The most dangerous trends that destroy your personal finance, and 5 simple things you can do to become financially free, rich, and retire much earlier!

The Most Dangerous Trends That Destroy Your
Personal Finance, and 5 Simple Things You Can
Do to Become Financially Free, Rich, and Retire
Much Earlier!
These are the facts you must know about money and personal finance,
that nobody has told you!
(2013)
Copyright 2013 Financial Freedom Now Ltd (Happy Financially)

Disclaimer
All information on happyfinancially.com, including everything in this presentation is
the opinion of the authors only. It is for informational purposes only and is not
financial, medical, investment, or any other form of advice. For any relevant
question you may have, anything that you are not certain about, or for anything
you wish to find out more about, please consult a qualified professional in each
respective field. Happy financially is for informational purposes only.
At Happy Financially we believe in what we write, but we are not professionals, and
as such this is not any form of financial or other advice. We disclaim responsibility
for any and all actions taken as a result of using this site in any way. By doing
anything as a result of using this site you do so at your own risk and on your own
good judgement. There is no guarantee that anything on this site will be beneficial
for you.
Any references made on this site (to other sites, third parties or products) are
subject to change without notice. We try to keep our information up to date, but
it’s outside of our control what other sites and third parties do.

Areas covered
• How much money does life cost?
• Low income in the US
• Average household debt may shock you!
• Are we getting poorer?
• High interest charges waste your money!
• Medical healthcare could be costing you
more than you think!
• How likely are you to lose your job?
• Expensive emergencies, are you
prepared?
• Are you prepared for retirement?
• Debt affects retirement!
• Recent graduates, expect very late
retirement
• When do you expect to retire?
• What if you start saving for retirement
late?
• An article by PBS about financial advisors
• Being wealthy helps you in more ways
than you think!
• How much money does life cost 2?
(Estimate)

Part 1 - The most dangerous
trends that destroy your
personal finance!

How much money does life cost? (Estimate)
• Lifetime costs: $625,000 (Includes mortgage, house down-payment, credit cards, student loans, car
loans, wedding, honeymoon, medical bills and interest charges)
• Retirement contributions: $180,000 (estimate from Aon Hewitt’s guidelines)
• Total: $805,000
(These costs do not include day-to-day costs such as groceries, kid’s education, any insurances (except medical), any services,
gas, utilities, vacations, and leisure money.)
Note: For details on each of these costs and sources/references, see later in the presentation on their respective pages.

Low income in the US (Inflation adjusted.)
• Median income in 2012 was the lowest since 1999.
• Same income as 1989.
[1]
$44,000.00
$46,000.00
$48,000.00
$50,000.00
$52,000.00
$54,000.00
$56,000.00
$58,000.00
1983
1985
1987
1989
1991
1993
1995
1997
1999
2001
2003
2005
2007
2009
2011
MediumIncome
Year
Last 30 Years
50000
51000
52000
53000
54000
55000
56000
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
MediumIncome
Year
Last 5 Years

Average household debt may shock you!
• Average debt per household:
• Credit cards: $15,279 (but $7,128 is typical) [2]
• Student loans: $32,140 [2]
• Mortgage: $149,456 [2]
• Auto loan: $27,430 [3]
• Average household debt total: $224,305
• Typically, 21% of monthly income goes to debt payments. [4]
$0
$50,000
$100,000
$150,000
$200,000
$250,000
Credit card Mortgage Student
loans
Car Loan Total
Average debt per household

Are we getting poorer?
• 146.4 million Americans (almost 1 in 2 people) are either poor or low-income. [5]
• Since 1970, there are at least 7 times as many people on food stamps. [6]
• More than 1 in 4 children are enrolled on a food stamp program. [7]
• 1 in 5 children (14.7 million children) are poor. [8]
0
5000000
10000000
15000000
20000000
25000000
30000000
35000000
40000000
45000000
50000000
2000 2013
Numberofpeople
Year
Number of people on food stamps

High interest charges waste your money!
• Typical interest charges paid in a lifetime: $155,000 (estimate)
(These can easily be calculated with many repayment calculators available on the internet. Just input the average interest
rate for each respective debt.)
$0
$20,000
$40,000
$60,000
$80,000
$100,000
$120,000
$140,000
$160,000
Renewing
credit card
balance
Car Loan Credit
cards
Student
Loans
Mortgage Total
$5,000 $5,000 $10,000 $12,000
$123,000
$155,000
Total Interest charges paid in a lifetime

Medical healthcare could be costing you
more than you think!
• Average employer-based coverage costs you $9,144. ($3,600 out-of-pocket expenses.) [9]
• Costs doubled in the last 10 years (for a typical family of four). [10]
• Estimated an additional medical spending total
of $7,450 until 2022. [11]
• Estimated average insurance claim increase of
32%, over the next 4 years. [12]
• Additional 40% excise tax on employer-based
coverage, starting 2018. [13]
• 3 out of 5 bankruptcies (estimated) are caused
because of medical healthcare costs. [14]
• Predicted that 56 million adults, would struggle
with medical bills in 2013. [15]
$16,771
$18,074
$19,393
$20,728
$22,030
$15,000
$16,000
$17,000
$18,000
$19,000
$20,000
$21,000
$22,000
$23,000
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Cost
Year
Medical cost for a family of four

How likely are you to lose your job?
• More than 1 in 3 working Americans separated from their job in 2012.
[16]
• 1 in 6.5 working Americans got sacked. (2012) [16]
Sacked
15%
Other separations
22%
Not seperated
63%
Job separations and sackings
Sacked
Other separations
Not seperated

Expensive emergencies, are you prepared?
It’s recommended to save 6 months worth of household expenses in
case of a job separation, medical emergency etc. (Less than 1 out of 4
people have saved this much.) [17]
• 1 in 4 people have no savings at all. [17]
• 46% of people have less than $800 saved. [17]

High costs most people face!
• The average wedding costs $28,000. [18]
• The average honeymoon costs $4,000 to $6,000. [19]
• For a traditional 20% down-payment on a $200,000 house, that’s
$40,000.
Total: $73,000
$0
$10,000
$20,000
$30,000
$40,000
$50,000
$60,000
$70,000
$80,000
Wedding Honeymoon House down-
payment
Total
Costs most people face

Are you prepared for retirement?
• Median retirement savings for people 10 years away from retirement
is $12,000. [20]
• 46% of people have saved less than $10,000 for retirement. [21]
• 29% of American workers have saved less than $1,000 for retirement.
[21]
• 40% of Baby Boomers plan to work as long as they live. [21]
• 36% of all Americans don’t contribute to retirement savings. [21]

Debt affects retirement!
• 60% of households accumulated more debt than retirement savings
(2010-2011). [22]
• These households save 50% less of their annual income than their
counterparts.
• 20% of households accumulated more credit card debt than
retirement savings (2010-2011). [22]
• 69% increase in monthly debt payments for households near
retirement (1992-2010). [22]
• Debt can severely reduce how long your retirement savings will last.

Recent graduates, expect very late
retirement.
• Expected retirement age is 73, for recent graduates (average life
expectancy is 84). [23]
• $23,300 median student loan debt, costs you $115,000 by retirement
(current dollars). [23]
• In the past 30 years: [23]
• College tuition fees increased 200%.
• Number of graduates in 4-year courses increased by 11%.
• Unemployment at graduation: 18%
• 7 million students in default (unable to pay back student loans). [23]

When do you expect to retire?
• The typical household near retirement has $120,000 in retirement
savings.
• $120,000 in retirement only gives you $7,000 a year! (for 18 years)
• 62% of Americans aged 45 to 60 say they plan to delay retirement.
(42% increase from 2010.) [24]
• Expected retirement age:
• Mid 1990s – 60
• 2003 – 63 [21]
• 2013 – 67 [21]
• Recent graduates: 73 [23]

What if you start saving for retirement late?
• Aon Hewitt’s guidelines on saving for retirement (includes employer’s
match:
• Save 11 times your salary by retirement. [25]
• Start saving 15% of your salary at age 25, until age 65. If you start at 30, you
should save 19%.
• If you start at 45, you should save 31%. [26]
• Less than 1 in 3 people save 6% - 19% of their salary. [4]

An article by PBS about financial advisors
• http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/business-economy-
financial-crisis/retirement-gamble/the-retirement-gamble-facing-us-
all/
• Read that.
• 85% of financial advisors operate with a suitability standard. [27]
• Meaning they do not necessarily have your best interest in mind. [27]
• 70% of people who invest in mutual funds are unaware they’re paying
fees. [27]

Being wealthy helps you in more ways than you
think!
Research shows:
• Poorer people may be faced with some very difficult financial decisions
that can ruin marriages. [28]
• Wealthy people are more likely to be healthy and to live longer. [29]
• Wealthy men are better lovers, and their partners experience deeper and
more frequent pleasure. [30]
• Poorer and less educated people are more likely to be obese. [32]
• Children in poorer families could be subject to chronic stress. [31]
• Children in wealthier families are more likely to complete higher
education. [30]
• Wealthy men are typically in relationships with younger, and more
attractive partners.
• More men than ever before marry women with higher income and
education than them. [33]

How much money does life cost 2? (Estimate)
• Lifetime costs: $625,000
• Mortgage: $150,000
• Student loans: $32,000
• Car loan: $28,000
• Credit card: $7,000
• Wedding: $28,000
• Honeymoon: $5,000
• House down-payment: $40,000
• Medical bills: $180,000 (employer-based coverage, family of four, 20 years cost)
• Interest charges: $155,000
• Retirement contributions: $180,000 (9% salary for 40 years, without employer’s match.)
• Total: $805,000
(These costs do not include day-to-day costs like groceries, kid’s education, any insurances (except medical), any services, gas,
utilities, vacations, and leisure money.)
Note: For details on each of these costs and sources/references, see earlier in the presentation on their respective
pages.

Part 2 - 5 simple things you can
do to become financially free,
rich, and retire much earlier!

1. Learn to invest better – how investments
could scale…
• Doing a simple compound interest calculation, 40 years of $7,000 annual
deposits, you’re left with (left column is average annual interest rate):
• 3% - $536,343.91
• 5% - $868,324.38
• 8% - $1,891,041.45 – More than triple the 3% investment
• 10% - $3,263,502.34
(These are simplified calculations which don’t include fees.)
• If you learn how to invest better and manage to invest at a higher average return,
you may be able to accumulate a multiple of the amount of money you would
otherwise have had.
Disclaimer: This is not investment or financial advice, it is for informational purposes only.
$0.00
$500,000.00
$1,000,000.00
$1,500,000.00
$2,000,000.00
$2,500,000.00
$3,000,000.00
$3,500,000.00
3% 5% 8% 10%
Resultingmoney
Average annual interest rate
Compound interest calculation - invest $7,000
annually, 40 years

2. Keep some emergency savings
• Unexpected emergencies (especially expensive ones) can wreak havoc on your finances if
you’re not prepared for them.
• They can get you deep into debt, unable to pay bills and unable to catch up.
• What if you get fired from your job (1 in 3 working Americans separated from their job in
2012), or your car breaks down and needs a replaced engine (thousands of dollars), or
there is a medical emergency, or you forget your insurance is due for renewal, you
spent too much for Christmas, or anything else happens?
• 1 in 4 people have no savings at all.
• 46% of people have less than $800 saved.

3. Spend less, save more.
• Spending less means more money can go into savings or paying off
your debt.
• Simple steps you can take:
1. Sit down and note your expenses for last month.
2. Cut out all the stuff you don’t care about (some subscriptions perhaps).
3. Try and get better deals on things that you can.
4. Reward yourself by spending a small portion of the money you save, put
the rest into savings, investments, and debt payments.

4. Start investing as early as you can.
• If you invest $7,000 annually, at an 8% interest rate, for 40 years
instead of 30 years. You end up with $1,000,000 more! ($1.8 million instead
of $0.8 million.)
• Starting early, with a good return on investment, can multiply your
earnings.
• (You can do this calculation with any calculator such as:
http://www.thecalculatorsite.com/finance/calculators/compoundinterestcalculator.php)
Disclaimer: This is not investment or financial advice, it is for informational purposes only.

5. Most importantly - get out of debt
• If you were out of debt you would be much closer to financial
freedom.
• You’ll pay an estimated $155,000 just in debt interest charges in your
life. The result:
• You would need much less money for retirement (because you’re no longer
making debt payments or paying interest on them).
• You would have 21% of your income that you didn’t have before, to invest or
spend for your pleasure.

Part 3 - Looking for a “Get
out of debt” program

The 5 things to look for in a “get out of debt”
program.
A program that will help you get out of debt should:
1. Be effective.
2. Be simple to use for you.
3. Work regardless of your circumstances.
4. Be from a credible source.
5. Have a 100% money-back guarantee, just in case you’re not satisfied.

The Happy Financially report/short book:
“How To Get Out Of Debt, In The Fastest Possible
Way!”
• It gives you all the information you need to get out of debt as fast as
possible.
• It works regardless of your circumstances because these tactics are
universal. Anyone can use them to get equally out of debt.
• It streamlines your personal finance so you don’t need to think about
money management, and makes getting rid of debt as easy and
simple as possible.
• It’s made by Happy Financially.
• It has a 2 month, 100% money-back guarantee, just in case you are
not satisfied with it.

Where to get
“How To Get Out Of Debt, In The Fastest Possible
Way!”.
• You can read more about the short book or buy it at:
happyfinancially.com/become-debt-free.
• Soon you’ll be well on your way to:
• Becoming completely debt free.
• Developing a great personal finance system, that ensures everything is always
taken care of, while automatically making you richer.
• Potentially achieving complete financial freedom.

Subscribe for extra tips.
• Subscribe for extra tips on:
• How to get out of debt.
• How to develop a great personal finance system.
• How to save money effectively.
• How to make money, so you can increase your income.
• How to achieve financial freedom.
• And much more…
• Subscribe at http://www.happyfinancially.com/sign-up

Happy Financially
Automatically building a financially free future.
http://www.HappyFinancially.com

References
[1] http://www.census.gov/ - Statistics and data about median income since 1983.
[2] http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/credit-card-data/average-credit-card-debt-household/
[3] http://www.cnbc.com/id/101461972
[4] https://about.scottrade.com/news/releases/2012/Scottrade-Research-Finds-Americans-Struggle-to-
Save-for-Retirement.html
[5] http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2011/12/15/9461848-dismal-prospects-1-in-2-americans-are-now-
poor-or-low-income
[6] http://rt.com/usa/us-poverty-kids-health-687/
[7] http://rt.com/usa/us-poverty-kids-health-687/
[8] http://www.nbcnews.com/id/44171347#.U3PA2fldWSq
[9] http://www.milliman.com/mmi/
[10] http://www.forbes.com/sites/danmunro/2013/05/22/annual-healthcare-costs-surpasses-22000/
[11] http://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2013/09/23/its-official-obamacare-will-increase-health-
spending-by-7450-for-a-typical-family-of-four/
[12] http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertlenzner/2013/11/02/obamacare-will-raise-average-health-
insurance-premiums-by-32-for-21-million-people/
[13] http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/what-to-know-as-the-health-law-takes-effect/
[14] http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/health/2014/03/26/medical-bankruptcy/
[15] http://www.cnbc.com/id/100840148
[16] http://www.bls.gov/jlt/data.htm
[17] http://money.cnn.com/2013/06/24/pf/emergency-savings/
[18] http://money.cnn.com/2013/03/10/pf/wedding-cost/
[19] http://www.discoveryourhoneymoon.com/average-honeymoon-costs-how-much-you-should-expect-
to-pay/
[20] http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2013/07/01/retirement-savings-shortfall-
crisis-catch-u0p/2464119/
[21] http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-01-11/so-you-want-retire-five-disturbing-statistics-about-
retirement-infographic
[22] http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-10-25/60-401k-participants-accumulated-more-debt-
retirement-savings
[23] http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/investing/2013/73-retirement-norm-millennials/
[24] http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887323926104578276241741448064
[25] http://www.marketwatch.com/story/retirement-savings-how-much-is-enough-2012-09-12
[26] http://crr.bc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/IB_11-13-508.pdf
[27] http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/business-economy-financial-crisis/retirement-gamble/the-
retirement-gamble-facing-us-all/
[28] http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/07/your-money/household-budgeting/07money.html?_r=2&
[29] http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/painter/2008-03-23-your-health_N.htm
[30] http://jezebel.com/5134284/women-orgasm-more-with-rich-men-claim-researchers
[31] http://www.irp.wisc.edu/publications/focus/pdfs/foc272e.pdf
[32] https://theconversation.com/education-wealth-and-the-place-you-live-can-affect-your-weight-7941
[33] http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2010/01/19/women-men-and-the-new-economics-of-marriage/

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The most dangerous trends that destroy your personal finance, and 5 simple things you can do to become financially free, rich, and retire much earlier!