You and Your Money: A No-Stress Guide to Becoming Financially Fit

Foreword

My parents are now aged 93 and 90. They were 19 and 16 in 1929 as the nation moved into the Great Depression. As a result, my father had to transfer from a high-cost private college to the low-cost public university. He hitchhiked 30 miles to and from classes each day, spending three to five hours just getting to and from school. During the early years of their marriage, my folks ate graham crackers for dinner three nights a week. They never lived beyond their current income, never had credit cards, bought a home in their mid 30s, and paid off the mortgage in their 50s.

We went without many things that the "Joneses" had as I grew up, and the words "You should never try to keep up with the Joneses" still ring in my ears. My folks considered ...