Chatzky - Make money, not excuses: wake up, take charge, and overcome your financial fears forever

CONTENTS

This book is for my mother, with love and admiration.

SPECIAL TO THE PAPERBACK EDITION

Real Women, Real Success

I was running through the halls of OHare Airport, heading toward one of the far-flung K gates. I passed the bookshop, then the Dunkin Donuts, one or two of the makeshift kiosks where someone tries to sell you yet another credit card. Breathing was getting harder (you try running in 4-inch heels while pulling a wheelie bag), but I was determined to keep going. Why? Because there were people on my heels. People who, like me, were determined to get on the next flight into the New York City area. People, who, like me, had just received the news that their prior flight was canceled because of problems with the aircraft.

I should have known better. I wasnt originally scheduled to be on that now not-departing flight. I was scheduled to be on a later flight. But I was early, so Id quickly swapped. And now, like all of these other poor schnooks, I was in for a long, depressing eveningthe highlight of which was likely to be a soft pretzel rolled in cinnamon sugar accompanied by some bad Chardonnay from the nearest bar.

Jean! A voice pulled me out of my travel fog. Jeanis that you?

I looked around, trying to find the face. This happens to me a lot, as it would to you if youd spent the past dozen years appearing pretty regularly on shows like Today and Oprah. People want to say hi. They want to tell you about their latest money problems, the fight they had with their insurance company, the $1,500 loan to a friend that looks like it will never be paid back, and how they got a great rate on their credit card. They want to know if Matt and Meredith are really as nice as they seem (and yes, they are.) Usually the conversations are briefbut not this time. Rhonda, a 52-year-old single mom, had something important to say when she caught up with me at the end of the line.

Your book changed my life, she said. Really.

All of a sudden, my day was looking up.

We sat down to await news of our flightshe, too, was trying to get to New Yorkand she told me her story.

After years on the payroll of a large corporation, Rhonda branched out and started her own educational training company. Business was good. But her checks, rather than coming in small regular bursts, came in large lump sums. They had her paralyzed.

I felt like I had way too much money coming into my hands at one time and I was afraid. I was afraid to do anything with it. I asked friends, but that didnt help. For months the money just sat in checking. Then I saw your book on Oprah and I went out and got it the very next morning. I literally sat in the car and started reading it. And I made the decision to find a financial planner. Theres a checklist in the book of questions to ask, which I took with me to my appointments. It made me feel confident and empowered.

After interviewing several, Rhonda found the planner that she was looking for. Today, they touch base each week and she monitors her accounts online just as often.

At 52though she looks more like 42Rhonda is acutely aware that she has more time behind her in the workplace than ahead. She caught a big break when her 21-year-old son landed a 4-year academic scholarship to college. But she wants to be sure to use whatever earning power she has left to buy a townhouse, quickly vanquish its mortgage payments, and stuff her retirement account as full as possible.

My company has five years left on its biggest contract. After that, it may renew, but if that doesnt happen at least when its over I will have the comfort of knowing I have a roof over my head.

A few months later (yes, we finally made it to New York that night), I decided to check in with Rhonda to see how she was doing. She sent me this e-mail.

Thank you so much for following up. I must tell you that my copy of your book is pretty frayed as it truly is my bible. It rests on either my bedside table or my bed. Even though I have read it cover to cover several times, I still keep it nearby just for affirmation.

Chapter 9 is my favorite. Because of you, I am working closely with a financial planner who has me on a realistic track for retirement planning. For the first time in my life, I am a consistent saver and have brokerage accounts as well.

I thought that my sleepless nights were a result of menopause, only to find that I was fearful for my future. Thanks to you, I can sleep like a baby. Just last week I felt there was more money in my checking account than I needed. At that very moment, I moved it to a savings account. That was such a high! Saving is actually fun and I am a living example that it is not too late.

I was grateful for her noteand also inspired.

And so, as I sat down to fine-tune Make Money, Not Excuses before it headed into paperback, I thought Id check in with some of the other women who wrote me saying MMNE had made a difference in their lives. My assistant, Arielle McGowen, a talented reporter in her own right, checks our various e-mail boxes as part of her daily routine (I answer as many as I can on the radio and occasionally in print, but I cant respond to them all myself anymore), so I called to ask if she had seen any book-related success stories lately. Are you kidding? she replied. We get them every day. She sent a few along and I started reading, then making phone calls. The following are a random sampling from women who came to MMNE at different points in their lives for very different reasons. I hope you find them as enlightening, and as energizing, as I did.

A WOMAN STARTING OVER

Over the past two years, Lucya 50-year-old graphic designer in New Yorkwatched her world turn upside-down. Her long-term live-in romance came to an end, which meant that shed have to find another place to live. Without the means to immediately take another place, she panicked. I realized I wasnt prepared to be self-sufficient, she acknowledges. Fortunately, a friend offered her an empty bed while she got her bearings. Two weeks later, her 90-year-old mother passed away.

It was a very bad start to the year.

A condolence call from a friend made it worse. She sat me down and said, Ill tell you: You have to make sure you have assets of your own. You have to have your own nest egg. You can never allow yourself to be without a home of your own from now on. Lucy admits she wasnt prepared for such a dressing down. But she took it all in, started to process it, and tried to figure out if there was a way to shore up her own finances and make it happen.

Then life took a turn for the better. As one of nine brothers and sisters, Lucy assumed that if her parents left her any money at all it would be a very little bit. In fact, they left her and her siblings each with a sizable amount of money. When I heard about this, I felt like I had an incredible opportunity and a really big responsibility all at the same time. I thought, I have to figure out a way to make this money get me into that place where Im responsible for myself.

Soon after that, she picked up MMNE. Lucy, too, had seen the Debt Diet on Oprah (if youre looking for details of the Debt Diet, check out my book Pay It Down!). She was drawn to the pie chart that lays outin clear termswhat percentage of your money should be spent on housing (35), debt repayment (15), transportation (15), saving (10), and everything else (25). She took notes. Then she went out and got the book.