The Great Recession hit Americans like a bucket of cold water in the face. We awakened from a 35-year drunken credit orgy with a terrible hangover. Almost overnight the American dream became a national nightmare as millions found themselves unemployed and underwater, owing more than they earn.[1]
Here we are, several years later, and things aren’t much better. Unemployment is still high, gas prices continue to soar, it appears that the real estate market is still losing ground, and the US dollar is heading into a downward spiral.
Kinda makes you want to pull the covers up over your head and go back to sleep, doesn’t it? Actually, that might not be such a bad idea because there’s absolutely nothing you can do about any of that, anyway. So, I’ve got a better idea: forget the national economy. Stop dwelling on what you can’t change and focus on the economy you do control—your personal economy.
We pay a high price for our financial illiteracy in the US. I have statistics you may find shocking. Honestly, they don’t surprise me. I get it. I understand how we can be academically educated and socially prosperous in this great country, but also financially ignorant. I was. I couldn’t be bothered with the daily grind of personal finances, budgeting, and planning ahead. Why bother? I had so many better things to do. Besides, I had credit.
I banked on the fact that the US economy all but guaranteed an upward spiral of increasing prosperity, better-paying jobs, and appreciating home values. There would always be plenty of jobs, lots of credit, unending supplies of loans to pay for kids’ educations. If we worked hard, bigger and better cars and homes would always be within reach.
And I got away with that kind of attitude for years. But our lifestyle was built on a house of cards that could teeter only so long before it came crashing down.
I came to the end of the line and had to face just how ignorant and illiterate I was about money, or lose everything. Learning and applying simple, sound principles of money management saved my life.
Things are a lot different in America now than they were even five years ago. I believe that even greater challenges lay ahead. But despite all of that, I have very good news for you. Starting where you are right now, you can take control of your finances. You have the power to control your financial destiny.
The 7 Money Rules in this book have the power to change your life. I know, because they changed mine. The 7 Rules are the foundation on which my organization, Debt-Proof Living, is built and where over the past 20 years, thousands of people have learned how to get out of debt and live below their means.
7 Money Rules for Life will empower you to take control of your personal economy by helping you fix your finances one step at a time, moving you out of debt and ultimately to financial freedom, regardless of the country’s progress.
If you’re ready, so am I. Let’s get going . . .