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Grow Your Money: 101 Easy Tips to Plan, Save, and Invest
Money manager Jonathan D. Pond has taught countless Americans in his series of bestselling books and PBS specials how to do the seemingly grow their money while still living the life they'd like to have. Whether planning for children, trying to afford the ones you've already got, buying a house, investing for retirement, or just learning not to live from paycheck to paycheck, Jonathan's energetic, warm, and no-nonsense financial advice has made him a regular on The Today Show and CNN as well as on PBS. In Grow Your Money , Jonathan unpacks the best of his decades of financial advice to create a cornerstone compendium. Whether you're working on your third million—or your third year out of college—take advantage of this all-time best collection of financial tools and tips from one of America's most-loved money managers and advisers.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published December 17, 2007
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77 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
February 25, 2010
(Non-Fiction, Personal Finance) This book was my favorite financial book I read the past couple of months. Pond offers 101 easy tips and ideas to plan, save, and invest. I was pleasantly surprised by the simplicity of his language and advice. I put so many post-its in my library copy, that I purchased the book tonight. With its simple strategies, savvy advice, helpful charts, and links to websites on Pond's website, this is a book I will be referring to a lot in the upcoming years. Highly recommended to anyone, regardless of your financial state and goals.
July 18, 2021
Finance library book #3 got a bit more detailed and more willing to make recommendations. I have most of my questions answered by this point but need to look up a couple details. If I ever read a book #4 on the topic, it will be one ultra-current since the market has been through a lot in the past 12 years since this came out.
August 27, 2018
Very affordable, easy to read & understand. The tips are very useful. If you have zero knowledge about how to invest and if you want to make " your money work for you" this book is a good starting point
November 20, 2021
Definitely learned the basics, how to live a debt free life and prep for the future.
February 27, 2015
This book has a "finance for dummies" feel to it, with the many shaded boxes, bullet points, quotes, check lists (some of them silly), and constant repetitive summarizing. It is, however, easy to understand and highly comprehensive, except in the one area I most wanted detail – investment terminology. It covers every stage and walk of life, and, because of this, any reader will likely want to skim several sections. Perhaps only one-fourth of the book was actually applicable to me at this point, though I still enjoyed skimming the parts that might have applied to me in the past. The book runs the gamut from career, paying down debt, insurance, and retirement savings to taxes, home ownership, and college savings. It can be read by anyone at any stage of life, though I would think people in their thirties would get the most out of it.
He suggest buying stocks of generally solid companies when they are beaten down and bonds when interest rates are high (and holding to maturity), which he describes as going against "the herd mentality." He suggests that if you want to simplify things, you may never need to invest in more than six mutual funds: a large-cap stock, a mid-cap stock, a small stock, an international stock, a corporate bond, and a U.S. government bond fund. But he also says ETFs that passively mirror a market index are best in the long haul. He is a strong proponent of taking maximum advantage of tax deferred retirement accounts, particularly the ROTH IRA, and made an interesting suggestion about opening a custodial IRA for your kids as soon as they have their first income (whether from babysitting, mowing lawns, or that first high school summer job). You can let them keep their income but "gift" them the maximum IRA contribution they could have made with that income. This will emphasize the importance of saving for retirement early and, if they hold the money until retirement, it may grow quite a bit tax free in that account. Also, an IRA, though in the child's name, won't count when looking for college financial aid. I thought this was one of the most interesting points he made, as was his analysis of how little a second income adds to the purchasing power of a middle-class family with kids.
He suggest buying stocks of generally solid companies when they are beaten down and bonds when interest rates are high (and holding to maturity), which he describes as going against "the herd mentality." He suggests that if you want to simplify things, you may never need to invest in more than six mutual funds: a large-cap stock, a mid-cap stock, a small stock, an international stock, a corporate bond, and a U.S. government bond fund. But he also says ETFs that passively mirror a market index are best in the long haul. He is a strong proponent of taking maximum advantage of tax deferred retirement accounts, particularly the ROTH IRA, and made an interesting suggestion about opening a custodial IRA for your kids as soon as they have their first income (whether from babysitting, mowing lawns, or that first high school summer job). You can let them keep their income but "gift" them the maximum IRA contribution they could have made with that income. This will emphasize the importance of saving for retirement early and, if they hold the money until retirement, it may grow quite a bit tax free in that account. Also, an IRA, though in the child's name, won't count when looking for college financial aid. I thought this was one of the most interesting points he made, as was his analysis of how little a second income adds to the purchasing power of a middle-class family with kids.
October 20, 2009
Grow Your Money: 101 easy tips to plan save and invest by Jonathan D. Pond
Money. It seems to me that every subject in the world is more readily discussed; every subject except money. It is only a unit of exchange, nothing more or less. At the moment (as I watch stocks plummet and the dollar take a nose dive) I did NOT want to join those who are panicking over the current state of the financial world, so I thought I would check this book out from our library, which, as the title indicates, could help me understand more about growing my own money. The author is the PBS ‘Financial Advice Expert’ although I have not seen his show, have you?
Pond’s book offers practical advice showing how people can accumulate and safeguard their portfolio of investments if his principles are followed. The author de-mystifies investment terminology; though some of his advice might cause you to shake your head, he takes care to explain why and how a particular method works. Examples: Paying off your mortgage early (I always thought this was a bad idea until he explained otherwise), buying new cars if you hate cars and old cars if you love them, and my favorite chapter: ‘Giving Uncle Sam his due and not one cent more’! My husband tells me what his Gran told him: ‘take care of your ha’pennies and the pounds (£) will take care of themselves’. So, if you, like us, want to grow your greenbacks into gold, I recommend checking this guide out from one our friendly Sierra Madre librarians.
Catherine Addé
Library Trustee
Money. It seems to me that every subject in the world is more readily discussed; every subject except money. It is only a unit of exchange, nothing more or less. At the moment (as I watch stocks plummet and the dollar take a nose dive) I did NOT want to join those who are panicking over the current state of the financial world, so I thought I would check this book out from our library, which, as the title indicates, could help me understand more about growing my own money. The author is the PBS ‘Financial Advice Expert’ although I have not seen his show, have you?
Pond’s book offers practical advice showing how people can accumulate and safeguard their portfolio of investments if his principles are followed. The author de-mystifies investment terminology; though some of his advice might cause you to shake your head, he takes care to explain why and how a particular method works. Examples: Paying off your mortgage early (I always thought this was a bad idea until he explained otherwise), buying new cars if you hate cars and old cars if you love them, and my favorite chapter: ‘Giving Uncle Sam his due and not one cent more’! My husband tells me what his Gran told him: ‘take care of your ha’pennies and the pounds (£) will take care of themselves’. So, if you, like us, want to grow your greenbacks into gold, I recommend checking this guide out from one our friendly Sierra Madre librarians.
Catherine Addé
Library Trustee
July 15, 2011
Solid all-around. Good, conservative personal finance tips without being vague or stating the obvious (like how some books devote chapters to not buying $5 coffees). I usually turn these types of books into Goodwill or swap them at a used bookstore, but I'm going to keep this one around. I like the format and will be using it for easy reference. The advice given here is timeless enough that, despite being written at the height of the economic crisis, there was nothing that screamed for an update.
Another thought on the conservatism of the tips: Yes, mostly conservative (read: highly unlikely to lose all of my money and will still get a decent return,) although he does go into contrarian investing and chases down a couple of other personal peccadilloes. I quite liked that he was fine with going a little off the beaten path, and where he did depart from the beaten path, the suggestions were still grounded in logic and precedent.
Another thought on the conservatism of the tips: Yes, mostly conservative (read: highly unlikely to lose all of my money and will still get a decent return,) although he does go into contrarian investing and chases down a couple of other personal peccadilloes. I quite liked that he was fine with going a little off the beaten path, and where he did depart from the beaten path, the suggestions were still grounded in logic and precedent.
March 12, 2008
basic money 101 information: benefits of compounded interest, investment strategies, own real estate, etc. i was expecting to feel really motivated after this one. suze would still be my first choice: The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke.
March 2, 2009
Very solid personal finance book which is all about getting rich slowly. Most of the information here is pretty familiar to me since I've been following some PF blogs for the last six months or so, but I imagine this would not be a bad starting point for beginners.
March 18, 2009
A little retirement-heavy for me, but still a very nice overview of the basics of investment and financial planning - or so it seems to me. Keep in mind, though, that up 'til now everything I knew about money management I learned from StarCraft. ;-)
December 4, 2010
Very useful info, presented in a way that is easily grasped by the reader. I read this as a library book and then bought my own copy. One of me 'core books' on money, personal finance.
July 16, 2011
This perssonal finance book gives good basic information. I plan on using at least tips that were mentioned.
April 22, 2013
3.5 stars. Easy reading format and some new ideas for me.
March 17, 2014
Really liked this book. It presents what can be a dry topic with humor and readability. Good tips too.
September 8, 2017
4/2/2015
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 8, 2018
This is honest to goodness life changing financial advice. It's very basic and digestible put puts together all of the "should haves" you have been holding on to for your entire financial life.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews