ANTHONY MANGANIELLO FOUNDER AND CREATOR, DEBTFREE.COM THE WINNING STRATEGIES TO CREATING GREAT CREDIT AND RETIRING RICH

ANTHONY MANGANIELLO FOUNDER AND CREATOR, DEBTFREE.COM THE WINNING STRATEGIES TO CREATING GREAT CREDIT AND RETIRING RICH

Additional Praise for The Debt-FREE Millionaire Anthony Manganiello tells it like it is! His book will guide you through practical insights that touch home with just about everyone. Follow his direction on taking charge of your financial life and you will become debt free and secure in your golden years. Tony Pickett Consumers Alliance Processing Corporation, a Debt Management Organization At a time when both the United States and the world itself are facing the worst depression the planet has seen in over 75 years, Mr. Manganiello has created a very timely and powerful self-help tool for cash flow burdened America. His work is more than a mere lifesaver for those who are drowning in debt. It is truly chicken soup for the financially troubled soul. Lee Newlin Superior Debt Services, Inc. This book can secure your financial future. It does not matter at what age you make the decision to become a Debt-FREE Millionaire, these strategies work. The message is that the time to change your life is now because the basic principles apply in good times and in bad times. Donald Leibsker Attorney at Law As a pastor I am always looking for practical tools to help my congregation get disentangled from the deceptive web of debt and become faithful stewards of their finances. Tony not only gives us a reliable compass to navigate this confusing financial world we live in with the Cash-Flow Analysis, but also gives us what should be the standard field manual for anyone considering using a debt-management company. A must read! Mel Wild Senior Pastor, Cornerstone Church

THE DEBT- FREE MILLIONAIRE WINNING STRATEGIES TO CREATING GREAT CREDIT AND RETIRING RICH ANTHONY MANGANIELLO John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Copyright 2009 by Anthony Manganiello. All rights reserved. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey. Published simultaneously in Canada. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600, or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions. Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages. For general information on our other products and services or for technical support, please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at (800) 762-2974, outside the United States at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. For more information about Wiley products, visit our web site at www.wiley.com. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: Manganiello, Anthony. The debt-free millionaire : winning strategies to creating great credit and retiring rich/anthony Manganiello. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-470-45576-0 (cloth) 1. Debt. 2. Finance, Personal. I. Title. HG3701.M26 2009 332.024'01 dc22 2009013317 Printed in the United States of America. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To: My mother, Peggy, who never stopped believing in me (even when I did). I love you, Ma. You re the best! John and Lois Cummuta, my father-in-law and mother-in-law. In response to the list of blessings you ve given that is much too long to list and continues to grow, all I can say is, Thank you. Pop, there is no better mentor on the planet. My wife, Stacyann, whose support, love, and dedication inspire me more than words can express. You are my Wonder Woman! My five boys, Dominic, John, Michael, Nico, and Luciano. You are my greatest joy and blessing on earth. Your daddy will never be able to love you enough, but I ll never stop trying. My Lord and my Savior, Jesus Christ. My greatest love of all.

Contents Foreword Acknowledgments ix xiii Introduction: Setting the Stage 1 Step 1: Understanding Debt and Credit Chapter 1 What Is Debt? 19 Chapter 2 What Is Credit? 33 Step 2: Identifying Where You Are so You Can Determine How to Get to Where You Want to Go Chapter 3 The Cash-FLOW Analysis and Why You Need One 53 Chapter 4 Doing Your Own Cash-FLOW Analysis 71 Chapter 5 Inside the Numbers: Different Categories of CFI 85 v

vi CONTENTS Step 3: Using the Results from Step 2 to Chart Your Course toward Becoming a Debt-FREE Millionaire Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 A Little Deeper Inside the Numbers: Potential Credit Impact of Adequate to Healthy CFI 95 A Little Deeper Inside the Numbers: When Your CFI Requires Mortgage Restructuring 109 A Little Deeper Inside the Numbers: When Your CFI Requires Debt Management 123 A Little Deeper Inside the Numbers: When Your CFI Requires Debt Settlement 137 A Little Deeper Inside the Numbers: When Your CFI Requires Bankruptcy 153 Step 4: Identifying and Defining Your Retirement Needs, and Creating a Time Line toward Achieving Them Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Accumulating Wealth and Retiring Rich 169 It Takes Money to Make Money: Accumulating and Living Off Your Wealth 181

Contents vii Step 5: Letting It All Sink In Chapter 13 Change Is a Comin 201 Chapter 14 So Now What? The Debt-FREE Millionaire Action Plan 217 Chapter 15 What about Our Economy? 229 Conclusion: The Real Identity Theft 235 Appendix A The Cash-FLOW Analysis Work Sheet 241 Appendix B Estimating Your Debt Elimination Time Frame 249 Appendix C Sample Amortization Tables 253 Appendix D Income Adjusted for Inflation 263 Appendix E Future Wealth (Nest Egg) Estimator 265 Appendix F Debt Payment Wealth Impact 267 Appendix G Should I Save First? 269 Appendix H Putting Your Debt-FREE Millionaire Plan on Cruise Control 271 Glossary 273 Notes 275 About the Author 277 A Free Gift from Me to You 279 Index 281

Foreword F or nearly two decades I ve had the privilege of helping people all around the world get out of debt and build financial security, and in a time where every other commercial on TV and radio seems to be from someone promising to solve your debt problems, I could number on one hand the people I would trust to help you actually do that. Tony Manganiello would be at the top of that list. I ve known and worked with Tony for more than a dozen years and I ve watched him grow from someone who understood personal finance and investing to someone who is now one of America s true authorities on personal credit and debt intervention services. But more than that, Tony understands how people get into the debt trap, how various solutions could help them get out, and (most important) how to determine which solution would work best. He can look into a person s financial situation like Neo looked into the Matrix, and see the numbers moving around. From that chaos, he can filter the relevant facts and point that person to the optimum solution for his or her reality. This clarity has given thousands of his clients assurance about their current condition and hope for their future. His understanding of credit law and the capabilities of various debt mitigation services has protected many of those families from choosing the wrong solution for their individual situations, and it has brightened his blip on the debt services industry radar to the point where he is now a respected board member of the United States Organization for Bankruptcy Alternatives, an expert witness at government legislative committee hearings, and a sought - after speaker at national credit and debt - solution conferences. However, the main reason I would trust Tony is his character. His ethics, morals, and judgment have rung true for all the time ix

x FOREWORD I ve known him. He s not just concerned about the numbers in a person s or a household s financial life. He s principally concerned with their quality of life, and how fixing the numbers could improve that quality. The most important tool Tony has developed in his years of helping families and individuals is his Cash - FLOW Analysis, a proprietary financial assessment tool. The CFA, as he calls it, is a financial GPS in my mind. If someone were to ask me, How can I find out exactly where I am, financially, and see exactly how to get to where I want to go? I would point that person to the CFA. Like a GPS, the CFA sorts facts from feelings and draws out a course - line through any near - term obstacles to your desired destination. When your instincts might be to take one course but the facts require a different direction, the CFA will show you the right way. Another purpose Tony s CFA serves is that of a truth serum, and in some cases a lie detector. It s a truth serum in that it takes a person s or a household s real income and expense numbers and tells them the truth about where they are financially. I m often amazed at how people can significantly misread their current financial reality, even though they re the closest to it. The CFA is a lie detector in that it quickly zaps the fairy tales people in deep financial waters often tell themselves to avoid dealing with reality. But his deep understanding of personal finance math does not adequately define Anthony Manganiello. He s a husband and father who adores his wife and five young sons. And because he has a family with all its needs, he can relate to the financial challenges you may be facing: challenges that have pushed him near the precipice, but challenges that he worked his way through, gaining experience and wisdom along the way. However, personal finances are not just about overcoming the past and salvaging the present. They re principally about creating the future. Like all family men and women, Tony wants the brightest possible future for his loved ones... and for yours. So for that reason The Debt - FREE Millionaire doesn t leave you with the CFA s verdict on your current situation. The real thrust of this book is Tony s desire for you to achieve true, debt - free financial independence the kind where you can live off the proceeds from your investments.

Foreword xi So he finishes his work here by helping you define your retirement aspirations and create a path and time line to get you there. In this book you ll quickly see that this man knows what he s talking about, and that he sincerely wants his knowledge to help you transition from financial impossibility to possibility, then to probability and to reality. You really can become debt free, and most Americans can become debt - free millionaires. In this book Tony Manganiello will show you how. John Cummuta Author, The Transforming Debt into Wealth System