The Best of Jonathan Clements: Classic Columns on Money and Life

by Jonathan Clements

In more than 1,000 columns for The Wall Street Journal, Jonathan Clements established himself as an authoritative voice of reason. With humor, empathy, and inspiration, this selection of his 62 best columns will help every reader make wise, prudent choices to secure a better financial future.

All royalties from the book will be donated to a new program Jonathan envisioned to help young adults, particularly those from lower-income backgrounds, get started on saving for retirement. The Jonathan Clements Getting Going on Savings Initiative will provide direct $1,000 grants to recipients to fund a Roth IRA, which will enable academic researchers to test the most effective ways to encourage lifelong savings. Learn more about the Clements initiative at boglecenter.net/gettinggoing .

Genres: Nonfiction, Finance

246 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 3, 2025

About the author

Jonathan Clements is an author, translator, biographer and scriptwriter. His non-fiction works include biographies of Confucius, Marco Polo, Mao Zedong, Koxinga and Qin Shihuangdi. He also writes for NEO magazine and is the co-author of encyclopedias of anime and Japanese television dramas.

Reviews

[Ronald Steinhoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid book on financial basics with a refreshingly human touch. Would recommend to anyone who wants to learn tried and true financial basics.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I previously read From Here to Financial Happiness: Enrich Your Life in Just 77 Days. And in my review of that book, I had noted being a faithful reader of Jonathan's seminal Getting Going column in The Wall Street Journal. So like many of his loyal readers through the years, I was deeply saddened to learn of his terminal cancer diagnosis.

Knowing that all the royalties from this book are going toward the Jonathan Clements Getting Going on Savings Initiative, I didn't hesitate to purchase a Kindle copy - even though I had probably read most, if not all, of the 62 columns selected for the book.

If you didn't read these columns back in the day, now is your chance to read the highlights -personal finance wisdom written in Jonathan's no nonsense style with just a dash of sardonic wit. You'll see some key points repeated multiple times - but that just illustrates how so often in personal finance, the fundamental concepts stand the test of time.

Did I learn anything new reading this book? Not really, but that wasn't the point of reading it for me. Rather, it was to enjoy the "greatest hits" from one of personal finance's most influential writers and to honor what he wants to be his legacy.

This book fulfilled the 2025 PopSugar prompt #8 - A book under 250 pages.

Note: Goodreads does not have the correct author information associated with this book.

[Mike Ederle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great advice but a bit redundant

I enjoyed reading this book but after a while you read the same themes over and over. It would have been better if it was half the size. That being said, there is so much great advice. Also, it was very interesting to read given the history of the financial markets when he wrote these articles - especially the severe market drops in 2000-2003 and 2007-2009. Lastly, the program that benefits from the proceeds of this book is tremendous and hopefully they’ll be thousands of kids on their way to great financial futures.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit dated due to the fact that these columns are at least a decade old and most were written over twenty years ago. The included columns, some edited to increase their relevance, do however contain a lot of timeless advice which makes the book worth reading.

[Michael Maloon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wealth of Wisdom

This is a great read. Young people getting started should use the principles outlined in this book to create their financial foundation.

[Madison Blanchard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good cause, sober takes on finances, but very repetitive.

[Mark Denissen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple yet profound

Well written and easy to follow advice for many of life’s key questions about money, investing and living. Sage advice indeed.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

K.I.S.S. Investing wisdom

[Jeff · Rating 2 out of 5]

Solid advice in bite-sized chunks.