From Here to Financial Happiness

Just 77 days to a happier, more prosperous life!

From Here to Financial Happiness is the day-by-day guide for anyone dreaming of a better life. Whether you’re dealing with debt, uncertain about retirement or simply want to get a grip on your finances, this book can put you on the road to happiness with a simple 11-week journey. Just 5-10 minutes a day to think about money, your habits, your goals, and your dreams. What steps can you take today to get your finances on track? What bad habits, bad investments, and misconceptions should you let go of? This book is packed with 77 days’ worth of real, actionable guidance for getting your money right—for good. It’s not an investment scheme, not extreme couponing, not something else to add to your daily to-do list. Instead, it’s about changing you—and the way you handle and think about money—so you can start building the life of your dreams.

The next 11 weeks will be a revelation: Some days you’ll learn about finance, other days you’ll learn about yourself. Many days, you will be given a concrete list of things to do—right at that moment—to start steering your financial situation onto the right path.

• Learn how to stack the financial odds in your favor
• Amass savings for retirement, the children’s college or that next financial emergency
• Change your perspective on money and its role in your life

• Get your financial house in order—and keep it that way

A better life is possible. You do have the power to change things for the better. From Here to Financial Happiness is your personal roadmap to financial freedom.

Day One: Start Here, Go Anywhere 1

Day Two: Failure Is Not an Option 3

Day Three: Dream a Little 7

Day Four: Embrace Humility 11

Day Five: Twin Wins 15

Day Six: Piling It On 17

Day Seven: Everything’s a Tradeoff 21

Day Eight: How Happy? 25

Day Nine: Running the Treadmill 27

Day Ten: What – Me Worry? 29

Day Eleven: Lending a Hand 31

Day Twelve: Looking Back 35

Day Thirteen: Control What You Can 37

Day Fourteen: Keep It Simple 39

Day Fifteen: Happy Days 43

Day Sixteen: Older and Wiser 45

Day Seventeen: Life Support 47

Day Eighteen: Desperately Seeking Solvency 49

Day Nineteen: Sleeping Better 53

Day Twenty: Home Schooling 57

Day Twenty: One True Believers 61

Day Twenty: Two Hunting but Not Gathering 63

Day Twenty: Three Fixing to Win 67

Day Twenty: Four What It Takes 71

Day Twenty: Five Be Kind to Your Future Self 73

Day Twenty: Six Ups and Downs 77

Day Twenty: Seven Enjoying Your Dollars 81

Day Twenty: Eight The Human Touch 85

Day Twenty: Nine Taking Charge 87

Day Thirty: Everybody in the Pool 89

Day Thirty: One Cover Me 91

Day Thirty: Two Just in Case 95

Day Thirty: Three Hits and Misses 99

Day Thirty: Four Wishes Come True (Maybe) 101

Day Thirty: Five Peering Forward, Glancing Back 105

Day Thirty: Six Driving Yourself Crazy 107

Day Thirty: Seven Wheeling Dealing 109

Day Thirty: Eight Taking Credit 111

Day Thirty: Nine Running Up the Score 115

Day Forty: Automate It 117

Day Forty: One Added Interest 121

Day Forty: Two Clearing the Hurdle 125

Day Forty: Three Be an Owner 127

Day Forty: Four All You Are 129

Day Forty: Five Riding the Life Cycle 133

Day Forty: Six Taking Aim 137

Day Forty: Seven The Last Shall Be First 139

Day Forty: Eight Marking Time 141

Day Forty: Nine Calling It Quits 145

Day Fifty: Needs First, Wants Second 149

Day Fifty: One Getting Real about Real Estate 153

Day Fifty: Two Homeward Bound 157

Day Fifty: Three The Kids Are All Right 161

Day Fifty: Four Compounding for Life 165

Day Fifty: Five History Lesson 169

Day Fifty: Six Fear Factor 171

Day Fifty: Seven It’s All in the Mix 173

Day Fifty: Eight Spreading Your Bets 177

Day Fifty: Nine Reducing Drag 179

Day Sixty: Cutting Taxes 183

Day Sixty One: Worth the Wait 187

Day Sixty Two: Everything in Its Place 189

Day Sixty Three: Unbeatable 193

Day Sixty Four: Matching the Market 195

Day Sixty Five: One-Stop Shopping 199

Day Sixty Six: Coping with Crazy Markets 203

Day Sixty Seven: Keeping Your Balance 205

Day Sixty Eight: Negative Bonds 207

Day Sixty Nine: Borrowed Time 209

Day Seventy: Imposing Order 213

Day Seventy One: Playing Favorites 215

Day Seventy Two: Moving On 219

Day Seventy Three: Cents and Sensibilities 223

Day Seventy Four: Hiring Help 225

Day Seventy Five: The Virtuous Cycle 229

Day Seventy Six: What Money Buys 233

Day Seventy Seven: Final Wishes 235

Acknowledgments 239

About the Author 241

JONATHAN CLEMENTS is the founder of HumbleDollar.com and author of seven earlier personal finance books, including How to Think About Money. He sits on the advisory board and investment committee of Creative Planning, one of the country's largest independent financial advisors. Jonathan spent almost 20 years at The Wall Street Journal and worked for six years at Citigroup, where he was Director of Financial Education for Citi Personal Wealth Management.

From Here to Financial Happiness is your step-by-step, day-by-day guide for creating the life you have always dreamed of. Together with financial guru Jonathan Clements, you will embark on a 77-day journey that takes only 5 to 10 minutes a day to accomplish. Along the way, you will not only discover how to get your financial house in order, but also uncover some realities about yourself and how you think about money—including old ideas that may be holding you back from realizing your goals.

No matter what your current financial situation may be—buried in debt, worried about retirement, or simply wanting to get a grip on your finances—this book is designed to put you on the road to happiness and get you focused on money, your habits, your goals, and your dreams. You will learn the concrete steps you can take right now to get your finances on the right track—for good. In addition, you will discover the bad habits, investments, and misconceptions that you need to let go of.

Imagine, in just 11 weeks, you will have the confidence and tools you need to change your perspective on money and the role it plays in your life. You will start stacking the financial odds in your favor and amassing the savings needed for retirement, the children's college fund, or that next financial emergency.

Take the From Here to Financial Happiness challenge and you will discover what you truly want from your financial life, while learning how to save, keep debt to a minimum, hold down investment costs, minimize taxes, and avoid unnecessarily risky investments.

You Can Have a Happier, More Prosperous Life in Just 77 Days!

"We all get just one shot at making the financial journey from here to retirement, and we can't afford to fail. Even if we want to work for the rest of our lives, that simply isn't realistic: One day, our employer or our aging body will force us out of the workforce—and at that point we'll need a hefty pile of savings.

How can we stack the odds in our favor, so we have a high likelihood of amassing that decent-size nest egg? In the days ahead, we'll focus on some simple, no-nonsense strategies." —From Chapter Two

Praise for From Here to Financial Happiness

"Bookstore shelves fairly groan with tomes on how to successfully earn, save and invest. Trouble is, those are the easy part. What's harder is understanding how your assets impinge on your psyche, and no one has thought and written more deeply on that fraught relationship than Jonathan Clements. From Here to Financial Happiness navigates those turbulent waters better than anything I've come across: read, enjoy and profit." —WILLIAM BERNSTEIN, author, The Four Pillars of Investing

"If you suspect you would benefit from a private conversation about your money with a genial expert, and who will do all this at your convenience and at almost no cost, this is the book for you—and for those you love."—CHARLES ELLIS, author, Winning the Loser's Game

"This interactive investment guide clearly presents the time-tested financial advice you need to achieve your investment goals. What's unique: It draws the reader into the decision process—and personalizes the best strategy to achieve a richer financial life."—BURTON MALKIEL, author, A Random Walk Down Wall Street

"Jonathan Clements has always had a mission to help people achieve financial success and be more thoughtful about their money. His new book guides readers on an interactive journey from financial rules of the game to financial security and, most importantly, to happiness."—PETER MALLOUK, author, The 5 Mistakes Every Investor Makes and How to Avoid Them

From Here to Financial Happiness is your day-by-day guide to living the life you've always wanted but were unsure how to attain. Once you take the 11-week journey with financial expert Jonathan Clements, you will have a fresh perspective on you — and the way you handle and think about money.