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Your Money Milestones: A Guide to Making the 9 Most Important Financial Decisions of Your Life, 1st edition

Published by FT Press (January 7, 2010) © 2010

  • Moshe A. Milevsky
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This book illustrates how FOUR principles inspired by basic arithmetic can be applied to manage the most important financial decisions (money milestones) people face over their entire financial lifecycle.

They are Identify the true value all of your financial resources (ADDITION).  Budget for the hidden liabilities in your future (SUBTRACTION).  Spend your total resources evenly over time (DIVISION).  Prepare for many alternative and unexpected universes (MULTIPLICATION).

This book offers a complete framework for thinking about money that’s every bit as provocative as Freakonomics. Drawing on the newest research into psychology and personal finance, Milevsky helps you identify the true value all of your resources; budget for hidden liabilities in your future; plan to spend your total resources smoothly over time; and prepare for unexpected events that could upend even the most careful planning. You’ll discover why: children are short-term investment liabilities but may be long-term pension assets; winning the lottery may increase your chances of going bankrupt; and giving up control of your retirement nest egg might actually make you happier. The insights are fascinating and useful throughout your life whether you’re deciding what to study; contemplating your first home purchase; deciding whether to keep contributing to your 401(k); or considering when and whether to retire.

Shows how just four simple principles you learned in grade school can be used to manage the most critical money milestones in your life.

  •  A whole new way to think about your money, drawing on the latest research in psychology, behavioral finance, and personal money management. 
  • Make better decisions about college, homebuying, retirement, insurance, and even kids!
  • Each chapter will direct readers to an online calculator website that will allow the reader to experiment and play with the various concepts, themselves.

Acknowledgments     xv

About the Author     xvii

Prologue: Financial Deicide     xix

Introduction: Human Capital: Your Greatest Asset     1

Chapter 1: Is the Long-Term Value of an Education Worth the Short-Term Cost?     13

Chapter 2: What Is the Point of Saving Money Forever?     35

Chapter 3: How Much Debt Is Too Much and How Much Is Too Little?     53

Chapter 4: Are Kids Investments and Can Marriages Diversify?     69

Chapter 5: Government Tax Authorities: Partners, Adversaries, or Bazaar Merchants?     85

Chapter 6: Can You Eat Your House or Will It Ever Pay Dividends?     101

Chapter 7: Insurance Salesmen and Warranty Peddlers: Are They Smooth Enough?     113

Chapter 8: Portfolio Construction: What Asset Class Do You Belong To?     129

Chapter 9: Retirement: When Is It Time to Shutter the Well and Close the Mine?     147

Conclusion: Four Principles to Guide All Financial Decisions and Money Milestones     169

References     177

Index     185

 

Moshe A. Milevsky, Ph.D. is a tenured finance professor at the Schulich School of Business at York University (www.yorku.ca) in Toronto, Canada, and the executive director of the nonprofit IFID Centre (www.ifid.ca). He is also the president and CEO of The QWeMA Group (www.qwema.ca), a software company that develops intellectual property and numerical algorithms for the financial services industry. He also writes a monthly column for Research Magazine that is read by financial advisors and planners in North America.

Moshe is a well-known public speaker and has delivered keynote lectures and seminars in Europe, South America, the Far East, and the UK. In June 2009, he was a main platform speaker for MDRT’s annual meeting. He has consulted for global insurance companies and pension funds including the Florida State Board of Administration’s (FSBA) retirement plan. He is currently a member of a variety of corporate advisory councils. To date he has published seven books, more than 50 peer-reviewed research papers, and more than 100 personal finance articles on the topic of insurance, investments, pensions, retirement, and annuities.

Moshe received two National Magazine (Canada) awards in 2003 for his popular-press writing and received a Graham and Dodd scroll award from the CFA Institute for a 2006 research article in the Financial Analysts Journal. In the summer of 2002, he was elected a Fellow of the Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences, and in September 2008, he was given a lifetime achievement award from the Retirement Income Industry Association (RIIA). In May 2009, he was named to Investment Advisor magazine’s IA25 list of most influential people in the financial advisory business.

Moshe’s previous book Are You a Stock or a Bond? Create Your Own Pension Plan for a Secure Financial Future was published by FT Press in September 2008 and is available in fine bookstores everywhere.

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