Let's Get Real About Money!

by Eric Tyson

"The book’s gem is a personal financial action plan that allows easy assessment of current assets and retirement goals…This book demystifies the many obstacles--from the logistical to the conceptual--to smart financial planning.” -- Publishers Weekly "Eric Tyson is the best personal finance writer at work today. In a field cluttered with hucksters, false gurus, and just plain bad advice, this book delivers powerful common sense. I trust Eric Tyson, and you should, too.” --Tom Ehrenfeld, former writer and Editor at Harvard Business Review and Inc. Magazine , author of The Startup How Growing a Business Grows You "Many people have developed attitudes, beliefs, and fears about money that prevent them from acquiring, investing, and spending it in healthy ways...Eric Tyson helps readers get past all that...and start building happy and healthy financial futures. Everyone can profit from this new book--I did." --Dr. Brian Russell, Psychologist as seen on CNN, Court TV, and Fox News; Professor, University of Kansas Transform Your Personal Financial Habits and Attitudes...And Your Life! Real money solutions from the best-selling author of Personal Finance For Dummies , Eric Tyson! Worried about money? Join the club. Now, do something about it ! One of America’s best-selling personal finance authors offers real, practical solutions that steps you can take right now to start replacing money anxiety with financial fulfillment and happiness. Eric Tyson gets straight to the point, identifying the habits that put you at risk--and helping you replace them with the habits of financial success . Tyson offers plain-English, no-gimmick techniques you can really knowledge you’d have to pay a fortune for, if you could get it at all! Financial success doesn’t just “happen”: it’s determined by your financial habits. Fortunately, you can develop good financial habits--and systematically eliminate the bad ones that stand in your way. Eric Tyson will show you how-- step-by-step and hands-on . Millions of people have benefited from Tyson’s best-selling books and award-winning columns. Now he brings together all he’s learned over two decades--including financial management secrets most professionals never tell you about. Tyson will help you organize your finances…take control of your future…make plans you’ll actually implement…save, spend, and invest more effectively…choose the right advisors…reduce your risks…and put money where it belongs in your life (instead of making it your whole life!). This meaty, action-oriented guide is packed with checklists and worksheets that’ll help you start today, get results fast, and make positive changes that will last a lifetime!

Genres: Finance, Nonfiction, Self Help, Money, Business

352 pages, Paperback

Published November 13, 2007

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 1 out of 5]

Some co-workers who know about my interest in personal finance gave me this book for Christmas. Unfortunately, it didn't fit my tastes. It's not a simple book for beginners, like I Will Teach You To Be Rich, nor is it a detailed book covering a specific topic, like Bogle On Mutual Funds.

Tyson tries to cover too many topics, and doesn't do a good job on any of them. This book attempts to be a handbook for all things personal finance, but ends up as a jack-of-all-trades, master of none. That's not to say there aren't parts worth checking out; for example, Tyson's chapter on saving money in various areas (clothing, cars, insurance, etc.) is beneficial.

It's an odd mix of advice, anecdotal stories about people the author has worked with, and worksheets for your own self-assessment and planning. I didn't like the style or content. I prefer I Will Teach You To Be Rich as a personal finance primer.

Topics covered
work/life balance
saving and spending
getting out of debt
investing
insurance
hiring financial help

Notes

Beware oversaving; don't postpone achievable dreams.
When shopping, look for value, not necessarily price.
Before purchasing, question and research.
Given the cost of buying and selling, you'll usually lose out if you keep a house less than 3-5 years.
Because of the tax benefits, home ownership often makes more sense than renting.
Returns on real estate investments have been comparable to the stock market in the long term.

Investing
1. stocks
- use low cost, no-load index funds
2. real estate
- your own home
- investment property you rent out
- REITs
3. small business
- start your own business
- buy an existing business
- invest in small caps stocks

Don't evaluate your portfolio more than once a year.

Portfolio for young people (20s)
85% stocks
- 2/3 US
- 1/3 international
15% bonds

Consider a tax-deductible health savings account (HSA) for out-of-pocket medical costs.
Young people should prepare a will and living will. If you have significant assets in taxable accounts, set up a living trust.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF. This book is from 2007. I skimmed through parts of it, but a lot of the info is irrelevant now.

[Mark Dantonio · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a book that was given to me. I think it is a pretty good book as a starter guide to money. Much of it is review of things I had heard before. It was comprehensive and covered not just investing. It had a lot of references to insurance, jobs and many other money related topics. What I did like about it was that it had a lot of behavioral references regarding spending and the way folks think about money. For example, he goes into detail about needs verses wants. It was basically a personal finance book. It could be of use to someone that is a beginner. The writing was clear enough and the author tells various stories about folks he had counseled over the years. I thought that was somewhat helpful. In the end he reviewed the more common financial authors of today such as Orman, Kywosoki and Trump. Basically, he was not too flattering about them. He tended to focus on the parts of their works that he did not like. Although I agreed with some of his comments, I found those books to also have value. The book is worth reading if it is cheap and if you are just beginning. There is no serious investment analysis going on here except the common knowledge that one should diversify. It is mostly an introduction. Overall, it was clear and a relatively interesting read. I thought it was a bit longer than it needed to be.
Mark D

[Wanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had some trouble reading parts of this book on my Kindle. On some pages I had to go to the smallest print to get all of the words. A couple of pages still did not give me all of the words at the smallest print. There was a lot of good information in the book.

[Therese]

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