Dear Friend,

1 Dear Friend, Get out of debt Fix your credit Rebuild your 401(k) plan Take SMART risks Make your financial recovery automatic Rebuild with real estate And much moreWhatever you may have lost in the last few years that s behind you. Life is too short to stay down. So please take this book take your dreams and start OVER. Thank you for reading this, and please know that I am honored and grateful that you spent this time with me. I want to hear about how 2010 works out for you so email me your success story at and stay connected in the following ways:Now start reading and take your first steps on the new road to wealth in 2010! Your Friend, David BachJanuary 4, 2010 Welcome to the free download of my new book, start Over, finish rich !

2 You have taken the first step in putting your finances and your dreams back on track in 2010. As you ll see, this is a very powerful book. It s super short and super simple. You ll be able to read it in a couple of hours. But it s going to change your life and totally motivate you to join in the economic recovery that comes after a recession. The recovery is starting now and you cannot afford to miss it! This book gives you your action plan for 2010. I ll show you how to: JOIN OUR FACEBOOK COMMUNITYFOLLOW ME ON TWITTERVISIT MY WEBSITESUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTERSUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWS FEEDBUY THE BOOKThis book is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information on thesubject of personal finances. While all of the stories and anecdotes described inthe book are based on true experiences, most of the names are pseudonyms, andsome situations have been changed slightly for educational purposes and to pro-tect each individual s privacy.

3 It is sold with the understanding that neither the Au-thor nor the Publisher is engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other pro-fessional services by publishing this each individual situation is unique,questions relevant to personal finances and specific to the individual should be ad-dressed to an appropriate professional to ensure that the situation has been eval-uated carefully and appropriately. The Author and Publisher specifically disclaimany liability, loss, or risk which is incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly,of the use and application of any of the contents of this 2009 by David BachAll rights reserved. Published in the United States by Broadway Books, an imprint of the CrownPublishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc.

4 , New BOOKS and the Broadway Books colophon are trademarks ofRandom House, Automatic Millionaire Homeowner, The Automatic Millionaire, The LatteFactor, Smart Women finish rich , and Smart Couples finish rich are registeredtrademarks of FinishRich, of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataBach, over, finish rich : 10 steps to get you back on track in 2010 /David Bach. 1st inde Finance, Personal. 2. Financial crises. 3. Recessions. I. '01 dc222009035406 ISBN 978-0-307-59119-7 Printed in the United States of America10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 First Editionbach text 7:Layout 1 11/12/09 2:25 PM Page viSTEP 3 DEAL WITH YOUR CREDITCARD DEBTIf you don t have credit card debt, congratulations!You can move on to Step 4.

5 But if you are like mil-lions of Americans, the past year may have pushedyour debt situation from not-great to red alert. As theeconomy got tight, the credit card companies haveincreased interest rates, lowered credit ceilings, andcanceled accounts in an attempt to shore up theirbottom line. Even before the recession made themmore creative, their schemes worked so well thatAmerican consumers currently owe nearly $1 trillionin credit card debt and are paying an additional$15 billion or so each year in fees they don t text 7:Layout 1 11/12/09 2:25 PM Page 39If you are among the millions of Americans whoare drowning in credit card debt (and some expertsestimate this group may include as many as 50 mil-lion of us), there are two things you should know you are not alone and you truly can fix this won t be easy, but you canget out of debt.

6 In fact,you can probably do it without any outside help! This chapter will provide you with a road map toget you back on a solid financial footing once and forall. In the next few pages I will teach you what I callmy DOLP system. DOLP stands for Dead on LastPayment. It s a simple, proven way to prioritize yourdebts and figure out in literally minutes how to paythem off as quickly and efficiently as possible. I malso going to share with you how the new credit cardlaws enacted in 2009 can protect you from the creditcard companies that helped you get in this mess inthe first YOU IN CREDIT CARD DEBT? HOW DID YOU GET THERE?According to Federal Reserve statistics, the averagefamily that carries a credit card balance owes nearly$17,000.

7 That s the average. In my experience as a money coach for nearly two decades, I ve seenfirsthand that when it comes to credit cards, many ofus operate way, wayabove the average. On Oprah sDebt Diet Series and on the weekly Money 911 seg- start Over, finish Rich40bach text 7:Layout 1 11/12/09 2:25 PM Page 40ments I did on the Todayshow in 2009, I met peoplewho had $25,000, $50,000, $75,000 even more than$100,000 in credit card debt. The amazing thing about this is that credit cardsdon t have arms or legs. They can t jump out of yourwallet or your purse and go on a spending spree ontheir own. So if you are over your head in credit carddebt, how exactly did you get there? Be honest. Didyou buy things you wanted or things you needed?

8 Didyou live beyond your means? Or did you run into acrisis, like having to pay for an expensive medicalproblem or feeding your family after you lost your job? Everyone s situation is different. But there is onething I can tell you that I know is true: Whatever gotyou into credit card debt is going to keep you there ifyou don t change how you spend money. My grand-mother used to say, If you can t pay cash, you can tafford to buy it. So if you are drowning in debt, mybest advice is this: STOP USING YOUR CREDITCARDS. Once you are in a hole, YOU MUST STOPDIGGING. IF YOU RE ABLE TO MAKE THE MINIMUMPAYMENT ON YOUR CREDIT CARD DEBT,HERE S WHAT YOU SHOULD DOOkay you ve accepted your share of responsibilityfor your problem and you ve put your credit cardsaway.

9 Now it s time to start reducing that mountain ofStep 3: Deal with Your Credit Card Debt41bach text 7:Layout 1 11/12/09 2:25 PM Page 41debt you somehow managed to run up. The first bigquestion you need to answer is whether you can affordto make the minimum payments on all your creditcard accounts. If the answer is yes, then you can andshould immediately start using my DOLP debt-reduction system. If the answer is no, then DOLPwon t work for you, but later on in this chapter I llhave some other suggestions that I said earlier, DOLP stands for Dead on LastPayment and it is meant to solve a problem thattrips up most people who owe credit card debt. Gen-erally speaking, people in real debt trouble owemoney on more than one credit card.

10 Often, therecan be as many as a half-dozen accounts with bal-ances due. So how do you handle that? Should youpay a little on all of them each month or concentrateon trying to pay off just one? And if so, which one? Without a coherent plan of attack for paying offyour debt, you really don t have a chance. The DOLP system is designed to give you that plan of attack byprioritizing your debts that is, establishing the orderin which you should pay down your various cards. Are you ready? This will take no more than YOUR WAY OUT OF DEBT1. Pull out your credit card statements and get themorganized. Make file folders for all your credit start Over, finish Rich42bach text 7:Layout 1 11/12/09 2:25 PM Page 42accounts. Ideally, the folders should be red so theywill stand out in your file drawer.