must read" for everyone who wants to save, invest and grow their finances.

Even better, the book features several of Carl's famous sketches depicting his money wisdom in a fun and enjoyable manner, these sketches by themselves are worth more than than the book's purchase price ...

Enjoy this quick and clear read (no obtuse financial "jargon" included).

As a recently retired Certified Financial Planner™ Practitioner, I previously gave Carl’s earlier book, The Behavior Gap, to many of my clients. I loved sharing his drawings that helped to simplify the financial planning process, including investing.

In my current encore career, I assist widows to move forward on their own, after the death of their spouse. I will certainly recommend Carl’s newest publication, The One-Page Financial Plan, to these women who are sorting through many financial issues at the same time they are dealing with crushing grief.

Carl follows the advice of Henry David Thoreau—“Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumb nail.” Using one-page overviews to clarify and emphasize what’s really important in life is simply brilliant! I love his “real financial” advice for everyone. That’s the “real deal”!

I’ve been reading Carl’s blog Behavior Gap for awhile and I love his cartoons and how he simplifies finances and brings awareness to our behaviors around money and investing. So, I was excited to read this book and excited to have a one-page plan. What an awesome read. Instead of starting off with everything you "should" be doing, it starts with your goals. It's well-organized and walks you through exactly what you need to do to both get started and stay the course. And it also tackles those touchy areas like, Should you buy a house? Should you pay down your mortgage? (Spoiler alert, forget about the common advice and talking heads).

The idea of having a one-page financial plan almost seems too good to be true. But, if you are really looking to simplify and take charge of your finances, this is a quick read with actual things you can take-away and implement over a weekend. Plus, the cartoons rock.

A longtime fan of Carl's blog "The Behavior Gap," I was happy to learn of this recently published book by him. "Financial success is more about behavior than it is about skill," he writes and supports this statement with what he's learned in his many years in the financial services industry, including his own blunders.

Richards begins asking his readers (as he would his clients) to honestly assess their individual values and use of money, equating those two behaviors to a level of happiness that can be achieved. Do you know why money is important to you? The obvious answers will pop into your head – as they did in mine – freedom, family, charitable giving, travel, etc. But the formula Richards provides for us to solve the money question is this: TIME SPENT + MONEY SPENT = WHAT YOU REALLY VALUE.

Encouraging you to take a breath or two (yoga pose optional), he then coaches us to define and set short, mid-range and "one big, hairy and audacious goal," when creating your own financial plan. As a bonus there are also plenty of his famous Venn diagrams and Sharpie/napkin illustrations peppered throughout the text.

Whether you're a first timer at this or have been doing a fairly good job of managing your money, Richards helps you to define a game plan from bravely writing down assets and liabilities, spending and saving, budgeting (I was in the "I'm not sure I want to know," category), to simple investment strategies and the importance of diversification (U.S. stocks, international stocks, bonds, and cash). He also advocates that even financial pros like himself need an advisor, just to take the "I" out of the equation.

While buying and reading "The One-Page Financial Plan," may not be the best investment you'll ever make, it could very well be runner up.

... it can now be the "heart" of financial planning.

Those who are already familiar with Carl Richard's sketches will get to enjoy the author's narrative around many of them using stories from his own personal and professional life. He does this in a way that also compels the reader to put themselves and their own story- "into the sketch." In an industry that often exacerbates peoples' fears, uncertainties, and doubts through endless new "information"- I so appreciate how Carl Richards asks the reader to draw upon the information they already have- about themselves, their hopes, their dreams, and their existing resources- and gives them permission to block out all the noise and clutter with which they are bombarded (both externally and internally) and create a very focused, very simple plan for their financial future. He does make it clear- it can- and should be - a thorough and multifaceted road to "simple"- but i appreciate the path he takes to get there- starting with the "why", unlocking fears and dreams, eliminating the wrong distractions- and not moving on to any of the "traditional" financial planning discussions until they are framed and understood in the context of the former.

As refreshing as this approach to financial planning is- - it's greatest value should be- that by encouraging people to thoughtfully take the time and create a simple "one page plan"- the reader has an infinitely better chance to actually act upon and follow through on 'said plan." That in of itself will seperate this book and its impact from the volumes (in both the spatial and auditory sense) of industry produced material.

Carl Richards is my favorite financial author and The One-Page Financial Plan is a continuation on his approach to help simplify and clarify personal finances.

Here is why I love this book.

1) He reminds us that thoughts on personal finances should start with the "person" and work our way toward "finances."

2) He continues to take ideas, some simple and some complex, and provides a new avenue for you to consider those ideas through his illustrations.

3) I think this is the type of book that can get people off the sidelines and begin taking steps to engage in a real financial plan that helps them understand what is important to them and to create strategies that align their finances with their life and dreams.

4) It took two days to read. I think most books are way too long and try to communicate too many ideas. This book is the right mix of concepts that tie to a common theme.

I heard the author speak at the Transamerica Financial Advisors (TFA) National Conference in 2014. During Richards' presentation I was struck by the "elegant simplicity" of his messages that were part of his one-panel drawings.

There are a number of what I call "nuggets" in the book. Nuggets are individual key points that I feel can be helpful on their own, but gathered in numbers, and utilized, can be awesome!

"The best financial plan has everything to do with what's most important to you" (p.7). So true, it should be about what the client wants, not the adviser.

"Budgeting = Awareness" (p. 98). In effect, Richards points out that the necessity of having some kind of budget is because it makes one aware of how he/she is spending money.

My favorite nuggets are grouped together (p. 123). In answer to the question "how much should I save?" Richards states:
1. Save as much as you reasonably can
2. Spend less than you earn
3. Don't lose money.

Will The One-Page Financial Plan magically make you wealthy? No. But it will make you more aware of what you're doing with your hard-earned money and that's a great first step. Read it and learn!

(Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of the book from the author. I am also an Investment Advisor Representative for TFA.)

The “One-Page Financial Plan” is fantastic for its brevity and call to action. The author, Carl Richards, states it simply on page 126 “ the only true mistake you can make when it comes to financial planning is to do nothing”. Financial Planning is all about what is important to you. Each person has unique goals and values. These can be discovered in how you spend your time and money. By aligning your behavior to your values and goals equates to success.

The One-Page Financial Plan, in it simplicity, and in a few key processes, will bring you to understand what is important to you. You will discover why money is important to you. Additionally, the definition of freedom will be forthcoming. With the basics of a financial plan in place, you can begin your financial journey. Your decisions in the future will reflect your planning. Just understand this is an on-going project, one has to recalibrate as life intervenes.

In my experience, there are two factors undermining success for most individuals. One is the American competitive factor that far too many compare themselves to others, thus the “Keep up with the Jones” plan. This is a real loser if you do not know what is important to you. The other factor is the “financial entertainment industry” comprised of CNBC, Wall Street and other contributors constantly informing you of what is right for you. Frankly, folks, they have no clue what is right for you.

It is highly suggested you obtain a copy of One-Page Financial Plan. Follow the guides and begin your new financial journey today!

Curtis A. Smith, CFP®
A member of the Society of Real Financial Advisors

Read Mr. Richards' first book "Behavior Gap" and it changed the way I looked at investing. This book is well done but I think, more geared toward people who are earlier in their financial lifetimes than my family is. Nonetheless, there are some interesting points to ponder (WHY is money important to me?) and other aspects that I looked at like a mental checklist to make sure other important issues of financial health are covered.
It is not a sexy book.....no quick how to pick stocks and make a ton of cash tips will be found here. But it is a great roadmap, especially for those starting out, on how to rationally manage money.

The One Page Financial Plan_Review

The One Page Financial Plan starts with just that, a description of how to create a plan that outlines the key financial goals for you and your family. However, this book quickly moves from the purely financial realm to more fundamental and critically important elements needed for financial success to be possible and meaningful: values and relationships. While this may sound like a conflation of unrelated topics, Carl Richards succeeds at explaining the importance of the ‘why’ behind financial decision making, and at highlighting the importance of an honest discussion of monetary issues between partners. He broadens the meaning of the term investment by not just defining it strictly in terms of making dollars decades from how, but by pointing out the relevance of family today, which may well mean sacrificing, or rather trading money later for time and happiness now. In making decisions about money, we are ultimately also making decisions about time, using and considering our human capital and skills as well. While a few more narrowly defined financial concepts (balance sheet, budgeting, investing, debt, life insurance, etc.) are introduced and dealt with in his book, they are talked about in relatively general terms, again focusing on fundamental concepts, rather than on providing specific advice or technical assistance on how to crunch the numbers. Having just emphasized the importance of knowing an individual’s values and specific financial and personal situation in order to provide personalized financial advice, it is clear that none should or can be expected by the reader, however, it might have been helpful and interesting to go into somewhat more detail by providing a few examples on how certain financial scenarios and decisions taken today might play out in years to come to illustrate concepts such as compounding, for example. Also, the book is virtually free of references, making it difficult verify or to learn more about specific topics of interest. Ultimately, the book could be misconstrued as a rather vague and not very hands-on summary of the author’s experience as a financial advisor, however, the underlying issues debated are clearly of fundamental value and are often overlooked by more ‘technical’ financial books. This book will help starting you on the right track with your financial decisions, if only by convincingly demonstrating the importance of personal values and of having a discussion around money with your partner. This alone may save you more money (and trouble) than any financial advice you will ever get.

Very few people have a knack for communicating fairly complex ideas and decisions about money easy to understand, yet Carl Richards has done it again with his newest book “The One-Page Financial Plan”. At the core of financial planning and making smart decisions with your money is consistently revisiting what matters most in your life, in other words, what’s more important than money to you? Carl’s way of reminding us to do this by consistently referring back to our stated values as captured on our “One-Page Financial Plan” is a great “prescription” for achieving a successful financial “health” experience.

@behaviorgap strikes again! Have you ever wondered why you need a financial plan? Well, read the “One-page Financial Plan” by Carl Richards to get it. In his new book Carl Richards doesn’t surprise - he comes across as vulnerable and authentic as we know him from his first book - “The Behavior Gap”. He outlines what financial planning is all about, how it is important and exciting and not “by the numbers”. We learn how to go about putting together a simple, but profound financial plan to bring our spending and investment in alignment with our core values, which, at the end of the day, is the point of it all. We also get an idea how to spot and work with a “real financial planner” and what he or she can do for us. Most importantly, Carl gives us the permission to be human, which means to be emotional and guides us to what actually to do to be able to stick to our decisions and our plan. If you are to have a shot at creating your unique financial plan and actually implement it, you should read this book. And if it doesn’t inspire you, nothing else will. The book is a useful reading for financial professionals as well, as Carl helps them defeat the “curse of (their) knowledge” and better connect with clients.
I’m glad I had a chance to read the book and recommend that you do too.

This is an excellent book. It brings together the points needed to make your own financial plan in a succinct manner. Many of these topics are covered in other books but not brought into a neatly tied package.

In addition, many of our friends have asked for financial planning help. In the past, I've told them that I can't give them specific guidelines without knowing more of their situation. Usually, they get bogged down and the process ends there. Carl, in his chapter, "Invest Like a Scientist" brings up this same quandary in the section "Why I Can't Just Tell You What to Do" and the following "Building a Default Portfolio". He says that it's better to give a general guideline (ie 60% stock/40% bonds) which will probably work better than whatever your friend is doing now.

I will try to tell my friends this invaluable advice - "good" advice applied now is better than waiting for the "perfect" portfolio and never getting to implementation.

I find the advice in the book very compelling for those looking for a structure to connect with. I also like that many examples are used as people connect with different stories. The book is structured between goal setting based on your values, and then how do you enable those goals based on spending and saving habits. Additionally, it provides many examples to make you think about how you can make this happen.

Two things for Carl to consider in future release of his books which are an easy read: (1) He drifted implicitly a few times between talking to investors/clients and to advisors and while I was able to navigate that, some readers may not, and (2) his book lends itself to a summary at the end of each chapter like the Heath Brothers use - this would be a great quick reference to come back to in the future.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts Carl for a nation that needs it.

Blending the basics from Ben Franklin to Jack Bogle to Warren Buffet in easy to digest visual ways has been the hallmark of Carl Richards’ career. In the One-Page Financial Plan, Carl boils down his musings into the most pertinent few things that anyone concerned about their financial future ought to consider. So, how’d he do? Well, somehow I’m not sure the whole (i.e., this book) is better than the sum of its parts (i.e., Carl’s articles, sketches, and blogs). So, if you are already a follower of Carl’s NYTimes column, or a Motley Fool subscriber, or an actual CFP, there really isn’t much new in Carl’s latest book because the process of “getting it right” doesn’t really change much and frankly isn’t very exciting to write about, but the difficulty of avoiding emotions and poor decisions is ever present. If, however, you are not interested in or astute about personal financial management and you are looking for 200 pages of concrete, action-oriented guideposts to steer your financial world, this book will do the trick nicely.

It was ironic to me that over the past few years I’ve bookmarked or downloaded a few of Carl’s (free) diagrams for review and reflection, and none of my favorites made the book! So, I was a bit disappointed about how the book took advantage of the material available to the author, but that said, there is great value in keeping things simple and following basic rules in managing your finances, and Carl explains how to do that and which rules matter most. Whether or not the material warranted a book, I can’t say, but I know that I’ve read articles and lists that cover very similar ground. Carl is right that determining why you want and need money is fundamental to figuring out how best to manage your revenues, expenses, assets, and liabilities. A second fundamental question for those that can see money for what it really is – a medium of exchange for experiences, things, and time – is should you just provide your dreams and goals to someone like Carl to do the financial dirty work of planning for you? I don’t, but I have an economics degree, started buying stocks in high school, read all of the classic investment texts, enjoy following the markets, and am willing to take on some risk. I’m more comfortable taking risks on my own than paying others to do so for me. However, if you are like most folks, including me, who find sex and fishing more fun than annual reports, Carl’s book is a worthwhile read because it will teach you how to reduce financial anxiety by making wise choices, and if you are already in command of your finances, it’s great reinforcement to stay the course by acting rationally with your money.

After over 15 years in the financial industry, I have always searched for a way to make a financial plan simpler for people to understand. Why? Well because the more complex a plan is, the less likely someone is to follow through and implement it. If a plan is not implemented then it is a choice to do nothing and doing nothing is probably the worst possible solution to anyone’s financial situation.

When I heard of Carl Richards’ new book, The One-Page Financial Plan I was intrigued to find out if a one-page plan could truly be done. Carl is known as the “Sketch Guy” from his column in The New York Times. In his column and his simple illustrations using a napkin and a Sharpie pen, he has had a way to make financial topics easier to understand. He cuts through the noise of the industry and gets to the root of the decisions that need to be made to have a better financial life.

As Carl explains in the book, creating a one-page financial plan is different than most think. It is very personal for each person and no two plans will look the same. It’s about getting very clear about your goals before deciding on how to get there. It’s a process and not one that will cover the rest of your life. It will, and should, change as your goals change. It’s not about getting things “right” but rather understanding that life happens. Only when individuals take uncertainty as a given, they will be able to adapt and overcome life’s obstacles.

I think Carl has done what he set out to do, he has consolidated his experiences and eloquently placed them into this book. The One-Page Financial Plan provides the ground work to help anyone create a clear and concise plan for a better future. If anyone was ever overwhelmed to start the process then I would suggest stop worrying and begin by picking up this book.

I really liked The One Page Financial Plan. Unlike most financial books that jump right in to all the overwhelmingly complicated details about financial planning, this one spends time making things as simple as possible. In fact, that's the whole point.

Most of us get pretty stressed-out when thinking about our financial future, all the money decisions we need to make, and all the financial minutia we are supposed to know. Richards does a great job of offering interesting and very relatable stories of how even he (a professional advisor) has faced challenges to dealing with money at different stages in his life. He really seems to understand the road blocks of what regular people find so intimidating about the process of handling their finances. His story with Dan Heath is a perfect example of how most people feel when they think about "financial planning".

The One Page Financial Plan is his attempt to help us deal with all of that. Richards focuses on the core steps that most other books rush through, and allows us to get grounded in the big picture of what we really want from our money. With that perspective in place, dealing with many of the follow-on decisions that we have to make in life is not such a big deal. Later in the book, he has easy to understand tid-bits of advice on many of those follow-on things too.

I loved his sketches, his humor, and his easy-going conversational tone. The One Page Financial Plan is a decision guiding tool that helps you get clear rather than making you want to run away. It is simple and liberating (but not simplistic), which is why it helps you get started and unstuck.

I will enthusiastically recommend this book to all my friends. This book empowers readers to overcome the paralysis-inducing anxiety associated financial planning. Rather than confuse and subtly condescend readers with jargon, or promise readers the "perfect" and "best" investment tips, this book starts from the premise that the most important -- and best situated -- person to tackle financial planning is the reader him/herself. And gives the reader the tools to build a financial plan from the ground up, based on the reader's values and goals, and acknowledging the realities of life -- circumstances change, we're not perfect, and things won't always go exactly to plan. If you want to tackle your financial life, but don't know where to start and are worried you'll make the wrong decision (and, as a result, find yourself making no decisions at all), this is the book for you. The *best* decision you can make is to start here.

A true professional has the ability to make something complex appear quite simple. That's Carl's genius, and he demonstrates it again in this book. Combining solid advice and an easy, readable style with his now-famous sketches, Carl offers a common-sense approach to the daunting task of financial planning. He touches all the important bases from budgeting, to portfolio rebalancing, to insurance, to the importance of having an Investment Policy Statement, to discussions about buying a home vs renting. And he does it all within the context of the values that should drive our financial decisions: What's important about money to you? I also loved his chapter on how to find a "Real Financial Advisor" and his admonition to Behave For A Really Long Time. They say that common sense is uncommon these days; Carl's book goes a long way to restoring common sense in our approach to money.

If you are new to personal financial planning, are looking for a place to start and/or have no idea where you are in your financial life, then this is the book for you. It will help you get moving and “unstuck” as you figure out where you are financially. You will figure out how you feel about money and more importantly answer the question: “Why is money important to you?” The One Page Financial Plan is easy to read and the concepts are presented in layman’s terms. Once you work through the steps of figuring out why money is important to you, understanding where you are today (financial net worth), and clarifying where you want to go (goals), then and only then will you be able to figure out the steps on how to get there. If you are still unsure, this book provides basic guidelines on how to begin investing for those who have no idea how to begin. The point is to get moving. Staying stuck and doing nothing is not a financial plan. And, if you need more help or decide that you don’t want to be your family’s CFO, this book also offers solid advice on how to find and begin working with an advisor. Overall a good book for those who are having difficulty getting started on their personal financial planning journey.

Once again, Carl Richards has taken a subject that is difficult to understand and made it understandable. His clear prose, straightforward manner and, of course, the drawings make an intimidating subject approachable. As we might expect from the founder of "The Behavior Gap", much of Carl's advice centers on individual behavior. If we can control that, we can do most anything when it comes to our money. He is very clear that in order to have financial success, it is necessary to know where one is going. Shades of Lewis Carroll there. I particularly enjoyed the section on investing. Insurance and debt first. How many people go there when they think of their financial plan? Brilliant.

If I have a single quibble with the book, it is the section on budgeting. The "just do it" approach rarely works, yet this is pretty much the summation of Carl's advice on the topic. Perhaps the 2nd edition can have a few specific practices for how to get control of a budget and spending.

Overall, this is a quick and valuable read for beginner and experienced investor alike. The former will learn what is important to focus on while the latter will be pulled back to what is important to focus on. Everyone will be wiser for having read this book.

I believe the reason why Carl Richards has such a great reputation in the financial industry, is because he is HUMAN and he recognizes the fact that we are all human and make mistakes. He made mistakes and isn't afraid to share those experiences with the world, making him so much more "relatable" than others. Carl gives us all permission to move forward and not feel bad about ourselves. I read his first book, "The Behavior Gap" about a year ago and it really opened my eyes. Since then, I read his blog on the NY Times and find myself "sharing" his content on LinkedIn frequently. (I'm a financial advisor) A few months ago an email went out about his new book and the email asked for volunteers to be part of his the store SWAT team that would write a review "good, bad, or ugly". I jumped at the chance to get a copy of the book. It was just as good as his first book. "The One-Page Financial Plan" is such an easy read and really helps to put things into perspective. One of my favorite lines (there are so many)... "Life isn't just about retirement. And creating a financial plan should not be about putting such rigid framework around your life that you deny yourself the things that help keep you healthy, happy and sane today." One size DOES NOT fit all. Remember that!

Richards does an excellent job of addressing the fear, uncertainty, doubt, and overwhelm which stops most people from even attempting to plan for the future. The information is solid and not complicated by financial jargon. He takes you from the "Why" all the way through the "How".

The book is an easy, fun read and touches on all areas of finance, from budgeting to investments. It will take some thought, some conversations with others involved, and in the end you will have a plan that is uniquely yours.

My only regret is that he didn't publish it 30 years ago when I was young. Still, that's part of the books genius. The book will allow anyone to put together a plan that applies to their situation and to move forward from there.

The book was well worth the time it took to read and I will be recommending it to others.

I read a lot of financial and budgeting books. This was easy to follow, even for the newest of budgeters. It has great concepts and drives home points with clear ideas and easy to follow diagrams (I love diagrams!). Great purchase!

Deceptively simple book on how to think about and focus on whats really important. The problem is the incomplete conversations with OURSELVES and with significant others that must take place before moving forward with longer term planning. Most everyone has so much going on in their lives that taking time out to actually think about their deeper plans. dreams and priorities seems very hard, and even more time consuming than allowable.
Short cuts however take us somewhere, but often not where we wanted to go.
Lots of memorable line sketches illustrating complex issues and well written conversations and anecdotes about others going through some of the same discoveries and moments of self discovery.

Why?

This book starts with that question, one that most financial treatises tend to ignore, and yet one that should be the cornerstone of anyone's approach to finances! This is typical of the rest of the The One-Page Financial Plan, as he focuses on what is important -- figuring out where you want to go, building a budget to help you get there, changing your long-term behavior, etc. -- over the actual investment details that you would expect to be the focus of such a book. By not pretending to be able to predict the future with mathematical detail, but instead focusing on areas like psychology and behavior, he builds an approach to financial planning that is more centered on the investor as a person and thus, I believe, is much more effective.

I give the book four stars because I'm exceedingly picky, not because it isn't an excellent book. The characteristic illustrations sprinkled throughout, while sometimes adding brilliant clarity to the topic at hand, often ended up not quite fitting to me, and thus served as a distraction.

Carl Richards has a knack for simplifying financial concepts into bite-size, understandable pieces (see his Behavior Gap sketches in the NYTimes). This book is no exception. I highly recommend it for anyone who is seeking to learn how to approach financial planning and especially those wanting to align their finances with their values.

The book is full of Richards' helpful sketches that synthesize financial planning truisms and behavioral issues we all face. Richards, who is a certified financial planner, also shares anecdotes about his own past financial struggles that highlight how susceptible we are to making mistakes without a values-based (one-page) financial plan.

The One-Page Financial Plan is a solid and quick read. Whether you are working on your own finances or giving financial advice, this book should be part of your tool kit. I plan to keep my copy nearby and return to it often.

As a Financial Advisor myself, I'm always looking for resources for current and potential clients. Carl has done a great job simplifying the process of planning and investing in a way that is easy to understand and implement. For far too long, Wall Street and the financial industry have purposely complicated the task of investing and planning so that consumers feel like they must buy overpriced products. See behind the curtain with this book and never look back!

Creating a personal financial plan can be intimidating for even those of us working directly in finance every day. Carl Richards does an excellent job showing the importance of having a simple plan that is aligned with your goals and objectives. The book is highly readable and his personal stories of the mistakes he made with the housing crisis and dot-com bubble show that even professionals can be sidetracked by biases. He gives good advice in what to look for in a financial adviser, such as asking them how they are compensated and making sure they spend the time to understand your goals before offering advice. His sketches are a great way to think about the points he makes in the book.
This is the best book I have read on financial planning and I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to put together a plan and may be intimidated by process or working with an adviser.

Disclosure: I received a free copy of the book from the author in exchange for posting an honest review.

Money pervades our lives. Every day we go to work to earn money, spend money on different things and hope to save enough to live a comfortable life upon retirement. But for most of us, making a financial plan is daunting. We don't know where to start, what direction to go in and what would be smart decisions.

This book tries to unearth your own motivations - What are you saving for? Which path are you comfortable with? etc. Think of this book as a financial version of questions and illustrations that a personal trainer at a gym might ask you. The result is an easy read but one that leads to deep introspection into your own psyche and leads to better decisions not just today but into the future.

Disclosure: I received a free copy of the book from the author a few days back.

A big fan of simplification, I find a “one-page anything” very appealing. The one-page business plan has been a reliable compass for several years. And I am a visual learner – a geometry teacher in my previous life. So you can imagine my excitement when I was afforded the opportunity to read a preview version of The One-Page Financial Plan by Carl Richards who has always thrilled me with his simple napkin drawings of complicated, serious subjects. The book did not disappoint. Anyone who will take the time and put forth the effort to follow his directions, will end up with a plan that will enable you and those you care about to reach your goals and have extra time to spend doing the things you love doing.

I love the simplicity of Carl's message -- Be committed to the process of Financial Planning (rather than be paralyzed by fear -- and take care of the big rocks. Life changes, things happen, and goals change ... that's why you hand-write your plan, because the plan will change along the way. But taking intentional steps in the right direction, rather than being frozen by the paralysis of analysis, will keep you on track.

Filled with Carl's simple sketches, the book equips the reader to start the process, while educating readers along the way about investments, hiring professionals, and making wise-decisions.

This is a must-read for anybody earning an income ... unless you have unlimited resources and limited dreams!

Carl Richards has a unique ability in the investment industry. He takes what everyone else wants to make more complex, opaque and jargon filled and manages to do the exact opposite. Many times in the form of simple cocktail napkin sketches. Here he extends that concept to financial planning. This is a must read for all young professionals, newly weds and new parents. Carl provides a straightforward, simple, unemotional and actionable path to getting your finances in order and keeping them that way. Everyone is different, so their plan should match.

This book is exceptional. In an industry that thrives on overcomplicating personal finance, Carl has once again shown us that it doesn’t have to be. If we spend the time and energy necessary to understand what it means to pursue our best self, it provides a much more clear lens through which we make our financial decisions.

This is not a book that offers quick fixes or tips. It walks through the process of what financial planning done well should look and feel like. When all is said and done, the reader should be able to recognize that the hard part of planning is having a process to get really clear about where you are and where you truly want to be. Once that is complete, the financial details get a lot less messy.

Carl uses the most common sense and downright easiest frames of his narration to get to the heart of financial planning. “WHY”. Why are we saving, spending or investing? This isn’t a game of knowledge and information; this is a game of behavior shaping and understanding ourselves. Unlike many financial books, this isn’t a fad or “diet” type book this is a LIFESTYLE change book. Many advisors in the career force the “…obsession with a false sense of precision”, I can assure you this book will open your eyes to the façade of the industry. Whether you are new to planning, you’re an advisor, client or all of the above…. Get this book.

This book is really not so much about financial planning as about examining the way we think about money and our financial behaviors. It's emphasis is on examining our self-defeating thoughts and actions around spending, investing and savings. It challenges readers to understand their values which drives their money decisions and will ultimately reflect their financial planning (or lack thereof). I enjoyed the book although I think the title should be changed.

Written for anybody who wants to plan for getting out of debt, retirement someday, sending their kids to college, or simply taking control of their financial future, Carl Richards doesn't give the generic advice heard in the media. He provides a simple process for prioritizing life goals and staying aware of the decisions that can sabotage achieving those goals.
A financial advisor can help with investment strategy and maintaining accountability, but this book should be required reading to help with the goal setting discussion. "If you don't know where you're going, you'll probably end up somewhere else."--Yogi Berra

This is a great book that regardless of your background or level of financial experience will help you in obtaining and understanding your financial goals. In today’s quick information world, people belief that they need a new daily financial plan based on what happened in the stock market that day. We have all seen one size fits all portfolios and the must have stocks. Carl’s approach is to ask the why questions and help you figure out what’s important to you. It’s not a frenzied approach that has you watching the stock ticker all day. Instead he has you focus on what you can control and what’s important to you and your family. Reading this will get you on the right financial path!

I've read hundreds of financial books. This is one of the handful I've shared with my wife. It's an easy read that essentially describes the basic process Carl Richards uses with his family and his clients to create simple, personalized, and extremely meaningful financial plans. While everyone can learn something from this book, I'd especially recommend it for couples. If you know anyone recently married or need a wedding gift, do the young couple a favor and add this gem of a book to their wedding present. You'll be giving them the gift of clearer financial communication and planning, which will help them for decades. If you are looking for a book focused on retirement income planning, I'd look for another title.

The One-Page Financial Plan is an educational/self-help book to get your finances going in the right direction. It is not a get rich quick book that many other finance/investing books claim to be and fail. Carl walks you through the steps a good financial planner should be doing. Although Carl recommends talking to a "Real Financial Advisor" following his advice from the first eight chapters should be enough for most people until they really need professional assistance.

Carl uses his own personal experiences and situations from his clients to give examples for each step of the process. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to get their financial life on track.

Carl cuts through all the nonsense of creating a sustainable financial plan. The financial services industry has created an overly complicated process to convince individuals that the only way to lasting financial success is through high cost fees and services. Carl explains why that is not the case. Additionally, he draws the important link between financial security and individual goals. We are not all the same. This is NOT a book about how to pick successful mutual funds and investments. This is a book about how to think about financial planning in a simple, straightforward manner without all the unnecessary clutter.

Carl's done it again. His ability to distill issues that are often made overly complex by those who benefit from complexity into simple, understandable solutions is a gift to people looking for financial answers everywhere. People need to take their focus off the idea that they've done themselves some injustice by not having the proper financial goals. The truth is people have life goals, not financial ones, and then everything costs money. Through The One-Page Financial Plan, Carl continues to help lead the conversation in shifting our financial focus away from magic beans and onto those things we can control.

A great read that offers a simple approach to planning your finances. The content is not super-technical so it is suited to those who are looking to build their financial literacy. The book touches on many important aspects to complete financial plan so is well worth taking the time to read.

Simple, clear, practical, friendly, and honest information. You can use this to plan on your own, or as a guide when working with an advisor. Financial planners would also be well served by reading this to help them "keep it real" and communicate well with clients while avoiding the jargon jungle. Sometimes it's not what you DO that counts, but what you DON'T DO that counts and this author is a genius at pointing out those traps.

The One Page Financial Plan is dead on...the first 3 Chapters are so critical. We often see folks who feel overwhelmed & this is such a straightforward book. The section on budgeting is an eye-opener, too. I started doing that just with our groceries & it has been so helpful. Carl Richards napkin drawings are excellent visuals - we will definitely be using this book in our office!