It is with deep and sincere gratitude that I want to recognize the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. While standing at an exhibit on the Fibonacci sequence, the golden ratio and balance in art, life, music and nature, a wave of inspiration came over me. It took much longer than I would have anticipated to take the initial inspiration and turn it into a specific and actionable plan, but it never would have happened without that special trip to the museum. I also want to thank the Adler Planetarium, which serves as a constant source of inspiration. I am a finance nerd who knows virtually nothing about art or science, but the museums of Chicago are my temples—my life would be incomplete without you.

The seeds that were planted at the Museum of Science and Industry would not have had soil in which they could grow had it not been for my time at Washington University, the University of Chicago, and brief time at the University of Pennsylvania and London School of Economics/City University. Thank you so much for your contributions to this book and to the broader field of finance. In particular, I want to recognize Dr. Mahendra Gupta and Dr. Anjan Thakor at Washington University for the incredible unwavering support for the vision and mission of this platform.

Sticking with the theme, the seed needed water, sun, and fertilizer to grow. The initial version would not have been possible without Jordan S. Gruber, who once again helped me structure my initial ideas. He magically brings order and structure to my crazy, random thoughts. Robyn Lawrence then refined it and gave the book the shape it has today. I love working with you.

I also want to recognize Paul Mulvaney, Daniel Eckert, Adam Browne, Brian Fagan, Ed Lomasney, Chris Merker, Doug Neuman, Tyler Olson, Chris Janus, and Nathan Swanson. You are dear friends who challenge me and tolerate endless debate and discussion on these ideas and most anything else that one could possibly care to argue. Duncan MacPherson, I enjoy exchanging ideas with you and you deliver an incredible service to financial advisors throughout the world. I am very grateful to my dear friend, Stephen Gandel, for his contributing the foreword. I appreciate your kind words and look forward to many more late night discussions—and to policing the bets in the book.

To the whole Supernova crew, this would not be possible without you and your support. Jani Anderson, Jeff Finn, Kishore Gangwani, Jim Guthrie, Mike Jackson, Jayruz Limfueco, Jun Lin, Lauren Kurtz, Ted Nims, Bill Slater, Jenny Sun, Brandon Swinton, Dongsheng Wu, Kevin Zhang, Yanan Zhang, and David Zylstra, zero days are work days when I'm with you. I love our shared vision for the future. Working together, I believe we can release people from the burdens of oppressive debt and break the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle and that we truly can empower people to live their best life possible. Thank you to Rob Knapp and Tao Huang not only for your roles on the team, but also for being guiding forces in my life.

Special recognition to the following members of the team: Julie Schmidt, Jaramee Finn, Fred Rose, and Ryan Segal had direct, significant and indelible contributions to this book. I have collaborated with Randy Kurtz since we were roommates in London. The research presented in Chapter 5 with respect to the merits of a diversified portfolio and the probabilities of success is all based on his work. His passion toward integrated, comprehensive, holistic wealth management advice motivates me every day. Bryan Goettel had a truly heroric role in shepherding this project and its many iterations through an extraordinarily busy 2015 and 2016.

Emmons Patzer, your OWE concept continues to be a foundation upon which I build every day. Thank you for being such a great mentor and a continued fountain of ideas. Along with Emmons, Bill King, Steve Vanourny, Eliot Protsch, Mahendra Gupta, David Lessing, Chris Reichert, and Scott Wolfrum have served as an outstanding group of advisors. You are truly an amazing group of thought leaders.

Once our plant grew out of control, skilled readers and editors came and made it pretty again. I would like to thank Erica Arnold, Christina Boris, Mark Fortier, Nicholas Kane, Ari Meltzer, Jennie Minessale, Matt Murray, Maureen O'Brien, Emily Schmidt, and Margaret Shepard. Kelly DiNardo, you are a talent and have a gift. Thank you for the candor and for the encouragement to say it like I see it.

Rafe Sagalyn, Brandon Coward, and the team at ICM are outstanding agents that continue to facilitate a great platform. I appreciate your advice and guidance.

Congratulations to the newly married Tula Weis! You continue to be my North Star. This project took me a while longer than I hoped, and you have no idea how much I appreciate your patience and support. Thank you to Jeremy Chia, Gayathri Govindarajan, Cheryl Ferguson, Mike Henton and the rest of the Wiley team—I sincerely appreciate your editorial skills. David Knuth, I sincerely appreciate your editorial help as well as your assistance in reviewing the math. Any remaining mistakes are my own.

Allison Parker, I can't thank you enough; your contributions and support mean more to me than you will ever know.

Darla, Kerry, Jo, Jon, Julie, Stacey, Pen, Damian, Oui, Johanna, you are part of my family and I love you dearly. Mom and Marty, Britt and Steve, Dad—thanks for the unconditional love and encouragement—especially through a crazy 2015/2016. Sarah, you are a wonderful mother to our beautiful children and I appreciate all that you have done to make this book possible.

Rowan, Rory, and Reid—this book is truly dedicated to you. Should anything happen to me, I hope you will keep this beside you as my guiding advice. I want you to enjoy the present, be prepared for emergencies, and be on track for the future. Debt can be a powerful tool to help you in so many ways—but you have to use it responsibly. I hope this book can serve as a glide path to help you navigate life throughout the many different phases, curve balls, and ups and downs that we all experience. And, if you wake up and find you are 60 years old and you still need more advice, I hope you will turn back to my last book. This way, I will always be by your side.