Rich Bitch: A Simple 12-Step Plan for Getting Your Financial Life Together...Finally
by Nicole Lapin
I gave this book 3 stars because even though there was stuff I didn't like about it, there was a lot of good information in it. Sometimes almost too much. I'll admit, I am not the target audience for this book. Women in their 20's and 30's are the target. And regardless of whether I disagree with some of the information she either gave or left out or all the "Good bitch", "Rich bitch", "Advice from a rich bitch", etc. If anything can help convince young people to take control of their financial lives and show them how to do it in language they identify with, I'm all for it.
Lapin lays it out like a 12-step program and she's very honest about financial mistakes that she made in her 20's and how much or little she was making when she started in her business journalist career for CNBC, CNN and MSNBC.
Some of her advice could have more encouragement around it since most people in America are not going to make $150,000/year. By encouragement I mean things like "If you don't have $5000 to invest, start with anything, just get started."
One piece of advice that will be totally confusing to less experienced people is when Lapin repeats many, many times "Do NOT cut up your credit cards!" Now by listening to the context I easily figured out that what she meant was "Don't close your credit card account, even if you aren't using that card." If you want to cut up your cards so you don't use them, that's fine. Closing the account is what could hurt your credit score.
One piece of advice Lapin did not list was an alternative way of paying off debt. She insists that you figure out which debt has the highest interest rate and pay off that card/debt first. And that does make sense because it will save you money in the long run. But some people need the motivation of seeing progress and she could have listed one of the alternatives:
--Pay off the smallest balance first, then add that payment to your monthly payment on the next highest balance, etc. This works well for people that need to feel they are accomplishing something even if they pay a little more interest in the long run.
--Pay off the highest monthly payment first. Then continue with the snowball effect.
Whichever method you choose, just get the debt paid off. I met a young person recently (mid-20s) that had a chance at their dream job but couldn't take it because they couldn't afford to leave the salary they were currently making due to all the bills. I felt really sad that they were trapped because I know that unless they make a conscious effort to change things, they will always be trapped and 30 years from now will never have been able to work at that dream job.
Things I did like: How Lapin really focused on young women, telling them to make and manage their own money and not wait for a husband to do it. Also she went further than most other financial books and talked about when to buy life insurance, make a will, power of medical attorney and how to deal with money in a relationship. Since Nicole Lapin is their age, I hope they listen to one of their peers. She comes across like a friend you'd shop with, have cocktails with and grouse about men/partners with.