I received Suze Orman’s “Money Book for the Young, Fabulous, and Broke” as a gift and liked the really straightforward, digestible format (sort of FAQs about things like savings strategies and retirement accounts) but YMMV if the recipient would bristle at being described as “young, fabulous and broke”.
2 Likes
OH SHOOT. I bet you anything I’m confusing Vicki Robin with Suze Orman. I didn’t like how Suze Orman conducted herself in the podcast interview on Bad With Money, and I’m not a fan of Vicki Robin’s need to sell her book in her book content rather than on the jacket.
Edit: That being said, these are personal gripes that have little to do with the actual personal finance content.
3 Likes
Ahhhhh that makes more sense re Suze Orman!
1 Like
Yeah I was put off by that Orman interview too. I liked Your Money or Your Life more than I expected to. Not all of it applied to me but it was good for helping me think through my financial values.
2 Likes
I liked all of that advice except two things:
- it was obviously written before the great recession with the way it treated mortgages/etc
- it told you to take out credit card debt early in your career if you needed to for living expenses. what. the. fuck.
Everything else was solid advice.
1 Like
Your Money or Your Life was also important to me as a mid-career professional, it was this book (plus MMM) that made me realize I could quit the grind, because I was giving away all my life energy to that job. But obviously I had lived my life prior to that in a money-conscious way that allowed me too (401k and IRAs and “living below my means”).
3 Likes
Work Optional by Tanja Hester is a good read and offers several different paths to saving/creating your life.
3 Likes
Here is my unhelpful suggestion:
The Barefoot Investor - Scott Pape.
It is the go to book for Australians trying to get their finances under control. Pretty basic common sense stuff - don’t spend too much money buying kangaroos and throw some dollarydoos in ya super fund.
It does have a good approach around date nights and engaging your partner on changes you want to make.
4 Likes
I love these!
In the end I purchased a Kindle version of Get Money for this friend - Get Money’s author is a Houstonite whom I’ve had a chance to meet on her book tour, and the writing seems to me would jive with this friend.
I listened to an interview with Ramit on a podcast and have been interested in reading his book, but just haven’t gotten around to it. I think that would’ve been a great book for someone fresh to personal finance as well!
YMOYL’s calculations about how much work really costs was totally life-changing for me as well!
Well, now I have to read these.
I need to read this one again! I think it would have been impactful for me if it were one of the early-middle books I read, but by now many of the ideas aren’t new to me, so it’s harder for me to judge how impactful it would have been on first read!
I think there’s a different “best” first book/article/podcast for each person, so I’m glad we have a place to gather what made an impact on each!
7 Likes
The TV show Til Debt Do Us Part is her best known work. I believe it’s on youtube.
8 Likes
I live in the US and can get Till Debt Do Us Part on YouTube. Gail Vaz Oxlade is great.
4 Likes
Also free on Prime Video.
2 Likes
OMG I love her.
Season 1 Episode 1
“Get out of my way.” as she puts their credit cards in the freezer!
I found what I’m listening to at work today.
5 Likes