Robert Shemin - AARP the Seven S.E.C.R.E.T.S. of the Money Masters

Maybe youre thinking its time to review your investment strategy and make the most of the money you have today. Maybe youve already built a financially successful retirement egg and want to protect what youve built. Or maybe you need to bulk up your earnings to ensure your familys future.

Dedicated to helping you protect your assets, stretch your dollars, and bolster your longterm security, AARP can offer you powerful solutions. Whatever your strategy for managing money, weve got suggestions that will help from saving money on that next big purchase to planning your charitable giving. If youre taking your job to the next level or building up a second career, weve got strategies that will help you make your mark.

You may think your money or your financial advisor should be working harder for you. You may be watching market trends and seeing new opportunities. And, of course, you want to protect yourself and your loved ones from scams and data breaches. We can give you the support you need.

And turn to us for fun, too. (Is it time for that car, that trip, that weekend home youve always wanted?) Because that, too, is what this time of your life is about.

AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization that helps people
50 and older improve their lives. For more than 50 years, AARP has been serving
our members and society by creating positive social change. AARPs mission
is to enhance the quality of life for all as we age; lead positive social change;
and deliver value to members through information, service and advocacy. This
information in this book is for educational purposes and does not constitute
financial advice.

Table of Contents

Additional Praise forThe Seven S.E.C.R.E.T.S. of the Money Masters

We have used these ideas at Top Gun to focus and define our leadership to better serve all those we come in contact with. I heartily endorse this book as a useful guide to improving and strengthening your vision, leadership, and money-management. 7 Secrets is a great guide filled with wisdom, practical ideas, insights, and activities designed to make you think and grow.

Robert Dean, Jr., International Network Marketing Guru

7 Secrets is not just another book on money management. It is a truly useful guide to what the reader can and should do. The authors recognize that there is just as much power in developing a money-mindset as there is in understanding the mechanics of economic theory. I recommend this book to my organization and suggest you do the same.

Bob Steed, CEO, Trivani International

Robert Shemin has done it again! He (and his co-author) have taken some very complex and often intimidating subjects and made them very easy for the average American to fully understand. But even more important than this understanding is that he provides a plan; some action steps that anyone can take today to achieve and secure a healthy financial future. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who needs a bit more clarity in their overall financial and investing life.

Scott M. Estill PC, Of Counsel, Estill & Long, LLC

For Ariel, Malia, and Alexander

Preface

So its a down economy, right? How often do we hear that? Would it surprise you to hear that we disagree? Before you put this book down, let us explain. You see, a down economy implies that there will be an up economy. Sure, there are waves and cycles. But there is something more important. There is YOU. Rather than thinking in terms of down or up, think in terms of CHANGED. We are living in an economy that is forever changed. Think of it this way: you are living in a PERSONAL economy; a VALUE-BASED economy. No matter what is going on around you, there remains the question of what is going on IN you. While its important to be a student and to learn economic trends, conditions, and forecasts, Over and above that, there will always be YOU. So work on becoming better, more educated, and more valuable. Work on your personal economy. The reality is that you may need a better strategy.

Suppose you were given the opportunity to play in the Masters, the worlds most prestigious golf tournament, and you were given two choices. You could pick the golfer you admired mostanyone from todays game or one of the all-time greats who are now retired or deceasedand take one of two things from him. You could have access to all of his equipment, including top-of-the-line clubs, custom-made shoes, even his expert caddy, or you could have his swing. Which would you choose?

If you were smart, youd take the swing. Clubs, balls, and the other tools of the trade are just products, and every year something new and better comes along. Frankly, a top-ranked professional golfer could probably toss aside his clubs, break a limb off a tree alongside the fairway, and still beat you and me to the cup. But his swingthats something that cant be duplicated. Its his philosophy, his strategy. Its what sets him apart from everyone else. Its what makes him a master.

What is a master? Very simply, its someone who has done something over and over and over again until he or she is the best at it.

In todays financial landscape, there is no shortage of people who claim to be masters at helping us make the most of our money. You have probably received mail from several of them, perhaps inviting you to a complimentary lunch or dinner to learn how to stretch your retirement fund or ensure that your children can get an Ivy League education. Maybe youve been invited to an all-day seminar that claims to reveal a foolproof plan for turning $999 into $499,999.

If you suffer from insomnia, youve almost certainly come across late-night infomercials featuring so-called money masters who have developed a unique formula for getting free money from the federal government, picking winning stocks, or any of a hundred other wealth-producing schemes that you, too, can access for the low price of $39.99, or just $29.99if youre one of the first 50 callers!

Every citys phone book has page after page of display ads for individuals and firms who want to provide you with financial advice. Do a Google search for how to invest money and youll get nearly 12 million hits.

Your local bookstore undoubtedly has a large selection of books and magazines designed to help you manage your money, and of course every large newspaper has a financial section. There are even several television networks dedicated entirely to money, investing, and finance.

Do all these people qualify as masters? Of course not. In fact, there is a good chance that your own stockbroker or financial adviser is far, far less than a master, and perhaps doesnt know much more than you do about selecting the right investments for your personal situation.

As well demonstrate, many financial advisers are better at selling their services than they are at actually helping you make sound decisions. They stride down the fairway with confidence because theyre equipped with the newest, shiniest set of golf clubs, but they lack one important thingthe knowledgeable, skilled, practiced swing of a master.