Part Two: Something for Everyone

5 Buckets, 4 Shovels, a Beach and a Map is a simplified approach to financial planning that uses drawings, charts, and examples to help give anyone at any age plan for their financial future. The Buckets, the Shovels, the Beach and the Map are all metaphors for the various aspects of financial planning. The drawings and charts are easy to understand and follow. For young adults, this approach integrates all of the topics we’ve discussed and integrating them into one big financial plan.

For most adults, the idea of linking tax funds, retirement savings, cash flow, insurance, an estate plan, and invest ments can be frightening and confusing. It seems like a long, complicated process and, as a result, most people have a difficult time getting started.

Our approach—5 Buckets, 4 Shovels, a Beach and a Map—makes financial security a visual process and creates a systematic approach that will protect you from sudden misfortunes and help you save for a rewarding retirement. We describe it in-depth a book by the same name, but we’ll give you a brief overview in the next few pages.

Although these topics may seem completely unrelated to a young person’s life, it’s very helpful to learn about the big picture now. It will make all the little pieces of the picture much easier to figure out later. By starting with retire ment, we hope to inspire students to include this key factor in their financial plan right from the start.