Kimberly Palmer

Mostly skimmed, nothing new here. My summary of all personal finance books is this:
1. Stop buying so many lattes you dummy
2. Don't carry a credit card balance for god's sake
3. Use coupons or whatever? I don't know, whatever it is that poor people do to save a few cents
4. Invest, it will make you so rich

All personal finance books ignore the elephant in the room that is just simply not having enough money. I can only afford to invest what I can afford TO LOSE. This is why investing is terrific for people who are already rich. Because if you have 30 million dollars and you lose half of it, you still have 15 million dollars. You're still wealthy. But if I lose half my money it will mean that I will no longer be able to afford to, you know, eat and pay my mortgage. The issue is not how good I am with money, it's that I need more of it.… (mehr)

I was hoping to learn a bit more about investing, and other than the old standard of "keep your portfolio diversified," there was nothing new about that in here. Not even how to chose a broker, to do it online or to hire a financial adviser, how to buy bonds, etc.

Otherwise this is your standard how to save and spend when you're a privileged, upper-middle-class yuppie book. The young professionals in this book have million dollar work from home businesses, law jobs, huge houses, and big aspirations. They have weathered the financial crisis well. There is not much in here for people who haven't and are struggling financially. Keeping track of purchases and skipping lattes or cable aren't great nuggets of advice for those already living so frugally they own neither TV nor microwave. I learned about a childless couple that got their weekly grocery bill down to $150... Today I bought a weeks worth of groceries for two for $45, and I shop organic at Whole Foods. So I guess what I am getting at is that I live in a completely different universe than the people in this book and to whom it is aimed. I didn't learn anything, and it made me feel like somebody really ought to write a book like this for young professionals, grad students, and hopefuls that are struggling or not very financially well-off to begin with.… (mehr)