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Prince Charming Isn't Coming: How Women Get Smart About Money
A guide for women explains how to get smart about money by sharing the practical advice and insights that financially successful women use to get ahead. Reprint. Tour.
240 pages, Paperback
First published April 24, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews
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March 11, 2022
I’m not quite sure what I think about this book.
On one side it’s really good that there’s like a separate book for women and their emotional work to get financially independent.
But on the other hand I kinda expected more.
More tips, more something.
Maybe it’s because the book is quite old I shouldn’t have expected more, but still, kinda disappointing in some way.
On one side it’s really good that there’s like a separate book for women and their emotional work to get financially independent.
But on the other hand I kinda expected more.
More tips, more something.
Maybe it’s because the book is quite old I shouldn’t have expected more, but still, kinda disappointing in some way.
March 22, 2016
this was a chore and a half to read, and if it wasn't for book club i wouldn't have even bothered reading. i thought the author was extremely hard to sympathize with: hey little rich girl, i'm so sorry your husband lost $500,000 of your money TWICE; kind of hard for your Average Joe to relate to. i also thought she had a high and mighty, know-it-all, lecturing style of writing, which was CRAP! subject matter wise, i think it's important info, just go about it by someone else!
October 26, 2016
The social undertones are a little outdated, but the overall message is good: financial literacy is an under-taught life skill and women suffer the most- so start taking control of your own finances.
January 9, 2020
One of life’s greatest pleasures, the intoxicating rush I get when I make my own money...
This book will help you in all areas of your life. It will inspire and motivate you to be smart, wise and powerful.
This book will help you in all areas of your life. It will inspire and motivate you to be smart, wise and powerful.
October 8, 2025
Barbara is my queen!!
August 1, 2011
Damned right he's not coming. Where have you been?
Prince Charming Isn't Coming: How Women Get Smart About Money, by Barbara Stanny, is a book that is leveled at empowering women (regardless of whether or not they have Prince Charming) to know their finances and be smart about investing.
This book was incredibly informative and a great read for any woman who has yet to take control of her finances, investments in particular. It addresses the actual barriers that women feel with investing, but more importantly it tackled the emotional ones: we aren't supposed to talk about money; if we wait long enough a man will do it for us; we just aren't mean to understand the markets. The biggest thing you can take out of this book is the importance of grabbing the reins to your financial horse and steering him in the direction you need him to go.
Also, if you have yet to learn anything about investing, the stock market, or still need to know what to do to prep for retirement (yes, even if it is 30 years away) this book will lay out for you very clearly what you need to be asking your financial planner.
http://sassypeachreads.blogspot.com
Prince Charming Isn't Coming: How Women Get Smart About Money, by Barbara Stanny, is a book that is leveled at empowering women (regardless of whether or not they have Prince Charming) to know their finances and be smart about investing.
This book was incredibly informative and a great read for any woman who has yet to take control of her finances, investments in particular. It addresses the actual barriers that women feel with investing, but more importantly it tackled the emotional ones: we aren't supposed to talk about money; if we wait long enough a man will do it for us; we just aren't mean to understand the markets. The biggest thing you can take out of this book is the importance of grabbing the reins to your financial horse and steering him in the direction you need him to go.
Also, if you have yet to learn anything about investing, the stock market, or still need to know what to do to prep for retirement (yes, even if it is 30 years away) this book will lay out for you very clearly what you need to be asking your financial planner.
http://sassypeachreads.blogspot.com
June 2, 2008
Barbara Stanny got millions from her father, one of the Blocks of H&R Block. When she married, her husband took control of her money. Through a series of bad investment, and without her knowledge, he lost much of it. They eventually divorced and he moved out of the country. Then the IRS came to see her about some tax returns (imagine, the daughter of one of the Blocks!). Of course, since the husband was no longer in the US, she was the only one held responsible. Stanley decided she needed to take control of her finances.
This book is more about the psychological aspects of women managing their money, then a how-to. She states from the beginning this book is not about how to pay your bills, it's about why you need to take control of investing your money as a women.
Ok, but not as helpful as other self-help money books for women.
This book is more about the psychological aspects of women managing their money, then a how-to. She states from the beginning this book is not about how to pay your bills, it's about why you need to take control of investing your money as a women.
Ok, but not as helpful as other self-help money books for women.
August 28, 2008
This book was okay. It was useful for someone who is just starting out handling her finances, but honestly it was repetitive and I found myself unable to relate to some of the problems she addressed.
August 17, 2008
starts out lame, but picks up. A good overview for any female before investing &/or taking charge of one's financial situation. Left me wanting much more information, but accomplished the goal of motivating me to begin.
March 1, 2010
My knowledge on investments was really sketchy until I stumbled upon this book- simple to understand, yet powerfully illustrated and explained, I feel more empowered and confident to make sound investment decisions, and well..sound mistakes too.
A great read any day, and a definite must-have!
A great read any day, and a definite must-have!
January 26, 2018
This book is fantastic! I believe that any woman and even men can read this book and glean from it. Barbara does an amazing job with gathering information and make it easy to read, understand and apply. It is a very informative and financial tool. She is also an excellent financial coach.
December 30, 2008
Ok, but not nearly as good as her Overcoming Underearning. Now I just have to put it all into practice!!! :)
June 7, 2012
Didn't learn anything too revolutionary.
September 11, 2016
Touches more on reason women fear being financially competent than how to become an investor.
April 3, 2018
This will make investing a lot less scary.
March 9, 2019
I love it. One of most important books that every woman should read.
August 9, 2019
An absolute must-read for anyone daunted by the idea of investing/dealing with your financial life.
April 4, 2022
The book is a little antiquated. But it’s still offered a lot of good suggestions websites in readings. I think any woman that’s trying to get into investing should read this.
July 9, 2021
This has been one of the most sobering books that I have read in a long time. I was surprised that I could relate, in any way, with white a woman who was given a trust fund and whose father was a founder of H&R Block but, here I am.This books takes us through a heroine's journey of poignant financial mistakes and incremental financial successes as the author shares her personal experiences of transforming from a passive princess waiting for her prince charming to rescue her financially, to becoming a wise woman that could make her own money choices.
This journey is not only an external one but an internal one. Money is a very charged subject and according to this book one that it more taboo than sex. Just reading about investing, 500 indexes, cash reserves, bonds, mutual funds and a whole bunch of other words and terms I still don't understand, frequently caused heat to rush to my face and cause my belly to start doing flips. Just writing this review is making my breathing a bit labored and I haven't even done any investing yet. Of course my body's reaction to all this money talk is a response to my own fears around money. Barbra Stanny talks about this pretty extensively in this book especially in her personal experience.
This book really touches on the general psyche of women as a collective as it pertains to money and like I mentioned earlier, I was surprised at how much I could relate to the author and the other women in this book especially since I never was directly lead to believe that some guy would come into my life and sweep me off my feet and take care of all my needs. If anything the message I received from my mother, who was a single parent, was to be self sufficient and work hard. Even still I kind of hoped that someone, anyone would figure all of this financial stuff for me and I would just only deal with the things that I wanted to. We also never talked about money in my family and my mother wasn't the most financially responsible person despite being very hard working, highly educated, and very self-sufficient in many ways.
"Prince Charming Isn't Coming" gives you an opportunity to slowly work toward learning and implementing the information through actionable steps in each chapter.
She talks about the 5 categories of Investing which she identifies as: Stocks, Bonds, Real Estate, Commodities, Cash, and Cashel Equivalents. The sum total of her advice about beginning to invest is listed as follows in her book,
•Trust your Intuition
•Learn from your mistakes
•Go Slow
•Start Small
•Invest Regularly
•Diversify broadly
•Know what you're buying
She speaks to the fear around risk and says that the real risk is doing nothing and by doing nothing she means not investing. Stanny(Now Huson) shares various ways to break into the world of investing which includes utilizing investment clubs as well as creating your own, talking to knowledgeable friends and family, using organizations for resources, reading money magazines, journals and articles and seeking the help of financial professionals like planners, brokers, etc. Towards the end of the book she has a list of what makes up a smart/wise woman in finance: self-reliance, financially astute, personally aware, self-assured, risk-taker, interdependent. And then she shares the seventh and final attribute which I will let you read for yourself.
Overall, this book will could be the help that many women need to recognize their own power and remove the fog that clouds a lot of our judgements about money so we can realize out truest potential.
This journey is not only an external one but an internal one. Money is a very charged subject and according to this book one that it more taboo than sex. Just reading about investing, 500 indexes, cash reserves, bonds, mutual funds and a whole bunch of other words and terms I still don't understand, frequently caused heat to rush to my face and cause my belly to start doing flips. Just writing this review is making my breathing a bit labored and I haven't even done any investing yet. Of course my body's reaction to all this money talk is a response to my own fears around money. Barbra Stanny talks about this pretty extensively in this book especially in her personal experience.
This book really touches on the general psyche of women as a collective as it pertains to money and like I mentioned earlier, I was surprised at how much I could relate to the author and the other women in this book especially since I never was directly lead to believe that some guy would come into my life and sweep me off my feet and take care of all my needs. If anything the message I received from my mother, who was a single parent, was to be self sufficient and work hard. Even still I kind of hoped that someone, anyone would figure all of this financial stuff for me and I would just only deal with the things that I wanted to. We also never talked about money in my family and my mother wasn't the most financially responsible person despite being very hard working, highly educated, and very self-sufficient in many ways.
"Prince Charming Isn't Coming" gives you an opportunity to slowly work toward learning and implementing the information through actionable steps in each chapter.
She talks about the 5 categories of Investing which she identifies as: Stocks, Bonds, Real Estate, Commodities, Cash, and Cashel Equivalents. The sum total of her advice about beginning to invest is listed as follows in her book,
•Trust your Intuition
•Learn from your mistakes
•Go Slow
•Start Small
•Invest Regularly
•Diversify broadly
•Know what you're buying
She speaks to the fear around risk and says that the real risk is doing nothing and by doing nothing she means not investing. Stanny(Now Huson) shares various ways to break into the world of investing which includes utilizing investment clubs as well as creating your own, talking to knowledgeable friends and family, using organizations for resources, reading money magazines, journals and articles and seeking the help of financial professionals like planners, brokers, etc. Towards the end of the book she has a list of what makes up a smart/wise woman in finance: self-reliance, financially astute, personally aware, self-assured, risk-taker, interdependent. And then she shares the seventh and final attribute which I will let you read for yourself.
Overall, this book will could be the help that many women need to recognize their own power and remove the fog that clouds a lot of our judgements about money so we can realize out truest potential.
November 27, 2024
Finished this audiobook with 57 minutes left on my hold 🤣
The “updated” version was released in 2007, so keep in mind that much of the advice was written before the Great Recession and is somewhat dated.
I sought this book out bc I read the authors other book about six figure women and found the psychological profiles and conversations with successful women interesting. Luckily that’s the case with this book too- snippets from her interviews are included.
The taboos around money and privacy (we talk about sex more than we talk about money) are still around, and the idea of women “waiting” for a man to fix it (even unconsciously or via a “surrogate” financial planner) was profoundly interesting to me. I think the younger generation (millennials and gen z) are maybe less averse to earning a lot, but the idea of a male partner earning as much or more is still very pervasive (why else would billionaire or office romance novels be a thing?).
It was heavily focused on the stock market, but I think the main point is true for many people- the only way to protect your money is to understand how you’re using it and what it can do for you.
The “updated” version was released in 2007, so keep in mind that much of the advice was written before the Great Recession and is somewhat dated.
I sought this book out bc I read the authors other book about six figure women and found the psychological profiles and conversations with successful women interesting. Luckily that’s the case with this book too- snippets from her interviews are included.
The taboos around money and privacy (we talk about sex more than we talk about money) are still around, and the idea of women “waiting” for a man to fix it (even unconsciously or via a “surrogate” financial planner) was profoundly interesting to me. I think the younger generation (millennials and gen z) are maybe less averse to earning a lot, but the idea of a male partner earning as much or more is still very pervasive (why else would billionaire or office romance novels be a thing?).
It was heavily focused on the stock market, but I think the main point is true for many people- the only way to protect your money is to understand how you’re using it and what it can do for you.
April 9, 2018
This is an incredibly inspirational book in that it shows women that they're not alone if they know nothing about high-level money management and growing wealth. It's ok to start late, as long as you start. It's ok to ask for help - and you should. Often. It was fascinating to examine the differences that women and men demonstrate around money management. Women tend to be overly cautious and so we don't do anything when we don't think we know everything. I find myself very much in that place. And inspired to start an investment club so that I can learn by doing with people that I trust with minimal risks.
The only criticism that I have is minimal - I wish there had been more practical advice. At a certain point the anecdotal but non-specific stories about how women succeeded with money start rapidly diminishing their returns. I know this book was not intended to be a step-by-step manual on what to do with your money because everyone is different. But it would have been nice to have SOME specific suggestions before the last chapter.
The only criticism that I have is minimal - I wish there had been more practical advice. At a certain point the anecdotal but non-specific stories about how women succeeded with money start rapidly diminishing their returns. I know this book was not intended to be a step-by-step manual on what to do with your money because everyone is different. But it would have been nice to have SOME specific suggestions before the last chapter.
June 23, 2020
First, even I have to admit that to this day, despite the fact that I’m married and am the primary earner for our family, still hold dear the idea of marrying rich. Call me antiquated if you will, but I’m guessing that it’s a fantasy we all secretly harbor. Which is why this book, that focuses on learning to manage your own money, is so important. Second, it doesn’t provide a great deal of financial information. Instead, Stanny reminds you that learning about money and investing takes time. Compare it to learning to read. You don’t just show up to Kindergarten, get a lesson on the A, B, Cs and then bust open “War and Peace.” Nope, you build on your skills, little by little and over time. That’s how learning about money is and what Stanny emphasizes in this book.
March 27, 2021
After reading Secrets of Six-Figure Women, I decided to give a few other Barbara Stanny books a chance. I fully expected not to like this book based on the title, but it was full of decent tips and information.
The key of the book is that "Prince Charming" doesn't have to be a man. It can be a decent salary, an inheritance, a windfall of sorts, or any situation in which a woman doesn't feel inclined to take control of her finances.
There are some simple things listed that most people are aware of, but it is a beginning to end way for gaining financial and investment knowledge
The key of the book is that "Prince Charming" doesn't have to be a man. It can be a decent salary, an inheritance, a windfall of sorts, or any situation in which a woman doesn't feel inclined to take control of her finances.
There are some simple things listed that most people are aware of, but it is a beginning to end way for gaining financial and investment knowledge
July 2, 2020
Wished I had read it when I first got from the my first husband. I was horrible at paying attention to my finances. Once I lost my job in my early 40's, I have been underearning since.
Barbara's books provides great strategies on managing your finances, she has a book on 'Overcoming Underearning' and an good Facebook community to share stories and support on rebuilding your life.
Barbara's books provides great strategies on managing your finances, she has a book on 'Overcoming Underearning' and an good Facebook community to share stories and support on rebuilding your life.
February 2, 2021
Buku ini mengajak para wanita untuk lebih mandiri dan 'melek' keuangan.
Ditulis dengan menceritakan pengalaman-pengalaman author dan beberapa wanita lainnya, jadi menurut aku, bisa lebih mudah dipahami.
Untuk isinya sendiri lebih ke bagaimana mempersiapkan diri kita secara mental untuk mulai mempelajari manajemen keuangan kita sendiri.
Ditulis dengan menceritakan pengalaman-pengalaman author dan beberapa wanita lainnya, jadi menurut aku, bisa lebih mudah dipahami.
Untuk isinya sendiri lebih ke bagaimana mempersiapkan diri kita secara mental untuk mulai mempelajari manajemen keuangan kita sendiri.
August 6, 2021
I honestly wish this book wasn't still relevant. But as a female I know of some friends who would benefit from this book and what it says.
It is written for women at the beginning of their financial journey vs those who are already in investments. But I did none the less enjoy the part about sustainable and charitable giving for causes to affect change.
It is written for women at the beginning of their financial journey vs those who are already in investments. But I did none the less enjoy the part about sustainable and charitable giving for causes to affect change.
July 6, 2024
I will admit that this book is rather outdated. Especially when it comes to the gender aspect. However there are several good points in the book for women wanting to understand investing and budgeting. One thing I would love to see is an updated version of this book. I feel a lot of stories would change and the advice would be even stronger. Overall a good book to read.
September 9, 2021
Overall good book
I have read everything else Barbara Hudson has written, so I thought I'd give this book a go. Overall, I thought it was very interesting and informative. Could have used a little balance at the end.
I have read everything else Barbara Hudson has written, so I thought I'd give this book a go. Overall, I thought it was very interesting and informative. Could have used a little balance at the end.
February 6, 2024
Encouragement for financial practice development for females. This is the beneficial component. Otherwise the material is dated. It is striking to see what is presented as current salaries. This should alarm one into realizing just how fragile one's finances are when influenced by inflation.
June 15, 2017
A wonderful book for encouraging women to take charge of their finances. Good info too.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews