Waiting for a flight I picked up this book and simply never put it down until I was done with it. I am probably a little more interested in understanding my personal finance and opimtizing my personal finance than most but I think this book should be read by everyone over 20. As a husband and father in his mid 30's the best insights this book gave me was to think and re-think about elements of my personal financial situation and choices. After finishing the book I immediately started to dig into areas such as:
-re-thinking credit card rewards programs vs. using my debit card
-insurance policies
-re-thinking my monthly mortgage
-evaluating our college savings approach
I have read many books on personal finance in the past but none that had this balance of depth and breadth to it. This enabled me to get a handle on topics that I have never really wrapped my mind around like ROTH IRA's and annuities.
I highly recommend this book if you're at all interested in better understanding the options avaliable to you and how to control and better manage your personal finances. The Wall Street Journal. Complete Personal Finance Guidebook (The Wall Street Journal Guidebooks)
I read this entire book in two sittings. I found it fascinating and easy to comprehend. My husband only recently aquired a 401(k) and we were lost. Neither of us has parents in the "investor class" (financial vocabulary is not something we grew up with). It would have taken me years to figure out all this information on my own. Logically, I realized that we needed to be strategic about the early investments that would generate the capital we will continue to invest as we age, but I didn't know exactly how to do this. The book clarified almost everything for me. The book justified with evidence a lot of things I held uneducated hunches about. I now understand what a P/E ratio is! How cool is that?! In addition to clarifying most of the 401(k) issues, there were also good tips on personal finance. One reviewer said these are obvious. They are not obvious to a lot of people because they go against how most people use their money. My parents were anxious about carrying debt, and I am too as a consequence. But many people are not raised that way. This book does more than say "have a budget, don't carry credit card debt, buy inexpensive cars, etc." It explains the consequences of not doing this in financial terms that are eye-opening. If you want to learn the logic behind common financial advice this is a great place to start. It isn't a "do this, do that" kind of book. Rather, it gives you the overall picture, and the knowledge you need to take control of your own finances. Each person's financial situation is unique. Be wary of one-size-fits-all financial advice, and don't be at the mercy of others' advice because they are mostly out to make their money with your money! Not that you need to be paranoid, but knowing some basics will help you avoid putting your money in places that may look good but are really all wrong for you.
This book distilled a lot of knowledge about how to apply different financial vehicles to your own finances. This book is like condensing basic wall street journal personal finance information into a book.(Which it is )so you do not have to try to wade through it for months or years trying to figure out basics when you are getting started in the world of investments.This book touches on stocks,bonds,futures,options,dividends, money supply flow chart, historical stock market performance, and much more. Highly recommended for beginners, the more experienced might find it to basic in things they already know,great education for the rest of us.
The beginning of the book (probably limited to first chapter) contains too-basic concepts which made me wonder if I'd bought the right book. But reading further on it proved to be quite useful. To a newbie in this area, it provides a very good introduction to various financial aspects of one's life like buying a home, retirement, savings, etc. If you need to know the ABCs of these things, then this is the book for you. After reading it you'll feel armed before buying a house or investing in mutual funds. Of course, it is not the know-all book only a "beginner's course" and thats reason I gave it 4 stars not 5. It also enumerates good pointers to related websites. Overall, I would recommend this book.
For someone just getting their feet wet with personal finance, this book is an excellent introduction. It is a concise and engaging read that all high school students ought to read, as well as those wanting a refresher on money matters.
I was originally looking at the "Personal Finance for Dummies" book, but I felt that it would be embarrasing to have on my home bookshelf. The Wall Street book has been fantastic in helping me make a financial plan for my future. It's comprehensive but not condescending language greatly enlightnened me.
For me, this book has one good chapter, its about debt; otherwise this is just an average book. I've read six money managment books this summer. I liked this one the least. I just bought four more copies of Jane Bryant Quinn's SMART AND SIMPLE FINANCIAL STRATEGIES FOR BUSY PEOPLE to give to my young adult children, its the best of the six books I read.
I recently took a personal finance class in which everyone in the class was asked to read a book of their choosing and give a presentation on what they learned. After hearing the presentations, I decided to buy this book. It doesn't get down into the details too much, but I felt it offered a great breadth of resources - kind of like a reference book. It doesn't give you specific action plans like many popular press books, but it much more objective, just providing the facts.
This book is an excellent source of information about everything related to managing your personal finance. Without getting in too many details, the author covers whatever is required to know in order to build a foundation about personal finance: debit, credit, investing, planning, insurance and taxes.
Recommended to people who never thought about their financial future. - Money Advice - Wall Street Journal - Investing - Finance'
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