Happy Ever After

Acknowledgements xi

Preface: Once Upon A Time . . . xiii

Introduction: Are You Happy Now? xix

Stop Believing In Fairy Tales xxi

This Isn't A Fairy Tale, Princess! xxvi

The Chapter 1 Cheat Sheet 1

Chapter 1 The M.I.S.S.I.O.N. 3

The M.I.S.S.I.O.N. Stages 5

The "Freedom Formula" 7

Part 1: The Freedom Formula is 25X 7

Part 2: The "X Factor" 8

Why The Freedom Formula Is So Important 9

"Out Of The Woods" 11

The Emperor's New Money 18

The Chapter 2 Cheat Sheet 21

Money 21

Chapter 2 M for Money 22

What is money? 23

Time (and Energy) = Money 29

Working people have money but no time 30

Old people, of course, have no energy 31

The Energy Equation Following The M.I.S.S.I.O.N. 32

Your First Step Out Of The Woods 32

Are You Ready To Be Happy Ever After? 33

The Cinderella Side-Gig 38

The Chapter 3 Cheat Sheet 41

How We Learn To Make More Money 41

Chapter 3 I For Income 42

How To Make Active Income 42

Dream job? Dream on! 42

The Bad Things About Bad Jobs 46

The Side-Gig Side Bar 50

Jill Saves On The Side 54

A Second Step Out Of The Woods 56

Are You Ready To Make More Money? 57

Free Income Stuff - Side-Hustle School 60

The Age Of Dragons And Saving 62

The Chapter 4 Cheat Sheet - Saving 65

How We Save More Money 65

Chapter 4 S For Saving 67

Why do we save? 67

Become A Master Of Disaster 68

Saving For Investments 69

Saving For Freedom 73

How do we save? 75

1. The envelope method 77

2. The direct debit method 78

3. Bonuses and businesses 80

A Little Help ... 83

How much should we save? 85

Trick Yourself Into Saving More 88

What are you saving for? 91

Do You Know How Saving Makes You Happy Ever After? 95

Back In The Real World ...Save-tember! 97

The Wicked Witch Of The Worldwide Web 100

The Chapter 5 Cheat Sheet 103

How We Spend Less Money 103

Chapter 5 S For Spending 105

"50 - 30 - 20": or should that be "20 - 50 - 30"? 106

The (Basic) Cost of Living 107

30% Fun? 115

Free (Cool) Movements That Discourage Spending 122

Should I Be Worried About My Spending? 125

The First Seven Cuts 127

Are You Ready To Be Happy Ever After? 132

Jack And The Giant Bean Stock 136

The Chapter 6 Cheat Sheet 139

How We Make Money Work For Us 139

Chapter 6 I For Investing 141

The Long-Term Magic of Compounding 145

R for Risk 148

R for Return 154

Risk = Return? 155

"Integrate" Your Investing With Your Life 156

S Is For Spread 166

K is for Knowledge 170

Back In The Real World: Avoiding Scams 179

Are You Ready For Happy Ever After? 183

A Tax Break 185

How To Own One Cool Cat 188

The Chapter 7 Cheat Sheet 191

How We Own This! 191

Chapter 7 Three Os For Ownership 193

Own The Process 193

What Do You Really Own? 195

The Freedom Formula 208

Back In The Real World: Climbing A Pension Mountain In Your 100-Year Life! 223

What Woods? 224

Are You Ready To Own Being Happy Ever After? 225

"Happy Ever After" 230

The Chapter 8 Cheat Sheet 233

How We Know When To Start

Being Happy Ever After 233

Chapter 8 N For Now 234

Here Be Dragons - Yes, Right Here, Right Now 235

No More Delays 238

No More Excuses 240

The End - Or The Beginning? 251

Can You Be Happy Ever After Now? 252

The M.I.S.S.I.O.N. Cheat Sheet (Again) 255

Index 257