Synopsis of Content:
Similar to his
prior books in The Smartest Book You’ll
Ever Read Solin provides a succinct and short chapters on how to manage
your money and plan your finances.
Solin begins
with a discussion of the bad things that can happen to us all that will lead to
financial problems or even crisis. This section is no doubt influenced by the severe
economic recession of the past four years. After that the book covers and basics
for smart money management including:
·
The
importance of managing your money and saving;
·
Understanding
your financial position through focus on net worth and budgeting;
·
The
importance of paying off and avoiding debt;
·
The
pros and cons of investing in your home, or what he calls the Home Dilemma;
·
The
pros and cons of insurance;
·
The
pros and cons of the investment industry;
·
Avoiding
counter-productive investment strategies including day trading and creating a
well balanced portfolio for the long term;
·
Assessing
your risk capacity in light of probably returns;
·
Realistic
retirement planning;
·
Estate
planning basics;
·
A
summary at the end to pull all these things together in one checklist of what
to do and not do.
Solin repeats
throughout this book many of the lessons he provides in his earlier books, The
Smartest Investment Book You’ll Ever Read and The Smartest 401k Book You’ll
Ever Read however to the extent there is some duplication it is not a bad
thing. Much of the hard hitting financial wisdom Solin imparts is worth
repeating for one thing and this last book serves as both a great introduction
to the more specialized topics in his earlier books and as a means of tying it
all together if you’ve already read them.
I recommend this
book for several reasons:
If you do not know much about financial planning and managing your money
this book provides excellent introductory material to bring anyone up to speed
on all the critical areas you need to know.
The book is tightly written and easy to follow. It should be easily
understood by nearly anyone.
For those who do have some education in this area the book serves as a
great reminder of some basics we all need to remember and brings some
simplification to areas that other authors often over complicate.
Solin takes on the major financial institutions including banks,
financial advisors, brokerage houses, and the insurance industry – he tells you
what you need to know about how these industries put their interest in taking
your money first and help you avoid getting fleeced.
Solin also
provides the reader with many links to Mint.com articles and other sources for further
reading. In fact he highly recommends Mint.com both to manage your finances and
for additional information. Not surprisingly Mint.com recommends the book.
Solin insists he has no financial arrangement with Mint.com.
Usefulness:
This book is
tremendously useful both as a thorough primer on financial planning and
management as well as containing some excellent warnings about the pitfalls of placing
blind trust in the financial industries. Even those who think they know a lot
about finance and planning can benefit from this book.
Readability/Writing Quality:
This book is
very readable. It is written in relatively simple English with thorough
explanations of the terms used in the financial industry. The chapters are well
organized and follow a logical progression. Chapters are very short, many no
more than 2 or 3 pages in length and are followed by a crisp summary he calls, “What’s
the point?”
Notes on Author:
Daniel
Solin is vice president of Index Fund Advisors, a for fee financial advisory
company. He is a law school graduate who is also a certified financial planner.
He is a regular writer for Huffington Post and USNews.com.
He
is author of The Smartest Money Book You'll Ever Read: Everything You Need to
Know About Growing, Spending, and Enjoying Your Money, The Smartest Portfolio
You'll Ever Own: A Do-It-Yourself Breakthrough Strategy, The Smartest 401(k)
Book You'll Ever Read, and The Smartest Investment Book You’ll Ever Read. He is
also the author of Does Your Broker Owe You Money?
Related Website:
Three Great Ideas You Can Use:
1. Understanding
the basics of financial planning and management can be within the grasp of
almost anyone and everyone needs to understand these basics. Those who do not
educate themselves about the basics are at the mercy of an industry which can
exploit them.
2. Long proven financial
management and investing principles remain sound and should be followed rather
than jumping from one new idea to the next marketed by those who ignore the
basics.
3. You must take
control over your finances beginning with sound budgeting, planning, and
keeping track. Once you’ve done that the next step is to understand what do to
and what not to do to save and invest wisely.
Publication Information:
The Smartest Money Book You’ll Ever Read by
Daniel R. Solin
Copyright: 2012
by Daniel R. Solin. Published by Penguin Group USA, Inc.
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Total Rating Score:
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5
|
|
Writing Style:
|
5
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Who Should Read This:
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Anyone wanting
to improve their financial knowledge.
|
|
Usefulness:
|
Highly useful.
|
|
Difficulty:
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Moderate.
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|
Scoring System:
|
1: poor / 2:
average / 3: good / 4: very good / 5: superior
|
Disclosure: the
author of this book review has no relationship or financial arrangement with
the author or the publisher of this book. Some publishers and authors do
provide a copy of the book for reviewers to read.
Wishing you success and prosperity,
Daniel R. Murphy
Helping People Learn to Build Wealth
www.Books2Wealth.com
