Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Olen and Pollack have written a quick easy to read book on personal finance. (This is ironic given that Olen previously wrote Pound Foolish, which lambast most of popular personal finance books.) In Pound Foolish, Olen criticizes personal finance gurus for overemphasizing financial gimmicks, such "The Latte Factor" or the "Dogs of the Dow." and financial advisors for selling overly-complicated self-serving investment and insurance products. After being so critical of other people's financial advice, one wonders what Olen would recommend people do with their money? Well in The Index Card, Olen joins with Harold Pollack (a social science professor, but not an economist, at the University of Chicago) to answer the question, "What should middle class Americans do with their money?" As the title indicates, Olen's and Pollack's answer fits on an Index Card. 1-Strive to save 10%-20% of your income. 2-Pay your credit cards off every month (and minimize other debt). 3-Maximize your 401(k) and other tax-advantaged savings accounts. 4-Never buy or sell individual stocks. 5-Buy inexpensive well-diversified indexed mutual funds and exchange-traded funds. 6-Hire a fee-based fiduciary (avoid commission-based financial salespeople). 7-Wait to buy only as much home as you can afford (remember homes are usually highly-leveraged investments with high maintenance costs). 8-Buy term life insurance, auto-insurance (especially liability), home insurance or renter's insurance, and disability insurance. 9-Support the social safety net (government programs, such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and student loans, because 96% of American depend on such programs for financial assistance, even though 40% deny obtaining help from the government.) 10-Keep doing the first 9. Much of this advice falls under easier said than done, but these are achievable goals for someone in a stable financial situation. The authors repeatedly tell readers how to take care of their money during good times, so that they will have money during bad times. The first principle, saving ten to twenty percent of your income will be difficult for people who have gotten used to spending what they make, which the authors acknowledge, but one should at least save as much as possible. Likewise with the second principle, payoff your credit cards every month, easier said than done, but the Olen and Pollack suggest that if you can't pay them off, then stop using them altogether. Psychologically cash is harder to spend than credit. Principle 3 harkens back to principle 1, save 10-20% of your income, only try to save as many pre-tax dollars as possible to reduce your taxes and you're less likely to miss what you never got. Principle 4 is simple, playing the stock market is like playing poker, unless you are exceptionally skilled and lucky (and rich) you will lose more often than you win. Instead, principle 5 suggest that you bet with the house and just try to match the market, since most stock-pickers and fund managers do worse than the market over the long run. The last two principles stress protection for disasters that are too big for you to self-insure with your savings. Finally, like staying in physical shape, staying in financial shape requires frequent repetition. Through trial and error as well as research, I have come to many of the same conclusions. Recently, I have been able to implement all ten principles. They work well for me, but I wish the Olen and Pollack had said more about costs that seem destined to set one back, such paying for college and home renovations. Nonetheless, I would recommend this book to recent high-school or college graduates just beginning their careers. P.S. I have taught college courses and published papers on the sociology of money. I have also obtained licenses to sell life and health insurance and mutual funds. Thus, I have been on both sides of the table.