The Truth About Money: How To Find Joy And Peace (2nd Edition)

By T. C. Maloney

This book is about your personal finances. Follow the concepts presented and you will achieve success with your money. You see, the concept of money is simple: we earn or acquire money to live, to pay for things we need. If we spend less than we have, then all is well; if we spend more than we have, then problems start to develop. Come along, with Liam & Emma and Noah & Olivia, two young married couples, as they navigate the myriad of financial decisions required as they start life together.
You can find The Truth About Money! If you are one of the millions of people who are struggling financially or just have the feeling you are missing out on the Joy and Peace of life because of money, this book is for you. Are you working hard to provide for your family and just do not seem to be able to make any financial headway?
Maybe you are one of those people to whom the sound of the phone ringing will cause your stomach to flip-flop, or an envelope with an IRS return address fills you with such dread and anxiety that you think you might become physically ill. You know you spend way too much time worrying about money, but do not see how to improve your financial situation.
Does any of this describe you or sound familiar? My hope is that you will use the information in The Truth About Money to improve you and your family’s lives by encouraging you to incorporate our two Key Concepts and make a few simple changes to your personal finances. You can Find Joy and Peace with your Personal Finances!

• Language: English
• Publisher: T. C. Maloney
• Release date: Feb 10, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463975664

T. C. Maloney

Hello! I am T. C. Maloney. My wife and I live near St. Louis, Missouri. We grew up in the area and went to high school together. We moved back a few years ago to be closer to family. We have previously lived in Chicago, the Norfolk, Virginia area, Gainesville, Florida and Gulf Shores, Alabama. We have children and grand-children in Florida, Chicago and here in St. Louis.For most of my adult life I have served in the U.S. military, both in the Air Force and the Navy, which partially accounts for the many places we have lived. I ended my working career as an accountant. I am now retired.“The Truth About God: How to Find Joy and Peace” (2nd Edition) is now available for your reading pleasure. The Second Editions of both “The Truth About Natural Laws” and “The Truth About Money” are also available.“The Truth About God” shows God’s plan for each of us, His love and the Eternal Life offered to us by the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ.“The Truth About Money: How to Find Joy and Peace" was originally published on Smashwords in 2015 and was followed by “The Truth About Natural Laws: How to Find Joy and Peace” and “The Truth About God: How to Find Joy and Peace.” Together these three make up a series entitled The Truth Trilogy.Way back in 2005, while taking care of my one-year-old grandson, I felt the call to write a book on personal finances. It took ten years to get that first book researched, written and published. The next two went much faster and both of them were published by mid-2017.All three books are being reissued as Second Editions to update information, to make them more accurate and more interesting to read.The themes for all three books are similar: Our Creator gave us Natural Laws or Rules to enable us to successfully live here on earth. Take money, for example: almost everyone would agree that we need to live within our means, yet many of us do not and problems develop, sometimes very serious problems. “The Truth About Money” was the first of The Truth Trilogy precisely because everyone has at least some familiarity with money. This first book was followed by “The Truth About Natural Laws” to highlight the Truth that there is Right and Wrong - Good and Evil - and if we are to find Joy and Peace here on earth, we must live by the Rules. To be certain, we can live our whole lives not following the Rules, but the Joy and Peace we are meant to enjoy will most likely elude us.I would greatly appreciate your review of any or all of the books. Please feel free to review the book or get in touch with me at the website www.MeetTheTruth.net and let me know what you think of it.It is my hope you enjoy the books and I look forward to your feedback and thoughts.Thank You.T. C. Maloney

Book preview

The Truth About Money

How To Find Joy And Peace

T. C. Maloney

The Truth About Money:

How to Find Joy and Peace

This book may be available at a wholesale price for libraries or for bulk purchase by book resellers in the USA. This book is also available in bulk purchases for educational, church, business, fund-raising or sales promotional use. For information, please email

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Copyright 2015 by Thomas C. Maloney Jr.

Published by T. C. Maloney at Smashwords

Second Edition

Revised 2020

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All Rights Reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other-except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982, 1997 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Any websites or internet addresses printed in this book are offered as a resource. They cannot be, or imply, an endorsement for the content of these sites for the life of this book as their content is subject to change. While the author has made every effort to provide accurate internet addresses at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the author assumes any responsibility for errors or changes that occur after initial publication.

Edited By: Claudia E. Vance

Cover Design by Laura Shinn Designs

http://laurashinn.yolasite.com

Discover Other Titles by T. C. Maloney

The Truth About Natural Laws: How To Find Joy And Peace

The Truth About God: How To Find Joy And Peace

(The Second Edition of Both These Books Will Be Available In 2020)

The Truth About Money

How To Find Joy And Peace

Dedication

This book is dedicated to

Truth-Seekers in Their Quest for

Joy and Peace

In Their Personal Finances

Table of Contents

Prologue

Introduction

Chapter 1: The Main Point

Chapter 2: The Perfect Storm Of Consumer Debt

Chapter 3: Your Personal Finances - An Example

Chapter 4: Victory Over Debt

Chapter 5: Net Worth

Chapter 6: Insurance

Chapter 7: Poverty and Social Security

Chapter 8: References and Resources

Chapter 9: Additional Quotations To Reflect Upon

Chapter 10: Conclusion

Addendum: Chronicles of Liam & Emma - Noah & Olivia (LENO Watch)

Afterwards

About the Author

Connect with the Author

Prologue

Let me introduce you to four people who will help us understand the principles we are going to discuss in The Truth About Money: How To Find Joy And Peace, as well as the next two books of The Truth Trilogy. Please say hello to Liam, Noah, Emma and Olivia.

These four have been friends since elementary school and then went on to the same high school. They have had some wonderful times together as they grew, matured and prepared for adulthood; an event they greatly anticipate with equal measures of excitement, anticipation and apprehension.

By the time they walked across the stage to get their high school diplomas Liam and Emma were inseparable. Noah and Olivia had dated throughout high school and while they had different attitudes and dreams, it seemed they were made for each other. All four wanted to go to college to better prepare themselves for the future, but choose different educational paths: Liam and Emma wanted to go to school together and both strongly desired to pay for college as they went. They made the decision to attend the local community college for the first two years, allowing them to live at home, ease into college life and, most importantly, minimize their expenses. After graduating in two years, they both enrolled in the State University to complete their education.

Noah and Olivia both desired to fully experience the college life - they did not want to miss a thing. They wanted to go out-of-state to college, but could not agree on a school, so they enrolled in different universities; although they were close enough to maintain their developing relationship. They choose to use any available scholarships, grants and student loans to finance their education.

At State U., Liam and Emma both agreed they wanted to graduate from college in two years with zero student loan debt. By taking advantage of available scholarships, grants, Liam’s participation in the University’s ROTC Program, and with part-time jobs, they were able to accomplish both these goals. Liam earned a degree in Engineering and Emma graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing. The first thing they did upon graduation was to get married, in their home town, to the delight of family and friends. Liam accepted a commission in the United States Navy and they were off to their first duty station at Norfolk Naval Station in Virginia. Emma immediately started preparing for her State Boards and licensure as a Registered Nurse. They were working hard, meeting life head-on and having the time of their lives.

Meanwhile, Noah and Olivia graduated from their respective universities; Noah with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and Olivia with a degree in Education. They had had enough separation, so they too decided to get married shortly after graduation. This allowed them to confine their job searches to large metropolitan areas that both were interested in and would allow plenty of career opportunities for each of them. Noah landed a sales position with a national pharmaceutical company in Chicago and Olivia experienced little difficulty in getting a teaching position in the suburbs. They too were working hard and both were excitedly looking forward to the opportunities and adventures that lay ahead.

Both of our couples, Liam & Emma and Noah & Olivia are off and running in their new homes and careers; with one big difference: Liam and Emma have no student loan debt while Noah and Olivia are starting with a handicap of $74,344 in student loans (as of this writing in May 2019, the average student loan debt for 2016 (the latest data available) is $37,172). The terms of Noah and Olivia’s student loans are 6.8% interest rate for twenty years which means a combined monthly payment of $567.50.

We will pay particular attention to how this student loan debt or lack thereof, effects each of our newly married couples as we progress through The Truth About Money: How To Find Joy And Peace! I hope you find our journey interesting.

Quotation:

"Any government, like any family, can for a year spend a little more than it earns. But you and I know that a continuance of that habit means the poorhouse."

Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States (1933-1945).

Introduction

The Truth About Money: How To Find Joy And Peace is the first of a Trilogy. This book is about your personal finances. I can promise you that if you follow the concepts presented, you will be in an excellent position to achieve financial success and attain that elusive Joy and Peace we all seek. Most of what I present to you will not be new information, although you might not be using these ideas. You see, the concept of money is really pretty simple: we earn or acquire money to live, to pay for things we need. If we spend less money than we earn, then all is well; if we spend more, then problems start to develop.

This is Truth - with a capital T. We call this an Absolute Truth and this is what The Truth Trilogy is all about. Another name for Absolute Truth is Natural Laws and I will use the terms Truth, Absolute Truth and Natural Laws interchangeably. We do not pay very much attention to Absolute Truth in our society. This book and the two that follow are my attempt to convince you of the importance of recognizing, appreciating and following Natural Laws.

I am starting with The Truth About Money precisely because this is a subject that almost everyone knows a bit about or at least has some familiarity with. The next two books will be a bit more controversial.

Just to get you in the mood to talk about personal finances, following are some personal finance statistics. Some people see value in stats and others don’t want to be bothered. At the very least, this list should give you some ideas that maybe you have not thought of before: For example, perhaps you have never heard of an ‘emergency savings’ (rainy day fund)? How does your personal financial situation stack up against the following?

From a U. S. News & World Report article entitled "8 Scary Financial Statistics