The Type B Financial Plan: A More Relaxed Approach to Personal Finance for the Average American

By Paul R Walters

Type A people often make finance—and life—a lot harder than it needs to be. In his new book, Paul Walters, MBA, CPA presents a better approach to personal finance. The Type B Financial Plan, characterized by simple strategies and lower stress levels, is a more relaxed approach to personal finance for the average American. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Type B Publishing
• Release date: Sep 1, 2017
• ISBN: 9780999017906

Book preview

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© 2017 Paul R. Walters

The Type B Financial Plan:

A More Relaxed Approach to Personal Finance for the Average American

First Edition, June 2017

Type B Publishing

Auburn, CA

Editing: Shayla Eaton, CuriouserEditing.com

Publishing and Design Services: MartinPublishingServices.com

The Type B Financial Plan: A More Relaxed Approach to Personal Finance for the Average American is under copyright protection. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Printed in the United States of America. All rights reserved. 

Type B is a registered trademark of Paul R. Walters.

Graphs are based on material produced by Greene Consulting Associates, LLC as part of Paul R. Walters’s Financial Planning classes via University of Georgia.

ISBN-13: 978-0-9990179-1-3 (print)

978-0-9990179-0-6 (epub)

PREFACE

At the time, I would not have considered my father to be a personal finance guru when he retired at age fifty-seven. Dad was a college dropout and a World War II veteran who worked as a machinist for thirty-two years at an aluminum factory—hardly the pedigree one would expect of a personal finance expert. As for me, I was just embarking on my college education in the field of finance and was sure that I would soon learn the complex secrets of becoming financially successful. As Mark Twain once said, When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant that I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years. Looking back on my father’s life thirty-five years after he retired and I went off to college, I realized he and my mom were much more financially savvy than I ever gave them credit for.

My parents never had sophisticated investments or six-figure incomes; yet, they somehow managed to retire early and live out their lives comfortably on a small pension, social security, and retirement savings. We lived in a small but nice home on a beautiful lake in Idaho and even had quite a few toys, such as snowmobiles, motorcycles, and boats. My parents also managed to help me graduate college with minimal student loan debt. Life was good and the future was bright.

So how did they do it? They simply managed their money better than most. Dad often took overtime shifts when they were offered in order to make extra money. Mom worked full-time before I was born. She was a disciplined shopper and saver. Debt was avoided except for the home mortgage, and even that debt was paid off early. The house itself was a small, inexpensive fixer-upper when purchased, subsequently remodeled ten years later, and ultimately lived in for forty-five years. Our cars were usually bought used from private parties and were driven many, many miles before they were sold. Dining out was a rare treat, reserved as a reward for good grades or to celebrate very special occasions. Investments were simple and safe.

The more I study the field of personal finance (and I have studied it for many years), the more I am convinced that my parents already knew most of the secrets to being financially successful. At the time, it just seemed too simple to be true, but now I know that simple concepts work, even in today’s complicated and fast-paced world.

INTRODUCTION

Type A people often make finance—and life—a lot harder than it needs to be.

During my career as a hospital Chief Financial Officer, I noticed that most of the hard-driving, Type A executives did not seem nearly as happy as their Type B counterparts working in other areas of the company. The Type A executives always scurried around chasing some arbitrary goal set by the other Type A folks in the corporate office. The Type A executives were chasing the brass ring. Would they even realize if they caught it?

I was one of those Type A executives early in my career, but then I discovered I could still get results with my more natural, laidback, Type B personality. I was happier, more relaxed, and getting better results. So were most of the people around me.

I also noticed during my career that some of my coworkers thought finance was the scariest word in the English language. Doctors, clinical managers, nurses, and other executives (intelligent, educated, professional people) would seemingly rather take a stray bullet than spend time learning their financial statements and making improvements. They were scared of the numbers and formulas, quickly got overwhelmed, and basically gave up trying to learn before we even started. They seemed to believe it was easier to hide than to try to learn. Sadly, I noticed that these were often the same people who lived paycheck to paycheck, were always in desperate need of a payroll advance or a raise (regardless of job performance), and constantly seemed to have some sort of personal financial or family emergency that soured their attitude for the day.

On the other hand, a few coworkers wanted to learn about finance and wanted to improve the operation of their departments. Once these coworkers relaxed and made that commitment, they quickly discovered that the big numbers and complex formulas were not so big, complex, or scary. In most cases, it was basic math they had learned in middle school!

With their newfound knowledge, these people had the tools to make changes that improved operations and ultimately their own career prospects. Finance was no longer a scary word and they felt empowered to tackle financial issues, both on the job and at home. One of my Chief Nursing Officers even subscribed to the Wall Street Journal.

Like I discovered in business finance, personal finance does not have to be complicated, overwhelming, or scary. Big numbers do not need to be the focus. Personal financial planning does not need to be a stressful, Type A process to get great results. If you give it a chance, Type B Financial Planning will help you improve your financial situation in a much more laidback manner. Just relax, do your best, and give it a chance.

PART 1

FINANCIAL PLANNING FOR THE AVERAGE AMERICAN

Chapter 1

The Type B Theory

of Personal Finance

Study after study and article after article report how badly we manage our money and how little we have saved for retirement or a personal emergency; yet sources of good, independent personal finance information for the average American are few and far between. There is a lot of information (and a lot of noise) out there, but it is often overly complicated, intimidating, biased, and expensive. It does not have to be that way. The Type B Financial Plan is designed to be simple, inexpensive, and stress-free. It is built on basic Type B Financial Concepts designed to help the average American get started today and get moving in the right direction.

Over the course of