Redling Dylin - Personal Finance Workbook for Beginners: Practical Exercises for Smarter Money Management and Financial Empowerment

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First Rockridge Press trade paperback edition 2022

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Paperback ISBN: 978-1-63878-697-9 | eBook ISBN: 978-1-68539-345-8

Manufactured in the United States of America

Interior and Designer: Jenny Paredes
Art Producer: Melissa Malinowsky
Editor: Alexis Sattler
Production Editor: Melissa Edeburn
Production Manager: David Zapanta

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For our wonderful family and friends, our favorite teachers, our fur babies (Lele and Lukey), and our 25-year-old selves, who knew nothing about finances but were willing to work hard and enjoy the ride.

Contents

H ello! Were Dylin Redling and Allison Tom, and we hope youre excited to learn all about the wonderful world of personal finance. Its a subject that has not traditionally been taught in most schools, yet its one of the most important elements of your life. When we were in school, we didnt learn about practical things like getting a job, buying a home, or planning for retirement. Instead, we had to figure out our personal finances the hard way, through trial and error.

After we began our careers in the tech industry in San Francisco in the late 1990s, we were able to pay off our student loans and start investing in our employers 401(k) plans. We changed jobs many times, often negotiating promotions and salary increases along the way.

In 2009, severe pneumonia put one of us in the intensive care unit for 10 days. The silver lining was that this near-death experience forced us to reevaluate our lives and our goals. We became more interested in our personal finances and began investing strategically in stocks and bonds and buying and selling real estate. Eventually, we paid off our mortgage. We made it a goal to retire early, and we were able to do so through thoughtful financial decisions over the next decade.

That brings us to this book and how it will help you. We realize that people reading this will be coming from different backgrounds, with various levels of knowledge. Our goal is to make personal finances easy to understand by explaining complex topics in clear and simple ways and keeping the content grounded in the real world. To reinforce each topic, weve created activities, quizzes, and exercises that complement the subject matter in each chapter.

No matter your age or socioeconomic background, it is never too late to learn the basic concepts of personal finance and work to improve your financial life. This book is designed to make it easy to learn what are often seen as complex concepts.

T his book is structured so that each section builds on the previous one, progressing from simpler concepts to more complicated ones. However, the book is also assembled so that you can flip directly to a chapter or specific topic to find the exact information you seek, such as information on buying a home or planning for retirement.

Imagine that your financial journey is like a cross-country road trip. of this book resembles the preparation phase, where you map out your route and tune up your vehicle. In this section, youll get a taste of the basics of personal finance, assess where you are, and make a plan to build your financial foundation.

resembles the driving portion of the trip, during which you experience all the twists, turns, and obstacles. Each chapter will help you navigate one big piece of your financial life, from managing debt to investing for your future.

On a road trip, you may encounter destination checkpoints and scenic vistas along the way. In this book, these vistas come in the form of educational activities using tools like quizzes, checklists, and budget templates. These activities will help put your plan into action.

Throughout the journey, be patient with yourself. Some of this books concepts are complex. However, if you open yourself up to learning new things, you may make some surprising discoveries. Make sure to appreciate the journey!

If youre reading this workbook on a touch-screen device, you can add notes and highlight text just like you would in a physical workbook.

Some sections will prompt you to write in answers or personal responses. Its easygive it a try right here: ___________.

With your finger, tap and hold for a few moments on the line above. Depending on the device youre using, an icon such as a magnifying glass will appear. Lift your finger and youll see an options menu. Select Note (or Notes) to add and save your own text. When youre done, an icon or highlighted area will remain, which you can always return to and tap if you want to reopen and read or edit your note.

The same tap-and-hold options menu offers Highlight or Color, which you can select if you want to highlight a passage or check a box. Experiment with it: By swiping your finger before releasing you can select entire sentences or paragraphs. The options menu also offers Bookmark for when you want quick access back to certain pages.

This method is the same on nearly all touch-screen ebook devices, but some have slight variations. If youd like more information specific to the device youre holding in your hands, a quick online search will yield best results.

O ne of the most difficult aspects of being a beginner and learning something totally new is simply getting started. The sooner you begin, the faster you can pay off debts and start growing your money.

Keeping in mind the metaphor of the cross-country road trip, consider this the preparation stage. First, you map out your route. Then you figure out where to stop along the way. And before you drive off, you can tune up the car, top off the gas, and check the tire pressure for the long journey ahead.

Part one of this book will help you do similar preparation for your financial journey. Youll examine your relationship to money and how your priorities and behaviors influence your finances. Then youll assess your priorities to help you set realistic and attainable goals. Finally, youll learn which steps to take to set up your all-important financial foundation.