Smart Couples Finish Rich: 9 Steps to Creating a Rich Future for You and Your Partner [Paperback]

David Bach (Author)

Book Description

Release date: January 8, 2002

From first-time newlyweds to people on their second or third marriage, couples face an overwhelming task when it comes to money management. Nationally renowned financial advisor and bestselling author David Bach knows that it doesn’t have to be this way. In Smart Couples Finish Rich, he provides couples with easy-to-use tools that cover everything from credit card management, to investment advice, to long-term care. You and your partner will learn how to work together as a team to identify your core values and dreams, creating a financial plan that will allow you to achieve security, provide for your family’s future financial needs, and increase your income. Together, you’ll learn why couples that plan their finances together, stay together!

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Like many savvy business people of the 21st century, David Bach offered his first pearls of financial wisdom to women, in his bestselling book Smart Women Finish Rich. Recognizing that these women are often accompanied by significant others and that money arguments are the number one cause of divorce in America, Bach has now broadened his scope. Presumably intended to help change this depressing statistic, Smart Couples Finish Rich is a well-written financial planning tool, packed with useful charts and information, inspiring examples, and practical advice.

For people who've been disappointed by the shallowness of some of the "quick tips" self-help books out there, the subtitle of this book is a little misleading. Bach's nine steps are not instant change techniques or chirpy little quips to recite to yourself whenever you go to balance your checkbook. Instead, the first few steps include a series of exercises that will help you determine what you know (and don't know, or understand) about saving and investing, what role money should play in your life (which includes understanding your values), and how to work together toward a common financial goal. From there, Bach teaches his readers how to account for "disappearing" money, how to build retirement, security, and dream baskets of wealth (providing detailed options for all three), and how to avoid the most common financial mistakes most couples make. Though the focus of the book is predominantly on working with your existing income, Bach includes a final chapter entitled "Increase Your Income by 10 Percent in Nine Weeks."

Bach's writing style is engaging and his advice is user-friendly. A successful financial planner, he obviously believes passionately in all the "fringe" benefits of being financially responsible but employs a no-nonsense approach that makes financial smarts available to everyone. So whether you're 25 and just starting out on the earning, saving, and spending road or you plan to retire next year; whether you've recently got hitched for the first time or you've just entered your fourth marriage; and whether financial planning comes first or last on your list of fun things to do, the advice in Smart Couples Finish Rich is worth heeding. It's not about becoming a money-obsessed bore, it's about getting smart... and rich. --S. Ketchum --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Bach, author of the bestselling Smart Women Finish Rich and host of a popular PBS series, offers his advice on how couples can keep their financial lives in sync. Familiar financial strategies on routine concerns, such as investments, retirement and insurance, form the bulk of the book. However, Bach's work does distinguish itself in one critical area: Bach believes that all couples (gay and straight, married and unmarried) need to identify values as well as goals as their first step toward achieving financial security. As he explains, values have to do with "being" (e.g., security, health, spirituality, fun), while goals are related to "doing" and "having" (e.g., playing golf regularly, taking frequent vacations, retiring with a million dollars). Moreover, he avers, not only is money management an issue that couples should plan and work on together, it is one that they should talk about, in a positive way, all the time. For example, Bach firmly believes that all couples need to be aware of their spending (what he calls the "latt‚ factor," or being more conscious of the regular little purchases they make each day) in order to make positive changes in their financial lives. Agent, Jan Miller. (On-sale date: Mar. 6)Forecast: Given Bach's previous success and the support of a five-city author tour and 22-city radio satellite tour, this book will quickly move toward bestseller lists, though its ho-hum approach doesn't mark it as a future evergreen paperback.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Crown Business; 1st Broadway Books Tdpbk Edition 2002 edition (January 8, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0767904842
• ISBN-13: 978-0767904841
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.8 x 8.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (104 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #23,960 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David Bach has helped millions of people around the world take action to live and finish rich. He is one of the most popular and prolific financial authors of our time with nine consecutive national bestsellers, including two consecutive #1 New York Times bestsellers, Start Late, Finish Rich and The Automatic Millionaire as well as the national and international bestsellers Fight for Your Money, Go Green, Live Rich, The Automatic Millionaire Homeowner, Smart Women Finish Rich, Smart Couples Finish Rich, The Finish Rich Workbook and The Automatic Millionaire Workbook. Bach carries the unique distinction of having had four of his books appear simultaneously on the Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, and USA Today bestseller lists. In addition, four of Bach's books were named to USA Today's Best Sellers of the Year list for 2004. In all, his FinishRich Books have been published in more than 15 languages, with more than seven million copies in print worldwide.

Bach's breakout book The Automatic Millionaire was the #1 Business book of 2004, according to Business Week. It spent fourteen weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and was simultaneously number one on the bestseller lists of the New York Times, Business Week, USA Today, and The Wall Street Journal. With over a million copies in print, this simple powerful book has been translated into 12 languages and has inspired thousands around the world to save money automatically.

Bach's newest book, Start Over Finish Rich launches in December 2009. With its ten crucial moves you must make in 2010, Start Over Finish Rich provides the essential tools for readers to get back on track financially and recapture their dreams of a richer future.


Bach is regularly featured in the media. He has appeared six times on The Oprah Winfrey Show to share his strategies for living and finishing rich along with regular appearances on NBC's Today and Weekend Today shows, CNN's Larry King Live, ABC's Live with Regis and Kelly, The View, CBS's Early Show, ABC News, Fox News, and CNBC. He has been profiled in many major publications, including The New York Times, BusinessWeek, USA Today, People, Reader's Digest, Time, Financial Times, the Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Working Woman, Glamour, Family Circle, and Redbook. He has been a contributor to Redbook Magazine, Smart Money Magazine, Yahoo Finance and AOL Money. In 2009 Bach, was a regular on the Today Show Money 911 Segments and a contributor to ABC's Good Money.

David Bach is the creator of the FinishRich® Seminar series, which highlights his quick and easy-to-follow financial strategies. In just the last few years, more than half a million people have learned how to take financial action to live a life in line with their values by attending his Smart Women Finish Rich®, Smart Couples Finish Rich® , and Find The Money Seminars, which have been taught in more than 2,000 cities throughout North America by thousands of financial advisors.

A renowned motivational and financial speaker, Bach regularly presents seminars for and delivers keynote addresses to the world's leading financial service firms, Fortune 500 companies, universities, and national conferences. He is the founder and Chairman of FinishRich Media, a company dedicated to revolutionizing the way people learn about money. Prior to founding FinishRich Media, he was a senior vice president of Morgan Stanley and a partner of The Bach Group, which during his tenure (1993 to 2001) managed more than half a billion dollars for individual investors.

As part of his mission, David Bach is involved with many worthwhile causes including serving on the board for Habitat for Humanity New York and co-founding Makers of Memories, a charity organization dedicated to helping women and children who are victims of domestic violence.

David Bach lives in New York. Please visit his web site at http://www.finishrich.com

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

202 of 207 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars CPA or not, this is THE financial book for couples November 26, 2001

By M. Verdi

Format:Hardcover

I enjoy reading books on retirement planning and asset management. My ex-wife did not. I like to pay the bills, live by a budget, and do the household bookkeeping. She did not. I never got my Ex to read this book, though I tried. However, I still believe that this book is a great straightforward resource if you want to learn about saving and investing, building a nest egg for retirement, and having the financial independence to realize dreams, AS A COUPLE. I found this book very easy-to-read and informative, and planned to use it often for future reference. As a CPA and Certified Financial Planner, I am accustomed to reading finance books and articles that are loaded with technical jargon. However, David Bach presents this information in a much more refreshing manner, and in a way that is easy for those unfamiliar with financial terminology, to understand. It gives you a wealth of information about 401(k)s, life insurance, trusts, wills, mutual funds, DRIPs, and much more. Most importantly, Smart Couples Finish Rich emphasizes personal financial planning and management as practically a lifestyle, not just an exercise or process. It shows you how to determine, as individuals and as a couple, what values you hold dear and how your view of money, investing, consumption, etc., should be aligned with your values. It really helps the reader to see that everything that one does in his or her life is a reflection of their values, including how one plans and manages his/her financial future. I highly recommend this book to those couples who are looking for an effective tool to learn more about personal finance and how to provide for their rich future together.

Ironically, my ex-wife refused to give me my book when we were going our separate ways.... I guess I will purchase a new one, since I now have someone I can actually share it with. Read more ›

113 of 117 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Very helpful; much of it timeless advice March 10, 2004

By DNP

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

There were three things I especially liked about this book.

The first was the way the author presented the fact that small things do add up. In the beginning of the book, he states that most people overestimate (financially) what they can accomplish in a year and underestimate what they can accomplish over many years. He includes graphs that illustrate this dramatically.

The second was the chapter on values. This chapter had a number of exercises for each partner to complete independently. Then, together, they can begin to draft a plan for their finances that embraces the values they each hold most closely. If the financial plan is customized to fit the values of the particular couple, taken together, it makes all the sense in the world that it will be easier and more satisfying to LIVE with that plan and carry it out over time (without either of the partners sabotaging the plan).

The third is somewhat tied into the first point I mentioned. It is a chapter called "The Couples Latte Factor." This chapter discusses "small," daily expenses and how, if a couple decides to eliminate or reduce even one or two of these daily expenses and invest that money instead, it can result in a lot of money, over time. This and most of the other chapters include real-life examples of couples whose experiences illustrate the principles being discussed.

I recognized the value of all of this advice right away as I was reading it, but initially felt a bit overwhelmed, thinking: "This is great, but how am I going to do it ALL?" Because I imagine that other people may have the same feelings, I will share the answer we ended up coming up with. A little at a time.... I still haven't gotten up to investing 10% of my income in my company's 401(k), but as a couple, we ARE very near to reaching our goal of setting aside a year's worth of expenses in an emergency account and we HAVE adjusted the amount of life insurance we carry and had estate documents drafted by an attorney. Once we do have the complete year's worth of expenses set aside, I'll change my 401(k) investment to 10%.

Is this the order Mr. Bach or another financial planner would advise us to do things in? I don't know. I DO know that doing things the way we have, gradually following more and more of his advice has GOT to be better than being paralyzed and doing nothing...which is what we would have been in danger of doing if we hadn't taken it a little at a time.

A book I would recommend in conjunction with this is The Laws of Money, the Lessons of Life by Suze Orman. Read more ›

59 of 61 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars STRONG, SOUND ADVICE! April 18, 2001

By Sandra D. Peters

Format:Hardcover

Investing for your future is sound, strong advice at any age. As a teacher of business management and having counselled an overwhelming number of people in the area of finance, I believe investing is particularly critical for young people today. I am so happy to read that previous reviewers, in their twenties, have learned from this book and are planning for their future. If you are starting your career and in your twenties, now is the time for financial planning, even though you might not be able to put a lot of money aside, "every penny saved, is a penny earned."

There are many books on the market today on investing and financial planning. Some I would highly recommend, others are not worth the time it takes to read the book - save the money you would spend on those "guaranteed get rich quick books" and invest the money where it will guarantee a return. "Smart Couples Finish Rich" is filled with a wealth of information on money management, retirement accounts, living trusts, types of insurance and investing in general. After reading it, you will be better equiped to manage your money and save for the future. That not only makes "smart cents," it makes smart sense. Hopefully, with some financial peace of mind and stability, couples will not only finish rich, they will finish rich... together!

27 of 31 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Guidelines for couples. August 10, 2005

By M. Karakus

Format:Paperback

I enjoyed the first couple of chapters of this book. This book would be a good start for couples that need to talk and settle their finances together. If you have not talked to your partner about your finances and need to start that discussion this is the book is your starting point. The author has a really good method of setting expectations for the future between couples and setting guidelines (9 steps) that can be followed during and after you create a plan. It is very important to at least try the authors method for I think they work. As for the rest of the book it is very similar if not the same information as other beginner investment books: how to set up a retirement plan, savings and checking accounts and all the basic items.
Enjoy the book.