The Costco Connection - December 2014

DECEMBER 2014 ;e Costco Connection 35

The Costco Connection

MONEY Master the Game

(Item #956263) is available now in all Costco warehouses. Robbins is donating all of the proceeds, along with an additional personal donation, which will feed 50 million meals to people in need this year, distributed by the hunger-relief charity Feeding America ( feedingamerica.org).

arts & entertainment

Taking steps toward financial freedom
By Tony Robbins

IT’S BEEN TWO decades since motivational speaker Tony Robbins has published a book. This month marks his return to Costco’s book tables with MONEY Master the Game: 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom. The book is Robbins’ effort to help everyone find financial security.

In this Connection exclusive, Robbins addresses the new book and why it was important to him to write it.

—Stephanie E. Ponder

Did you know that:

; 77 percent of Americans say they have financial worries, but only 40 percent report having any kind of a spending plan.

; One in three baby boomers has less than $1,000 saved for retirement.

; The No. 1 fear of baby boomers is outliving the money they have saved. (Death, by the way, checked in at second place.)

; According to an Ernst & Young study, 75 percent of Americans can expect to see their assets disappear before they die.

Let’s face it: Our lives are filled to the brim.

We’re trying to be the best we can at work. We
want to be extraordinary partners at home,
outstanding parents, supportive friends and,
in the midst of all this, somehow we’re also
supposed to be financial experts who know
how to take our basic earnings and perhaps a
401(k) and convert what we’ve got into lifelong
stability, financial security and hopefully some
freedom when we finally retire.

The thing that holds us back financially is the feeling that it’s all just too complex. Complexity is the enemy of execution.

For more than 37 years I’ve been obsessed with bringing people immediate and lasting results through simple, systematic solutions in the significant areas of life—relationships, emotions, time management, physical health and business. I’ve worked with people in more than 100 countries, and I’ve realized that money challenges people in unique ways. So, I became passionate about creating a system that could help.

I know how difficult it is to get that first leg up on your finances. I’ve worked long and hard to enjoy the level of professional and financial success I’m blessed with today, but it wasn’t always this way. In my younger days I juggled jobs to make ends meet, and I know what it’s like to live paycheck-to-paycheck.

But here’s the truth: Freedom from financial
stress is possible no matter where you’re
starting from. It doesn’t matter how old you
are or how little you have—the game is still
winnable. But you must participate in your
own rescue.

I want to help you decipher the disorienting jargon of money: 401(k)s, IRAs, CDs, HFTs. I know that to master any game, you need to learn from the best. So, I went on a mission to speak to the world’s top financial experts and find out how they did it. I set out to be your translator and guide, so that together we could crack the code that keeps most people feeling like uninvited outsiders in a world of wealthy elitists.

I wrote this book to level the playing field and democratize the game of personal finance. I truly believe that MONEY Master the Game is one of the most important books you can own. It’s an opportunity to create financial stability for you and the ones you love. The game of money is winnable, and it’s one you simply can’t afford to lose. C

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Tony Robbins

THE AVERAGE PERSON has no idea how much he or she is paying in fees on a 401(k) or mutual fund. But what you don’t know will hurt you. According to Forbes, the average annual fee for a mutual fund is 3.17%. I will show you how to cut that fee down to 1%. But first, here’s a look at the return of $1 million invested, with an 8% assumed annualized return over 30 years.—TR