If I'm So Smart, Where Did All My Money Go?

Come meet author Doug Warshauer at the LaGrange Borders Books on Thursday, December 9, 2010 at 7:00 PM. He will be signing and discussing his newest book "If I'm So Smart, Where Did All My Money Go?" 

In these tough economic times, people are wondering why they can't seem to make ends meet, why they aren't able to put money away in savings, and how they're going to save for retirement or college education.  While many people have good salaries, nice cars and a beautiful home, they can't seem to put any money aside at the end of the month in savings or an investment account.

The financial crisis fascinated Doug Warshauer. On his website he comments, "Of the crisis' many causes, the cumulative influence of millions of people's poor personal financial decisions stands out. Why did so many people buy homes they couldn't afford and finance those purchases with mortgages they couldn't pay?

The massive amounts of debt that people accumulated does not mean that Americans are stupid or greedy, or that they cannot defer gratification. It reflects the fact that people have substantial conflicting financial objectives and they do not know how to balance them all."  

In the new book, "If I'm So Smart, Where Did All My Money Go?" author Doug Warshauer (September, 2010, $24.95) takes a unique approach in sharing his principles for getting on solid financial ground.  Through the use of a fictional story, Doug presents ten different individuals who have financial struggles of various types.  In the story, these ten people are attending a financial seminar and are learning where they have gone wrong, what they need to fix, and how they can start saving and investing.

"If I'm So Smart, Where Did All My Money Go?" offers specifics for anyone to learn how to establish financial stability.  Author Doug Warshauer explains in an understandable and no-nonsense approach, what families, individuals and seniors should be budgeting or spending each month on their various expenses starting with the largest and most prominent expenses--home and automobile.  He explains which are the next expenses to review and how to keep these expenses in line.

Topics discussed include.

• Exactly how much YOU need to save for your Home, College, and Retirement
• How to prioritize YOUR savings goals
• Exactly how much YOU can afford to spend on everything: your house, your car, food, clothing, and entertainment
• Which debt YOU should pay off and which you should keep
• Whether YOU should buy a home or rent one
• When YOU should invest in stocks and when to choose safer investments

Many of the current books on the marketplace today offer conventional advice avoiding the tough questions about how to balance conflicting demands like credit cards, retirement investments, mortgages, college fund, insurance and living expenses.  The result: record levels of personal debt and home foreclosures.  People desperately need actionable financial advice.

At the end of "If I'm So Smart, Where Did All My Money Go?" Doug has provided several worksheets and tables to further aid readers in their plans. He has also created numerous complementary printable forms and downloadable spreadsheets for personal information and to easily build a Lifetime Financial Plan that are free on his website, www.DougWarshauer.com.

About Doug Warshauer…

Doug Warshauer is the founder of Kessler Warshauer Ventures, a highly successful private equity investment firm, through which he invests directly in a variety of small, burgeoning businesses.   He developed the techniques presented in this book by modeling the prospects of hundreds of businesses.  Here, for the first time ever, he makes these techniques available to families to help them better manage their money. Doug holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, an MA from New York University, and a BA from the University of California, Berkeley. He lives in the Chicago area.  Follow along each week with Doug's financial strategies or ask him a question on his blog, www.DougWarshauer.com