Here's to the Good Life: Learn the Secrets to Building Wealth and Enjoying the Life and Retirement You Deserve

By Joe RoosEvans

The Financial Gourmet is more than just a book. Its a complete financial-educational program designed to help you understand how money really works in todays globally connected economy. Once empowered with the knowledge in this book, you will gain an understanding of new ways to take advantage of the greatest strategies, tools, and tactics for wealth creation. In short, it will teach you everything you need to know in order to get your finances on track, build wealth, and enjoy lifeand youll have fun doing it!

This book is written in an easy-to-understand style to demystify money and simplify the planning process. With The Gourmet as your guide and financial strategies presented as easy-to-follow recipes, you will discover a new model for financial understanding and easy implementation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Dec 12, 2014
• ISBN: 9781503524026

Joe RoosEvans

Joe RoosEvans, MBA, CFP, ChFC, CLU, is one of the top financial advisors in the United States. A leading retirement expert, Joe is well-respected in his industry, where he is known as an innovative, dynamic leader and mentor. He has spent his entire career helping people create and preserve wealth. He founded Financial Resources of America (FRA) twenty-eight years ago in O’Fallon, Illinois, and remains its CEO. FRA is ranked among the Top 5 percent of planning agencies in the world. Joe personally has qualified numerous times for the elite Million Dollar Round Table, ranking him in the top 1 percent of the industry.

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Copyright © 2014 by Joe RoosEvans.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2014921830

ISBN:      Hardcover      978-1-5035-2400-2

                Softcover      978-1-5035-2401-9

                eBook         978-1-5035-2402-6

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 12/10/2014

Xlibris

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

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CONTENTS

Foreword

About The Author

Introduction

Chapter 1 Be A Financial Gourmet: ‘Living The Life’

How To Have Fun Taking Charge Of Your Finances!

Chapter 2 A Personal Odyssey

My Journey From Struggle To Success

Chapter 3 The Problem: Financial Malnutrition

Financial Illiteracy In America

Chapter 4 The Solution: Financial Health And Wellness

Introducing The Financial Gourmet Wealth Creation …And Life Enrichment Program

Chapter 5 Secret Recipe #1: Instant Cash Flow

The First Step In Generating Lifetime Cash Flow

Chapter 6 Secret Recipe #2: Hearty Emergency Fund

Preparing For The Unexpected

Chapter 7 Secret Recipe #3: Sweet And Sour Debt Elimination

Turning Mountains Into Mole Hills

Chapter 8 Secret Recipe #4: Savory Retirement Planning

Keeping The Gold For Your Golden Years

Chapter 9 Secret Recipe #5: Delicious Investment Wisdom

Innovative Twists To Classic Strategies

Chapter 10 Secret Recipe #6: Family Style Asset Protection

Strategies For Multi-Generational Wealth Creation

Chapter 11 Closing Thoughts

Building Wealth And Enjoying A Rich And Tasty Life

Disclaimer

Glossary

This book is

dedicated to my father, the person who taught me how to live life with passion, insight, and determination. And to my beautiful wife, Lori, who makes every day worth living; and to my son, Aidan, whose spirit and promise inspires me to be a better father. And finally, to every family everywhere, no matter where you are on the road to your dreams. May you savor the joys of a rich and tasty life!

FOREWORD

You CAN Have Your Cake and Eat It Too!

The Financial Gourmet™ is more than just a book. It’s a complete financial-educational program designed to help you understand how money really works, in today’s globally connected economy. Once empowered with the knowledge in this book, you will gain an understanding of new ways to take advantage of the greatest strategies, tools, and tactics for wealth creation. In short, it will teach you everything you need to know in order to get your finances on track, build wealth, and enjoy life—and you’ll have fun doing it!

First, let’s toss out the standard recipe found in books about financial and retirement strategies. Forget about feeling stuffed and strained by a kettle-full of complicated lingo, which tends to leave many a reader simmering…dare we say near the boiling point?…as we try to sift through mounds of jargon to get to the meat of the topic: YOUR MONEY. This book begins with a spoonful of foresight and heads straight to a banquet of options in retirement!

This book is written in an easy-to-understand style to demystify money and simplify the planning process. With ‘The Gourmet’ as your guide and financial strategies presented as easy-to-follow recipes, you will discover a new model for financial understanding and easy implementation. In short, this book delivers a bit of sizzle with the steak because it’s easier to consume and retain necessary information with a flavorful analogy here and there.

Financial Literacy

On a serious note, financial illiteracy achieved such notoriety in this country, a presidential administration and numerous Congressional legislators have stepped forward to endorse educational campaigns, to encourage financial literacy, to make financial planning techniques and tactical strategies available to everyone, from sea to shining sea.

In today’s world you simply can’t afford to be financially illiterate. You have to take back control of your financial future. And because you can’t trust others to have the same passion you would have when it comes to watching your money, this book will help you become more involved in the determination of your own financial destiny. Bottom line: You need to wake up, smell the coffee, and become a true ‘Financial Gourmet,’ a connoisseur of cash flow with a new understanding of, and appreciation for, money in the context of twenty-first century retirement planning…for the rest of your life, and for the legacy of your beneficiaries.

In this book you will discover how to make the transformation from novice to gourmet, and how to use the best ingredients, in the right combinations, to create your own recipes for success – flavored to your uniquely individual taste. As you progress through the pages of this book, you will also discover that you don’t have to financially starve yourself to get ahead. Instead, and with the right strategies in place, you will find ways to ‘have your cake and eat it, too’—while building wealth to live a truly rich and tasty lifestyle in retirement!

— Joe RoosEvans

The Six Secret Recipes for

Building Wealth and Enjoying Life!

Secret Recipe #1

Instant Cash Flow: The First Step in Generating Lifetime Income

Secret Recipe #2

Hearty Emergency Fund: Preparing for the Unexpected

Secret Recipe #3

Sweet and Sour Debt Elimination: Turning Mountains into Mole Hills

Secret Recipe #4

Savory Retirement Planning: Keeping the Gold for Your Golden Years

Secret Recipe #5

Delicious Investment Wisdom: Innovative Twists to Classic Strategies

Secret Recipe #6

Family-style Asset Protection: Strategies for Multi-Generational Wealth Creation

"Joe RoosEvans is one of the most dynamic financial professionals I have ever known. In my more than 30 years as an executive at some of the largest financial companies in the world, I have worked with people with great intellect, tremendous sales ability and powerful personas. Joe possesses all three and more.

He truly cares about helping people understand how money really works so they can build wealth and enjoy life."

J.P.

…One of many current clients

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Joe RoosEvans is one of the top financial professionals in the country. He started in the financial services industry in 1982 and after several banner years he founded Financial Resources of America (FRA). Ranked among the Top Five Percent financial service agencies in the world today – a leading force in the industry since 1986 - FRA is one of a group of several successful companies founded by Joe RoosEvans - all of which continue to further his reputation for leadership and innovation nationwide.

With headquarters in O’Fallon, Illinois, Joe’s personal agency is the recipient of GAMA International’s highest honors. Individually, and on numerous occasions, Joe has been named among the elite, Million Dollar Round Table’s ‘Top of the Table’ membership roster, ranking him among the Top One-Percent of industry producers coast-to-coast. Such accolades are the net-result of Joe’s passion and commitment for serving people in a quest for successful retirement lifestyles. Joe has committed his entire career to helping individuals create, grow and protect their wealth. In the process, he is credited with having developed some of the most effective, and actively utilized, marketing systems in the industry today.

All told, Joe is a widely recognized leader in wealth preservation, and in the financial services industry overall. An acknowledged asset-transfer specialist, radio talk show host, author and sought-after national speaker, his professional designations include the following achievements:

•  Chartered Life Underwriter® (CLU)

•  Chartered Leadership Fellow (CLF, ChFC)

•  Certified Financial Planner (CFP)®

•  Chartered Financial Consultant®

•  Certified Wealth Preservation Planner™

•  Certified Asset Protection Planner™

•  Chartered Advisor for Senior Living®

Financial Resources of America, (FRA)

As an industry leader, Joe is keenly aware of tremendous changes in the financial world. Working with top industry professionals, he has effectively reinvented the financial services model, the result being the formation of a new financial-services group designed for today – a group committed to helping people build a better future for themselves and their families. FRA accordingly empowers families and individuals with the knowledge, tools, and synergistic business models needed to help people make informed decisions and smart choices during the planning process. FRA is indeed a new company, a company specifically designed for a new economy. FRA has embraced and recognized the new normal of financial service since both the Great Recession beginning in 2007, and the Wall Street market crash of 2008-2009 led to a necessary paradigm shift in the way Americans look at saving, wealth and retirement planning.

We’re talking about Americans of all ages, from seniors currently in retirement to millions of Boomers set to enter retirement; we’re talking about so called Gen-Xrs and Millennial, as well – all of whom watched as the Wall Street curtain came down. We all know the truth: Forget the hype, the bold new paradigm calls for commitment to saving and safe, secure investment growth with a more balanced and successful approach recipe, as opposed to reckless speculation on hot stocks and commodities of questionable substance.

The Financial Gourmet

Responding to a near-unprecedented U.S. financial crisis now dubbed ‘The Great Recession,’ Joe RoosEvans created The Financial Gourmet Wealth Creation and Life Enrichment Program™ to educate and encourage Americans to take control of their finances, while offering a system especially poised for rapid economic shifts in post-recessionary America. The Financial Gourmet also uses innovative strategies and social marketing to disseminate non-licensed financial products and educational materials, among an array of other features.

Yet it all came about with the bouquet of a well-balanced meal of naturally palatable ingredients, garnished with money saving tips along the way.

Together, FRA and The Financial Gourmet program comprise one of the world’s most dynamic financial groups. They represent Joe’s innovative leadership in the reinvention of the financial services industry, also his commitment to the improvement of financial literacy and financial strength for families everywhere.

On a personal level, Joe is a member of Mensa, a national organization for gifted individuals with extraordinary intellect. Joe also ranked nationally for many years as a competitive body-builder in the fitness world. If that isn’t enough, along with becoming established as a top advisor in the financial world, somewhere in the full life of Joe RoosEvans he established himself as a national motorcycle-racing champion.

No, Joe isn’t your cookie-cutter financial guru. He is an innovator, educator and a passionate advocate of financial literacy, for everyone…everywhere.

His very active family includes wife, Lori, and son, Aidan, who, at age 10, follows in Dad’s footsteps as a motorcycle racing champion…and if Aidan is just getting started, Joe is running a new race to financially educate the world.

INTRODUCTION

We’re in the midst of a financial crisis in America and around the globe. Because many in the world lack a fundamental understanding of how money and financial systems tend to work, we’re essentially going broke, both as nations and as individuals.

The root cause of this global crisis is due to a pervasive lack of financial literacy.

This book is for anyone feeling overwhelmed, confused or downright frightened by the state of his or her financial affairs. The ‘shock-and-awe’ effect of an all-too recent global financial melt-down left many of us feeling like ‘deer in the headlights’ of an oncoming economic challenge. While we stood and watched the upending demise of our retirement dreams, company-sponsored pension plans virtually evaporated. Even the future of the stalwart U.S. Social Security system has been left dangling in uncertainty. During the recent recession, home values were plummeting as millions of Americans watched life savings wither in a global oven of financial collapse. Retirement portfolios nationwide collapsed, like a massive soufflé, to a half of what they once were…and much less. Left in the hands of unscrupulous advisors taking advantage of investor trust, client stock and bond portfolios were toasted to a beurre-noir from 2008 through mid-2009 – because such advisors lacked enough basic, financial savvy to react as the economy fell into a deepening recession, essentially robbing client larders of life savings.

Oven Timer Says Done (Overdone?)

As the DOW once again seems, at this writing, to be soaring to historically precarious levels, indifference to yet another, potentially devastating market tumble has again taken hold on Wall Street. …Indifference, indeed. For those immersed entirely in risk, from stocks and bonds to mutual funds, is the global economic oven-timer buzzing with another done signal? That’s the question, and the question is the point: We don’t know! When it comes to Wall Street, we have too many cooks in the kitchen without a master-chef to call the shots.

We do know that history is bound to repeat itself, most likely in a manner least expected, and nothing’s in place to forestall the next round. Not really.

America is in trouble.

How could this happen to the richest country in the world? Will our government regulators be ready for the next plunge? Will they call it a correction, adjustment or hair-cut? Will it be dubbed yet another slide, collapse, meltdown, recession, dip or "depression? Does it matter? At this point, our financial leadership has