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Women.com presents

David Bach
Author of "Smart Women Finish Rich"

December 16, 1999

David Bach, author of "Smart Women Finish Rich," talks about how women can invest their money and save for the future. Bach is a Senior Vice President of investments at a major investment firm and a partner of The Bach Group in Orinda, California, which manages more than a million dollars for individual investors.

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HomeArts: Hello and welcome to our hour-long chat with David Bach, author of "Smart Women Finish Rich." Bach is a Senior Vice President of investments at a major investment firm and a partner of The Bach Group in Orinda, California, which manages more than a million dollars for individual investors. In addition to being a full-time financial advisor, David is a highly regarded educator who has taught retirement planning courses for the University of California Berkeley Extension, The Learning Annex, local adult schools, and numerous Fortune 500 corporations. A featured speaker at events around the world, David has shared the stage with Tony Robbins at his Wealth Mastery program and regularly speaks at major events that highlight the importance of women taking control over their financial futures. "Smart Women Finish Rich" is currently on the New York Times Bestseller List. Welcome, David!

David Bach: It's great to be on your show, and I'm sorry I'm late!

Veronica45: What's the premise behind "Smart Women Finish Rich?"

David Bach: With the holidays coming up, now is a great time to really be thinking about your finances. The premise is that it's not difficult to become wealthy, provided you spend time becoming smart about money first. The key is to take classes, read books and most importantly simply get started when it comes to your investing. The number one thing people need to do is pay themselves first. But unfortunately most people don't know what that means. For women, it means that you save 12 percent of your income before tax and that money should go into a 401K plan or a retirement account at work. The biggest mistake I see women making is that they are not using their retirement accounts. Forty percent of women who have a plan don't use it. The women that are using their plans, for the most part, are not putting the maximum allowable away. They are putting the minimum percentage in instead of the maximum.

Fasttrack: What are some of the biggest pitfalls women face when planning their finances?

David Bach: The biggest pitfall is not starting soon enough. It's never too soon or too late to start The key is that you want to start immediately. If you are not saving any money right now you want to start. You can start with as little as a couple of dollars a day. The second biggest mistake is investing too conservatively.

Curiousone: Should couples have separate savings accounts, stocks, bonds, and other investments?

David Bach: Well that's a good question. My next book is going to be called "Smart Couples Finish Rich." It will be out January of next year. What I recommend to couples is that they have a his account, a her account, and an our account. Women have to have and should have their own retirement account. You can't have joint retirement accounts. One of the biggest mistakes I see women make is they say, "My husband's using his 401K and I'm going to get half of his retirement account, so why do I need to have my own?" The answer is the more money you have saved independently as a woman, the safer you are. The more security and freedom you have.

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