“. . . True financial freedom doesn’t depend on how much money you have. Financial freedom is when you have power over your fears and anxieties instead of the other way around.”
-- Suze Orman, The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom, p.2
Step 1 Think back to your formative experiences with money and consider what these memories have taught you about who you were then and how they affect who you are today.
Step 2 Replace your financial fears with new, positive, empowering messages (i.e. "I have more money than I will ever need"; "I am in control of all my affairs"; "I have the power to put my money in good hands").
Step 3 Be honest with yourself about your current financial status and decide how you want to start spending your money.
Step 4 Be responsible to those you love by taking care of these "must-do's"wills, trusts, life insurance, durable power of attorney for health care, long-term-care insurance, and estate planning.
Step 5 Respect yourself and your money by investing wisely in retirement plans, stocks, money market accounts, and mutual funds and by eliminating credit card debt. Your actions will give that respect meaning.
Step 6 You must trust yourself more than you trust others. Pay attention to your inner voice it will tell you if how and in what you are investing is right for you.
Step 7 Give a portion of your money to others. By releasing an anxious grasp on your money, you will open yourself to receive all that is meant to be yours.
Step 8 Understand and accept the cycles of money. The setbacks you may have today or next year will not keep you from financial freedom.
If you hold on to your goals and dreams, you will get there.
Step 9 Learn to recognize true wealth. Money itself will not make you financially free. That comes as a result of only that powerful state of mind which tells us that we are worth far more than our money.

•
Financial literacy -- the vocabulary necessary to manage one’s personal finances
•
Personal finance -- the study of personal and family resources considered important in achieving financial success.
• Personal financial planning -- the development and implementation of coordinated and integrated long-range plans to achieve financial success.
• Financial success -- the achievement of financial aspirations that are desired, planned, or attempted. It is defined by the individual or family that seeks it.

1
2
3
4
5
Maximizing Earnings and Wealth
–
Wealth -- an abundance of money, property, investments, and other resources.
Practicing Efficient Consumption
– We use money for two purposes: consumption and savings
Finding Life Satisfaction
Reaching Financial Security
–
Financial Security -- the comfortable feeling that your financial resources will be adequate to fulfill any needs you have as well as most of your wants.
– To reach financial security, first you need to set and prioritize your long-and short-term goals.
Accumulating Wealth for Retirement and an Estate

• The State of the Economy
–
Economy is a system of managing the productive and employment resources of a country, community, or business.
– Economic growth is a condition of increasing production and consumption in the economy.
– Business cycle (or economic growth) is a wavelike pattern of economic activity that includes temporary phases that undulate from boom to bust.

1.
Determine your current financial situation.
2.
Develop financial goals.
3.
Identify and evaluate alternative plans to achieve your goals.
4.
Select and implement the best alternative to achieve your goals.
5.
Create and implement a financial action plan.
6.
Reevaluate and revise your plan.

Expansion
(Prosperity)
Recession
(or Depression)
Recovery
Average growth rate expected in economy

• The State of the Economy
–
Economy is a system of managing the productive and employment resources of a country, community, or business.
– Economic growth is a condition of increasing production and consumption in the economy.
– Business cycle (or economic growth) is a wavelike pattern of economic activity that includes temporary phases that undulate from boom to bust.
–
Expansion occurs when production is at a high capacity, unemployment is low, retail sales are high, and prices and interest rates are low or falling.
– Recession is generally a decline in business “a recurring period of decline in total output, income, employment, trade, usually lasting from six months to a year and marked by widespread contractions in many sectors of the economy.”
– Depression is a severe downward phase of the economic cycle where unemployment is very high, prices are very low, the level of living decreases sharply, and economic activity virtually ceases.

• Tracking at least two statistics may help understand the direction of the economy:
–
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) -- the value of all goods and services produced by workers and capital located in the United States, regardless of ownership.

• Inflation -- a steady rise in the general level of prices.
•
Deflation -- falling prices.
• When prices are rising, an individual’s income also must rise to maintain its purchasing power , which is a measure of the goods and services that one’s income will buy.
• Your real income reflects the actual buying power of your nominal income (also called money income .)

•
Percentage change in personal income -
– (nominal income after raise/nominal income before raise -1) x 100
•
For example, if Edward received a $1,600 raise to increase his annual salary from $37,000 to $38,600 during a year with annual inflation of 4%, his personal change in income would be calculated as follows:
His nominal increase would be:
$38,600
37,000 = 1.043 -1 x 100 = 4.3%
However, because inflation was 4%, his real increase was only .3% (4.3% nominal increase – 4% inflation = .3% real increase). In real dollars Edward’s increase would be calculated as follows:
•
Real income -
– nominal income after raise/1 + previous inflation rate
• Edward’s real income =
$38,600
1 + 0.040 = $37,115

• Inflation -- a steady rise in the general level of prices.
• Deflation -- falling prices.
• When prices are rising, an individual’s income also must rise to maintain its purchasing power , which is a measure of the goods and services that one’s income will buy.
• Your real income reflects the actual buying power of your nominal income (also called money income .)
•
Interest is the price of money. Savers make no money when the inflation rate is equal to or higher than their interest rate. In fact, they are worse off -- “going broke slowly.”
• Federal fund rate -- the rate banks charge one another on overnight loans.

•
Opportunity Costs -- the value of the next best alternative that must forgone.
– Opportunity costs are hard to quantify because most involve personal tastes and preferences
“[For many, the] biggest problems in life today . . . Are directly connected with their early, formative experience with money.” (9 Steps to Financial Freedom, p. 7).
•
Utility -- the ability of a good or service to satisfy a human want.
•
Marginal Utility -- the extra satisfaction derived from having one more incremental unit of a product or service.
• Marginal Costs -- the additional cost of one more incremental unit of some item.

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Marginal Tax Rate -- is the tax rate at which your last dollar earned is taxed.
Assume Juanita has taxable income of $32,000 and receives a $1,000 bonus from her employer. Juanita’s federal tax rate is 28% and her state tax rate is 6%. What is
Juanita’s effective marginal tax rate ?
1,000 x .28 = $280.00 Federal taxes
1,000 x .06 = $ 60.00 State taxes
1,000 x .0765 = $ 76.50 Social Security Taxes
Total Taxes .4165 $416.40

$250,000
$200,000
$150,000
Taxable Returns
Tax Sheltered Returns
$100,000
$50,000
$0
10
Years
15
Years
20
Years
25
Years
30
Years

•
Time value of money is the idea that paying or receiving money over time is affected by the fact that money can earn a positive rate of return over time.
– For example, if you were to win the lottery and be offered the choice to receive a lump sum of
$1,000,000 now or payments of $60,000 per year for 20 years for a total of $1,200,000. The more favorable answer for you depends upon the interest rate you could earn on your investment.
•
Present value (or discounted value) is the current value of an asset that will be received in the future.
•
Future value is the valuation of an asset projected to the end of a particular time period in the future.
Basic calculations:
FV = (Present value of sum of money)( I + 1.0)(I + 1.0)(I + 1.0) . . .
Or FV = (PV)(1 + I) n
PV = (FV)(1 + I) -n
(Calculation assumes compound interest)

•
Assume you have the option of two different investment options. First, a friend wanted to borrow $5,000 for three years and pay you back $6,000 in a lump sum. Second, you could invest the same $5,000 for three years in a government bond paying 7 percent annual interest. Which investment would be the best financial decision?
FV = (PV)(1 + I) n
= (5,000)(1+.07) 3
= 5,000 x 1.225043
= $6,125.22
You would earn $125.22 more by investing in the government bonds.

Periods 5%
1
2
1.0500
1.1025
6%
1.0600
1.1236
7%
1.0700
1.1449
8%
1.0800
1.1664
3
4
5
6
1.1576
1.1910
1.2250
1.2597
1.2155
1.2625
1.3108
1.3607
1.2763
1.3401
1.3382
1.4185
1.4026
1.5007
1.4693
1.5869

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Simple Interest is the interest computed on principal only
Interest = Principle x Rate x Time or I = P x R x T.
•
Compound Interest is the calculation of interest on interest as well as interest on the original investment.
Future Value of $10,000 with Interest Compounded Annually
$600,000
$500,000
$400,000
$300,000
$200,000
$100,000
$0
14%
12%
10%
8%
6%
0 10 20 30

•
A handy formula to calculate the number of years it takes to double principal using compound interest is the
Rule of 72 . You simply divide the interest rate the money will earn into the number 72. For example, if interest is compounded at a rate of 7 % per year, your principle will double every
10.3 years. If the rate is 6 %, it will take 12 years.The rule of 72 also works for determining how long it would take for the price of something to double given a rate of increase in the price.
For example, if college tuition costs are rising 8 % per year, the cost of college education doubles in just over nine years.
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
12% 10% 8% 6% 4%

•
Fringe Benefit is compensation for employment that does not take form of wages, salaries, commissions, or other cash payments. Examples include paid holidays, health insurance, and a retirement plan. Some fringe benefits are tax-sheltered, such as a flexible spending accounts and retirement accounts.

• Fringe Benefit is compensation for employment that does not take form of wages, salaries, commissions, or other cash payments. Examples include paid holidays, health insurance, and a retirement plan. Some fringe benefits are tax-sheltered, such as a flexible spending accounts and retirement accounts.
The Positive Effects of a Flexible Spending Account
Without With Flexible Spending the Plan The Plan Account
Monthly salary $2,500 $2,500 --
To FSA account -(410) $410
Taxable salary $2,500 $2,090
Income tax* (248) (186)
Social Security tax (191) (160)
Salary after taxes $2,061 $1,744
Medical and/or
Dependent care expenses (410) (410)
Take home pay $1,651 $1,344
FSA reimbursement -410 (410)
Effective take home pay $1,651 $1,744

Retirement and estate planning
Investment planning
Income and asset protection
Managing expenditures
Cash and credit management
Financial planning
Lifetime Financial Objectives
Accumulate wealth for retirement
Reach financial security
Find life satisfaction
Practice efficient consumption
Maximize earnings and wealth

Housing
Expenses
Long-Term
Goals
Checking
Account
Mutual
Funds
Credit
Cards
Financially
Successful Life
Stocks and
Bonds
Installment
Loans
Real
Estate
Savings
Accounts
Transportation
Expenses
Short-Term
Goals
Insurance
Expenses
Organized
Financial Records
Savings
Account
Money Market
Account
Income
Taxes
Realistic
Budget
Insurance
Protection
Pension
Plans
Education
Costs
Contingencies
Emergency
Savings Fund
Employee
Fringe Benefits
Use of regular income to provide basic lifestyle and savings to meet emergencies
Achieve
Invest
Handle
Manage
Establish
Base
Foundation

Bad Debt
= Debt Danger Ratio
Annual Income
Debt Danger Ratio beyond 25% can spell trouble.