Book excerpt: Warning: This book is hazardous to financial stress! Welcome to the start of the rest of your life-the one where you aren't wandering in the (financial) dark without a flashlight. The one where you have a clear roadmap to your future, and mathematical confidence that you and your family can have the kind of life you dream of! This book shows you how to take control and build your own financial plan, using high fidelity, inexpensive software, not the simplistic financial/retirement planning tools you find all over the internet. It contains thousands of dollars worth of professional financial planning tips, hints, and hacks. I'll take you through some important general financial planning context, and then through the steps to building a financial plan for a sample family. Along the way, we'll discuss the different inputs and assumptions required for any financial plan, as well as how to interpret the results and put your plan into action.