The Cure for Money Madness

by SHERMAN, SPENCER

• ISBN13: 9780767928557
• ISBN10: 0767928555
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-02-03
• Publisher: Crown Business

Summary

The Cure for Money Madnessmakes a golden promise: stress-free prosperity and a lifetime of financial peace.When financial advisor Spencer Sherman found himself crossing a police line to retrieve his work files from a burning office building, he realized he had money madness. He noticed it in his clients, too: those irrational feelings about money that make otherwise rational adults behave foolishlybuying high, selling low, overspending, lying to their spouses, equating their self-worth with their net worth. Money madness stresses us out, poisons our relationships, and keeps us from making as much money as we can. So Spencer invented the cure. Now, inThe Cure for Money Madness, he gives us the tools that have helped thousands of people find greater peace of mindand make more money. Money madness, Spencer shows us, comes from unproductive messages that we received long ago. "It takes money to make money." "Paying rent is just throwing money down the drain." "Don't talk about money." When you challenge the messages, you can transform all aspects of your money life: earning, spending, saving, investing, giving, borrowing. More money will flow to you. Your relationships will improve. You'll enjoy your money more. And you'll be more generous, too. InThe Cure for Money Madness, you'll discover: How much your money madness has been costing you How wealthy you truly are, by using the revolutionary Actual Net WorthTM statement How "small and boring" can help you outperform the top investorswithout watching the market How to communicate about money in ways that create deeper connections with your spouse, parents, children, friends, and colleagues How to know what is truly enough Money madness keeps us from living as richly as we might and enjoying the wealth we have. In these tough economic times,The Cure for Money Madnesstransforms fear and stress into prosperity and peace.

Author Biography

SPENCER SHERMAN, MBA, has been named one of Worth Magazine’s “Top 100 Wealth Advisors” three years running. The founder and CEO of Abacus Wealth Partners LLC, he leads workshops on Curing Your Money Madness and Financial Intimacy and Freedom with relationship expert Anne Watts and with Byron Katie. He lives in Northern California. Visit him online at www.curemoneymadness.com

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. xi
The Unchallenged Assumptions of Money Madness	p. xv
Spencer's Seven Simple Rules for Achieving Money Wisdom	p. xix
Introduction: Money Madness and Its Cure	p. 1
Money Madness: What It Does and How It Works	p. 11
Contracting the Condition: How We Get Money Madness	p. 25
Money Madness in Action: How the Money Monster Operates in Your Life	p. 43
Free Your Life from Money Madness: Tame the Monster	p. 75
Financial Intimacy: Getting Naked Around Money	p. 85
The Rainbow Portfolio: Madness-Free Investing-The Boring Way to Make More Money	p. 115
Getting Money: Madness-Free Strategies	p. 153
Madness-Free Spending	p. 171
Philanthropy and Money Madness	p. 199
Enough-Finding Your Sufficiency	p. 208
Make It Happen	p. 219
Abby's Dilemma	p. 224
Notes	p. 227
Index	p. 228
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpts

CHAPTER 1
Money Madness

What It Does and How It Works
When my wife, Janine, and I first went to see the house in which we now live, the thing that most excited her was the backyard. "Plenty of space for a garden," she said breathlessly. I could see her pleasure as she scanned the sizable expanse of the yard, no doubt already planning vegetables here and perennials there.

The prospect filled me with dread. Where she saw tomatoes on the vine and beds of peonies, I saw bills, expenses, maintenance costs. If I even acknowledge her pleasure, I thought to myself, she'll start planning this garden; and if she does that, I'll have to pay for it. And if that happened, a lot of money would flow away from me.

"What do you think, Spencer?" she asked me excitedly. "Isn't it just perfect?"

I barely grunted, then looked away. The truth is that I was terrified of spending money on a garden. I was even more terrified of sharing my fear with Janine. It was not something I had ever talked to her about--even though she was and remains the person to whom I feel closest in all the world. So as I always and invariably did, I kept mum, and I simply let my fear simmer.

Irrational? This was sheer folly.

For one thing, we could well afford a garden. Of course, with a packet of seeds you can buy for pennies and a willingness to do a little manual labor, just about anyone can afford a garden. But in fact, our finances at the time would have enabled a professional garden design and help with the heavy-duty work of garden maintenance, so my fear certainly wasn't due to a lack of ready cash.

Nor would it have been rational to reject the garden for the sake of our long-term financial welfare. Quite the contrary. If this became our home and we one day decided to sell it, a garden in the backyard would significantly enhance its resale value.

In fact, by any measure I could possibly come up with, had I been thinking rationally, the garden was a plus. It would give pleasure to my wife--something any husband normally seeks to do. It might provide us with the fresh vegetables I love. If I had allowed myself to think about it, I might have realized that a garden can be a place of relaxation, a place that can refresh the spirit--in short, a "commodity" that might enrich my life.

I yield to few people when it comes to knowing about money. Trained in economics, with an advanced degree in business, certified as a financial planner, I advise some of the wealthiest and most astute investors in the United States. I make a lot of money for them. You don't have to take my word for it. Worth magazine has repeatedly named me to its list of the top 100 wealth advisors in the nation.

But standing in the backyard that day, tensing with resistance against the projected outflow of my cash, and seething with resentment at the person I loved most in the world, I was not behaving like a money expert. Rather, my behavior was being driven by money madness.

Fear of money going away from me was one part of the madness, and it was powerful enough to give the boot to all common sense, including financial judgment. Equally telling was my fear of sharing my feelings with my wife. Instead, as Janine and the real estate agent strolled the yard, talking about spring bulbs, summer herbs, and late-fall ornamental grasses, I allowed money madness to create a gulf across which my wife and I were simply not communicating--across which, if truth be told, we never had communicated.


The High Price of Money Madness
Money madness is alive and well at home, in the office, on the factory floor, at play, in the bedroom.
And it has consequences.

I see money madness, and its consequences, in my friend Jack. Jack is not just a captain of industry, he is a brigadier-general. He's the second in command at a prestigious corporation, reporting

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Excerpted from The Cure for Money Madness: How to Stop Undermining Your Prosperity, Live a Richer Life--and Make More Money by Spencer Sherman
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.