Foreword

“Begin with the end in mind” is an old saying, but it is as true as ever when it comes to planning. Planning for what? What is the end? What is the desired result? What is the goal? If you cannot answer these questions, then you are spinning your wheels and wasting valuable time.

This is true no matter what you are planning for. How many times have you been in “planning” meetings or have worked on business or personal plans? People spend enormous amounts of wasted hours planning how they are going to do something without knowing what the end is or why they are doing it in the first place. If you don’t know the “why,” your planning won’t pay off.

You need a driving purpose that is bigger than just getting there. It has to include the journey as well. Think about how many times you have started anything and stopped in the middle.

The classic Gone with the Wind recently celebrated its 75th anniversary. It was originally published by Macmillan Publishing Company in 1936. It sold for $3.00. It took author Margaret Mitchell 10 years to complete the masterpiece, typing chapter after chapter. But the first chapter she typed was the last chapter of the book. She began with the end in mind. Everything that followed had a purpose.

Having a purpose is a key element of any kind of plan. That is especially true when that plan involves money, which almost every plan does sooner or later. So it follows that creating a financial plan requires a vision and a purpose.

When it comes to money and financial planning, life gets in the way because most of us want to have both the financial success and also a life. People talk about having balance in their lives, but few people ever achieve it, mainly because they have no plan.

The Ultimate Financial Plan by Jim Stovall and Tim Maurer, which you are about to dive into, is your guide to help you find the purpose for your plan. It is the natural extension of The Ultimate Gift, where author Jim Stovall showed us the value of living life to the fullest. Now that you have the message, you have been given a road map; a purpose for the best use of your resources—your gifts.

You will begin this journey with the concept of money and why it is so misunderstood. Once you understand what your personal principles are—what fulfills you—you can move on to creating goals that are more likely to be achieved by using the many “Gifts” the book includes. You’ll want them all!

One of the keys for me was the review of Benjamin Franklin’s “13 Virtues” highlighted in Chapter 2, under the “Goals” section. These are certainly good reminders and can help determine the path you and your money take in building a life you can be proud of.

As you go through the book, you’ll be looking at everything differently. When you read about life insurance for example, you’ll understand the “why” part and how important it is to manage different kinds of risk. You’ll also have new respect for the “Gift of Certainty” when it comes to topics like auto, home and liability insurance in Chapter 7 and the “Gift of Health” in Chapter 8.

Managing debt is another issue that can keep you from your dream life. It’s important to understand how discipline and the “Gift of Enough” can help you steer clear of the financial drain of debt. Think about this concept in Chapter 4: “The inverse of savings is debt.”

You’ll read about my favorite subject, Roth IRAs. That’s a gift from the government and we don’t have many of those, especially in the tax code. I’m big fan of keeping more of the money you make, and tax-free Roth IRAs are the way to go. I was so happy to read this line in the book: “Everyone would be better off in retirement with a healthy bucket of tax-free cash.” Think about how much more of your life’s goals can be accomplished if your retirement fund is totally tax free! I did this myself.

The book travels with you in all phases of planning, from saving, to insurance, to education, through debt, to estate planning and even evaluating your financial professionals, whose job you will make easier if you can tell them what you want to accomplish, and more important...why.

You are holding The Ultimate Financial Plan. You will find that as you go through the book, you will discover many gifts and understand their purpose in your life and in the lives of those you love. As you begin with the end in mind, your path to financial freedom will appear. Enjoy the journey.

Ed Slott,

America’s IRA Expert and bestselling author of a number of retirement books, including the latest, Stay Rich for Life!