Product Description

What’s the secret to becoming a millionaire?

For years people have asked David Bach, the national bestselling author of Smart Women Finish Rich, Smart Couples Finish Rich, and The Finish Rich Workbook, what’s the real secret to getting rich? What’s the one thing I need to do?

Now, in The Automatic Millionaire, David Bach is sharing that secret.
The Automatic Millionaire starts with the powerful story of an average American
couple--he’s a low-level manager, she’s a beautician--whose joint income never exceeds $55,000 a year, yet who somehow manage to own two homes debt-free, put two kids through college, and retire at 55 with more than $1 million in savings. Through their story you’ll learn the surprising fact that you cannot get rich with a budget! You have to have a plan to pay yourself first that is totally automatic, a plan that will automatically secure your future and pay for your present.

What makes The Automatic Millionaire unique:

You don’t need a budget
You don’t need willpower
You don’t need to make a lot of money
You don’t need to be that interested in money
You can set up the plan in an hour

David Bach gives you a totally realistic system, based on timeless principles, with everything you need to know, including phone numbers and websites, so you can put the secret to becoming an Automatic Millionaire in place from the comfort of your own home.

This one little book has the power to secure your financial future. Do it once--the rest is automatic!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9912 in Books
• Published on: 2004-12-30
• Released on: 2003-12-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

Amazon.com Review
Despite its sensational title, David Bach's The Automatic Millionaire: A Powerful One-Step Plan to Live and Finish Rich is not a get-rich-quick guide. Rather, the book is a straightforward march through common-sense personal financial planning that suggests readers "automate" their contributions to retirement and investment vehicles. Bach, in fact, calls his model the "tortoise approach" to becoming wealthy by retirement age.

In the early part of the book Bach builds on ideas he established in Smart Women Finish Rich and other bestselling titles. His core principle is that, to succeed, you must "Pay Yourself First." In other words, he suggests using pre-tax retirement accounts (e.g. 401(k)s or IRAs) to set aside a fixed, monthly sum of money before considering what is left for living expenses. The "automatic" part of the title comes from Bach's emphasis on using automated payroll deductions to avoid the temptation of using the money to pay today's bills.

Bach insists that "regardless of the size of your paycheck, you probably already make enough money to become rich." But his claims that his plan requires "no budget, no discipline," is a bit disingenuous. His discussion of the "The Latte Factor" shows that, to find money to start a retirement plan, a person with a modest income needs to make an up-front commitment to stop accruing debt and to reduce spending on such "wasteful" items as lattes and cigarettes.

In the end The Automatic Millionaire does not offer much that is new for readers already familiar with personal finance basics like accelerated mortgage payments, "the miracle of compound interest," and the setting up of emergency funds. But, for those just starting with financial planning, Bach provides a host of resources to put recommendations into action. He walks his readers through such fundamentals as shopping for interest rates, creating a balanced retirement portfolio, and consolidating debt. And Bach's conversational style will make this quick read highly palatable for those daunted by more detailed investment and personal finance titles. --Patrick O'Kelley

From Publishers Weekly
Bach, author of several bestsellers including Smart Women Finish Rich and Smart Couples Finish Rich, offers a simple prescriptive plan for financial security. The secret: the astonishingly vanilla "Pay Yourself First," which, in Bach's words, is "the one proven, easy way to get rich." Instead of worrying about taxes, budgeting or investing, the key, according to Bach, is to set aside between 10% and 15% of gross income for savings the equivalent of one hour's worth of income every day. While this strategy may seem obvious, many people don't take this basic step. That's why Bach says everyone should write down their "Automatic Millionaire Promise," which spells out what percentage of their income they will start saving by a certain date. To insure that people carry through on their efforts, Bach says they should have deposits automatically made to a retirement account. Then, the next step is to capitalize on the power of compounding by contributing the maximum amount to, say, an employer's 401(k) account. To help readers navigate the maze of investment choices, Bach includes contact information for a number of mutual funds and Web sites offering authoritative financial information. Bach's key principle, along with such advice as buying real estate, paying down debt and making charitable deductions, is not groundbreaking; and regrettably, it may be unrealistic for many: tens of millions of Americans are in serious credit card debt because they can't make ends meet on their salaries; how, then, are they to save so much of their gross income? However, his easygoing approach, complete with real-life examples and clever phrases such as "Latte Factor," will appeal to the many money-challenged consumers who have made a New Year's resolution to get their finances on a firmer footing.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From AudioFile
While this is not new advice, the genial author and TV celebrity packages it so smoothly that it will make you want to clean up your financial habits right away. His speaking style is youthful and positive, and the stories and illustrations have enough narrative suspense to hold anyone's attention. To avoid spending and accumulate wealth, set up automatic spending and investing systems and then follow them religiously. Along with detailed guidance about every aspect of creating this structure, there is an enhanced CD that has visual displays and action steps to print and use. An enjoyable, complete, and highly motivational lesson for anyone whose get-rich plans are stuck on the drawing board. T.W. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Customer Reviews

Good practical advice, nothing new
The thesis of "The Automatic Millionaire" is that you should automatically invest a small amount of your income every pay check. Over time this will make you rich. In fact the author claims that if you start early you can retire young as a millionaire. Hence the title. While this is no doubt true, I don't think many people will do it.

I was annoyed the authors repeated self promotion. He referencing his previous books and web site in almost every chapter, several times in some cases. If they were so useful, he should have just included them in this book. His enthusiastic tone gets to be annoying after awhile too. He does also list other useful sites and services.

The advice to save part of your income automatically via direct deposit, or automatic deductions sounds like good advice, and seems achievable. Much of the rest of his advice is old hat. His suggestions about paying off credit card debt were not very interesting.

In summary, short well written solid advice, but you know most of it already.

Good Advice but what about the working poor?
If you're just getting by, then don't even bother with this book. But if you do have some income to spare, its a great way to get your finances in order. There was just something really unrealistic about this book...especially for those of us starting over. Great book for teenagers and young college students who are just starting out.

David Bach is the greatest financial expert
At first I was a little intimidated to read a book about finances but David Bach explains everything in plain english. There are a lot of things that I already knew I should be doing with my money but David really motivates me and makes me feel like I could really do this. I am truly on my way to being a millionaire! Thanks David Bach!