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Money Management Skills
6 hours 9 mins
Money management can be intimidating, but the good news is that the newest research into the human brain can help us understand why we make mistakes and how we can create an effective plan to meet our financial goals. Learning to navigate complex financial markets and create good financial habits is essential to the all-important goal of gaining control over our financial future.
Money management requires knowledge of financial products, investment and risk theory, and essential tax rules. But it also requires an understanding of how we as fallible humans make mistakes. These lectures will go beyond the advice of a traditional money management course and delve into the emerging science of financial decision-making. With this course, you’ll learn how to overcome your brain’s programming and avoid following your emotions down the wrong financial path.
The goal of money management is to maximize our happiness at every stage of our lives. Whether you are a novice investor or a seasoned pro, a young person getting started in life or a Baby Boomer contemplating retirement, Money Management Skills is an excellent primer for creating financial security. Taught by financial expert and Texas Tech University professor Michael Finke, these 12 practical lectures will boost your confidence around money management. This is not a course for big investors looking for the next hot stock. Rather, these lectures are for regular people who want to make sound financial decisions without obsessing over the daily changes in the market.
Money management can be intimidating, but the good news is that the newest research into the human brain can help us understand why we make mistakes and how we can create an effective plan to meet our financial goals. Learning to navigate complex financial markets and create good financial habits is essential to the all-important goal of gaining control over our financial future.
Money management requires knowledge of financial products, investment and risk theory, and essential tax rules. But it also requires an understanding of how we as fallible humans make mistakes. These lectures will go beyond the advice of a traditional money management course and delve into the emerging science of financial decision-making. With this course, you’ll learn how to overcome your brain’s programming and avoid following your emotions down the wrong financial path.
The goal of money management is to maximize our happiness at every stage of our lives. Whether you are a novice investor or a seasoned pro, a young person getting started in life or a Baby Boomer contemplating retirement, Money Management Skills is an excellent primer for creating financial security. Taught by financial expert and Texas Tech University professor Michael Finke, these 12 practical lectures will boost your confidence around money management. This is not a course for big investors looking for the next hot stock. Rather, these lectures are for regular people who want to make sound financial decisions without obsessing over the daily changes in the market.
98 pages, Audible Audio
First published December 12, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 78 reviews
February 7, 2017
A very basic course on personal finance which covers almost all relevant topics including tax, and estate management. The tax portion is US-centric though.
The new thing I learn, but do not necessarily agree with, is the life-cycle theory. The theory advocates for smoothing out consumption over time. In addition, the theory is also based on the decreasing marginal utility of money, which means a dollar when you're young and poor is worth a lot more than when you're old and rich. The theory advocates for more spending, including borrowing to spend, when you're young, which is a bit scary for a saving-mindset like mine. I guess the theory makes more sense in some developed countries with pensions, but definitely not in any countries where retirees have little or no incomes at all.
Other than that, the rest seems ok.
The new thing I learn, but do not necessarily agree with, is the life-cycle theory. The theory advocates for smoothing out consumption over time. In addition, the theory is also based on the decreasing marginal utility of money, which means a dollar when you're young and poor is worth a lot more than when you're old and rich. The theory advocates for more spending, including borrowing to spend, when you're young, which is a bit scary for a saving-mindset like mine. I guess the theory makes more sense in some developed countries with pensions, but definitely not in any countries where retirees have little or no incomes at all.
Other than that, the rest seems ok.
July 14, 2017
Most of the information here is pretty basic, common-sense level advice and instruction that I have already managed to gather over the years, though I did learn a few new things. The financial power of a pension, for one.
I would recommend this lecture series to any young person though, particularly because Finke is reasonable about how people, especially young people, spend money. He doesn't advise a 25 year-old person to save every spare dime because that's when young people really need the money to spend, not to save. Saving and investment come later, because the goal is long term financial security, not glorious riches. He approaches money management from the long perspective, a person's lifetime. It's a healthy approach, and like most healthy things, kind of boring. Eat your greens, kids.
I would recommend this lecture series to any young person though, particularly because Finke is reasonable about how people, especially young people, spend money. He doesn't advise a 25 year-old person to save every spare dime because that's when young people really need the money to spend, not to save. Saving and investment come later, because the goal is long term financial security, not glorious riches. He approaches money management from the long perspective, a person's lifetime. It's a healthy approach, and like most healthy things, kind of boring. Eat your greens, kids.
July 1, 2018
Bad math, bad advice. Early in the book, he says something like: an average person makes $2.5 million over the course of a lifetime, which means $40k/yr. So if you're making $40k/yr or less, you shouldn't save, because you will presumably make more than this some year, and the goal is to even out the amount of money you make every year.
Except this doesn't take inflation into account. $40k/yr in 2010 is very different from $40k/yr in 2050. Accounting for inflation, $2.5 mil translates to $13,319 per year. So that person making $40k/yr right out of college should be saving like crazy!
Except this doesn't take inflation into account. $40k/yr in 2010 is very different from $40k/yr in 2050. Accounting for inflation, $2.5 mil translates to $13,319 per year. So that person making $40k/yr right out of college should be saving like crazy!
June 21, 2023
recommend
April 16, 2021
This course is sadly US centric, which makes the title malicious and plain misinformation as the Americans have yet again forgotten the rest of the world. US centricity means that terms like "credit score", "401k", "529 plan", "Roth IRA" are being thrown around.
In addition, I suspect some of the advice might be just plain wrong? For example the Life Cycle Theory suggests there is an average lifetime income for a person, which is fine in retrospect, but how would you know it beforehand? The overall feeling is that everyone should know it based on his "class" or "caste".
But anyway, let's say you know your "caste" and your lifetime average income, then based on this courses thesis you should be able to compare it to your current income. If you're in your 40s, then you should be saving a lot, which is fine. But using the same thesis the lecturer then suggests a young person with lower or no income should lend the missing amount when compared to the average lifetime income. Don't hold back! Why save? You should spend and consume.
It's all not terrible, of course. Diversify your investments, know your tax laws and index funds are good for you. Generally good advice, but there are way better books for that.
In addition, I suspect some of the advice might be just plain wrong? For example the Life Cycle Theory suggests there is an average lifetime income for a person, which is fine in retrospect, but how would you know it beforehand? The overall feeling is that everyone should know it based on his "class" or "caste".
But anyway, let's say you know your "caste" and your lifetime average income, then based on this courses thesis you should be able to compare it to your current income. If you're in your 40s, then you should be saving a lot, which is fine. But using the same thesis the lecturer then suggests a young person with lower or no income should lend the missing amount when compared to the average lifetime income. Don't hold back! Why save? You should spend and consume.
It's all not terrible, of course. Diversify your investments, know your tax laws and index funds are good for you. Generally good advice, but there are way better books for that.
June 16, 2017
Very good advice on many different aspects of personal finances. Beware if you don't live in the U.S. however. You'll want to skip a couple chapters which are very country specific.
July 21, 2021
I wish I had read this earlier in my life as it is a great overview of how to function as an adult in the US. While it isn't the most riveting topic (homeowners' insurance, estate planning, life cycle investing) to everyone, I think it is like eating your vegetables and this version is sautéed with a bit of butter 🧈
July 4, 2017
The course is very basic and has good insights. Highly recommend for youth who has just finished their school before deciding the college.
There are a lot of things related to the American law which made me feel uncomfortable.
There are a lot of things related to the American law which made me feel uncomfortable.
May 2, 2020
Very informative and full of helpful advice course, though US-specific in details.
January 26, 2020
It certainly wasn't exciting but it was a necessary read for me. I specifically appreciate the first few lectures that outline a model for making decisions. Every subsequent lecture was able to refer back to the initial model, which added clarity I hadn't had before.
September 16, 2016
This provides a very good introduction to personal financial planning for the general public in the US.
Actually, the target audience is not the average American making the median household income. The course is of most relevance to those in the upper middle class who can afford to live where they do, have no trouble paying off credit card balances at the end of each month, and are not so stressed by their financial situation that they can make long-term plans for themselves. If you do happen to be among this group, then I'd recommend the book as a good introduction to financial planning.
While the course covers what is included in most introductory financial planning curricula, I was surprised by the instructor's endorsement of the life cycle approach to spending. This approach suggests that the way to maximize utility, or happiness, throughout your life is to level the amount you spend in each phase of your life by factoring in how much you're projected to make throughout your lifetime. Divide that sum by the number of years you expect to live and you'll get your permanent income, or the amount you should spend each year to maximize your well-being. When you're just starting out and not earning much, you may be better off by borrowing from your future self (by taking out college loans, for example).
Unfortunately, the brief discussion of the topic makes it too easy to take the advice out of context and may encourage a listener who does not have much self-discipline to use this as an excuse to run up credit card debt or splurge on their dream wedding. That's why I believe this book is best for those who don't already have spending problems or unmanageable debt, but just want to know what else they can do to be smart about their money decisions.
If, however, you've been born into fortunate circumstances and/or are a saver by nature and have always kept your expenses to the very minimum, it may make sense to allow yourself to spend more on what matters to you, like creating good memories with loved ones or donating more to those who are not as fortunate. I personally regret not having attended my college friends' weddings when we were in our 20s because it didn't make sense to spend money when I wasn't earning anything. But it's easy to see that in hindsight now that I'm in more secure position.
(Do note that the tax numbers mentioned in this course are approximations, so you'll have to look up current figures for tax, education, retirement and estate planning.)
Actually, the target audience is not the average American making the median household income. The course is of most relevance to those in the upper middle class who can afford to live where they do, have no trouble paying off credit card balances at the end of each month, and are not so stressed by their financial situation that they can make long-term plans for themselves. If you do happen to be among this group, then I'd recommend the book as a good introduction to financial planning.
While the course covers what is included in most introductory financial planning curricula, I was surprised by the instructor's endorsement of the life cycle approach to spending. This approach suggests that the way to maximize utility, or happiness, throughout your life is to level the amount you spend in each phase of your life by factoring in how much you're projected to make throughout your lifetime. Divide that sum by the number of years you expect to live and you'll get your permanent income, or the amount you should spend each year to maximize your well-being. When you're just starting out and not earning much, you may be better off by borrowing from your future self (by taking out college loans, for example).
Unfortunately, the brief discussion of the topic makes it too easy to take the advice out of context and may encourage a listener who does not have much self-discipline to use this as an excuse to run up credit card debt or splurge on their dream wedding. That's why I believe this book is best for those who don't already have spending problems or unmanageable debt, but just want to know what else they can do to be smart about their money decisions.
If, however, you've been born into fortunate circumstances and/or are a saver by nature and have always kept your expenses to the very minimum, it may make sense to allow yourself to spend more on what matters to you, like creating good memories with loved ones or donating more to those who are not as fortunate. I personally regret not having attended my college friends' weddings when we were in our 20s because it didn't make sense to spend money when I wasn't earning anything. But it's easy to see that in hindsight now that I'm in more secure position.
(Do note that the tax numbers mentioned in this course are approximations, so you'll have to look up current figures for tax, education, retirement and estate planning.)
June 23, 2016
Great overview of personal finance. My only criticism is that I suspect that the life-cycle finance theory espoused in these lectures, although logically consistent, might get a lot of people in trouble. The idea is smooth consumption over a lifetime, so one could or maybe should transfer money from their older selves to their younger selves by borrowing money when they're young and presumably broke, then paying it back and saving in when they're a bit older and presumably making more in their prime earning years, using that savings as a transfer to their older selves, allowing them to consume roughly the same amount per year their entire lives. Although I like the theory, I'm weary of encouraging debt for young people, who are generally pretty stupid about consumption. All in all though, a great series of lectures covering inviting, retirement plans, taxes, insurance, and more.
August 28, 2020
The title, Money Management Skills, says it all. This is really great content, I have already been exposed to a lot of this material prior to this which made this mostly an affirmation experience versus learning something new.
It starts off with what you've been hearing (hopefully) since High School:
- Credit cards are bad (when you don't pay them off and are paying interest rates)
- Sleep on big financial decisions (cars, houses, etc)
- Savings accounts are good
- Have a retirement fund
- Maximize company benefits
- Use automated tools to your advantage (new one, it makes sense and something I already do)
- Importance of education and investing in one self (I absolutely believe in this 100%)
- Stock market overview (nothing too heavy... the classic "no risk, no reward" presentation)
Then after the basics are covered, the author goes into something very interesting, refreshing, and quite honestly unexpected for me with a financial improvement type book... happiness. Yeah, simple as that: Happiness.
I really liked this theme throughout the content, where ultimately happiness is key, whether that is saving money so you can take care of your kids education, traveling the world, buying all that which is shiny, or somewhere in between. I like how he gives examples of over saving and never enjoying life when you are younger... and then when you're in your 70's sitting on top of your mountain of riches... you can't even enjoy it much anyway at that point. Then there's the flip side of that, where you are in your 60-70's and you are living off of either social security and/or due to the decisions you've made somewhere around ~$350 a month.
I say again, it was really refreshing and I absolutely enjoyed this perspective of focusing on individual happiness and tailoring your financial success as such. My previous experience within this subject is a one size fits all type approach and a "if you stray from this you better watch out, you'll suffer" type delivery.
Another positive note on this are the random tidbits of statistics and numbers thrown around:
- Average American's savings at the age of retirement
- Average American's peak earning years
- Divorce/Health connections related to financial success/struggle
- Numbers about people who use company benefits, 401k's, taxes, saving for your kids college, etc.
All in all, this was another wonderful Great Course and I think very valuable for anybody who wants to learn more about financial success, from a very positive, upbeat, and happiness focused approach.
I was torn between a 4 or a 5 for this... but honestly, for its genre it is pretty amazing. The author makes it fun and is a great presenter and I loved the content. So... I can't think of a good reason to give it less than a 5, especially for being financial planning success content.
It starts off with what you've been hearing (hopefully) since High School:
- Credit cards are bad (when you don't pay them off and are paying interest rates)
- Sleep on big financial decisions (cars, houses, etc)
- Savings accounts are good
- Have a retirement fund
- Maximize company benefits
- Use automated tools to your advantage (new one, it makes sense and something I already do)
- Importance of education and investing in one self (I absolutely believe in this 100%)
- Stock market overview (nothing too heavy... the classic "no risk, no reward" presentation)
Then after the basics are covered, the author goes into something very interesting, refreshing, and quite honestly unexpected for me with a financial improvement type book... happiness. Yeah, simple as that: Happiness.
I really liked this theme throughout the content, where ultimately happiness is key, whether that is saving money so you can take care of your kids education, traveling the world, buying all that which is shiny, or somewhere in between. I like how he gives examples of over saving and never enjoying life when you are younger... and then when you're in your 70's sitting on top of your mountain of riches... you can't even enjoy it much anyway at that point. Then there's the flip side of that, where you are in your 60-70's and you are living off of either social security and/or due to the decisions you've made somewhere around ~$350 a month.
I say again, it was really refreshing and I absolutely enjoyed this perspective of focusing on individual happiness and tailoring your financial success as such. My previous experience within this subject is a one size fits all type approach and a "if you stray from this you better watch out, you'll suffer" type delivery.
Another positive note on this are the random tidbits of statistics and numbers thrown around:
- Average American's savings at the age of retirement
- Average American's peak earning years
- Divorce/Health connections related to financial success/struggle
- Numbers about people who use company benefits, 401k's, taxes, saving for your kids college, etc.
All in all, this was another wonderful Great Course and I think very valuable for anybody who wants to learn more about financial success, from a very positive, upbeat, and happiness focused approach.
I was torn between a 4 or a 5 for this... but honestly, for its genre it is pretty amazing. The author makes it fun and is a great presenter and I loved the content. So... I can't think of a good reason to give it less than a 5, especially for being financial planning success content.
April 24, 2020
This audiobook goes through a lot of numbers and terms. This is less of an interesting general education listen and more of a reference guide for making appropriate financial decisions regarding various life circumstances. Don't get me wrong. There is still benefit to listening to the whole thing. But I think a printed or ebook version may be more helpful. Then it could be a reference, and it would be easier to absorb the numbers and technical terms.
It is informative, with advice about the purpose of different kinds of insurance and which you do and don't need. How to make different kinds of financial decisions. Whether to rent or buy. What financial products make sense for saving for your children's education. How to plan for distributing your assets when you pass on. Whether to use a debit or credit card. That kind of thing.
I can't help but feel it is a little dangerous in some ways, though. The author presents an interesting view I hadn't heard before on financial planning. That basically you could spend or save at any point in life so that you get about the same amount of value every year of your life. At points in your life where your earning power is low, you may take on more debt. When your earning power is high, you may be paying off that debt and saving more heavily. This makes a certain kind of sense, and trying to ensure a sustainable level of happiness does have value. I was quite surprised in a finance book for there to be absolutely no discussion of compound interest, of the staggering benefits of saving as much as possible as early as possible. This also disregards the idea of leaving money and assets behind for your descendents. To my way of thinking, we as a society would all be much better off if we worked hard and left something behind for the next generation, and they worked hard and left behind more for the next generation, and so on. Financial well-being would accrue massively after a few generations. But I know human nature tends to prevent that. Anyway! The author's suggestions also mostly disregard massive health costs that the elderly will accumulate, instead stating that expenses will decrease substantially in retirement, so you may not need to save as much as you think. Certainly some expenses are reduced or eliminated, but I don't think it's a good idea to count on not needing much money. Especially when accounting for inflation.
So all in all, this would not be my first choice of book to recommend to someone who wanted a basic financial education.
It is informative, with advice about the purpose of different kinds of insurance and which you do and don't need. How to make different kinds of financial decisions. Whether to rent or buy. What financial products make sense for saving for your children's education. How to plan for distributing your assets when you pass on. Whether to use a debit or credit card. That kind of thing.
I can't help but feel it is a little dangerous in some ways, though. The author presents an interesting view I hadn't heard before on financial planning. That basically you could spend or save at any point in life so that you get about the same amount of value every year of your life. At points in your life where your earning power is low, you may take on more debt. When your earning power is high, you may be paying off that debt and saving more heavily. This makes a certain kind of sense, and trying to ensure a sustainable level of happiness does have value. I was quite surprised in a finance book for there to be absolutely no discussion of compound interest, of the staggering benefits of saving as much as possible as early as possible. This also disregards the idea of leaving money and assets behind for your descendents. To my way of thinking, we as a society would all be much better off if we worked hard and left something behind for the next generation, and they worked hard and left behind more for the next generation, and so on. Financial well-being would accrue massively after a few generations. But I know human nature tends to prevent that. Anyway! The author's suggestions also mostly disregard massive health costs that the elderly will accumulate, instead stating that expenses will decrease substantially in retirement, so you may not need to save as much as you think. Certainly some expenses are reduced or eliminated, but I don't think it's a good idea to count on not needing much money. Especially when accounting for inflation.
So all in all, this would not be my first choice of book to recommend to someone who wanted a basic financial education.
Read
February 25, 2020I love the Great Courses Audible books. They are always super educational but unlike the popular misconception about University lectures, far from dry or monotone.
They are actually very brief and engaging. They consist of 10 lectures of different topics, each under 30 minutes, delivered by an expert academic in the field (Prof. Michael Finke from Texas Tech University).
The topics in this book are:
1. Understanding Your Financial Brain
2. Managing Money with Life Cycle Theory
3. Basic Investing—Keep It Simple
4. The Key Financial Instruments
5. How to Use Credit Optimally
6. Investing in Education
7. The Economics of Home Ownership
8. Managing Risk with Insurance
9. Essential Tax Principles
10. Saving for Retirement
I thought I have read many financial and money management books and I would not learn something new from this but I was mistaken. The author presented several new concepts to me and a different way of thinking about money management.
The most important points are the concept of Life Cycle Theory and Decreasing the Marginal Utility Method. You will come to understand those and be surprised you have not thought about them before or utilised them.
An excellent book that delivers complex topics in a very accessible way. Highly recommended for all audiences (beginner or intermediate even the adept financial wizards). Guaranteed to learn a thing or two.
They are actually very brief and engaging. They consist of 10 lectures of different topics, each under 30 minutes, delivered by an expert academic in the field (Prof. Michael Finke from Texas Tech University).
The topics in this book are:
1. Understanding Your Financial Brain
2. Managing Money with Life Cycle Theory
3. Basic Investing—Keep It Simple
4. The Key Financial Instruments
5. How to Use Credit Optimally
6. Investing in Education
7. The Economics of Home Ownership
8. Managing Risk with Insurance
9. Essential Tax Principles
10. Saving for Retirement
I thought I have read many financial and money management books and I would not learn something new from this but I was mistaken. The author presented several new concepts to me and a different way of thinking about money management.
The most important points are the concept of Life Cycle Theory and Decreasing the Marginal Utility Method. You will come to understand those and be surprised you have not thought about them before or utilised them.
An excellent book that delivers complex topics in a very accessible way. Highly recommended for all audiences (beginner or intermediate even the adept financial wizards). Guaranteed to learn a thing or two.
June 22, 2023
Very impressed by this well organized, balanced approach to teaching money management skills. Professor Michael Finke opens with highlighting the single most important skill, managing your emotions.
The actual mechanics of personal finance are exceedingly simple. Though taboo to openly discuss amongst friends/family and intentionally made opaque by those seeking to profit off the intimidating illusion of complexity. Yet when you take the time to peek behind the curtain, you’ll come to find it’s really very easy to do yourself. So long as you’ve first mastered managing emotions.
The challenge is really in keeping your ego in check, being resilient to temptation, and not succumbing to fear or anxiety. Your mental game is an essential part to strong money management skills.
With that said, the book was published in 2015 making some of the finer points now antiquated. While Finke’s overall guidance is on point, it’s worth reading newer publications before taking action on the specific advice provided. Nevertheless, Money Management Skills is still a worthy read in establishing good fundamentals for money management.
The actual mechanics of personal finance are exceedingly simple. Though taboo to openly discuss amongst friends/family and intentionally made opaque by those seeking to profit off the intimidating illusion of complexity. Yet when you take the time to peek behind the curtain, you’ll come to find it’s really very easy to do yourself. So long as you’ve first mastered managing emotions.
The challenge is really in keeping your ego in check, being resilient to temptation, and not succumbing to fear or anxiety. Your mental game is an essential part to strong money management skills.
With that said, the book was published in 2015 making some of the finer points now antiquated. While Finke’s overall guidance is on point, it’s worth reading newer publications before taking action on the specific advice provided. Nevertheless, Money Management Skills is still a worthy read in establishing good fundamentals for money management.
August 24, 2019
Struggled through this book because I feel the fundamental theory that this is based on is flawed. The author/teacher states that it is all about happiness and that your spending is related to your happiness. He also bases his theory on the idea that over time your spending capacity will increase. In today’s society, unless you are in upper middle class or beyond, this is not necessarily true. He goes on to state that going into debt early in life is fine because you will make more later in life to pay it off and it will all balance out in the end. I feel like the last thing we should encourage is youth to incur more debt.
The later topics about mortgages and retirement are informative and helpful, but he threw me off at the beginning by his original lifetime spending/happiness ratio.
The later topics about mortgages and retirement are informative and helpful, but he threw me off at the beginning by his original lifetime spending/happiness ratio.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 31, 2020
This is a good book for intermediate/beginners. I already do a lot of the early parts of the book regarding the most basic money management skills, and a lot of my thought processes were in-line with the author. However; the later concepts surrounding investing and retirement are newer to me and less discussed in my family; and weren't really well-taught in high-school beyond "do it early and do it well". I really like the concept Michael Finke introduced to me about lending money vs taking money to your older and younger versions of yourself. I'm not squirrely around the reality of my own mortality, so this has given me a lot to think about. I'm glad I read this in my 30s vs. my 40s as I feel I still have some time to adjust my practices.
June 7, 2018
Money management is the process of budgeting, saving, investing, spending or otherwise overseeing the capital usage of an individual or group. Money management can also be used to have financial stability in your life. This book taught me to not just to save money but to invest it into your daily life, one of the main points that really stuck to me was when Michael finke said if you buy something make sure you can buy it 3 and 4 times before you can buy it once , that really stuck to me because as a small child i really liked saving my money and thought it was a great thing to do and was a great tool for me to use in my adulthood. by de'jon smith
February 9, 2018
The book was very nice and informative. I especially liked the life-cycle theory regarding the investment. There is one downside to the book/course. If you're not in USA a lot of the info won't be that good since the author is referencing a lot of different taxes, insurances etc. Of course, you could potentially translate them to your local equivalent but it will take a bit more thinking to do that.
Anyway, this was a quick book which is capable of providing some valuable information on how to manage your money in a better and more sustainable way.
Anyway, this was a quick book which is capable of providing some valuable information on how to manage your money in a better and more sustainable way.
May 22, 2017
I can see myself coming back to this course throughout my life whenever making big financial changes. The book is divided up into many different lectures on money management ie stocks, savings, retirement, home buying, etc... which makes it a universally good reference for financial advice. The lectures are thorough and cover a range of situations so that everyone, regardless of where you are in your financial endeavors, can learn how to take control of their current and future wealth.
January 13, 2018
I have read quite a number of books on finances and money management, but this may be the most level headed one I've read. So often, money books are all about saving as much as you can so you can retire with as much as you can. I appreciated the author's concept of evening out your spending over your lifetime. He also covers everything from taxes and estate planning to college and buying a home. Pretty comprehensive set of lectures.
May 6, 2020
Core personal finance. A single change in your finances from these lectures could make a big difference. I liked the bits on term life insurance, ETFs, and home equity lines of credit. It’s interesting how much can change in 6 years; this course would benefit from a new lecture soon. The professor sticks to his script with no deviation or levity, but is clear and consistent. The lecture notes have summaries, instructions, suggested reading, and questions to consider.
May 9, 2017
I was expecting something like a Dave Ramsey style day to day guide to money, but it ended up being about investing and audits and marginal utility and 502c and why a variable annuity is bad while a fixed annuity is good. In short, almost nothing relevant to me right now. Although the chapters on education and home buying were good.
July 8, 2017
Really basic overview of basic personal finance management. This book would be perfect for high school students that are beginning the career, but probably nothing new for working professionals. However, there was still a few new things I took away, like the life cycle theory for financial planning, which I wasn't aware of and found compelling.
August 1, 2018
This was a digestible overview of personal finance, one I think I will share with my kids when they're a bit older and starting to make their own financial decisions.
As always, it's nice to see some behavioral economics in action and it got me thinking about how I can default option my way into saving more.
As always, it's nice to see some behavioral economics in action and it got me thinking about how I can default option my way into saving more.
June 29, 2019
Conservador, básico....interesante en algunos aspectos, pero aplica casi exclusivamente a Estados Unidos....luego de leer la Criatura de la Isla de Jeckyll muchos de estos consejos son cuestionables....o mas que cuestionables, aplican para finanzas promedio; nada edgy...creo que funcionan esas estrategias pero son bien conservadoras.
May 30, 2021
Simple language, easy straight to the point writing and v practical knowledge. Would say it is one of the best read of the year. I think the most useful takeaway for me is (1) Keeping things simple. The simpler investment the better (2) Life cycle theory (3) education as a long term investment (study did on 2014, not sure if it is still applicable)
February 7, 2017
Great introduction to personal finance. Michael covers all of the important topics in personal finance. He gives just the right amount of information to describe the concepts so we can get started. He avoids most of the tedious details that generally make this kind of topic painful.
March 20, 2017
Fantastic Book for Money Management and Financial Planning for future. Author has discussed in detail about the various age factors, time and how to invest and how much to do that with progression.
Covered Insurance topic in detail which gave me different insight related to various type of insurances available in the market.
Financial planning for buying house is well explained, explaining whether to buy house or rent it out, and how much u must save.
This is a must read book for everyone, highly recommended.
Covered Insurance topic in detail which gave me different insight related to various type of insurances available in the market.
Financial planning for buying house is well explained, explaining whether to buy house or rent it out, and how much u must save.
This is a must read book for everyone, highly recommended.
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