Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Reference
Review: This book has vital reference material for people of all ages. The author gives all the information you'll need to get started on everything from debt consolidation to the diference between a stock and money market fund and tells you who to call for more. It reaffirmed the things I am doing right and let me know where to go from here. I've already recommended it to several friends, who in turn have bought it, read it, and recommended it to others. The statistics and tables really open your eyes.
Rating: 
Summary: A very patronizing book
Review: This is not a good book. Its awkward writing might be forgiven, if it wasn't for the fact that the author seems to feel that Generation X'ers are all pretty stupid about finance.Ms. Kobliner should give us some credit. Before she gets off on how Generation X'ers spend too much on credit cards, or how none of seem to know how to balance a checkbook, she could at least make a passing allusion to guys like Jerry Yang who made millions before he was even 25. For good, non-patronizing personal finance advice I recommend Andrew Tobias' books or Peter Lynch's great classics.
Rating:
Summary: A must have
Review: This book should be on everyone's shelf. It reads like a novel and will provide you with the best, no-nonsense advice about what to do with your hard-earned money and why. I continually turn to it for advice. It's one of my favorite gifts to give friends.
Rating:
Summary: This is what I wanted out of Money Magazine
Review: The personal finance magazines are for the people who have savings to invest, to buy bigger houses with, to chase after the latest hot stock. This is a book about getting there. I especially like the way Kobliner lays out what it's going to take to get where you want to go. For example, in the chapter on home ownership, she talks about how much you need to have in savings, what to do if your credit isn't great and walks you through figuring out whether it's better for you to rent or buy. In the insurance information she describes what the kinds of insurance cover, when you need it, and when you don't. Great book.
Rating:
Summary: The best financial reference book ever!
Review: I just graduated college & am out on my own for the first time. Upon reading this resourceful book, it has given me all the information I need to organize my finances. All the advice is practical & it contains many helpful information I would not have been aware of had I not read the book. From handling debt to filing your taxes, I would recommend this book to anyone out there who is in a bind when it comes to getting their financial life in order. Thanks for a great book! I'm not surprised that it made the bestsellers list! =)
Rating:
Summary: Most useful!
Review: Late-night reading doesn't often include personal finance
books for me, but I couldn't put this one down! In it, Kobliner gives concise, English interpretations and explanations of all those financial issues that I haven't dealt with yet. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for a great Christmas
present - peace of mind about my financial life!
Rating:
Summary: The graduation gift your parents should've given you
Review: Thank you Beth Kobliner for addressing every major financial worry I had in 300 short and informative pages. Every question I had, you answered. Every reason I had for procrastinating, you guessed at.
This book is a must for all twenty and thirtysomethings. It breaks down saving for retirement into terms we can all understand, and will make you feel good about where you are in life
even if you're not making the big bucks. You'll find yourself reading chapters over and over again until you've memorized the concepts and the theories. Moreover, this book will pay for itself in the money you save on taxes, insurance, and piece of mind. I wish someone had given me this book years ago when I graduated college. I'd have a lot more money in my savings account and a lot more confidence in my financial situation if they had!!
Rating: 
Summary: Personal finance for twenty- and thirtysomethings ...
Review:
Get a Financial Life is the perfect resource for people in their twenties and thirties trying to get a handle on their finances. It covers everything from reducing your checking account bank fees to finding affordable health insurance. It also includes a easy-to-follow investment
guide, suitable for beginners as well as veterans.
The book has really struck a chord with its audience: it is
the best-selling personal finance guide of 1996, appearing at the top of business bestseller lists in the New York
Times, Business Week and USA Today.
Beth Kobliner has been writing about personal finance for
a decade. A graduate of Brown University, Kobliner got her
start in the world of financial writing as research
associate for Sylvia Porter, the pioneer of personal finance
journalism and a syndicated columnist in over 150 newspapers
around the country.
In 1988, she was hired as a staff writer at Money magazine,
where she has since written dozens of articles. In 1994 and
1995, she was selected by TJFR Business News Reporter, the leading trade publication for financial journalism, as one
of the country's most promising financial journalists under
the age of 30.
In addition to her work as a print journalist, Kobliner is
interviewed regularly on television and radio as a financial
expert. She is a regular commentator on the nationally syndicated public radio program "Sound Money." She has been
featured on ABC's "Good Morning America", NBC's "Today", and
"The Oprah Winfrey Show."
Kobliner is currently a contributing writer for Money. She
lives in New York City with her husband and their daughter.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent introduction to managing your finances
Review: I bought an earlier version of this book way back in 1996. I had just gotten my first job and I was looking for information on how to manage money and to find out how much I could "afford" when buying a car and/or other expensive stuff. This book helped with all of that. It helped me understand the basics of personal finance, loans, insurance, 401(k), etc. There's lots of good advice in there, so I'd certainly recommend buying this book. The information is this book is beautifully organized and very easy to digest.
Unfortunately, I haven't learnt a whole lot about personal finance since reading this book. I've read numerous books on personal finance after this one. All of them tend to say more or less the same things as this book, but they haven't said it as well. Bottomline, if you understand the basics of personal finance (such as the principles of compounding, the importance of investing early in a 401(k), why it's bad to have credit card debt, etc.), you can probably afford to skip this book. Otherwise, it's a must have.
Rating:
Summary: Just what the doctor ordered
Review: My father bought this book for me and it's been absolutely great to read and take notes from. It isn't deep, it isn't complicated, but it does have some very good information in it. I'm 21, about to graduate from college, and admittedly don't exactly have the best financial practices in the world. This book has already helped me get more organized and on-the-ball with my finances, though, and I think it's something I'll keep around as reference for some time. A previous reviewer complained that the book is shortsighted and only targeted at people in their 20s and 30s. Well, so what? If you want more in-depth, there are more than enough books out there to cover all the things you could possibly want to know. This isn't meant to be a guiding light for your personal finance from now until you die. it is meant for younger people and it serves them quite well, I think. It's not a limitless resource or something for people already well-versed in good personal finance management. If you're looking for a handy book with practical, real-world advice, though, then this should serve you quite well.
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