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| Acknowledgments | |
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| About the Author | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Rules Are Essential, but They Do Not Guarantee a Win | |
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| Evaluate the Investment Rules you Followed | |
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| Examine How Well You Followed the Rules | |
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| Get Back in the Game | |
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| Focus Your Predictions on What You Can Control: Your Priorities | |
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| Let Go of What Might Have Been | |
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| Learn to Recognize the "What Might Have Been" in Your Language | |
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| See It for What It Really Is | |
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| Eliminate the "What Might Have Been" from Your Language | |
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| Notice What Factors Are and Are Not in Your Control | |
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| Learn from Your Mistakes and Change for the Next Time | |
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| Take Full Responsibility | |
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| Take Responsibility | |
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| Blame Others | |
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| Take Responsibility | |
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| A Master Plan for Your Life | |
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| Get the Bigger Picture for Your Life | |
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| Look at the Path from Where You Are Now to Where You Want to Be | |
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| Map Out a Strategy | |
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| Take Responsibility for the Master Plan | |
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| Do What You Know and Recognize What You Don't Know | |
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| Have Investment Rules That Work for You | |
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| As the Investor, I must Understand what I own | |
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| Rule #2 | |
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| My Investments Should Be Completely Transparent | |
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| My Investments Must Be Audited by Federal Regulators and/or an Independent Third Party | |
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| I Must Understand How I Am Paying for Investment Advice, Services, and Products | |
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| I Have Personally Investigated the Character of the People with Whom I Associate and Do Business. I Did Not Delegate This Critical Responsibility to a Third Party | |
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| The Time to Have the Fire Drill Is Not in the Middle of the Fire | |
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| Communication with Advisors | |
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| Wills and Estate Planning | |
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| Tax Planning | |
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| Protection of Spouses and Gifting to Children and Charitable Interests | |
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| Asset Allocation and Investment Strategy | |
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| The Best Advice Is Sometimes About What Not to Do | |
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| Investing with Friends | |
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| Overextending Your Borrowing | |
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| Living the Consequences of Someone Else's Choices | |
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| Getting Attached to Things and Not Wanting to Sell | |
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| Appreciate the Value of Holding on to What You Have | |
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| You Could Misplace It | |
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| You Could Waste It | |
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| You Could Lose It in the Financial Markets | |
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| You Could Have It Stolen from You | |
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| You Could Gamble It Away | |
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| You Could Give It Away | |
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| You Could Lend It and Not Get Repaid | |
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| Holding on While Getting Ahead | |
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| Know What You Want to Accomplish | |
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| Capital Preservation | |
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| Income | |
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| Income with Growth | |
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| Growth | |
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| Aggressive Growth | |
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| Be Clear About What You Have and What You Don't Have | |
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| Expect to Pay a Price-Either Now or Later-for the Choices You Make About Handling Your Money | |
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| Estimate Your Desired Income in Today's Dollars | |
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| Determine Your Time Frame for Financial Independence | |
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| Adjust the Income Figure for Future Inflation | |
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| Calculate the Ending Balance You Need to Support the Inflated Income Figure | |
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| Estimate Your Starting Balance Using Liquid Assets and Possibly Adding Other Assets That Are Soon to Become Liquid | |
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| Estimate the Future Value of Your Current Assets, Using a Rate of Return That Is Realistic Based on Your Investment Portfolio and Asset Allocation | |
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| Subtract the Difference Between What You Need for Your Ending Balance and What You Have Now | |
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| Calculate the Amount You Need to Save Each Year-for Your Designated Time Frame-to Close the Gap and Potentially Achieve Financial Independence | |
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| Develop an Asset Allocation Plan | |
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| Paying Now | |
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| Paying Later | |
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| Making the Choice | |
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| Know the Essence of Your Advisor's Brand | |
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| Ask the Advisor Directly About the Brand | |
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| Ask Other People About the Advisor's Brand | |
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| Meet Several Advisors to Compare Their Brands | |
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| Recognize and Respect Your Gut Reaction | |
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| Know the Brand You Want | |
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| Live It | |
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| Does your Advisor Care Deeply About You? | |
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| Expect to Be Taken Care Of | |
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| Recognize What Is Important to You | |
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| Ask for It | |
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| Know If You Are Getting It | |
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| The Investor's Perception Is the True Reality | |
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| Crises are Like Little Gifts | |
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| Crises Force You to Examine Your Behavior | |
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| It's Foolish to Waste a Good Crisis | |
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| Crises Give You a Chance to Gain Objectivity | |
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| Crises Give You an Opportunity to Enhance Communication with the Important Players | |
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| Crises Force You to Reevaluate Your Priorities | |
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| The Most Valuable Things in Life Do Not Involve Currency | |
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| Paula and Maureen | |
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| Elliott | |
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| Tom | |
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| Find the Courage You Need to Have Integrity | |
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| There's an Entire Economy in What We Consume and Waste | |
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| Make It Happen | |
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| Respect Rules, but Appreciate Them for What They Are | |
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| Choose Your Financial Advisor Deliberately and Carefully | |
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| Take Responsibility | |
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| Plan | |
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| Be Strong | |
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| Keep Your Eye on the Big Picture | |
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| Make It Happen | |
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| Appendix: Formulas Used for Chapter 12 Calculations | |
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| Review of Step 3: Adjusting Your Monthly Financial Needs for 3% Inflation over 25 Years | |
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| Review of Step 4: Calculating the Capital Investment Value Needed to Generate the $15,700 Monthly Draw ($188,000 Annually) Needed 25 Years from Now | |
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| Review of Step 6: Calculating the Future Value of $250,000 Today After 25 Years of Returns at a Rate of 7% | |
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| Review of Step 7: Calculating the Asset Gap Needing to Be Filled by Savings and Investment Returns over the Next 25 Years | |
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| Review of Step 8: Calculating the Amount You Will Need to Save Annually for 25 Years to Close the Retirement Investment Gap | |
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| Index | |