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Summary: If You Love Ultra Liberal Viewpoints, This Book Is For You
Review: As I researched the topic of simple living, this book kept getting recommended, so I bought it. However, I could not make it through the whole book without becoming nauseated by all the liberal BS woven throughout the entire book. Plus, being a financial analyst, I thought their financial schpiel was very elementary and overly redundant. I became so irritated with the authors' liberal crap being forced down my throat that I actually threw the book in the trash can. A far better book on the simplicity movement (IMHO) is The Simple Living Guide, by Janet Luhrs.
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Summary: Sane Advice
Review: This book completely changed the way I live. Being born and raised in NYC (and I still live here) I was totally wrapped up in designer clothes, dinners out, $200 hair cuts, etc. I never felt fulfilled or happy. After reading this book I've made so many changes and, not only do I not feel deprived, I feel liberated. I feel like a fog has cleared in my mind. I've never been more relaxed, calm, and happy in my life. This book, if you seriously follow the steps, not only leads to financial freedom (which it does!) it leads to self awareness and happiness. It also made me feel less isolated and closer to the community.
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Summary: Terrific introduction to managing money and life.
Review: The authors practice what they preach, and they preach a very thought-provoking new way to look at how our lifes revolve around money. New readers will appreciate their discussion in analyzing careers and values in terms of "life energy." Many will also come to see how hidden costs to particular jobs can be an added drain to financial and personal well-being. I see lots of friends scratching their heads and wondering where their fat paychecks have gone after subtracting the cost of commuting time, required work wardrobe, car maintenance, and gas. This book contains snippets of stories about individuals that faced money dilemmas and how they gradually overcame their fear, ignorance, and misconception about money.The one major downfall in this book comes at the end, with the discussion of where to invest one's money. After a flawed attempt at miniming the dangers of inflation and a well-deserved jab at conflicted brokers, the authors advocate investing everything in treasury bonds, simply because it's the least volatile financial investment. While we currently live in a time of relatively low inflation, there is no guarantee this will remain so, given the ever-growing weight of the national budget deficit and the trade deficit in the U.S. and political and economic instability around the world. The authors brushed aside inflation by pointing out the possibility of product substitutions. However, general inflation occurs when prices of all products rise simultaneously, not just with one particular product. Just ask anyone who lived through the late '70s/early '80s on a fixed income. The yields on treasury bonds have been dismally low, barely over inflation. It is also wrong to assume that living expenses will stabilize or fall during retirement. The cost of health care is rising. Given that it is nearly impossible to obtain adequate medical insurance in old age, a single major catastrophic illness can easily wipe out a one's nest egg. Housing costs in major metropolitan areas are also rising faster than inflation, except in rent-controlled areas. Rent alone in my city can easily run up to fifteen hundred dollars a month. Relying on only treasury bonds will not be the solution. This book sets down an excellent fundamental discussion on how to view money and career, and assessing living costs. Readers looking to manage their own money should supplement this reading and gain a more sophisticated understanding of the financial market with books like "One Up On Wall Street" by Peter Lynch and "The Warren Buffett Way" by Robert Hagstrom.
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Summary: WARNING!! This Book May Change Your Life
Review: =====> This book's contents can be summarized in one sentence: it outlines a life-changing philosophy and plan for financial independence. However, this summary does not give credit to the number of features that enhance this riveting book. Some of these features are as follows: (1) THE AUTHORS LIVE WHAT THEY TEACH. For example, one of the authors, the late Joe Dominguez was a financial analyst on Wall Street before taking an early retirement (at age thirty-one). Did he make a killing on Wall Street that enabled him to do this? No! What he did was to decide to take back his life by gaining control of his money and eventually gain financial independence through a nine-step program. (2) A MULTI-DISCIPLINE BOOK. As mentioned, part of the magic of this book is that it teaches a life-changing philosophy. But within this philosophy you'll find other areas such as finance, economics, history, simple mathematics, environmental science, psychology, and spirituality. All these are blended together to form an interesting and instructional narrative. A cornerstone of this book's philosophy is the following equation: MONEY = LIFE ENERGY. That is, you have to work or expend energy to make money. Most people see their life energy as precious. (3) PRACTICAL ADVICE. Practical advice on how to save money can be found throughout this book. But the truly practical and another magical part of this book is its NINE-STEP PROGRAM. Readers have a chance to peruse the final, workable form of this program that leads to financial independence. (Financial independence as defined by this book is the amount of money that is ENOUGH for you or you and your family.) A highlight of this program is that you only have to WORK FOR A FINITE PERIOD OF TIME. A cornerstone of this practical advice, besides the nine-step program, is FRUGALITY. Don't worry! Frugality does not mean budgeting. (4) DIAGRAMS. This book has many diagrams, charts, and tables. These help the reader gain a concrete understanding of all concepts introduced. (5) REAL-LIFE STORIES. This book is permeated with real stories of ordinary people who have decided to follow the nine-step program. What I found interesting when reading these stories is their reasons as to exactly why they decided to follow the program. (6) END-OF-CHAPTER SUMMARIES AND CHECKLISTS. These summaries highlight the major concepts introduced in the chapters. Many chapters also have a handy checklist. (7) THE EPILOGUE. This is really an end-of-book summary. The steps of the nine-step program are summarized for review, reference, and reminders. The idea here is to read the corresponding chapter for further details. This summary comes in very handy! (8) REFERENCES (or resources) and NOTES. There are a large number of notes (footnotes allocated to the back of the book) and many useful references. (9) FINAL WORDS. Many people would not consider this a feature of this book but I think the fact that the authors were able to end the main narrative of the book with these important words indicates that the book was well planned out. These words are as follows: "There is more to life than nine-to-five." Finally, the book's authors advocate that when you build up savings that you invest in long-term bonds. Critics (mainly investment "experts") who have read this book say that the rate of return on more aggressive but risky investment vehicles (such as stocks) provide a higher rate of return in the long term. What they fail to realize is that the authors are talking about investing your money in vehicles that will give you a STABLE and CONSISTENT monthly income that you can live off. In summary, this book creates an awareness of how you are spending your money and your precious life energy. It is that awareness that will transform your dealings with money and lead to financial independence. In conclusion, those who do not value their life energy need not get this book. But for those who do value their life energy, this inspiring and unique book is your essential guide!! <=====>
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Summary: This will change your life!
Review: I read this book in my mid 40's with a pretty good financial picture, but with the need to send two kids away to college at the same time! Yikes! This book persuaded me that having enough money is not as much the problem as knowing when you have enough STUFF, which is much sooner than most people allow themselves to realize and so they spend where they don't need to and waste a lot of money. This book will persuade you that more STUFF isn't really the end game in life and that you can have a fuller life if you make choices for time with loved ones, not for stuff. This book will free up your wallet, and free up your life. Less stuff is also really good for the earth, and this author does a great job of addressing that in a financial manner. Excellent read -- buy it for sure!
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Summary: Consensus
Review: My point is simply to agree with so many others here: this book can change your life. It will change the way you think about money, which is probably a significant part of your life, and probably one of your bigger problems in life. Figure out how to get on the right track: the one that leads to financial independence. If you're considering reading this book, I suggest you do. You'll probably be much happier for it. After you've built up some savings, you may want to research investments beyond what the authors recommend. That's my only qualification, and it's a small one because there's nothing wrong with what they recommend; it's just not very aggressive. Anyway, many people considering reading this book are probably a long way from needing to research investment opportunities.
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Summary: Your Money or Your Life
Review: This is a great book and really does help change the way we think about money, but I have a few issues with it. First of all, it's outdated. Most of the info is still true today, but really could use an update simply because the world and the way we do things has changed a lot since the 1980s and even the 1990s. There need to be NEWER examples and the last chapter on reaching step 9 REALLY needs to be revised. The entire chapter is about 30-year Treasury bonds which the US Treasury no longer issues (as of 2001), so what's the alternative since the book gives none. And what SAFE investment pays 9% now? Please let me know! Also, there's no mention of internet investing because the internet wasn't available back then. I loved the philosophy, but just had a hard time relating to some of the case studies and other outdated figures. It's definitley time to update even though the writer doesn't feel it's necessary.
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Summary: Not like the rest
Review: If you're like me, you may have experienced frustration in reading other personal finance books. Most seem to be written for people who already have great incomes, and just need advice on how to invest it. 'Your Money or your Life' is different. It starts with your perspective on money, how you spend, how you save, how to spend less and save more and eventually turn that savings into investments. Frugality is stressed over materalism, and living frugally is one of the first steps towards finantial independance. I was glad to read this book and find that even though we're getting by on between 20K and 25K a year there are things we can do now to get finances working for us in a way which will build a strong future. Examining your values, your real needs over wants, and which wants are really important to you are all steps in the program. This book is a good one for those of you who are struggling to get by, and how to start where you're at. I highly reccomend this book
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Summary: Pop science hooey
Review: I was looking for sound advice. What I got was some sort of new age philosophy junk. There is very little in this book that is useful. This was a waste of money for me.
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Summary: This book will help you get your ducks in a row.
Review: Even though this book is called Your Money or Your Life, I finished reading it and thought, your money IS your life. --And I don't mean that money is what your life revolves around (although sometimes it feels like that, doesn't it?). This book taught me that money is essentially what we trade our "life energy" for, and that we should spend it the same way we'd spend our time and energy--in accordance with our values. For example, if one of your values is sustainability, then you should use money as a means to achieve that end. But all too often we associate money with greed and sustainability with sacrifice. The authors recount the story of an activist named Jason: "...the formula [money = life energy] made him see clearly that for all his best intentions to 'make the world a better place,' his stubborn financial ignorance made his efforts ineffectual. To be truly effective in his desire to make a difference in the world, he needed to master money." (p. 55)
Although the book is a little outdated, and at times it can get a bit preachy, it's unlike any other personal finance book I've ever read. It's the only one that really covers all the bases, from how you spend your money (and the values associated with that) to how you get the money (finding a job you love), and ultimately, reaching a point where you can really live life on your own terms: financial independence. After reading Your Money or Your Life, I stopped seeing money as just something to be made or spent or saved...I started seeing it as a tool. After all, money is a means to an end, not an end itself...
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