Power Up: Taking Charge of Your Financial Destiny

by Howard S. Dvorkin

Overview

A proven survival guide for these economically rocky, debt-ridden times

Millions of people suffer financial hardship due to job loss and a variety of other factors. What you need to do in order to take control of your financial destiny includes changing the way you confront and deal with everyday pressures related to shopping, advertising, credit cards, keeping up with the Joneses, and spending money.

In Power Up, Howard Dvorkin—founder of Consolidated Credit Counseling Services—draws on his years of experience helping thousands of people overcome devastating financial hardship. He provides you with time-tested strategies and powerful tools to rebuild your financial life on a solid and enduring foundation. Besides discussing guidelines for creating a realistic budget and sticking to it, Dvorkin also shares tips on how to learn to live without credit cards—and love doing it—as well as puts you in a better position to understand the difference between what you want and what you need.

• Filled with effective budgeting tools, worksheets, and other valuable forms
• Provides a look at the tricks that lenders and credit card companies use to make you a slave to debt
• Offers ideas on how to redirect your urge to shop into activities that satisfy your deeper needs and methods to improve your fiscal psychology
• Contains priceless advice on how to educate your kids about money and personal finance

Do you want a chance to start over again with a clean slate? Do you want the peace of mind that comes with knowing you're in charge of your financial destiny? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then it's time to Power Up!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781118731499
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	10/21/2013
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	6.02(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.52(d)

About the Author

HOWARD S. DVORKIN, CPA, is the founder of Consolidated Credit, an organization that has helped more than 5 million people over the last twenty years. He has helped thousands of individuals face and overcome devastating financial hardships and avoid personal bankruptcy. Mr. Dvorkin also is a personal finance columnist for Fox Business News online, and he has been interviewed about debt and personal finance by the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Fortune, Entrepreneur, American Banker, Investor's Business Daily, Good Housekeeping, Better Homes and Gardens, Family Circle, and more. He has also been a guest on countless national and local television and radio outlets, including CBS Evening News, The Early Show, ABC World News, and CNN.

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Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION ix

Chapter ONE The Path That Led You Here 1

Who the Heck Are the Joneses, and Why Are You Trying to Keep Up with Them? 4

Adding to the Cart 7

Emotional Buying 10

Buying What You Can’t Maintain 12

The Influence of Advertising 14

Chapter TWO Start to Become Empowered 23

Crafting a Budget 26

Examples of Budget Sheets 27

Worksheets for Expenses 28

Fixed Expenses 28

Flexible Expenses 32

Discretionary Expenses 34

Time to Calculate 37

The Frugal Philosophy 39

Chapter THREE Discovering a New Outlook on Life and Money 47

Identify Your Values: Work, Friends, and Family 50

The Value of Money 61

The Value of Living for Tomorrow 64

Chapter FOUR Staying on the Right Path 67

Find a Hobby 70

A Life without Credit Cards 78

Differentiating Needs from Wants 82

Chapter FIVE Teach Your Children Well 109

Talk to Your Kids about Money 112

Kids and Values 118

Prepare Your Teenagers 121

Chapter SIX Introduction to Banking 129

Choosing a Bank 133

Credit Unions 135

Types of Accounts 136

What Is a Check? 137

How to Open an Account 139

Electronic Banking 139

Types of Loans 141

Investing Your Money 144

Mutual Funds 146

Chapter SEVEN Continuing on Your Financial Freedom Quest 149

Find Your Green 153

It’s Time to Step Out on Your Own 160

GLOSSARY 163

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 173

INDEX 176