~ Part One: Something For Everyone ~ Five Buckets, Four Shovels, a Beach and a Map is a simplified approach to financial planning that uses drawings, charts, and
a quasi-true story to help give anyone the start that they need to better plan for their financial future. The Buckets, the Shovels, the Beach and the Map are all metaphors for the various aspects of financial planning that anyone can understand. The drawings and charts are easy to understand and follow.
Financial security, as described in this book, is a combination of tax, retirement, cash flow, estate, investment and insurance planning. These concepts are linked together with the goal of protecting one’s assets throughout one’s life, while planning for a rewarding retirement once one stops working.
For most people, the idea of trying to link taxes, retirement, cash flow, insurance, estate and investments planning can be frightening and confusing. It seems like a long, complicated process and as a result most people have a difficult time getting started.
This approach—Five Buckets, Four Shovels, a Beach and a Map—makes financial security a visual process and
creates a systematic approach to use throughout one’s life meant to protect from sudden misfortunes and save for a rewarding retirement.
Just like there are different types of beaches—those with white sand, brown sand, rocky features, and steep with cliffs to name a few of them—there are different types of people—young, old, working, retired, married with kids, married without kids, unmarried, domestic partners, etc. The concepts in this book apply to any “family unit”, regardless of circumstances or specifics.
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