Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Reading List

I recently borrowed these books from the public library and read them (well, all of one and most of the other two). These notes are for my future reference.

Psych Yourself Rich

Get the Mindset and Discipline You Need to Build your Financial Life

By Farnoosh Torabi

This book was pretty good but I couldn't quite finish reading it. Honestly, the writing style wasn't quite for me. However, the anecdotes the author provided from her stint on a financial makeover-style show were quite interesting. Yet I felt like this book is for someone who is just beginning their financial life. 


The Smart Cookies' Guide to Making More Dough

How Five Young Women Got Smart, Formed A Money Club, and Took Control of Their Finances

With Jennifer Barrett

Although the cover of this book turned me off, I decided to try and read it. It was very good. Because the book was written from the perspective of five different women, there was someone most women can relate to. One person was a divorcee, another had ended a long-term relationship, while yet another was embarking upon marriage. They were all women who had made some blunders and wanted to get clean up the mess and create success. I confess I skipped over one of the chapters but I felt I got some really good stuff from this book. One good thing I took away was the idea that you should invest in yourself. One individual increased her salary by 20K just by beginning a MSW degree. I'm not in that field but it encouraged me to think about ways I can increase my value.


The Five Lessons A Millionaire Taught Me for Women

By Paul Richard Evans

Most unique idea: buying silver coins instead of bags and shoes as a way of satisfying the hunger to shop, yet still purchasing something that can be considered an investment. (caveat: As investments go, I guess this is alright provided our world economy doesn't collapse or we don't have a large-scale natural disaster. In that case, as Dave Ramsey would say, a pair of clean blue jeans, a gallon of gas, or clean drinking water will get you more in trade.)

I would read this book again. I felt the lessons were well-illustrated with examples. I also liked the author's philosophy and writing style. This book got me to pause and take stock again of what I'm doing and where I want to go. It also encouraged me to think about the types of investments I would like to have in my portfolio (not just my stock portfolio).

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