I recently completed The Automatic Millionaire Workbook, The Finish Rich Workbook, and Start Late, Finish Rich. It has changed the way I view money. I was living paycheck to paycheck, supporting a wife and 2 kids, both under the age of 2. Although I was making 55K/year, we never seemed to save money despite watching our money and limiting extra activities. After finishing your books we made multiple changes.
We used our tax refund of 6K to eliminate our credit card debt and I changed my exemptions from 5 to 10. This reduced our tax rate to 9%. I changed my simple IRA contributions from $300/month to the max of $830/month. I setup a rainy day fund of $200/month, and two Roth IRAs – one in my name and one for my wife. My wife’s fund receives $300/month, while mine receives $250/month, with my quarterly bonuses going to this account so that both will be maxed out – all of this automated of course. Doing this I am saving $18,790/year (34% of my salary!) I am about to establish a 529 plan for my children (waiting on paperwork)and I have setup a savings account to save for my next car and pay cash. We were paying $700/month for our house payment ($23 was extra) and we increased that to $800/month.
In addition, I have resumed tracking our money in Quicken. For Jan and Feb. we spent $591 on dining! There’s a latte factor! Needless to say, we gave up eating out for lent this year and hope to continue this. My wife and I have learned much and have referred your books to another couple. Thank you for detailing the simple and automatic way to become a millionaire.
