Financial Rules for New College Grads: Invest before Paying Off Debt-and Other Tips Your Professors Didn't Teach You

by Michael C. Taylor

Overview

An indispensable guide for any recent graduate that provides simple, easy-to-follow rules for making smart personal finance choices during the first decade of one's career.

Having graduated from college with a degree, even the luckiest newly minted professionals—those who are able to quickly find a full-time job and support themselves—are often burdened with thousands of dollars in student loan debt. Many of these young professionals grow up hearing that they should not invest until their debt is paid off. Others fall too readily for investment scams or the siren call of instant entrepreneurship. Still others don't invest at all.

From financial expert Michael C. Taylor comes a proposed means by which to not only pull oneself out of debt but to start building wealth from the first day on the job: adoption of modesty, skepticism, and optimism. The Financial Rules for New College Graduates explains that by embodying modesty, the opposite of status-seeking ostentation; skepticism, the ability to recognize scams, false promises, and the hyperbole and short-sightedness of financial media; and optimism, the belief that financial security can be yours with little to no risk, anyone can attain financial security. The early chapters address the role of interest rates, compound interest, and discounted cashflows, while the remaining chapters explore each of the most consequential personal finance choices that recent graduates will make in the first ten years of their career.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781440861055
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	04/12/2018
Pages:	216
Product dimensions:	6.45(w) x 9.50(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

Michael C. Taylor sold bonds on Wall Street and founded a private investment business. He also writes about finance for the San Antonio Express News and the Houston Chronicle.

Table of Contents

Part 1 What's Stopping Yon from Achieving Wealth? 1

Chapter 1 You Should Be Wealthy 3

Chapter 2 On the Financial Infotainment Industrial Complex 10

Part 2 Finance Math Concepts for Life 13

Chapter 3 On Interest Rates 15

Chapter 4 On Compound Interest 22

Chapter 5 On Discounting Cashflows 37

Part 3 Just Starting Out: Getting to Surplus 57

Chapter 6 On High-Interest Debt 59

Chapter 7 On Saving 69

Chapter 8 On Low-Interest Debt 78

Chapter 9 On Retirement Accounts 84

Chapter 10 On Taxes 93

Chapter 11 On Cars 98

Chapter 12 On Houses 107

Part 4 Moving along: Now That You Have a Financial Surplus 117

Chapter 13 On Investing: Efficient Markets 119

Chapter 14 On Investments: Risky and Not Risky 126

Chapter 15 On Investment Advisers 137

Chapter 16 On Insurance 142

Chapter 17 On Work 153

Part 5 Feeling Wealthier 161

Chapter 18 On Retirement 163

Chapter 19 On Estate Planning 166

Part 6 Finishing Strong: How Will You Know If You're Wealthy? 173

Chapter 20 On Death 175

Chapter 21 Epilogue: On Being Wealthy 179

Glossary 185

Selected Bibliography 199

Index 201

What People are Saying About This

Lars Kroijer

"The key to success in investing is demystifying the process. If you can do that, wealth should follow. Michael C. Taylor provides easy-to-remember guidelines and principles that anyone could apply."

Callie Enlow

"Not only is Michael C. Taylor on an admirable mission to give everyone a fair shot at building wealth, he manages to make financial literacy entertaining. The book is, as the kids say, ‘unputdownable' and readers will come away with ethical, evolved approaches to making key financial decisions with confidence."

Edward A. Hart

"For the average investor, simplicity reigns. MIchael C. Taylor does an excellent job of describing the power of compounding interest in simple terms while addressing the seemingly contradictory requirement for investors to embrace long-term risk to build wealth. This is critically important advice in a world increasingly focused on short-term thinking and fear mongering."

Benjamin F. Jones

"This book is a gift that will keep giving. Michael C. Taylor's sharply organized insights and clear language provide invaluable advice. Essential reading and reference for anyone who aspires not just to financial literacy but to a lifetime of smart decisions and wealth creation."