A No-Fail Plan for Achieving Financial Freedom at Any Age

I found this book to be very informative and easy to read. I highly recommend it to anyone who like me feels a little lost when it comes to investing and financial planning. I love the clear, concise and no nonsense style of this author. I recommend all his books.

I am approximately 10 years away from retirement. I am also one of those who needed to read this book. I believe because of what David Bach shared in this book that my latter years are looking brighter. i no longer have shame in what I didn't do. I now know what I need to do.

Excellent advice and insight but just buy the books and dont get pulled in by the "extras" and websites etc.

I was able to use the book as a guide to put together a simple but successful personal financial plan.

for the average joe, you already know all the stuff in this book. I got it to try and learn something new, but as an avide WSJ and Economist reader, I was well aware of all the topics under discussion here.

I thought this book would be a little better since I really like David Bach. It is an easy read with common sense principles. I think it would have liked it more as an audio book. I like the sound of David Bach's voice.

This is a must have item. After reading the section on managing my debt, I was able to cut my credit card bill in half and negotiated a better rate with my credit card company. The minimum payment is lower now ($25 compared to $110)but I pay over a $100 monthly instead of the minimum.

The book was in great shape. I received them within the time that they said I would. The only thing that could make it better would have been to get them earlier, but they were well within the timeline. I would definitely do business with them again. Thank you

David Bach has written a very good book. He explains in each chapter what each person needs to do in order to achieve fianancial freedom and financial security. There aren't any books that teach you each step of the way on how to accomplish this but David Bach does.

David Bach is one of the more successful personal finance gurus who pumps out shelves of books, sells seats at seminars, and so on. He is a brand as much as he is an author. This book focuses on the financial requirements of those who realize they need to get ready for retirement, but they let the clock get too far ahead of them. They are like a batter who falls behind the pitcher, 0-2 and still want to get on base. This book provides a practical and good natured guide and how you can get to retirement somehow, someway, if you are willing to do what is necessary.

Bach presents his material in 23 chapters divided into five parts. He is very clear that Living Rich is more about quality of life than just having more money that you have to be miserable to acquire and never get to use in ways that have any personal meaning for you.

Part One focuses on why you need to start now and why freedom is more important than mere money. Part Two talks about how you can spend less. You know you have to, so why not give you your daily $5 latte and brew your own cup of Joe? He also provides a good system for paying off your credit cards and how to negotiate with your bank and credit card company to lower interest rates and penalties. He also provides sound warnings about those credit counseling companies. Basically, stay away from them. He does provide info on good financial counseling resources and how you can check on them.

Now that you have stopped the bleeding you can go on to Part Three and learn ways to Save More. Bach provides good methods to help you pay yourself first by automatically saving and explains why boring investments are much better than exciting ones when it comes to your financial future. Still, you ability to save is limited by your income, so Part Four helps you focus on a number of ways to make more at your job, at part time opportunities or side businesses that allow you to keep your job, but provide valuable supplementary income.

Part Five is about your quality of life and why your money is really about serving this purpose. Bach also explains why giving and blessing the lives of others is a great way to enhance the quality of your own life.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

While I definitely recommend this book to other readers, I would recommend it to older readers who have neglected their savings, mainly because it describes a variety of tactics and strategies (many covered in his previous books) for accomplishing these three tasks. Readers of financial help books will have heard many of Bach's ideas before, but he does deliver a lion's share of solid advice in an entertaining format, and, for good measure, he throws in an occasional counter-intuitive gem, such as why paying off credit card debt can be "a huge mistake."
(...)

David gives get-rich advice in a systematic step-by-step lesson plan to guide readers to achieve financial freedom. His Latte Factor wakens all on those daily money-losing habit by turning it into personal wealth. Of special service are the chapters on credit card debt with a secret that Delaware bankers do not want YOU to know. That is "paying off a $7,000 credit card debt at a typical 20% interest rate by making minimum monthly payment will take more that 34 YEARS and cost more that $20,000". (P.323)
His part 3 : save more - is not what Adam Smith advocates in a consumer capitalistic world. His guide for the American dream of homeowner is sound and practical despite the sub-prime mortgage meltdown. Part 4 teaches reader the options to make more money by exploring different opportunities.
Of value is Part 5: Give more, live more. Sharing is a virtue. He teaches that money does not equal to happiness. The contentment of contentment is contentment - A Taoist teaching. Chapter 23 is important and significant if our school teaches this text of eleven lessons to American students in personal finance to live and finish rich. The same is true for Uncle Sam too. In this consumer society, the message advertises that owing their product promises freedom and power. The truth is to get rid of the unnecessary possessions financed by credit card debt gives the FREEDOM - the greatest personal power and security ! Another sound advice is the credit report which impacts life in employment, mortgage and car loan.
David's book helps living a life of abundance, happiness and power! Go for it!

I read a lot of financial planning books and this is one of the better ones. I look for books that give a lot of detail and ideas. This book does give you some information you can find elsewhere, but he gives you ideas on how or where to execute these strategies.

In regards to saving money, we rarely look at everyday ordinary habitual expense to cut back. We are always trying to trim our grocery bills, household bills, etc. He suggests looking deeper into daily expenses like eating lunch out daily, that extra Latte or that lottery ticket. Most other reviewers have it wrong when they say he is trying to curb your fun, but he wants you to be wealthy. Just eliminate some of these expenses and put it toward your savings and you can be wealthy. One reviewer is correct when he states that some people don't have a Latte factor (I don't), then what? Well part Two covers this.

He is very big on saving in your 401(k) if you have one, but putting $[...] per day is a little much for some people on a limited budget. While I agree with his mythology on this, for some people $[...] per day can be 30 to 40 percent of they pay. I recommend starting with less.

He dose give advice on reducing debt, but never gives a sound plan for paying this off. I know no one can explain it all, but he could have spent some time on this issue as it huge for people in their 40 and above (his target audience).

Part two describes how to get extra money with out getting a second job. Mostly by home based businesses and real estate. He explains in detail the various places he recommends, such as E-bay selling, Multi Level Marketing, and franchising. He explains each in detail and what to look for so you don't get ripped off. Most books don't nearly take the time to do this.

He gives a lot of step by step instructions and advice on what to look for in E-bay selling, Multi Level Marketing, and franchising which is a great help. As most people know, there are a lot of scam artist in Multi Level Marketing so he combats them. Remember that E-bay selling, Multi Level Marketing, and franchising is not right for everyone so be careful on this. The purpose is to generate extra money, not to get rich quick. This is a great point.

After spending some time in real estate, some of his numbers are off. He assumes that every location can raise $100,000 to $500,000 over the original price of the house you purchased in two years. This rarely happens unless you purchased below market value and this does not happen often either. This does not say you can not make money in real estate, but it is not as easy as Mr. Bach suggests.

Part Three is about giving back. He suggests what all other personal finance books ignore, is you have to give some thing back in order to gain some thing. He says you do not necessarily have to give money to start, just your time and effort can do. I agree with his principle of giving back to the community as many people can not afford to give money to churches, organizations or individuals. This is why Habitat for Humanity works so well.

Just remember, every author is out to make money on his books. Judging him for that is a mistake. Judging him on the merits of his conclusions is what it is about. Though I do not agree with some of Mr. Bach's numbers, his theory is sound and worth reading to get the knowledge he professes. I also like he treats this book as a coaching tool. I felt motivated through out the whole book. Mr. Bach made me feel that there were others in my shoes now and that I can do it as others have. I also like the step by step instructions, the advice and detail he does through in explain certain aspects. Some things of course I wish he would have explained more. No book can give you every piece of information, this one comes close.

If I could give him 4 ½ stars I would.

Enjoy

In some ways, I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I was expecting a lot of ho-hum tips about how to save money by cutting back on everyday pleasures like lattes and movies. The first chapters do focus on ways to rein in your spending, but later on, the author goes on to stress the importance of living a joy-filled life and not putting off having fun until your retirement years. I agree with the author that the concept of retirement is a myth. People are living longer and we'll all probably have to work longer, too. I found the chapters on entrepreneurship, getting out of debt as quickly as possibly, and getting rich by giving back to others to be useful and thought-provoking. And overall, I really liked the book's message of hope: That it is possible to start late and finish rich if you have a plan.

Still, I can only give this book three stars because some of the ideas are hopelessly naive. The author thinks anyone can make a 10% return on the stock market. He also implores everyone to buy real estate, making it sound so easy. It's possible, he says over and over again, to buy property with no money down. He wants you to buy a house, live in it for two years, then buy a second home while you're still paying off the first home... and to do this over and over again. Advice like this is dangerous... and got us into the economic mess we're in today!!

I agree that while money may not buy happiness, it can buy freedom. So, I applaud the author's efforts to help people get on the right track financially. On the other hand, my copy of the book (the hardcover version) was written in 2005. Only five years have passed, but a lot of the author's advice is already hopelessly out of date. My advice: Please take some of his ideas--especially the chapters on real estate--with a grain of salt. They may have worked in the late 1990's-early 2000's, but not anymore.

"Start Late, Finish Rich: A No-Fail Plan for Achieving Financial Freedom At Any Age" is a great inspirational and motivational tool. There are numerous books on this subject that are written by various people from all walks of life. A reader should be wise enough not to expect this or any one book to be the answer above all others. There is some great information in this book! The reader should use what applies to their individual situation or circumstance and pass over the rest that does not apply.

The author highlights such topics as the Double Latte Factor, manipulating credit card companies, beware of certain debt counseling / consumer credit companies, pay yourself first, investments, renting versus homeownership, how to buy a home, how to pay a home off early, plan for getting a raise at work, franchises, real estate, side business while keeping your day job, and how to help your kids be better at finances.

The part of this book that really impressed me was on pages 297-307, which covered tithing and getting involved with charitable organizations. This is something that I have not seen in other financial books that I have read. Kudos to the author for including this information.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and do recommend it.

I have read the other reviews here; most give you a good idea of the subject of the book, so I won't add to that. I have not read Bach's other books, so I cannot compare to those. The book starts hopeful since most of us can see places where we can spend less - in other words, these things are doable. But the section on real estate was a real downer to the uplifting other parts of the book. This book was written before the current economic downturn. He writes "how easy it is to get a mortgage for $850,000 with no money down". I laughed at this part since this is part of the action that led to the economic downturn.

But aside from that, he wrote only about positive, successful experiences with real estate, giving people the impression that it's really easy to have these types of experiences. He wrote about buying foreclosures and selling them for more like it's something you can do "just like that" and with no risk. He did not talk at all about the risks that come with buying real estate. For example, some reality here; I live in Denver. Before the economic downturn I went to a seminar on foreclosures. Yes, you can make money with this, but the instructor was clear; many foreclosures in Denver were methamphetamine labs, and whether you want to or not, you need to get them professionally cleaned and have documentation of this or buyers won't buy. How much does this cost and how many other expenses come with this type of purchase? Bach writes like you will never have any of your properties vacant and will have a constant stream of income. I suspect we could find many property owners who will vouch that this was not their experience. Also, the increases in property value that Bach owned and sold were tremendous, but this doesn't happen to all of us. I purchased a home 5 years ago in Denver for $223,000. It might sell for $230,000 now; with the commission paid to a broker, I wouldn't break even. My purpose for telling you this is investing in real estate doesn't appeal to me much. The potential to lose isn't attractive; if you're going to be smart and do this, you need to have enough money saved to take care of the times when your property is vacant and enough money saved for if property values go down instead of up; but Bach does not address this.

I stumbled upon "Start Late, Finish Rich" by David Bach as I was searching for antiques in Gatlinburg, TN last week. As I flipped through shelves of books, it caught my eye. When it was presented to the clerk for purchase (which was three dollars), he remarked, "If this works for you, bring it back and I will give you ten dollars for it."

David tackles many areas: control spending, credit card debt, renting instead of purchasing, investment and personal development. I was delighted at his thoroughness, knowledge and links to information and resources.

Get it, read it, and you will not be disappointed!

I am doing much of what his advises and will do MORE . . . .

Mamie Smith Ed.D.

I was interested to read others' reviews of David Bach's book, Start Late, Finish Rich. Those who wrote negative reviews seemed to feel very strongly that the book was worthless. A few were in the other camp, proclaiming its value even over and above other wealth-building books and seminars.

It seems to boil down to this: yes, the author relates principles that are timeless, and in most cases have been presented in classics like George Clason's, "The Richest Man in Babylon," "Think and Grow Rich," et cetera. If readers are not inclined to change their spending and saving habits, as several reviewers wrote that they weren't, then nothing will change for them. Mr. Bach has managed to present these concepts in easy to digest action steps that anyone can do. (Anyone who decides to act, that is.) These are illustrated by real-life anecdotes that are easy to relate to, for most of us who wonder if it is too late.

As one who read "The Richest Man in Babylon" at an impressionable age, I have had times when I successfully followed my saving and investing plans, and other times when necessity required those plans be temporarily shelved. If you're over forty, or way over forty, it really is not too late to improve your financial picture. Most Baby-boomers think they're going to live forever. Even if that's not true, these methods can make the second half of your life much more comfortable and secure.

This is a sharply moving book of about 340 pages, with the target audience of people in their late 30s, 40s or 50s who are just starting to save for retirement. The book flows very well and you can expect to invest perhaps 3-5 hours in your read.

The book is broken down into 4 main sections: How to spend less; How to Save More; How to earn more; and How to give to charity. All of the chapters have anecdotes illustrating people's success, and there are also many emailed testamonials through out the chapter.

The section on spending less is very good. The basic theme is how small expenditures on a daily basis on little luxuries such as coffee house coffee (His Latte Factor), meals out, and cell phones, high speed internet and premium cable add up to be a significant expenditure over the course of a lifetime. He also gives good suggestions on how to reduce interest payments on credit cards and how to select which cards to pay off first. I found this section to be the most informative and revealing section of the book.

The section on saving shows how to use tax avoidance and automatic deposits to save more faster. He also outlines different investment vehicles and gives a good blended portfolio for the target audience. If you do have knowledge of the types of plans he outlines, you will skim over some of this material.

The next section covers how to make more money. He gives some guidance on how to be more valuable at work and how to ask for a raise. He also covers different side business opportunities, such as eBay businesses, direct selling opportunity, real estate, and franchises. I found the real estate section to be particularily well formulated and presented.

The final section is more of a feel good section on the importance of giving to charity and the importance of living a complete live. He stresses that mone is a means for achieving your life goals, and is not a life goal in and of itself.

Overall, the book is a worth while read, although people with no background will get much more out of it than people going in with a good base of knowlede in the themes presented. The section on savings however is worth the price of the book.

Start Late, Finish Rich makes fine reading - some of its five parts more fascinating than others. The first part is about getting started - illuminating. Part 2 deals with how a starter can avoid, reduce, and stay away from ruinous spending behavior. It is followed by a discussion on saving for investment in Part 3. The book is rather topical in the fourth part, and here some of its subject matter such as making money from eBay (Chapter 6) and from real estate (Chapter 20) appears to be overdone. However, the last section of the book consists of life-affirming chapters on giving, living rich, and even doing it all for the future (your children). Recommended highly.

Amavilah, Author
Modeling Determinants of Income in Embedded Economies
ISBN: 1600210465

Unfortunately, there is a lot of generic advice that will give you guidance. However, this book tries to hard covering too many topics with a superficial explanation. There are many vignettes of prior successes; however, past performance does not predict the future. Hindsight is 20/20.

For people who are paying monthly payments on credit card accounts and other short term loans, people who feel like they have too many expenses or feel like they are in over their heads in bills, this book will give guidance. It is helpful for those who are seeking a method to plan for retiring. If you find your savings accounts with the 'low fuel' light on, this is the "AAA" equivalent of getting your finances kick started on your trip to better financial security.

The book is broken down into major categories:
Spend Less
Save More
Make More
Give More

SPEND LESS

Many of the principles regarding spending less money, decreasing debt, and caveats of debt counselors are some key points to get out from under a heavy load of liabilities.

SAVE MORE

The concept of investments such as diversifying in real estate, stocks and bonds sounds simple in theory. However, there are numerous volumes of books written on each subject. This book, however, is more of an introduction to summarizing major investment vehicles, rather than offering a definitive method of managing your assets.

There are other books that will help you in your investing quest like the books listed below:

The Real Estate Investor's Handbook: The Complete Guide for the Individual Investor

Technical Analysis of Stock Trends

The Winning Investment Habits of Warren Buffett & George Soros

The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing. A Book of Practical Counsel (Revised Edition)

MAKE MORE

The author outlines methods of how to increase your income stream, and some topics are covered as more of a primer to get you started.

Another

Small Business Ideas: 400 Latest & Greatest Small Business Ideas

SUMMARY

This is a good primer on getting your finances turned around. It is more of an introduction on how to get started.

This was an interesting book. At first glance, I really liked it because it reviewed all of the basic economics that we should have learned back in grade school, but some of us didn't! I was rubbing my palms with excitement thinking of all of the different ways that I could save money until I put it down on paper and saw how difficult it would be to implement Bach's suggestions.

Firstly, I concede that there are several areas where I could cut back financially, however, I'm not sure that I want to make the sacrifice right now. Give up hi-speed? Go back to the dark ages of dial-up where it takes me 20 minutes to send an attachment? Forsake caller ID when it saves so much time from my day not have to pick up calls from telemarketers or my friends who might want to chat for a half-hour when I'm in the middle of doing something else? Stop going to movies renting DVDs, or playing minigolf? Well, OK, I can cut back on those activities but eliminating them would certainly affect my quality of life.

Most of what Bach said was extremely sound -- save more, spend less and make wiser investments. But this will work more effectively for someone who is regularly employed as opposed to a part-time worker or someone who works contractually. (Forget about those on unemployment and disability! It would also be really hard to follow for minimum-wage workers and people who are barely making ends meet.)

Lastly, I don't know anyone who is making 10% on their returns unless they're involved in risky investments. I'm in Canada and most of the safer investments are yielding 2% - 2.5%. It's pretty hard to get rich that way especially when all of that money from your RRSP will be taxed when you take it out.

My criticisms notwithstanding, I did enjoy this book. I will certainly think twice about all of my purchases from now on and question the idea of renting property versus owning.

Sigrid Macdonald. Author of D'Amour Road.