The Money Code: Improve Your Entire Financial Life Right Now

by Joe John Duran

Does it seem like there is never enough money to do everything you want?
Do you want to feel confident about the financial decisions you make?
Have you ever felt frustrated talking about money with your loved ones?

You are not alone. Unfortunately, most of us were never taught how to think and communicate about money. The Money Code is a modern tale of one person's journey to uncover the five secrets to living his one best financial life. Through his voyage, you will learn how to:
- Prevent bad decisions about money
- Identify your Money Mind‚ Fear, Happiness, or Commitment and how it affects every financial decision you make
- Use a custom checklist to improve your entire financial life
- Clearly discuss decisions about money with the ones you love
- Finally take control of your financial life

Genres: Finance, Nonfiction, Personal Finance, Money

168 pages, Paperback

First published January 22, 2013

Reviews

[Teena in Toronto · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is meant to help you understand yourself and those around you as well as provide you with a road map for making sound financial decisions. The Money Code does this by using a fictional character named Jack. After he and his wife split up, Jack's sister suggests he get in touch with The Alchemist, who will change how he makes decisions about money.

The Alchemist urges Jack to log onto his website and complete exercises (the chapters are set up as if Jack is actually on the website) to learn the five money secrets:

* Your life will be filled with tough choices
* Your entire life is determined by how you make decisions
* Your biases will affect every decisions you make. There are three Money Minds ... (1) Help protect us from pain (Fear), (2) Help us do the things that make us happy (Happiness) and (3) Help us look after the people we love (Commitment). I did the Money Mind test and have a Happiness Money Mind (I've learned over the years not to be so impulsive when making decisions and take a step back to think about it) followed closely by a Fear Money Mind
* You will be distracted by things that really don't matter
* You must have a good process to make good decisions

Since I work in the financial services industry, I like checking out books like this to see how others explain things. This took an interesting approach by having "Jack" go through the exercises with us instead of having the author just tell us what we should be doing. Also, there are stories throughout the book to help us relate to the different situations. I liked the writing style and found it explained things wells and wasn't too high level. It's a quick read.

Blog review post: http://www.teenaintoronto.com/2012/12...

[Laura Shea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love any book related to personal finance and was excited to have the opportunity to read The Money Code by John Duran. This book is packed with useful information and insight about money. The book details the money code which is all about 5 money secrets. This is done via a fictional character named Jack.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book. It brings up important money questions we all should be asking ourselves such as "Do you avoid making decisions about money?" and "Do you feel as though you are missing something in your financial life?". If you are a "stick my head in the sand" type of person, this book will force you to take your head out and face your financial situation.

I would have preferred to keep out the fictional characters, but again, overall the book is very informative. If you are ready to learn how to think about your financial situation and talk about it, this book is for you. It will teach you to avoid making poor money decisions and how to discuss finances with your partner and other loved ones.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Steph's review of this intrigued me, but I don't think I was the right audience for it. For one, it was mostly about teaching you to think more clearly and less emotionally about money. If you know MBTI, I'm an INTJ. Rational thinking is what I do.

And I don't have a partner, I don't need to worry about other people (um, well . . . ). And I do okay, money-wise, but a lot of that is due to me being one of those terrible millennials who lives with her parents. The main character's dilemma was whether he should go on a $6000. Should I go on a $6000 vacation? Uh no. I don't think I even have a $6000 credit limit. (I also don't own a business and, as you have guessed from earlier in this paragraph, I don't own a house!) So the specific examples the book used didn't apply to me.

Anyway, I do think it's worth reading if you want to change how you think about money, but I'm cool with that. I just need to know mooooore and this book didn't provide that.

[Lila · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bought this book 2013 - and FINALLY finished it today (3/4/20) while on a plane coming back from LAX. It sat on my shelf for the past 7 years and I procrastinated (a little - no, hugely) because I was not ready to receive the message. As part of being "intentional" in using my time and to cross it off of my "to do" list, I took it with me on a quick trip and started it on the plane going out. It was truly a quick read. Before I knew it, I'd read 1/2 of the book! It's a great message - does a great job of breaking down Money Mindsets (a person's relationship with how they treat money). I plan to read it again because the exercises in the book can also be applied to other parts of one's life.

[Adam Khaled · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I hv read about personal financial education “if not the best actually”

I love the way how the author has delivered his message of the book throughout a delightful and fruitful story about a fiction character called “Jack” who was struggling with his all money decisions, and how with a simple decision making check-list his perspective about all his money decision making has wholeheartedly changed. Will definitely apply this check-list in my upcoming money decision making processes and I’m pretty sure it will have a good outcome. Hats off to the author for this nice read.

[Navyredrose · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was unsure if I would like this book when I first started it but I’m glad I stuck with it! The premise of guiding the reader through the 5 Money Secrets through use of a fictional character seemed odd at first but really helped me compair myself to them and how I approach money. I think I got a lot out of this book and look forward to using the resources provided. This is a book I would definitely recommend to others.

Be aware that the “mymoneycode.com” site is no longer active (as of my writing this in August 2022) so you may need to copy the resources at the back of the book to fill out on your own.

[Grandpa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good personal finance book that covers most of the bases and asks the reader the right questions. If the reader actually does the exercises requested in the book, the reader will come away with a much clearer place in both knowing where they are financially and mentally.

[Dora · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would be a great wedding or anniversary gift. Fast read that offers practical steps to follow for optimizing your discussions and decision process for financial matters.

[Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

It did have some good advice about money languages but not much to take away besides that.

[Arvind Sethuraman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book thru which one can learn how to take smart decisions with regard to financial matters.

[Christian · Rating 5 out of 5]

The psychology behind this book made perfect sense. Protect, Seek, Commit.

[Tera · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really what I was looking for but it had some good points.

[Nita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing book.

[steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok so this finance book is a little weird because it's not quite nonfiction, instead it follows the journey of a fictional man named Jack as he does online quizzes and lessons with "The Alchemist" trying to find out his money code. Along the way the reader can take the quizzes and learn their own money code.

It sounds a bit cult like with this mysterious creature called The Alchemist (and it kinda is to a certain extent), but honestly this is the best finance book I've read in awhile. It was pretty helpful to me. I've learned how I personally see money and what effect that has had on me and (hopefully) that will help me in the future as I make big decisions.. There are three different Money Minds according to this book when it come to money (Fear, Happiness, Giver) and a person can have traits of all three but one is usually predominant over another. So knowing your Money Mind and the way you operate/your default setting when it comes to money can help you when you made decisions that involve money. The author also said that your Money Mind can change throughout certain times of your life and I think that true. I re-read certain sections twice just to help more understand certain concepts. This book is really small, so it's a quick read but very helpful I think. I might keep it from the library for a bit longer.

[Therese Bogan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this book. I think that it is incredibly easy to read and it cuts through many of the defensive ways that people block this very simple information from entering their heads. This is the majority of the reason I like the book. There might be better books out there that help you navigate out of specific problems, like chronic debt or high risk investing. This book is for the simple first step toward financial education. So many people were left in the dark or never had any financial education. I will recommend this book to people I work with, and as a guide for people who already know they have a problem but they need to learn awareness about money.

Other reviews of the book talk about the way its written, in this 3rd person perspective. I loved that. So many times, I've lent out self-help books or worked along side another working a self help book; and when they are confronted with too much accurate information about themselves, its easiest to toss the book and leave it behind. This book delivers a lot more information without putting anyone directly on the spot. If you want to use the exercises, just like the fictional character, it is very easy.

[Jonathon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think the book is kind of slim to have a retail price of 14.95. I finished it the day i bought it. Also the book's profits are supposedly going to good causes but no specific charity or cause is listed. So why did I give the book 4 stars. It's the first personal finance book I've read that made me feel calmer after I read it. If you feel a lot of anxiety over money and big decisions that have a financial impact on your life this book breaks down the mentality and feelings that are making decision making hard for you. The lessons are broken down in to chapters where you learn along side Jack the secrets of financial decision making from some strange guru who simply goes by the title " the alchemist". It might sound corny but the fictional story makes this finance book more readable and less dry. Overall it's one of the better financial books over read.

[Dave · Rating 1 out of 5]

Things that it has going for it:
1. It's short
2. It wants the reader to be thoughtful about financial decisions.
3. It provides some ideas and a tool to help with that.
4. The section right before the index summarizes the whole book in 5 pages.

Things that it does not have going for it:
1. It uses Jack and his financial journey to make its point. Jack is flat. Really, really flat.
2. It uses fake screen shot computer bubbles on almost every page.
3. It's not particularly insightful.
4. It did not change my entire financial life right now.

[ɑƨħŵɑɡ ♥Team Magnus Damora FOREVER♥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a nice book. It's the first financial book I've tried but I kind of got curious after I read the synopsis. So, I decided to give it a chance.

Fortunately, it was so worth it. This book offered such methodical rational and logical way of dealing with money issues. I liked his approach to the Money Mind. It simplified how we make decisions about money and that what we use money for can be the cause of our dilemma.

It was a really nice and quick read.

[Max Linardi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book on personal finance. The author gives valuable insights and practical ways on how to make informed financial decisions.

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

In a lot of ways - I thought it was a mix of project management combined with cost / benefit analysis that took place within the context of understanding one's own biases regarding how they make financial decisions.

Nothing truly groundbreaking, information-wise. But creatively presented in an easily understood manner.

[Charles Weiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read

Must read

Great insights into why we make the choices we do. He teaches and demonstrates a real life process we can use on a daily basis to make good financial decisions. It's a must read for anyone who wants to take control of their financial future.

[Dixie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The format of this book is so unusual and seemingly simplistic that it's hard to imagine one can get as much out of it as I did. I think everyone who isn't perfectly happy with their finances should read this book. I expect to be using what I learned from it for the rest of my life, and for my life to be better because of that.

[Leah Hortin · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you can get past the cheese factor, the content is very good. I preferred just going to the website Find Your Money Mind and perusing that. I am a Pleasure Seeker, a Happiness Money Mind. Which means I need to be careful and take time making decisions.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An easy but excellent read. Shed some new light on the kind of saving and spending and savers and spenders.

[Gregory · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy read. Solid advice. Good checklists.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A useful book, in my opinion.

[Donna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didnt tell me anything I didn't already know about myself and my financial life.

[Halpern Financial · Rating 2 out of 5]

Finding out what your "Money Code" is useful so you understand what motivates you and your loved ones in money decisions. The "Alchemist" example Duran uses throughout was a little strange.