Does a secure financial life seem to difficult to imagine let alone achieve? Does wealth strike you as an impossible dream? Whether you're living from paycheck to paycheck, or simply confused by the world of stocks, bonds, and brokers, it's never too late to change your situation. All you need is a little help.

By spending just ten to fifteen minutes a day with this immensely helpful book, you'll discover that financial security is just steps away. Filled with the wisdom and advice of a seasoned expert, this year-old program for success shows you how to:

• change your attitude and change your life
• break out of debt and control your spending
• choose investments and make your money grow
• protect your gains and prepare for a comfortable retirement
• give your children or grandchildren a secure start in life and much more!

Amazon.com Review
Sometimes our parents plant weird ideas in our heads, such as "You shouldn't be selfish," when the subject of buying something nice arises. As an adult, that often translates into "I don't deserve to have money." Or maybe we feel so good about the money we make that we can't resist spending it on whatever catches our eye: a new pair of shoes, a titanium mountain bike, a leather love seat to go with the leather sofa we couldn't afford last month.

Financial planner Brooke Stephens has heard every excuse for not making, saving, and investing money; she also knows that no matter what attitude a person starts with, he or she can change it. So Wealth Happens starts with baby steps--tiny exercises to change your mind about money, and to increase your knowledge about what it can do. Then she shows the basics of investing, building wealth, protecting what you've built, and, finally, retiring on that wealth.

Sprinkled among the chunks of concrete advice are quotes and proverbs ("Save money and money will save you"), inspirational anecdotes (John D. Rockefeller built an incredible fortune while tithing 10 percent to his church), and real-life scenarios showing how a decent income can get gobbled up with foolish purchases and the resultant credit-card interest. Wealth Happens is about as beginner-friendly as personal-finance guides can possibly be. Because of that, it probably won't be very useful to the person who's already paying off credit-card balances each month and saving for retirement. But for the person who wonders how people who own homes got them, or how anyone can actually afford to retire at 65, this is the book to buy. --Lou Schuler