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Your Money: Reimagining Wealth in 101 Simple Sketches
This is not a book. It’s a conversation grenade.
Pull the pin. Toss it on the coffee table and watch the conversations break out.
Money isn’t math – it’s emotion.
Budgeting isn’t punishment – it’s awareness.
If you think more will finally make you feel safe, it won’t.
Through 101 simple sketches and essays, Carl Richards invites you to rethink your relationship with money – not by fixing it, but by seeing it clearly.
This isn’t financial pornography, no market predictions, no hot takes, or spreadsheets. Think of it as a conversation with a wise friend, who gently forces you to
Why do we compare ourselves to people we don’t even like?
What are you actually trying to buy when you say you want more?
What if the problem isn’t your money, but the job you’ve given it?
Your Money is meant to provoke you into seeing money – and yourself – differently.
This isn’t about being good with money. It’s about being honest with yourself.
Pull the pin. Toss it on the coffee table and watch the conversations break out.
Money isn’t math – it’s emotion.
Budgeting isn’t punishment – it’s awareness.
If you think more will finally make you feel safe, it won’t.
Through 101 simple sketches and essays, Carl Richards invites you to rethink your relationship with money – not by fixing it, but by seeing it clearly.
This isn’t financial pornography, no market predictions, no hot takes, or spreadsheets. Think of it as a conversation with a wise friend, who gently forces you to
Why do we compare ourselves to people we don’t even like?
What are you actually trying to buy when you say you want more?
What if the problem isn’t your money, but the job you’ve given it?
Your Money is meant to provoke you into seeing money – and yourself – differently.
This isn’t about being good with money. It’s about being honest with yourself.
265 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 21, 2025
12 people are currently reading
47 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 5, 2026
It is time to give up spreadsheets for sketches - at least for a couple of hours as Carl Richards takes you through the human side of your financial life.
Richards is the creator of the New York Times Sketch Guy column, which ran weekly for more than a decade. He is also the author of the highly successful books The Behavior Gap and The One-Page Financial Plan, and founder of The Society of Advice. He is known for making complex ideas accessible through stick-figure sketches and his transparent, empathetic approach to money conversations. His philosophy blends self-awareness, behavioral finance, and life goals, focusing less on the technicalities of investing and more on the alignment between money and personal values.
In Your Money Richards combines 101 sketches and essays into powerful reflection and conversation starters. The book cover invites you to think of it “as a conversation with a wise friend.” And it certainly feels like it. Richards looks at the other side of a highly quantitative field. But if you seek to align money with your life and your values - a central plea of the book and Richards’ work in general - you must understand and act on the psychological aspect of it. The way we feel about money. Financial decisions and achievements are inextricably linked with emotions such as pride, responsibility, anxiety, shame, or greed. We all feel them. Nobody can completely ignore them. None of this can be captured by an algorithm, no matter how many NVIDIA chips you pack in your data center.
Richards popularized the “behavior gap” concept, defined as the difference between investment returns and what investors actually earn—usually due to poor decisions driven by emotion. Your Money helps you to rein in your emotions and prevent dumb decisions around money. The book also helps you come to grips with the fact that there are no perfect predictions, nor should you strive to make them. Making your best guesses is the way to go, as long as you adjust them continuously to be a little less wrong tomorrow. Flexibility rather than rigid plans, is key to managing both money and life transitions.
And of course, Richards makes a powerful argument for simplicity. His napkin sketches strip away any information detracting from what is really important. Hence, build simple strategies, automate them, and focus on consistent behavior over time. Emotional discipline is critical. Avoid letting short-term market moves dictate long-term plans.
Simplicity is not easy. It just shows that you have made a long journey to obtain a clarity of mind and have wrapped in clear language (and in this case sketches). Richards has certainly done so with this book and I applaud him for it.
Carl Richards joined me for the very first podcast version of The New Frontier, where I asked him about particular lessons for tech investors.
This review is originally published within the Money Book Cirlcle in my newsletter. Sign up here for regular reviews of the hottest books on money and technology: https://igorpejic.substack.com/
Richards is the creator of the New York Times Sketch Guy column, which ran weekly for more than a decade. He is also the author of the highly successful books The Behavior Gap and The One-Page Financial Plan, and founder of The Society of Advice. He is known for making complex ideas accessible through stick-figure sketches and his transparent, empathetic approach to money conversations. His philosophy blends self-awareness, behavioral finance, and life goals, focusing less on the technicalities of investing and more on the alignment between money and personal values.
In Your Money Richards combines 101 sketches and essays into powerful reflection and conversation starters. The book cover invites you to think of it “as a conversation with a wise friend.” And it certainly feels like it. Richards looks at the other side of a highly quantitative field. But if you seek to align money with your life and your values - a central plea of the book and Richards’ work in general - you must understand and act on the psychological aspect of it. The way we feel about money. Financial decisions and achievements are inextricably linked with emotions such as pride, responsibility, anxiety, shame, or greed. We all feel them. Nobody can completely ignore them. None of this can be captured by an algorithm, no matter how many NVIDIA chips you pack in your data center.
Richards popularized the “behavior gap” concept, defined as the difference between investment returns and what investors actually earn—usually due to poor decisions driven by emotion. Your Money helps you to rein in your emotions and prevent dumb decisions around money. The book also helps you come to grips with the fact that there are no perfect predictions, nor should you strive to make them. Making your best guesses is the way to go, as long as you adjust them continuously to be a little less wrong tomorrow. Flexibility rather than rigid plans, is key to managing both money and life transitions.
And of course, Richards makes a powerful argument for simplicity. His napkin sketches strip away any information detracting from what is really important. Hence, build simple strategies, automate them, and focus on consistent behavior over time. Emotional discipline is critical. Avoid letting short-term market moves dictate long-term plans.
Simplicity is not easy. It just shows that you have made a long journey to obtain a clarity of mind and have wrapped in clear language (and in this case sketches). Richards has certainly done so with this book and I applaud him for it.
Carl Richards joined me for the very first podcast version of The New Frontier, where I asked him about particular lessons for tech investors.
This review is originally published within the Money Book Cirlcle in my newsletter. Sign up here for regular reviews of the hottest books on money and technology: https://igorpejic.substack.com/
December 3, 2025
This is genuinely a great book if you’re looking for clear insights and practical tips on how to improve your personal finances. The author breaks things down in a way that’s easy to understand and apply in everyday life. One of the strongest takeaways is the realization that not everything we buy is something we actually need and becoming aware of that can make a big difference in how we manage our money.
Overall, it’s an eye-opening and helpful read for anyone who wants to build better financial habits and gain more control over their spending.
Overall, it’s an eye-opening and helpful read for anyone who wants to build better financial habits and gain more control over their spending.
February 12, 2026
Your Money is an easy, enjoyable read with simple but powerful lessons. One key takeaway is that outcomes don’t define decision quality—you can make good decisions and have bad outcomes, or bad decisions and get lucky. What matters is the process, which reveals itself over time. Richards emphasizes that good financial planning isn’t about predicting the future, but preparing for uncertainty and being a little less wrong tomorrow. The book also highlights gratitude, reminding us that it helps us see what we already have instead of focusing on what we lack.
January 30, 2026
promoted itself as a conversation starter- not sure it did it for me. not anything mind blowing or exceptionally creative imo
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews