The Automatic Millionaire – David Bach

5 key ideas:

Pay yourself first (automatically via payroll deduction system)
Pay off your mortgage as soon as you can (pay bimonthly)
By used cars
Never use credit cards
Keep a liquid-savings investment like a money market with at least 3 months worth of expenses.

The only way to create lasting financial change that will help you build real wealth over time is to make your financial plan automatic. Protect yourself from yourself by setting up savings via payroll deduction.

Pay your mortgage in half every two weeks. By doing this consistently you will make a whole extra payment over the course of the year without feeling a pinch. The long term effect is that you reduce your 30 year mortgage to 23 years. Use www.paymap.com if your current mortgage lender does not offer a service for this idea.

Ask anyone who got a raise last year if their savings increased. In almost every case, the answer will be no.

94% of the world’s lawsuits are filed in America.

You need to set up a system that guarantees you’ll get paid—a system in which you pay yourself first automatically.

Forget about budgeting it never works.

Good rule of thumb: 3 months worth of expenses in a liquid savings investment like a money market account. Shop www.bankrate.com for the best rates.

In 2000, the average net worth for renters was $4,200 vs. $132,000 for homeowners.

On average with a 30 year mortgage, during the first 10 years of your loan, more than 90% of your payments go to pay interest only.