Eat Your Spinach

Chapter 8: Eat Your Spinach: Act Now

Here is our condensed advice. Follow the guidelines below to wealth and happiness by starting to save and invest early in life, or trust your future
to luck and an uncaring world.

Save and Invest Now

Do a budget - Itemize your income and spending. Review your budget every few months.
Save before you spend - Make savings your number one priority. Control your spending – do you really need all that stuff? Pay off credit cards each month - do not accumulate a running balance.
Save as much as possible - Save at least 10 percent of your income, more if possible. Save your salary and wage increases.
Start saving at a young age - Let compound interest work for you. The longer you can accumulate money, the more you will have.
Save regularly and automatically - Put your savings on automatic pilot. Set up automatic transfers from your checking and savings accounts to your retirement accounts. Keep some cash in a money market account or certificates of deposits.
Set up retirement accounts - Tax shelter your retirement nest egg to increase your returns. Set up automatic transfers from your pay check into your retirement account. Save the maximum allowed by law. Do not borrow money from your retirement accounts. Use a full-service or discount broker.

More in this chapter:

Accumulate Wealth

Sound Investments at Any Age

Long-term Investments

Short-term Investments

Where to Buy

You can order this book in hardcover or paperback from XLibris.