He likes beer - and financially happy people

COEUR d'ALENE - OK, so maybe it's not quite the universal language.

But it's one many Americans speak fluently, at least for the first mug or two: Beer.

Dedicated to someone we all know, Joe Six Pack, local financial advisor and author Darin Hayes has tapped into vast kegs of personal and professional experience and published a book called "Beer Money: A Beer Drinker's Guide to Personal Finance and Investing."

Wearing his most professional expression, Hayes will say, "This book can be read in an afternoon and is the bridge between little to no knowledge of money management and many of the great personal finance and investing books that already exist."

He will also say, in his respectful, articulate financial advisor voice, "It's a book to give people a basic understanding of financial markets, retirement plans and different types of investments. It's not a book that delves into P/E ratios, chart patterns, trusts or options strategies."

But with the fancy tie finally loosened and a quitting-time gleam in his eye, Hayes just might further say, when asked if he can go to Daanen's Deli to get the photo accompanying this story, "I'm not opposed to going anywhere where there's beer."

So money really is the first priority, even if beer is a close second.

Hayes, 42, graduated from the University of Idaho with an advertising degree and is now associate vice president for D.A. Davidson in Coeur d'Alene. His business partner, Brad Dugdale, is equally well known for finding creative and fun ways to talk to people about money and personal finance - a very serious subject.

The genesis of "Beer Money" was actually sparked when, with Daanen's owner Mark Daanen, Hayes hosted several gatherings that sound like a Chicago sporting event: He called them, "Beers, Bulls and Bears." Daanen would introduce attendees to tasty beers, and Hayes would introduce the sippers to market concepts in ways they could understand.

That's what "Beer Money" does, too, only minus the actual beer.

"After Beers, Bulls and Bears I started making the connection between beer and money more and more in conversations," Hayes said.

Hayes said the amusing chart on Page 9 of his book was the starting point - the first thing he did before writing a word, and perhaps the most important, too.

"If you just do these things - don't skip steps - financially, you're probably going to be OK," he said of the chart, printed under the heading PUB CRAWL YOUR WAY TO FINANCIAL SUCCESS.

"After that, the chapters just flowed and the analogies just came," he said. "It was easy."

Who wouldn't get thirsty and want to read chapters like:

*The Magic Fridge: The Miracle of Compound Interest

*Free Beer!: The Beauty of a 401(k) Match

*Drink Only What You Brew: Budget to Spend Less Than You Earn

*Cure Your Hangover: Get Rid of Bad Debt

*Put a Keg in the Basement: Build Up Your Emergency Funds

To be clear, Hayes advises prospective readers that this book probably isn't for everybody.

"It's for someone who doesn't have an interest in picking up a 700-page book about personal investing," he said. "It's for someone with little to no knowledge about how the markets work.

"This is a bridge to a lot of the good stuff that's already out there. It's for Joe Six Pack."

Before you belly up to your favorite bookstore and request the best personal finance and beer book on the planet, beware. It's available only on Amazon.com, in print and digital formats. Cost for the print edition is $9.95; it's $4.95 for the e-edition.

Beer, thank goodness, is available everywhere.

Editor's note: Hayes denied that he's already working on a sequel with a more literary bent, rumored to be titled, "Wine Money: The Grapes of Rathdrum."