One Year to an Organized Financial Life: From Your Bills to Your Bank Account, Your Home to Your Retirement, the Week-by-Week Guide to Achieving Financial Peace of Mind

by Regina Leeds, Russell Wild (With)

Overview

Do you constantly feel anxious about money? Have unopened credit card statements piled up on your countertop? Are you forever losing receipts for items you meant to return? In an economic downturn taking charge of your financial well-being is more crucial than ever. One Year to an Organized Financial Life is a unique week-by-week plan to make saving money simple, automatic, and stress-free.

For decades, professional organizer Regina Leeds and financial advisor Russell Wild have helped thousands of clients get their lives in order. Using Leeds's "Zen organizing" approach, which addresses the underlying causes of chaos and replaces them with routines, they now show readers the steps to improving finances within a manageable timeframe. From sticking to a budget to getting out of debt, curbing spending to maximizing retirement savings, One Year to an Organized Financial Life makes it possible for anyone to live more richly on less.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780738213675
Publisher:	Hachette Books
Publication date:	12/29/2009
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Regina Leeds, a professional organizer, has brought order to home and work environments for two decades. She lives in Toluca Lake, California.

Russell Wild is a NAPFA-certified financial advisor and the principal of Global Portfolios. He lives in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Table of Contents

Introduction l

1 January: Take Control 9

Week 1 Uncover the Origins of Your Relationship with Money 11

Week 2 Clean Out What You Carry 16

Week 3 Streamline Your Home Office Space 21

Week 4 Set Up a Financial File System 27

2 February: Assess Your Finances 35

Week 1 Pay Your Bills on Time 37

Week 2 Determine Your Income and Fixed Expenses 42

Week 3 Determine Your Variable Expenses 45

Week 4 Take a Fresh Look at Your Expenses 47

3 March: Get Ready for Taxes 52

Week 1 Decide Which Documents to Save 53

Week 2 Stop the Paper Stacks 56

Week 3 Prepare Your Tax Returns 59

Week 4 Signed, Sealed, Delivered 64

4 April: Spend Less, Save More 68

Week 1 Reduce Your Expenses 70

Week 2 Harness Your Marketability 79

Week 3 Working with Your Budget 84

Week 4 Banking Made Brighter 86

5 May: Borrow Smart 92

Week 1 Lower Your Cost of Credit 94

Week 2 Curb Credit Card Spending 98

Week 3 Reduce and Rejoice 102

Week 4 Protect Your Identity 104

6 June: Build a Nest Egg 108

Week 1 Establish a Retirement Plan 110

Week 2 Calculate How Much You Need to Save 114

Week 3 Assess How Much Risk You Can Afford 116

Week 4 Max Out Where It Pays 120

7 July: Make Long-Range Financial Plans 124

Week 1 Decide Whether You Need a Financial Advisor 126

Week 2 Maintain Your Portfolio 130

Week 3 Draw Up a Will and Trust 134

Week 4 Review Your Beneficiary Forms 140

8 August: Refinance and Downsize Options 143

Week 1 Look for Downsizing Opportunities 145

Week 2 Clear the Clutter, Room by Room 154

Week 3 Hold a Yard Sale 160

Week 4 Determine If You Should Refinance 165

9 September: Children and Money 173

Week 1Frugality for Parents 175

Week 2 Educate Your Children about Money 180

Week 3 Save for College 183

Week 4 How Your Child Can Contribute 188

10 October: Protect Your Assets 193

Week 1 Medical Insurance 195

Week 2 Homeowner's and Renter's Policies 202

Week 3 Disability and Long-Term Care Coverage 205

Week 4 Planes, Trains, and Automobiles 208

11 November: The Season for Sane Spending 212

Week 1 Holiday Budget 214

Week 2 Gift-Giving 217

Week 3 Family Gatherings 225

Week 4 Holiday Travel 229

12 December: Year-End Money Moves 234

Week 1 Tasks for Every December 236

Week 2 Tax-Loss Harvesting 238

Week 3 Charitable Giving 240

Week 4 Move Smoothly into the Future 243

Acknowledgments 249

Resources 251

Index 259

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly, 11/23/09
“This is an excellent start to creating a solid financial foundation and future.”

Tucson Citizen, 1/8/2010
“From sticking to a budget to getting our of debt, One Year to an Organized Financial Life is essential and accessible.”

Atlantic City Weekly, 2/9/10
“One Year to an Organized Financial Life is the portal to a lifelong practice of money clarity and order.”

Boston Globe, 2/21/10
“A nuts-and-bolts guide to organizing your files, paying your bills, and cutting costs and clutter…[Leeds’] advice is simple, practical, and essential…Calm and empowering, this handy guide is so well thought-out that just leafing through the pages might make you feel more in control.”

Curled Up With a Good Book, 4/19/10
“[An] absolutely marvelous book…[Leeds and Wild have] developed a deceptively simple (and extremely easy) method for whipping your whole life into shape…Invest in this guide, follow the advice of Leeds and Wild, and put your money to work for you.

From the Publisher

Leeds (One Year to an Organized Life), a “professional organizer,” and Wild, a financial adviser, apply Leeds's “Zen Organizing” philosophy to replace financial mayhem with method through digestible weekly steps over the course of one year. The authors begin by guiding readers through an emotional audit of their history with money, ridding their work spaces of clutter, and organizing key financial documents. January is “time to take control,” and the authors provide step-by-step instructions on preparing for tax season and retooling spending habits while laying the groundwork for protecting long-term assets. Savings and retirement vehicles are discussed at an extremely macro level—but the extensive resource section compensates for the oversight. By devoting the entire month of November to getting ready for end-of-year holidays, the authors drive home how planning ahead can alleviate the pain of unforeseen expenses. This is an excellent start to creating a solid financial foundation and future. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly