David Bach

The number one financial mistake is not to have your finances on automatic.
– David Bach

Financial education needs to become a part of our national curriculum and scoring systems so
that it’s not just the rich kids that learn about money… it’s all of us.
– David Bach

If you’re in a hole, stop digging.
– David Bach

Before you pay the government, before you pay taxes, before you pay your bills, before you
pay anyone, the first person that gets paid is you.
– David Bach

My Grandma Rose Bach used to tell me, “David, when the going gets tough, the tough have
cash.”
– David Bach

The car industry doesn’t like me for that: bottom line is, you can buy a used car that has
been leased or hasn’t been driven a lot. It’s 2009, you buy a 2007 car with low miles, you buy
that car for 50 cents on the dollar.
– David Bach

Before you can really start setting financial goals, you need to determine where you stand
financially.
– David Bach

Don’t spend years trying to find just the “right business” for yourself; don’t worry if you don’t
get it right the first time. You’re not signing up for life and you’re not giving up your day job
(yet). Just pick something that gets you excited and get going.
– David Bach

Learning to save is a lot like running a marathon – you need to build up to it by training
gradually. It’s too overwhelming to go from saving nothing to saving $2,700 a month, so you
need to start slowly and keep it simple.
– David Bach

The great truth about money is that in order to keep it and grow it, you have to fight for it.
– David Bach

Life is not easy. But that’s not the only truth that matters in this context. It also happens to
be true that it takes just as much effort to have a “bad life,” in which you don’t get what you
want, as it does to have a “good life,” where you do. So given the choice, why not go for the
good life?
– David Bach

You can’t get rich watching and wondering. You have to take action.
– David Bach

The quality of your life and business will be massively impacted by who you put on your team,
and that of course includes who you hire. You have to hire people that “get it”, and are
equally committed to you and your vision.
– David Bach

The recession brings an opportunity to renegotiate everything. And you get a better price on
it.
– David Bach, 2009

For most of us, debt can be a trap that forces us to work longer than we should have to.
What puts us into debt are bad habits such as running up balances on our credit cards and
then paying them down slowly, if at all.
– David Bach

Did you know the average American family has about $16,000 in credit card debt? That
translates to a lot of money wasted on interest payments.
– David Bach, 2012

To be incredibly successful in life you may only need to be really good at one thing.
– David Bach

The biggest challenge for many consumers in going to a brokerage firm or opening a money-
market account is that these accounts can require a minimum balance of $1,000, $5,000 or
even $25,000.
– David Bach

My core philosophy is spend less than you make. Don’t waste money on little things (the
Latte Factor – small amounts of money you spend can add up to a fortune).
– David Bach

The fact that most of us are not raised to talk about money is a real tragedy. Show me a
couple who doesn’t talk about money and plan their finances together, and I will show you a
couple headed for financial trouble – if they’re not already in it.
– David Bach

Your life should be interesting – your investments should be boring.
– David Bach

People who automate their financial life build financial security. If you start at a young
enough age, you can become a milionaire. I have spent nine years at Morgan Stanley
managing hundreds of millions of dollars for individual investors – what I got to see from first-
hand experience is that unless it’s automatic it’s not getting done. What’s automatic, get’s
done.
– David Bach

Be nice, show up on time, do what you say you will do, and then say thank you!
– David Bach

What I am looking for: What is a great business that is trading at 90% off? Why did I buy
some casino stocks three weeks ago? I bought into a company that was off 90% and I didn’t
think they were going under. And that stock has gone from $3 to $6 in three weeks. It’s
taking going in the right places. If you don’t know where to go, I always recommend that you
go into indexes.
– David Bach, 2009

Change is a funny thing. Although most people say they want to change – so they can have
a better life, with more love, more dreams, and more fun – the fact is that many of us are
afraid of change.
– David Bach

It’s not too late for you to become rich – if you start today.
– David Bach

Many of the success stories people have shared with me over the years focus on how
homeownership has been the key to their financial security. I’m confident these essays will
inspire millions of renters to work toward their first home and millions of current homeowners
to consider second homes or investment properties as a road to building financial freedom.
– David Bach

When two people work together to accomplish a goal, they can usually achieve it twice as
fast as either of them would have working alone.
– David Bach

Recessions make millionaires.
– David Bach

The truth about business is that it’s normally very tough. It’s very rare that you will start
something and succeed right away and if you do succeed, you might not make a lot of
money. Most businesses take at least two to three years to show profits.
– David Bach

The rich get rich because they pay themselves first.
– David Bach

This market right now is moving on nothing more than emotions. Guess what? It almost
always moves on emotions.
– David Bach

I’ve always said that the better off you are, the more responsibility you have for helping
others. Just as I think it’s important to run companies well, with a close eye to the bottom
line, I think you have to use your entrepreneurial experience to make corporate philanthropy
effective.
– David Bach

The American way: The more we make, the more we spend. And if we’re not careful, the
more we owe.
– David Bach

Downturns are when you can buy stocks and other investments at bargain prices – that is,
On Sale!
– David Bach

People should take every opportunity they can to save money because it really adds up, and
the best way I know to do that is to make your savings automatic.
– David Bach

The truth about money management is that it’s not really that difficult. If you know what to
do and what not to do, it’s actually pretty easy. The challenge is that we’re not taught about
money in school. As a result, much of what we learn comes from friends, word of mouth, and
marketing.
– David Bach