Book Review by Trevor J. Flannigan
ALDI Inc- Faribault Division

Running to Riches...
Friday, November 13, 2009

The book this week was The Money Marathon by Ed Douglas, suggested to me by Jim Wiederholt. It was a good personal finance book written by a retired bank CEO from Chillicothe, Missouri. The book is very concise and straight forward. It is very easy to sit down and read in an afternoon. Douglas relates personal finance to running marathons. Therefore, most anecdotes in the book are running related. I am not a runner, but it's not rocket-science, so most of the comparisons are very easy to understand.

The book is subtitled 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom, so each of the chapters correspond to a step. These steps are:

1. Raise one's income
2. Control Expenses
3. Save Regularly
4. Invest for the Future
5. Stay Out of Debt
6. Adequate Protection (Insurance)
7. Make Your Money Work for You (If the previous steps are followed money will grow for you)

I agree with the basic idea of this book, however, personally, I like to be a bit more aggressive toward my accumulation of wealth. Douglas repeatedly shows how $2000 can turn into $1 Million in 50 years. I think 50 years is a bit too long. Getting rich slowly has its place and it is perfect for many of you. The faster you want to get rich the more risk you will be taking on. If you use Douglas' 7 steps outlined in this book you can be certain you will reach your goals.

I found the author's running stories at the beginning of each chapter very entertaining. The book was relatively short, so I don't want to dive into it too much. I know I have quite the readership in Missouri, so I suggest you support a local author and check out this book. If you are a runner, I am sure you will really enjoy the stories Douglas uses. If you have any questions on the book don't hesitate to ask. I would be more than happy to help anyone that wants it.

See the review at "The Guide to Get Rich" here...

Waddell & Reed Marathon to Feature Retired Banker’s Book
By STEVE ROSEN, The Kansas City Star, October 5, 2009
This article republished here courtesy of the Kansas City Star.

PHOTO BY Christoper J. Cummins

More than 400 runners competed in the 2009 Olathe Marathon which finished at Garmin World Headquarters Saturday. Event organizers rescheduled the event for Saturday after poor weather cancelled the event on March 28. While the marathon was cancelled, the event featured a half marathon, five kilometer race and a children's race.

Ed Douglas is a dedicated runner who also happens to know a thing or two about money. That’s what makes the Waddell & Reed Kansas City Marathon seem like a dream come true for Douglas. The retired Chillicothe, Mo., banker — and member of the 50 States Marathon Club — recently wrote “The Money Marathon: 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom.”

On Oct. 17, the Overland Park-based mutual fund company plans to give copies of Douglas’ book to the more than 2,000 marathoners expected for the race. Not exactly your normal runner’s door prize of a T-shirt, a cap and a plastic water container.

Douglas’ book compares the steps in running and training for a marathon to the steps to financial success. The book covers a lot of financial ground, including understanding the magic of compound interest and selecting mutual funds to debt reduction strategies.

Douglas, by the way, has run 14 marathons in 13 states, including twice in Missouri in 1979 and 1995. “So the running connection with the finance book made sense to me,” said Douglas, a financial planner who was chairman and chief executive officer of Citizens Bancshares in Chillicothe before his retirement in 2006.

He plans on attending the Waddell & Reed run, but probably for the 5K event this time.

See the article here... (this link will take you to the article as long as it appears on the KC Star website)

As Economy Wanes, Former Billion-Dollar Banker and Marathoner Combines Finance and Running
November 1, 2008

From the former president, chairman and CEO of a billion-dollar bank holding for over 20 years, comes The Money Marathon: 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom, a must read for anyone who wants to know the step-by-step basics of financial success.

In The Money Marathon, author and marathoner Ed Douglas uses his decades of financial expertise and love of running to compare the steps toward financial success to the steps involved in training, preparing, and running a marathon. Whether you’ve ever run a race or not, this book reveals how to complete your race to financial freedom.

A number of important financial steps are covered in The Money Marathon:

• Raising your income and lowering your expenses
• Proven saving techniques and investing essentials
• Getting and staying out of debt
• Insurance, wills and other must-have documents
• And, finally, how to make money work for you!

Douglas is an expert in personal finance, a thirty-two-year banker, Certified Financial Planner, investment advisor, former trust officer, speaker, author of Making a Million with Only $2000: Every Young Person Can Do It and a member of the 50 States Marathon Club. He has sold over 8,000 copies of Making a Million, spoken to over 6,000 students and run 14 marathons in 13 states.

"This is an excellent, introductory financial book,” said Michael Sklar, a Rutgers Finance Professor. “It covers all the relevant financial topics and is particularly valuable to newly married couples. It can also be a valuable resource for anyone who needs direction in the areas of saving, investing, budgeting, and insurance.”

“This book should be required reading….it’s clear, concise...with sound, easy-to-follow steps,” said Bill Smythe, Vice President Marketing, Nebraska Bankers Insurance and Services Company. “If the purpose of the book is to improve the personal financial skills and expertise of the reader, it succeeds!”

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