The Simple Road Toward Financial Freedom

A Guide to Helping Young Adults Build Wealth

By: Mark Schlipman, Steve Short

Narrated by: Mark Schlipman, Steve Short

A best-selling personal finance book for young adults, recent graduates, and beginners.

Designed to teach the money habits school never taught so you can stop living paycheck to paycheck, start saving with confidence, and build long-term financial freedom.

Simple enough for your first job. Powerful enough to reset your money at any stage.

"This book can help you take control of your life without living paycheck to paycheck." (Will Ferrell, from the foreword)

Written by longtime financial advisor Mark Schlipman and corporate executive Steve Short, this book breaks down personal finance in a way that's easy to follow and act on—without jargon, overwhelm, or product sales. It's ideal for recent graduates, young professionals starting their careers, and anyone ready to build lasting financial confidence.

Inside, you'll learn how to budget, save, invest, and avoid common money mistakes—using simple, proven frameworks like the Save-First 50/20/30 Model(TM), the 20-to-$1M Method(TM), and STL Moments(TM) (Stop, Talk, Listen). You'll also build practical habits such as avoiding lifestyle creep and capturing "free money" through employer benefits and tax advantages.

What you'll learn:

• Build a simple, savings-first budget that actually works
• Use the Three Bucket System to balance short, mid, and long-term goals
• Automate investing with confidence (401(k), IRA, HSA)
• Maximize "free money" from employer matches and tax benefits
• Avoid lifestyle creep and build habits that stick

©2024 Simple Road LLC (P)2026 Simple Road LLC

Simple and practical money advice

I listen to a lot of finance audiobooks and liked how straightforward this one was. The ideas are simple but really practical, especially for someone early in their career.

The sections on budgeting and automatic investing stood out to me. Easy to listen to on a commute and the narration was clear.

Easy to understand

Mark and Steve do well to simplify their recommended financial plan for all to achieve. The layout of the book is well done and I appreciated the recap at the end of each chapter. If there was part of the recap I did not understand well, I could go back and read that specific part again. I would highly recommend this book to anyone; no matter if you are just starting out in the workforce or well established, there are things to learn to help you become more financially stable and literate. Thank you, Mark and Steve.