Get A Financial Life : Personal Finance In Your Twenties And Thirties

Rating:
Summary: Great Financial Book for Planning Ahead
Review: Beth Kobliner sets up an outline for young adults to follow in order to achieve financial stability. She takes her readers through the importance of understanding one's own budget, knowing how much one must save and how much one has to spend. After her readers have stock of their financial situation, Kobliner goes into more specific situations in order to help readers make smart fiancial decisions. Her analysis on how to get out of debt by paying off your high interest rates as fast as possible is common sense, but still solid financially. The remainder of the book follows much the same pattern as Kobliner explains the importance of inexpensive banking, how to invest, how to handle a retirement account, what to look for in insurance, how to finance your first house, and other important financial decisions. The book gives good advice for people tackling these situations for the first time. It is a must read for anyone without a parent or more experienced elder to turn to for advice or for those who would rather learn things on their own than ask for help. Kobliner gives solid advice and addresses the issues that her reading audience of young adults are most likely to encounter. I would recommend this book to anyone.

Rating:
Summary: Advice for young adults
Review: This book covers many of the basic requirements needed by those in the early stages of their financial lives. The advice is excellent and the author points out the importance of beginning a savings and investing program while still young. In addition, she covers many topics offering good guidance for her readers everyday lives, including how to decide between renting or buying, how to find a bank and choose the right type of account to open, etc. My only complaint with her advice is the suggestion readers "consider mutual funds your entire investment universe, at least for now." That is bad advice. Now is the time for learning how to invest in individual stocks and how to use options to make those investments safer. Learning how to make careful stock selections is worth the time and effort, and IMHO, using mutual funds is not the path to financial success.