What Everyone Should Know About Money

I recently read a new book written by Joseph Sangl, author and founder of I Was Broke, Now I’m Not, an organization that provides financial training.  The title of the book is What Everyone Should Know About Money Before They Enter THE REAL WORLD.  Sangl shares his experiences of being launched into that real world without any financial training.  He had been taught how to earn income but not how to manage the money he made.  He targeted this book at young folks – high school students, college students and 20-somethings.  His stated goal was to provide a resource that would help equip them to make good financial decisions for life.

This is a subject near and dear to my heart for a couple of reasons.  First, I did not receive any such training and like Sangl, it took me years of painful on-the-job training to learn these important lessons.  I don’t blame anyone for that.  It wasn’t a high value to prepare a young person in that way when I was growing up, and it still isn’t one today.  Second, some of my older children have suffered because I lacked the resources to teach my kids these lessons.  It was not for lack of trying.  I devised a board game to teach my kids about using enveloping as a budgeting system (I know…must have been the most fun dad on the block!).  They all listened to me and understood the concepts I was trying to cover (usually within the first 5 minutes), but NOT ONE OF THEM actually applied what they learned, or even REMEMBERED the core concepts.  We purchased the Crown resources specifically geared towards teens, but couldn’t get our kids to actually finish them.  They would start them, but wouldn’t stay engaged.  So, all that to say that I was excited to read and review Sangl’s new book.

There were several things that I really liked about this book:

• It is short and concise.  This could easily have expanded to 200+ pages with countless stories, but Sangl gets to the point and jam packs a ton into 88 pages cover to cover.  It can easily be read in one sitting.
• It starts with his personal story.  His story is compelling in its ordinariness.  His story is not an uncommon story of ridiculous excess, but instead a story of common indulgence born out of ignorance.  I think a lot of younger folks will see themselves in his journey.
• It explains complex issues using everyday language.  For instance, rather than going into a long drawn out explanation of the what and how of budgeting, he talks about “planning your money,” by spending your money on paper before it is spent for real.  Even I’ve never thought of budgeting in that way.
• It is comprehensive in its scope.  He covers all the pertinent subjects, such as giving, saving, debt, credit scores, compound interest, purchasing a home and insurance.
• It covers the impact of finances on relationships.  This is often ignored by such work, where the focus is on the financial concepts, rather than the impact upon those around us.  I thought this was a big value add.

There was only one thing that I didn’t like in the book.  Chapter One is called, “Plan for Life.”  In it, Sangl starts off with talking about the importance of understanding your own hopes and dreams and writing them down.  He encourages the reader to stop and complete that exercise BEFORE continuing to read the rest of the book.  Here’s the problem, at least from my perspective.  This would’ve ended up being another book from which my kids read only the first chapter.  Maybe my kids were uniquely clueless, but they would have no idea what to write down.  I agree with Sangl that this is an important endeavor, but I would’ve rather seen this chapter at the end of the book rather than the beginning.  Putting it at the beginning creates the mistaken impression that one cannot employ the subsequent lessons without having the life plan clearly in mind.  I think having that chapter at the beginning will unnecessarily dissuade some from reading any further.

Having said that, I highly recommend the book and plan to purchase a copy for each of my kids over 17.  (Of course, I have not yet planned said spending, so I’ll have to invest a little time with my budget.  Fortunately, the book is very reasonable at $12.99.)

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the author as part of his Blog Tour. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”