This is the 2nd time both Aaron and I have read #theautomaticmillionaire. This is the updated copy. The title doesn't refer to a 'get rich quick scheme.' It refers to automating your bills, paying yourself first and how to have a safe and secure retirement with proper planning. Although I am a Dave Ramsey lover I feel like David Bach relates best to those who don't have lots of debt and are looking more towards planning for the future. Thankfully we are debt free but it comes with major sacrifice!!! We truly live like no one else. We are all about retirement planning at this stage in life so reading this had perfect timing. Even if you do have debt, this is a great read for you. Identifying your "latte effect" will help you save money right away!! Do yourself a favor and read this GREAT book! Early retirement here we come.

This book was recommended by Joyce Pring from her podcast. Since I am an avid fan of her, I looked for everywhere and that's difficulty until I found the audiobook on the Spotify. I didn't expected that because I have this stereotypical thinking that Spotify is for music only. I'm poppycock!

The book is such an informative and direct to the point. The speaker in this audiobook is the author himself, David Bach. He emphasized to keep SAVING, SAVING, SAVING and stop buying stuff we don't really need. PAY YOURSELF FIRST should always be the step one whenever we receive our salaries. He made comparisons how people spend too much money in the present and end up working their butts until their old. That's like my mother who keeps insisting she should retire by mid-60's in order to receive the highest possible pension. I always told her to do whatever she wants because we are not he problems anymore -we're all working and have own money.

The Latte something is about spending trivial amount of money to a constant necessity. For example, people spend $3 for a Starbucks. That's small but if you buy for almost every weekdays, that's huge and expensive. That's why I don't allow myself to be socialite or even spend way too much money for people that don't even give a fuck about me. I need to keep myself in the most minimilist and thrifty way. Last year I haven't bought any clothes except when my mother told me to buy clothes from my cousin just to say we supported them. And until now I haven't even used those expensive branded clothes. My goal is to not buy clothes that I don't really need. I think my Latte-something is buying skin care products and coffee beans. Skin care products are must because I'm not getting younger and natural stuff didn't worked for me. Coffee beans are a must,too, because we can't go out to buy good coffee. Therefore, we need to learn how to make good coffee. Way to go of being a barista-wannabe. When you changed your perpective in life, it makes you realized that stuff don't make you happy for longer. Last year I bought lots of unnecessary stuff on online shops and now I wonder what I am thinking of before. Those things are ridiculous and expensive and can only give fleeting happiness. Yep, only seconds of happiness just after you opened the parcel and that's it. I am trying my time and money for stuff that ends up garbage in the house. That's why whenever I buy, I always double think if I really, really, really need this or my hormones are just messing at me.

Regarding the credit cards, I don't really need and like the idea of loaning money that's too easy to get. If that's the case, I won't worry about having emergency fund or etc. Personally, it's too risky because once they copied your card, they can easily use that for fraud. My neighbor went to our house asking for help because her credit card company penalized her for not paying her debt when in fact, she didn't even usrd that card for once. We called the company and even sent email. They are hard to communicate with and she ends up travelling to the company in the city just to settle this problem. The worst happened, she still paid the principal and interest she didn't even used. Yeah, so no to credits card.

Real estate is way too big for me so it's a pass for now. Albeit the idea is amazing, the big girl inside me is stopping me. This is a reference from David Bach's late grandmother who tolf him the story of the little girl and big girl inside of us. There are times when we faced a fork in the road wherein the right path is risky, dangerous, but the success is way better or the left path wherein we know what the result will be, easier, comfortable, and safe. There is always two girls inside of us: the little girl choosing the right path which is risky but has greater success and the big girl telling us that we can't handle risk and choose the safe road. Her grandmother always choose the big girl and stopped the little girl from playing. At her deathbed, she regretted how she didn't allowed that little girl to play, to have risk and failed and try again and again and again. She also compared how that little girl is also our parents, family, colleagues and every one of people telling you that you can't choose the risky one. Finally, she told him to keep risks because that makes life.

Emergency basket means having saved money for emergency stuff. This should be x6 of your monthly expense. I'm just finishing my emergency basket and I'm ready to be risky as hell. Here comes investment. He told in the book to keep investing even little amount of money every month. I think it's great advice because whatever the cost of stocks, you can't be lose money since you are buying stocks monthly. There are months that it's expensive and not. In a nutshell, it's still equal so no worries.

Lastly, always give back. There's a percentage in salary for tithes or sometimes any people that really needs money. For example, there's an old people selling on the public transportation, I used that money to buy their products (that's obviously way more expensive than it's original price). I still respect this kind of people because they choose to work for clean money than those who steals.

n  Today I commit myself that by 30, I will have my first million. nSo help me God. I will be risky and at the same be smart. Work is difficult and I need to handle my finances smartly to retire early. Though I don't really see myself retiring early because what should I do in life. I don't have any passions yet and my mind keeps drifting to the bad side whenever I am not doing anything fulfilling. So by far my reason for that first million is to keep financially stable and motivated. Money don't buy you happiness but it allows you to sleep better at night.

Thank you, David Bach. May you help all the people to become one step to becoming an automatic millionaire.

The main point of this entire book in one sentence, so don't bother reading it: Use recurring paycheck deposits and deductions.

This is probably a good read if you're utterly clueless but astute enough to understand basic personal finance. Fortunately I'm both very astute and not utterly clueless (e.g. I'm aware that holding cc debt is ill advised, but this book spends a lot of time on cc debt). The book also mentions checks a lot so the perceived barrier to automated/scheduled payments is a bit exaggerated for today's context.

One good suggestion that came out of this entire book was to pay your mortgage biweekly instead of monthly thereby reducing the principal balance faster thereby creating less interest due. But I don't have a mortgage and the author did not expand on the fact that some mortgage loans include prepayment penalties. Like HELLO.

As a young woman starting out her adult life at her first “big girl” job, I found this book to a simple guide to handling my “big girl” money. Writing was a little repetitive but helpful nonetheless.

Valuable, practical personal finance advice on setting up automatic systems to build wealth. It tells how to become a millionaire over the course of your working life; it's not about getting rich quick. Each chapter ends with action steps.

I didn’t learn much because I’ve been learning about personal finance for many years, but it’s a worthwhile book, and one I wish I’d read many years ago; I'd have gained a lot more from it.

I don't like that Bach waits until the end of the book to mention giving. I wish he would've mentioned it earlier.

Automatic millionaire steps
1. Pay yourself first by investing at least 10% of gross income in pretax retirement accounts.
2. Automate investment contributions.
3. Buy a home and pay it off early.

Introduction
Philosophy
• You don't have to make a lot of money.
• You don't need discipline.
• You don't need to be self-employed.
• You can build a fortune on a few dollars a day.
• The rich pay themselves first.
• Homeowners get rich; renters get poor.
• You need an automatic system so you can't fail.

Automate finances; set up system once, then live life without thinking or worrying about money.

Meeting the Automatic Millionaire
Budgeting often leads to arguments. Instead, save a percentage of each paycheck before you can spend it.

Getting rich doesn't require being cheap and boring, but stopping little spending habits.

The Latte Factor: Becoming an Automatic Millionaire on Just a Few Dollars a Day
The "Latte Factor": spending money on unnecessary little expenses that add up over time.

Learn to Pay Yourself First
Pay yourself first by investing at least 10% of gross income in pretax retirement accounts.

"Pay yourself first" formula
• Upper middle class: 10-15% of gross income
• Rich: 15-20%
• Rich enough to retire early: 20%+

Now Make It Automatic
Whether a traditional or Roth account is better depends on the tax bracket you'll be in when you retire, which you can't know. Without income from working, you'll likely be in a lower tax bracket, but tax laws can change. If you're at least 15 yrs from beginning to withdraw, Roth is probably better. Bach likes traditional because the tax deduction makes it easier to max it out.

Firms to use for IRA
• TD Ameritrade
• Charles Schwab
• Fidelity
• Vanguard

SEP IRA is most straightforward, uncomplicated retirement account for self-employed without employees.

Solo 401(k) allows investing more money more quickly than SEP IRA, and is useful for self-employed with no non-family employees. It allows saving on a tax-deductible, tax-deferred basis.

Teens - 30s
• 5-10% aggressive growth
• 40-50% growth
• 30-40% growth & income
• 5-15% bonds
• 5-10% cash

30s - 50s
• 5-10% aggressive growth
• 25-35% growth
• 35-45% growth & income
• 15-25% bonds
• 5-10% cash

50s - mid-60s
• 0-5% aggressive growth
• 15-25% growth
• 30-40% growth & income
• 25-35% bonds
• 10-15% cash

Never invest more than 25% of retirement money in employer's stock (no more than 5% to be conservative). Consider it aggressive growth even if company is conservative.

Automate for a Rainy Day
Save 3-24 mos' expenses, depending on how much you need to sleep well at night.

Institutions for money market accounts
• Ally Bank
• GSBank
• Capital One
• EverBank
• Fidelity
• Vanguard
• Charles Schwab

Government bonds (I-bonds, EE bonds) are an easy way to automate emergency fund, and are safe.

Money market accounts are more liquid than government bonds, but government bonds may pay more interest, and it's easy to buy automatically with very small initial deposit.

Automatic Debt-Free Homeownership
Studies show that homeowners have average net worth many times higher than renters. In 2014, Federal Reserve found that homeowners had net worth 36 times that of renters.

Why homes make great investments
• Forced savings (mortgage payments are contributions to home equity)
• Leverage (use borrowed money to multiply gains)
• Tax breaks
• Sense of security from being part of community

Over long run, real estate prices almost always go up. Since 1968, real estate investments have averaged 5.3%.

Most people can afford 29% of gross income on housing expenses. Those without debt can afford up to 41%.

30-yr fixed-rate mortgage is best for most people because it's simple, a great deal when rates are low (<8%), and relatively easy to afford payments.

Instead of paying mortgage monthly, pay half that amount every 2 weeks. Ask mortgage lender about setting up biweekly payments. Each year, you'll make an extra payment. You can pay off a 30-yr mortgage in 20-25 yrs and save over $50,000.

If you don't want to use biweekly payment plan, you can add 10% to each mortgage payment, or make an extra payment each year. Ensure mortgage lender understands that these are extra payments against principal.

Make a Difference with Automatic Tithing
Look for charitable organizations that pass through at least 75% of funds. Avoid those that pass through <50% due to high admin costs.

Where to research charities
• justgive.org
• give.org
• guidestar.org
• charitynavigator.org

Institutions for donor-advised funds
• Fidelity
• Schwab
• T. Rowe Price

The Automatic Millionaire Blueprint
Automatically fund "dream accounts" to save up for your dreams (home, car, wedding, trip, boat, instrument, lessons, school, etc.).

This book is perfect for people who have a stable living-wage job, no pregnancies or kids or familial caretaking duties, employer-provided health insurance, no expensive health conditions, and who can buy a house in the same area as the aforementioned job.

Not helpful for anyone who experiences or has experienced unexpected injuries/health conditions, systemic oppression, or residual economic penalties for being a woman or person of color, or simply does not magically have a job that pays a real living wage where they live.

So I guess this book is for college-educated Libertarians (mostly white men)?

Very glad I read the Blinkist version because this book would have wasted hours of my time that I could have spent working on my freelance business.

Essentially: pay yourself i.e. save and invest first by using automatic payments. The rest of the book is savings math, success stories and summary information about IRAs and other types of investments.

Its a very good book to know the secret of automatic money making. Young generation who has low personal financial literacy should read this book. I am sure this book will not gonna disappoint you.

Classic advice

Take the time, read this and do the basics of it. Everything is simple and guided, all the way to the website and process.

It’s the original latte book and explains it all very directly. If you haven’t read a personal finance book, start here.

text me if you wanna hear my findings

The premise of this whole book is that if you do anything with money, throw out the concept of a budget and automate everything you do with money. Safe idea?

He explains everything in a very young-adult reader fashion by creating little snippets of conversations with people from either interviews or classes he taught and framing it in a way that sounds funny and easy at the same time. I think the idea of a budget or some finance manager is still important for tracking expenses and following up on errors that occur, from the bank or businesses.

His try and true method is simply, set percentage goals of saving and investing and giving and set up automatic drafts from your checking acct and then leave it be. This sounds nice and easy, but does not take into account people who travel a lot and those that have unstable incomes. He touches briefly on the subject of self-employed people but not enough for people who know they only get paid twice a year or maybe less than ten times a year.

This book is great for those that live basic, stable lives where nothing ever changes and no surprises will happen. If that's you, then read this book. Its a great saturday read and you can learn a lot from it. His chapter on investing is very helpful.

This book had some good tips - mostly about paying yourself first.