Your Money Ratios: 8 Simple Tools for Financial Security at Every Stage of Life [Bargain Price] [Paperback]

J.D., LL.M., Charles Farrell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 28, 2010

A leading financial adviser offers a groundbreaking and simple approach to tackling personal finance by breaking down formulas used by the most successful businesses.

A troubled economy calls for answers. People need sound, easy-to-follow financial advice that can be implemented immediately. For the first time, a leading financial adviser has developed a remarkable set of guidelines to give individuals the same kind of objective insight into their personal finances that successful businesses have. Your Money Ratios will help readers effectively manage debt, invest prudently, and develop a realistic and effective savings plan to ensure both financial success and security. Readers need only plug their income and age into Farrell's ratios to get an instant picture of their savings status and overall financial health, as well as a road map for the important choices for the future. Some key ratios include:

• The Capital-to-Income Ratio: how much capital (savings) you should have if you plan to retire at 65
• The Mortgage-to-Income Ratio: the maximum mortgage debt you should carry and still have sufficient capital left for comfortable savings
• The Education-to-Average-Income Ratio: the amount of education- related debt you can safely incur based on anticipated average earnings after obtaining your degree

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Investment adviser Farrell simplifies retirement savings. To make the process of preparing for the golden years less complicated—and less anxiety provoking—Farrell developed a series of simple formulas to help readers understand what they need to be saving based on age and household income, while taking as much of the irrational emotion out of the equation as possible. Swift calculations help readers understand how much they should be saving each year, how much to contribute to 401(k)s and IRAs, when to invest in real estate, how much education debt to carry, how to balance debt, how to calculate investment power and how to find a financial adviser for those situations that require a little extra help. Farrell keeps his readers on track—each decision boils down to what he calls the Unifying Question: Will [x] help move me from being a laborer to being a capitalist? By focusing on making readers' money work for them, and with the use of simple, clear numbers, Farrell does a wonderful job of taking the worry and stress out of number anxiety—no calculator necessary. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"[Charles Farrell] has developed, in recent years, some of the smartest tools we've seen for gauging the health of your nest egg. Now, he has combined these calculators with additional guidelines in a new book, Your Money Ratios: Eight Simple Tools for Financial Security. Mr. Farrell uses easy-to-understand ratios to help individuals manage savings, debt, investments and insurance, all with the goal of achieving a secure retirement. In short, one of the best financial books to cross our desks this year."
-Wall Street Journal

"By focusing on making readers' money work for them, and with the use of simple, clear numbers, Farrell does a wonderful job of taking the worry and stress out of number anxiety-no calculator necessary."
-Publisher's Weekly

"Everybody wants to know, 'Am I on the right track?' Thanks to Charlie Farrell and his delightfully simple Money Ratios, the answers are just a few pages away."
-Jonathan Clements, author, The Little Book of Main Street Money

"What I like about the use of ratios is that it imposes discipline on emotional spending decisions. When you do the math based on specific goals, real household income and exact time frames related to age, it becomes crystal clear that you really can't afford to blow out the back of your home to expand the kitchen, no matter how attractive or tax- deductible the financing may be."
-Laura Rowley, Yahoo Finance

"Your Money Ratios is a no-nonsense, comprehensive resource for those ready to grab the reins of personal finance once and for all."
-Bookpage

"Why not manage your family finances as you would a business? Farrell is a money manager who makes a convincing argument for that approach. He uses ratios more common in the business world, such as the debt-to- equity ratio and the capital to income ratio so that readers can figure out how they are really doing. The book is direct and numbers-focused, and offers answers to questions like "How much should I be saving?" and "How much insurance do I need?"
-Reuters

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Avery Trade (December 28, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1583334165
• ASIN: B0057D9SLC
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #778,638 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great, common-sense ideas and goals for troubled times with some humor thrown in! January 27, 2010

By CS62091

Format:Hardcover

I found this book to be really helpful in terms of setting some reasonable goals for myself while coming out of my own "era of overspending". Well-written and often humorous, the author manages to convey the importance of saving without being a bore or being unrealistic about what's possible today. While I certainly don't find myself in ideal financial shape right now, the ratios have provided me with great goals to work toward, and helped me be conscious of where my money goes and what I'd like (and will need) it to be able to do for me later.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, financial planning that makes sense! December 30, 2009

By DT

Format:Hardcover

For years I have struggled to figure out what my family should be doing with our finances. I knew I wanted to be able to retire with a decent lifestyle, but had no idea how to do it. The primary reason I struggled is because of my deep distain for anything having to do with numbers. It all just seemed too difficult for me. When I read this book, it all became clear to me. Everything is laid out in clear and simple terms in a way that even a financial dim-wit like me can understand. Unfortunately for me, I read this book about 20 years too late! The good news is that I still have some time to get back on track, and I can't feel too guilty, because the book just came out. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a clear and simple formula for planning for retirement. I would also recommend that you give this book as a graduation gift to anyone you care about who is graduating from college! Having this book then would have made a big difference in my financial future.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Sensible, thoughtful, and filled with common sense approaches February 19, 2010

By F. Gonzalez-Soldevilla

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Kudos to the writer for making it so clear and within everyone's reach to be successful with finances. As more people read this work, we will slowly resolve the problem of financial dependency so pervasive in society today. This work should be found in the self-help area of bookstores. It is an easy read and a definite entry point for everyone seeking basic financial awareness.

Mr. Farrell offers a very clear explanation of how everyone should address financial issues. If more people had read this book prior to the phenomenal crisis we currently endure, none would have lost their homes, their cars, or their job. Private industry and banks would not have fired anyone, instead they would still be hiring more workers. We would remain the pillar of financial strength that irresponsible behavior destroyed.

The author's argument places the financial responsibility for our future needs squarely on each of us. He provides the reader with a blueprint for the meeting of long-term financial goals. His philosphical position is almost a Libertarian argument--except for the acceptance of Social Security as a pillar of virtue, which most Libertarians would argue against, especially in light of the abuses perpetrated by the ever-increasing waves of pillagers in Congress. Nonetheless, his suggested cures for the ills of the system as we face them today are sensible and should be heeded with immediacy.

The work is well conceived, albeit a tad repetitive at times, yet understandably so; most individuals tend to forget from one minute to the next the importance of thoughtful financial planning and a strict adherence to a plan. It all revolves around the notion of becoming a capitalist who lives by lending money to others instead of remaining a laborer forever who must do some type of work to live from its wages. It addresses the most salient points for financial solvency at any age: education, home ownership, credit card debt, and transportation, all within the money ratios that are the focus of his work.

"Charlie," as he often refers to himself in the book, provides a clear path to the financial success that most careful planners would dream to accomplish as they traverse across the different stages of life. The goal in the end is to target funds for retirement, when most expect to kick back and enjoy a better and more relaxing lifestyle, free of FICA contributions and lower taxation in general. Sacrifices and difficult decisions must be made along the way; but in the end, the work's solutions are fruitful and conducive to a successful outcome. If carefully adhered to individually with rigor and stalwart determination, the book's premises will result in a self-reliant retirement plan that would benefit more than the individual and his family.