The Money Marathon: 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom [Paperback]

Ed Douglas (Author), Rose Lee Davis (Editor), Scott Rule (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2008

In The Money Marathon: 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom, author and marathoner Ed Douglas uses his decades of financial expertise and love of running to compare the steps toward financial success to the steps involved in training, preparing, and running a marathon. Whether you've ever run a race or not, this book reveals how to complete your race to financial freedom. Once a person has money working for him, he has finished the race for financial freedom and he can likewise reflect on the accomplishment, relax, and enjoy himself. This doesn t necessarily mean a future of nothing but fun and games, although that could be financially possible. Rather, it can mean a person is in a position of financial freedom to pursue whatever he chooses, to fulfill his own life goals and to find ways to be productive and ultimately to help others.

The Money Marathon is a must-read for anyone 18 and older who wants to know the simple and easy-to-follow basic steps to financial success. A number of important financial steps are covered in The Money Marathon:
Raising your income and lowering your expenses
Increasing Savings: Tips and Proven Techniques
Investment Essentials: Who to Trust and Selecting the Right Mutual Funds
The Magic of Compound Interest: Learning and Understanding the Importance of Saving and Investing
Protecting Assets: Types of Insurance, Estate Planning, and other must-have documents
Getting and staying out of debt
And, finally, how to make money work for you!

Learn these important concepts and others from the author, an expert in personal finance, a former bank chairman and Chief Executive Officer, a Certified Financial Planner, a past trust officer, and author of Making a Million with Only $2,000: Every Young Person Can Do It and 25 Truths: Winning Wisdom for a Better Life.

From the Author:
Running the race to financial freedom and running a marathon starts with commitment. One of my hobbies is running marathons. I have run a marathon in each of the last four decades, and I am a member of the 50 States Marathon Club, having run fourteen marathons in thirteen different states. (A person has to document running a marathon in ten different states or more to qualify for membership.) Running a marathon is much like running the race toward financial freedom, and comparisons will be made throughout the book. The most important comparison is that a person has to commit they are going to do it. Without commitment, nothing else matters. A person doesn t awaken one morning and say to himself, I am going to run a marathon today. It takes six months to a year of preparation, training, and planning to be ready to run the race. None of this happens without commitment. Running the race to financial freedom also starts with commitment...

Our purpose in life is to love God with all our hearts, souls, and minds and to love others. I believe God has made each of us special with unique talents, abilities, passions, and interests. I believe he wants us to enjoy our lives by using our talents to help others and thereby make a positive difference in the world. Money is a tool we use in our lives to help us fulfill our purpose. Money is not an end; it is a means to an end. Money will never make a person happy; however, a lack of money can go a long way in making one unhappy.

The 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom:
STEP 1: Logging Miles: Increasing a Person's Abilities
STEP 2: The Training Log: Prioritizing Limited Resources
STEP 3: One Step at a Time
STEP 4: The Long Run and the Magic of Compounding Interest
STEP 5: Debt: Running the Race with a Heavy Weight
STEP 6: Good Quality Shoes: Protecting a Person s Assets
STEP 7: Crossing the Finish Line: Making Money Work for You
The Medal for Finishing the Race

Editorial Reviews

Review

The Missouri Bankers Association has worked with Ed for years to promote financial literacy. His new book reflects his passion to help people with their finances and the information in the book can be of great benefit to readers in all areas of personal finance. --Max Cook, President, Missouri Bankers Association Douglas sprints through the basics to prepare you for the marathon that is financial success. This book will teach you how to plan for your financial future, one step at a time. -- Mike Norris, Vice President of the Kansas Bankers Association Ed s interest in running marathons and his expertise in finances make a great combination. As a marathon runner and banker, I am pleased to see the two brought together in a way that can help people understand how to succeed financially. --Bill Young, Chairman, Citizens Bancshares and former president of the American Running Association This book should be required reading...clear, concise...with sound, easy-to-follow steps. If the purpose of the book is to improve the personal financial skills and expertise of the reader, it succeeds!-- Bill Smythe, Vice President Marketing, Nebraska Bankers Insurance and Services Company --Various Financial Sources

This is an excellent, introductory financial book. It is useful and comprehensive, covering all the relevant financial topics. It is particularly valuable to newly married couples, but can be a valuable and useful resource for anyone who needs direction in the areas of saving, investing, budgeting, insurance and so forth. One of my favorite lines in the book is the author s response to a lady who asks when she will get to spend the money she is being asked to save, and Ed responds, Maybe never, if done correctly. That is exactly right and is the result of following these 7 Simple Steps to get to the place where money is working for you. --Michael G. Sklar, Professor of Management Science and Information Systems, Rutgers University As one who has never run a marathon but only observed and been impressed by the preparation and commitment to complete the 26.2 miles, so too I was impressed, inspired, and educated by Mr. Douglas s simple steps to run the money marathon and cross the line to financial success. Douglas, an avid runner and financial consultant, correlates the two fields as he shares his experiences in an easy-to-apply how-to manual. --Rose Lee Davis, Retired English teacher Ed is a leader in financial literacy education. He has lectured our students for the last several years, and we have asked him to consider teaching a class on financial literacy at our college. --David Sallee, President, William Jewell College Eds financial instruction is easy to follow and motivates people to action. I have invited him to speak to our freshman students for the past six years. --Tom Billesbach, Dean of the Melvin and Valorie Booth College of Business and Professional Studies, Northwest Missouri State University --Various Education Sources

My audience loves Ed s financial advice. Listeners have called in on a number of occasions to say his advice has changed their lives. --Barry Birr, News Director, KFEQ Radio As President of the 50 States Marathon Club, I appreciate Ed s powerful and effective comparison of the various parts of a marathon to the steps involved in financial freedom. --Tom Adair, President, 50 States Marathon Club Ed was a panelist on my PBS Show Making Your Kid a Millionaire. He has written a practical guide to financial freedom. Let his years of experience show you the right steps and allow you to avoid the pitfalls on your own financial journey. --Dennis McCuistion Host and Executive Producer, McCuistion --Various Business Sources

About the Author

Ed Douglas, CFPâ„¢ retired at the beginning of 2006 from Citizens Bancshares Bank, headquartered in Chillicothe, Missouri, after nearly thirty-two years with the company. He spent his last twenty years as president and, later, chairman and CEO. Under his leadership, the company grew its capital and increased assets over tenfold to a 1,000,000,000 dollar bank holding company with locations in twenty-five towns. His current title is Chairman Emeritus and Board Member of Citizens Bancshares. He is a Certified Financial Planner and currently operates Ed Douglas Certified Financial Planning/Consulting. Ed is the author of the book Making a Million with Only $2000: Every Young Person Can Do It, currently in its second printing, as well as The Money Marathon: 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom. He regularly gives financial seminars to adults and speaks to student groups on important financial topics. In 2010, Ed published his third book entitled, 25 Truths: Winning Wisdom for a Better Life. Ed has been appointed by three different governors in Missouri to statewide positions, including Commissioner of the Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission and President of the Northwest Missouri State University Board of Regents. He currently serves on the William Jewell College Board and serves as president of the Chillicothe Education Foundation and is a member of the Cornerstone Church. He has coached the high school tennis team for the last 13 years, and is a member of the 50 States Marathon Club, having run 15 marathons in 14 states. He and his wife Marla reside in Chillicothe; and they have three children, Jared, Aaron, and Kaylee, as well as a daughter-in-law, Micah.

Product Details

• Paperback: 88 pages
• Publisher: The P3 Press (September 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933651334
• ISBN-13: 978-1933651330
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.9 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,320,843 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ed Douglas, CFP(TM) retired at the beginning of 2006 from Citizens Bancshares Bank, headquartered in Chillicothe, Missouri, after nearly thirty-two years with the company. He spent his last twenty years as president and, later, chairman and CEO. Under his leadership, the company grew its capital and increased assets over tenfold to a 1,000,000,000 dollar bank holding company with locations in twenty-five towns. His current title is Chairman Emeritus and Board Member of Citizens Bancshares. He is a Certified Financial Planner and currently operates Ed Douglas Certified Financial Planning/Consulting.

Ed is the author of the book Making a Million with Only $2000: Every Young Person Can Do It, currently in its second printing, as well as The Money Marathon: 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom. He regularly gives financial seminars to adults and speaks to student groups on important financial topics. In 2010, Ed published his third book entitled, 25 Truths: Winning Wisdom for a Better Life.

Ed has been appointed by three different governors in Missouri to statewide positions, including Commissioner of the Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission and President of the Northwest Missouri State University Board of Regents. He currently serves on the William Jewell College Board and serves as president of the Chillicothe Education Foundation and is a member of the Cornerstone Church. He has coached the high school tennis team for the last 13 years, and is a member of the 50 States Marathon Club, having run 15 marathons in 14 states. He and his wife Marla reside in Chillicothe; and they have three children, Jared, Aaron, and Kaylee, as well as a daughter-in-law, Micah.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Running to Riches..., February 18, 2010

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Trevor J. Flannigan - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Money Marathon: 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom (Paperback)

The book this week was The Money Marathon by Ed Douglas, suggested to me by Jim Wiederholt. It was a good personal finance book written by a retired bank CEO from Chillicothe, Missouri. The book is very concise and straight forward. It is very easy to sit down and read in an afternoon. Douglas relates personal finance to running marathons. Therefore, most anecdotes in the book are running related. I am not a runner, but it's not rocket-science, so most of the comparisons are very easy to understand.

The book is subtitled 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom, so each of the chapters correspond to a step. These steps are:

1. Raise one's income

2. Control Expenses

3. Save Regularly

4. Invest for the Future

5. Stay Out of Debt

6. Adequate Protection (Insurance)

7. Make Your Money Work for You (If the previous steps are followed money will grow for you)

I agree with the basic idea of this book, however, personally, I like to be a bit more aggressive toward my accumulation of wealth. Douglas repeatedly shows how $2000 can turn into $1 Million in 50 years. I think 50 years is a bit too long. Getting rich slowly has it's place and it is perfect for many of you. The faster you want to get rich the more risk you will be taking on. If you use Douglas' 7 steps outlined in this book you can be certain you will reach your goals.

I found the author's running stories at the beginning of each chapter very entertaining. The book was relatively short, so I don't want to dive into it too much. I know I have quite the readership in Missouri, so I suggest you support a local author and check out this book. If you are a runner, I am sure you will really enjoy the stories Douglas uses. If you have any questions on the book don't hesitate to ask. I would be more than happy to help anyone that wants it.