Christine Ibbotson - How to Retire Debt-Free and Wealthy

Imagine you are on a beautiful beach in your most favourite place to vacation. It is a magnificent dayclear skies, warm breezes, and miles of white sand with long views of the crystal blue ocean. At this moment, you have not a care in the world. Your thoughts are clear of financial worry, and the only decision you need to make is whether the waiter should bring you another Strawberry Daiquiri. Is this not how you want retirement to be? Not a care about money, no debt, and the freedom to travel or do whatever you want? Of course, we all want this!

Now back to reality. In todays busy life, most people are worried about their jobs, their kids, and what to make for dinner. Planning for the future is usually last on the list. Most believe it is too difficult to understand all the ins and outs of the financial markets, how to save and plan for the future, and how to pay off their mortgage. They would rather leave it up to someone else to make the decisions on their retirement portfolios. Of course, they haggle tooth-and-nail for the lowest possible rate on a mortgage renewal, and question their financial advisor when their annual fees seem too high and their return is taking a swan dive into the pond of retirement uncertainty. But apart from this, most of us just think it will hopefully happen, as though some magical fairy will guide us to retirement and tell us what to invest in to ensure we can retire comfortably.

I hope I can retire at sixtymaybe not? Unfortunately, most people wait too long to plan, and then panic.

Today, the majority of people live paycheque to paycheque, and dont seek professional advice to attain their own customized financial plan. They usually think they will be forced into buying an investment product they dont want, or they just dont see the value in having it done. They say they are too busy, and become close-minded to the concept of devising a plan for their future. The fact is that most clients between the ages of thirty-five and forty-nine would have their lifestyles severely compromised, immediately, if they missed only one paycheque for any reason. So, what will happen when you are on a fixed retirement income that is most likely half of what you are taking home now?

Very few clients entering retirement will want to compromise their current lifestyles, but will find it difficult to live on less income, especially if they still have a mortgage or outstanding debt. Even after downsizing and compromising lifestyle dreams, they still find they need to return to work on a part-time basis. Clients without debt also might need to return to the workforce to delay withdrawals from their investment portfolio in the hope it will continue to grow.

Plain and simple, you must create your own customized financial plan. And here in this book you will have all the tools and techniques to save and eliminate debt. Have you ever wondered why other people are debt-free and youre not? Why do they have money and they are not stressed about the future? What did they do? How did they do it?

It is very simple. If you do what other financially successful people have done, you will get the same results. There is no magic bean to plant or pill to swallow. You do not have to have some unique idea to become wealthy. All you need to do is find out how people like you are creating wealth, and copy them! Yes, I said copy them! Find out how others are saving and making money, and do the same thing. You will get the same results! Its no miracle, its just common sense. It doesnt matter where your finances are now. All that matters are what changes you are willing to make to take control of your future. If you want to achieve a higher level of wealth than you have today, you have to change your way of thinking about money. The fact that others like you have done it and developed the skills for financial success only provides the testimonials you need to develop the same skills too.

Making money, saving money, and having your assets grow is what you are going to learn how to do, from people who have done it and are on their way to becoming multimillionaires. Here, you can read real-life stories from clients who made the right choices and some who even made the wrong choices, so that you can get inspired and take full control of your own financial life and create a path toward wealth and success. You will learn how to get the most out of your investments, how to build and protect assets, and even how to use the banks for your own benefit, not theirs.

The people who are on the right financial plan are those who are constantly moving out of their comfort zone and not leaving their financial future up to someone else. Instead of waiting for things to happen and then reacting, they are improving their situation and creating opportunities for wealth. If you take only one thing from this book, take this: If you are not happy about your financial situation, there is only one person who can change itYOU!