Product Description

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!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2424 in Books
• Published on: 2002-01-08
• Released on: 2002-01-08
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Amazon.com
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

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.

From AudioFile
The author of SMART WOMEN FINISH RICH taps his experience and perky personality to help couples manage their money. He covers spending, investing, and the habits you need to do both wisely and speaks with wisdom about the importance of clarifying personal values before starting a financial plan. By focusing on who they are, instead of what they do or what they have, a couple can tap into a powerful force that will guide their activities to be consistent with what they believe. With many clever questions and challenges, this is a delightful resource that will really make you think about where you and your partner are going financially. T.W. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Customer Reviews

No-nonsense solid advice
I read "Smart Couples Finish Rich" after reading a few Dave Ramsey and Robert Kiyosaki books and I have to say that I much prefer Bach's no-nonsense and informational style of writing. Although all authors offer good advice and interesting case studies, David's plan is more solid and easier to follow. Other books are more story-telling than facts but this one is not, which is refreshing. The book is full of information and resources that make reaching your goal seem much more realistic. I loved it and am already implementing some of the steps. I feel more optimistic about my family's financial future and wish I had started saving sooner! This book is a "must read" for all couples, especially newlyweds just starting their financial life together. I also bought the single person's equivalent -- "The Automatic Millionaire" -- and gave it to my 30 year-old brother as a gift. I want him to start his retirement account sooner than later.

Sets the Standard for Couples
SMART COUPLES FINISH RICH by David Bach is one of those rare books that actually have the ability to change your life, dramatically. As a minister who spends a great deal of time coaching couples, I know first hand that the main cause of marital problems revolves around finances. This book charts the course for any couple to achieve financial wealth without making dramatic changes.

Of course this doesn't solve all marital problems, but it certainly makes the others easier to deal with. As someone once said, "Money may not buy happiness, but it sure is easier to smile when there's money in your pocket." When a couple learns just how painless it truly can be to have a solid financial plan even on a fairly limited income, the everyday stresses of life become much easier to deal with.

Much of Bach's work here focuses on reducing spending rather than increasing earnings. He shows many examples that bring into focus just how much money we waste each day on frivolous spending and to alter our entire futures by making some very simple and very basic spending habits.

This book is broken into steps rather than chapters. Steps one through eight are brilliant. Step nine sort of falls short for me. In fact I question Bach's advice of changing jobs to increase income. Though at times that may be well warranted, I caution readers not to get overly aggressive here. The consequences aren't always what people hope for.

The first eight chapters more than make this a must read for every married couple, as well as anyone contemplating marriage. The earlier in your marriage you will read this book, the better off you will be in later years. The worksheets here are quite helpful as well.

Pastor Monty Rainey

I LOVE THIS BOOK!!
This book is awesome! If it was a diet book, I would be 20 pounds thinner by now. There is so much good information, even if you don't apply everything. I was given this book as a Christmas gift, and I have already bought it for 2 of my brother's. I don't usually read financial books because they will put me to sleep. But, this one does not read like a financial book. It reads like a good true life story. I highly recommend this book to anyone that wants to improve their life.