Add a Zero: A Step-by-Step Guide to Financial Freedom and Getting to Your First Million

by Rose Han

YouTube powerhouse and self-made millionaire Rose Han shares the practical tools to overcome financial struggle and watch your net worth grow—one zero at a time

There's no doubt about the financial struggle is real, especially in a world that isn’t designed to help you get ahead. But whether you’re in debt or simply feel like your paychecks vanish as soon as you get them, you can learn to take control of your money. Financial freedom isn’t the mystery we’re taught to believe it is. You just need a plan to get there that actually works.

On her self-made journey going from $100K in debt to millionaire, money expert Rose Han learned the simple set of strategies it takes to achieve lasting wealth and financial freedom. With her detailed and doable road map, you will

The mindset shifts you need to break through the emotional barriers keeping you stuck A proven system to eliminate debt and take control of your spendingThe exact strategy to exponentially grow your wealth from $0 to $10,000, then to $100,000, and finally to $1,000,000Simple investment plans and income streams that make money while you sleep
If you missed the memo on getting rich, now is the time to turn your goals into a reality—one zero at a time!

Genres: Finance, Nonfiction, Money, Personal Finance, Self Help, Audiobook

264 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 2, 2025

About the author

ROSE HAN is an internationally renowned money expert, educator, traveler, and book nerd on a mission to show others how to create financial freedom. On her wildly popular YouTube channel, she’s shared her entire financial journey of going from $100K in debt to becoming a self-made millionaire. Rose has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, and CNBC, and has helped millions of people pay off debt, start investing, and build wealth. rosehan.com

Reviews

[marta the book slayer]

absolutely great introduction to getting your finances in order ✅ highly recommend!!

[Donna]

I often read books like these on behalf of my young adult children. I like to encourage them to not make the same mistakes their parents did.

The author was very personable and used a lot of her own life experiences to add punctuation marks to these step to financial freedom. I think this would be a great book for those who are new to this idea of financial freedom and the work and discipline that is required to achieve it. Often that's a real news flash when one is new to "adulting," as my daughter likes to say.

But really, there is nothing new here. Everything she suggests, you can find in other books offering the same thing. So yes this is a great starting point, but so are the other books. But please, get started. Don't wait. It's never too soon to start thinking about this. I wish I had access to this information 40 years ago. So 3 stars for me, 5 stars for those I'd recommend this to. Which brings me to 4 overall stars.

[Tracey Jennings]

I read it with Libby, but would like to get the hard copy so I can refer to it in the future.

[Megan]

Very much geared towards someone who is at the very beginning of their financial journey with limited knowledge of debt payoff strategies, budgeting, and investing.

If you already have your finances well in hand and are looking for strategies for wealth-building beyond standard investing advice, you probably won’t get a whole lot out of this book. I would definitely recommend it for people who are just starting out though—especially new college grads and young professionals.

[Julie]

I wish I had this book when I was first learning about finances. This is a great intro to finance book that I would recommend to those first starting out. Most of the information was not new to me but I still enjoyed reading it. I also liked the way the emotional side of money was touched on.

I think this book slightly glazed over how many people are really struggling and living paycheck to paycheck. A lot of people are not getting tens of thousands of dollars for a bonus in their early career. But Rose worked her way to where she was and it was well earned. It just accelerated her path a lot quicker than most people will experience.

[WN]

Parts I liked:

- Specifically mentioned my fave app Too Good to Go
- Focus on side hustles that can eventually turn into the main gig and went a little more in-depth than many similar books would
- There is a focus on content creation which I personally don’t love, but which is realistically part of what is needed to supercharge growth nowadays
- “I tell everyone to wait until they have at least $500,000 in net worth before diving into rental properties.”

Parts I really did not like: “Market drops don't phase me” please it's faze, not phase

[Ernestasia Siahaan]

I've followed Rose on YouTube, joined her masterclass, where I learned so much that I wanted to support her book as well. And I still learned something new/gained new inspiration from reading this book.

I'd definitely recommend this to anyone who'd like to practical tips to get their financial freedom.

[Molly Ferguson]

What I liked most about this book was how Rose Han gave the order you should follow to be financially successful - you can't do everything at once so it's helpful to know the order to do it in. I was really challenged by her suggestion that if you have negative impressions of rich people (haha) it can hold you back from financial freedom - that gave me a lot to think about. I also liked that she gave details about HOW to do things (even if you need to consult her website to get details). One thing that I think is a small weakness is that Han mentions being an immigrant but doesn't spend a lot of time on the very real disadvantages and structural problems in our system that make it so very difficult for some people to just make more money and start investing it. I expected her to return to that more or to talk about how to navigate things like medical debt, student loans, what to do if you have a financial crisis, etc. Overall, though, this was a very helpful book.

[Crystal (VanillaHearts62)]

A very good, approachable read. Lots of good tips and actionable plans. It doesn't just provide a basic roadmap, it forces you to ask yourself questions to understand your values and how it will fit into your lifestyle.

My only complaint is that the investment chapter focused on American retirement funds. Not surprised, she is American. But since I'm in dumb Canada the options are different so that chapter wasn't very useful. Like I firmly believe things like CPP and Old Age Pension will disappear in my lifetime so other options are good to explore.

I would have also liked to see more talk on different types of investments. It's there, and her YouTube channel has the info... But I wanted more. What can I say?

Definitely recommend the book. :)

[Beckiezra]

Enthusiastic and sometimes a bit new age-y, I don’t know that anything she says could actually make you a millionaire, but I think it’s helpful information for getting out of debt or investing if you’re willing to put in the work and just being hopeful about your financial situation in general and moving in a better direction wherever you are. I think there are likely many more people who end up broke believing their ideas will make them money than make it rich like she did. It’s great that she was able to get over living paycheck to paycheck and being focused on looking rich to actual becoming rich by selling her financial skills to people who want to be rich.

[Monica]

No one has ever motivated me to get my finances together like Rose Han has! I started watching her YouTube videos during the pandemic & that began my trip down the rabbit hole of the personal finance world. Her wealth of knowledge is so easy to digest & her journey from being in student loan debt to becoming a self made millionaire is super inspiring. This audiobook was great to listen to while doing chores around the house & might reiterate stuff you already know if you’re familiar with budgeting & investing.

[Kristin]

While the ideas aren't anything new, I really like the way Han explained things. This is a more modern (less cringe) take on "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" - down to the structure of the chapters. However, Han is far more personable and give actionable steps, free downloads to go with each chapter, and examples of how the steps could be applied in a variety of situations.

[Tanya Jain]

This book is so well written and informative! It’s actually very, very close to the exact strategy I use to build my own wealth and I think it will be helpful for so many people who are just getting started.

[Scott]

Great material. Mostly adds on to what Rich Dad espoused, but with some good updates and tweaks. But the final chapter, Breaking Free of Trading Time for Money, absolutely makes the book worth the price - and more!

[James Marotta]

A step by step guide from debt to financial freedom. Easy to read and understand to motivate yourself to see money in a different way. Don't wait to read this.

[Sean]

Meant for someone with almost zero financial knowledge. Also I’m fairly sure the comparison of Roth v Traditional IRA returns is just incorrect.

[Meredith]

Highly recommend. This book was well written, easy to understand, and good for anyone from beginner to wealth builder.

[Kari]

3.75 Skimmed last couple of chapters as I'm no where near that income to utilize the advice. Will revisit in the future when I'm in that position.

[Margot]

Great personal finance 101 book for people just starting out their journey. Not sure if I agree with having to build a business to get rich.

[Kiah Rinehart]

great for beginners

[Bailey Bayer]

required reading

[Natalia]

Great book! A lot of useful information, provided in a very understandable way.

[Rayfes Mondal]

Great advice for young people for building wealth and how to start your own business

[L]

It's fine. A good place to start. Accessible and more poppy than some finance books, but nothing new if you read this topic a lot. Would be good for people early in their journey.

[Jade Lee]

Best book about finances I’ve ever read!

[Jordan minton]

Awesome read!!

Just awesome. I can’t wait to apply these principles to my life. Rose Han has Artie gift for teaching. I believe I have the tools to change my financial future.

[Ling]

It would be helpful for those just started their financial journey.

[Katie Grant]

Listened on audio - easy to understand, step by step actions and ideas to implement.

[Elisabeth Buettner]

Great book! I love Rose's enthusiasm and she has great advice.