I finished Suze Orman’s book “The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke” last night (herein referred to as YF&B). I’d like to give my hopefully-better-than-lackluster review of it.
Basically, the book goes through all of the questions and assumptions a 20-30 something might have about money when they’re just starting to take an interest in taking control of their own finances. The book goes in near chronological order for what you should do: starting with improving your credit score, and gradually moving up to things like purchasing big ticket items (a house or a car).
I like the book as a good place to start. I’ve already recommended it to a few clueless friends, because it says a lot of the things I would tell them, but with a bit more grace and experience. I’m glad that I grabbed the book to read for my own education – I did learn a few things, especially about the particulars of picking out mutual funds. Since I haven’t worked my way up to that yet, I hadn’t looked into it yet.
The book makes a good reference, but it somewhat lacks as a library book, since it is such a good reference. I’m disappointed that I’ll have to return it soon, since I know there will be times in the future I’ll want to flip back to a certain section to recheck something or to reference it when talking to someone else.
All in all, I would recommend it for nearly everyone in that 20-year age bracket – at least one read-through for the intermediately financially savvy, to see if they can pick up anything new, and I would probably recommend it as a buy for someone just starting out, so that they can keep it as a reference.
Buy The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke from Bookshop today!
I too was disappointed when I had to return this little sucker back to the shelf. It’s the first book on my priority list to buy – I’ll probably get it used off Ebay (when I salvage some change, that is, sniffle) 🙁
But I really do adore this one by Suze.
I too have read that book and enjoyed it. It was my first Suze Orman book, and it’s made me interested in reading some of her other stuff. I passed my copy of YF&B on to my sister.
Thanks for the comment on my blog!
I’m glad you guys enjoyed this book, as well. That let’s me know that I’m not a kook (you never know until someone tells you!). I’ll be adding it to my wishlists, but I’ve got a lot of expenses to take care of before I’ll be able to pick up my own copy.
thanks for the review, I gotta check this one out in the library.
I also read and reviewed YB&F – it was basically a great read, although I did have a couple of reservations about Suze’s advice (credit card debt, for example). But her enthusiasm for the Roth IRA is right in line with mine… I’d recommend it to my friends as well.
For the most part, I liked YB&F–it’s a good introduction to personal finance, and it’s written in an excellent voice. However, like Wanda, I had some reservations about some of the credit card advice. The part where she says, “don’t start saving until you’ve paid off all your cc debt” sounds great, and looks great on paper, but as I and many of my friends have found, if you don’t have a little saved up for circumstances that are truly unforseen (and a few that are forseen), it’s very difficult to wean yourself from the cards.
I too read a copy of Suze Orman’s book “The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke” which I checked out from the library. This week I’m ordering several copies for relatives and friends and a reference copy for my wife and I. I like Suze’s common sense approach to personal finance.