Over the weekend I read The Five Lessons a Millionaire Taught Me About Life and Wealth
The 5 Lessons are:
- Decide to be Wealthy
- Take Responsibility for Your Money
- Keep a Portion of Everything you Earn
- Win in the Margins (essentially, find ways to earn extra money and/or save on expenses, then save that money)
- Give Back
The message is an important one and I think this book would have a lot of appeal to someone searching for a way out of debt, or a way to get ahead, who doesn’t have a good handle on their finances. The author gives good suggestions for how to manage paying off debt vs. savings, how to stay motivated to save, and how to evaluate expenditures before you make them. This book is clearly not meant to be an in-depth discussion of money management (see my list of Recommended Books for more comprehensive reading), and is as much inspirational as practical. Given how quickly it can be read, and the fact that the message is presented clearly and concisely, it is worth a look.
The back of the book contains lists and forms that some will find useful. There is a list of ideas for ways to increase your income - small business ventures or part-time jobs someone could work on the side. Then there is a long list of ways to save money, broken down by category. I didn’t find anything new or unusual in the lists, but they are thought-provoking and well organized. Finally, there are a number of worksheets for calculating net worth as well as cash flow.
Overall I liked the book and recommend it to anyone who is either newly introduced to the area of personal finance or just wants a quick reminder of why and how to stay on track.
September 5th, 2008 at 12:31 am
I recently came accross your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I dont know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog.
Tim Ramsey
September 5th, 2008 at 1:51 am
This will likely come across as cold, but I’ve always had a tough time grasping the “Give Back” idea. I always feel like I’m giving someone a fish without any fishing tackle (rod, line, lures, etc).
I’m interested to see what this book has to say on the subject. I know it’s the “nice” thing to do, but I’ve never understood how it can help your situation. It sounds like this book would help me understand that philosophy.
Great review!
September 5th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
@Wesley - Thanks for your comment, and you make a fair point. I’ve read several personal finance books that have this slant - mentioning and even encouraging giving. I don’t know that any of them make the case that it helps your personal financial situation. It seems more that they are interjecting their strong belief about giving as part of the total financial picture.
With every book I read (or any resource I encounter), I try to take away from it what works for me and discard what doesn’t. In fact, even with books I don’t care for I try hard to find one thing I can learn from them (or even just a new perspective to consider). I have no problem throwing away what does not work for me