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Now What?: A Practical Guide to Figuring Out Your Financial Future

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Real-Life Financial Advice for Your Fiscal Future

So you’ve finished school and found your first well-paid job. Congratulations! Now don’t squander it! With real money flowing into your account for the first time, it’s easy to embrace those new preapproved credit cards or to buy that new car you’ve been dreaming about. But without a solid understanding of your financial future, you risk losing everything you’ve worked for.

Many of us—and not just those starting out—were never educated in financial planning or sustainable wealth management. Now What? bridges that gap with practical advice for readers of all ages dealing with fiscal change. If you’ve just landed your first big paycheck, have recently inherited, or are divorced or widowed, this book will guide you around the pitfalls of new wealth.

Brian Ursu offers you concrete guidance for paying down debt, including student loans; planning for life’s expensive milestones, like buying a house or having children; and creating a sustainable lifestyle now and in your future. He also explains the basics of investment, where and—maybe even more importantly—why to invest and how to build a portfolio, so you can grow the money you’ve earned to create not just a solid foundation but also a legacy for you and your family.

262 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 25, 2020

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Brian M. Ursu

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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
Author 7 books12 followers
March 2, 2020
It is a book about self finance. There are many books.
But it is definitely different.
It is simple to read and understand.
It doesn't target to make you an economist.
But it targets economically illiterate young people and tries to give them most basic information about managing self finance.
Author is certified financial planner and still acts like a nursery teacher teaching naive learners.
It is a very good book to start your financial training.
I recommend it to every young person coming out of college gate.
It may sound little conventional advice at it stresses need of savings and frugal life, but that principle has stood test of time as most foolproof way to secure finances.
Thanks netgalley and publisher for review copy.
Profile Image for Cat.
715 reviews
February 24, 2020
Practical and thoughtful introduction to personal finance

Many thanks to Goodreads and Brian Ursu for the chance to read a copy and provide an honest review. Another disclaimer - I work in financial services and this is my personal opinion only.

This book is aimed at those just starting their careers but is a great introduction for anyone that hasn't thought about personal finance before. It covers a wide array of topics and is not a very long book, so if you have specific concerns about buying a house or calculating retirement needs, I would point you toward a standalone book. But here you would find broad concepts about fixed vs variable rate mortgage loans, or the power of investing early and taking advantage of compound interest that are the foundation you need.

There were a lot of things I loved about this book that made it stand out. In particular, a theme throughout the book is social values and how financial planning could incorporate that, from ESG investing, to leaving an ethical will passing on your intangible advice on how to live well. Additionally there is a great chapter on cognitive biases and how things like herd mentality can affect your financial behavior.

At the same time, this book covers a foundation of basic personal finance and has a humorous structure of processing from "boring stuff" like emergency funds and responsible credit card use to "practical stuff" like buying a new or used car and retirement savings accounts, to "fun stuff" like investments and portfolio allocation. I think the progression is sensible and ensures that the basics are covered first.

The author is good at pointing out pros and cons of different situations and options, always with an eye toward the hard numbers, with an emphasis on how compound interest is great for your retirement account and horrible for your student and auto loans, showing tables of investment growth and walking through examples of how much interest you pay making minimum payments vs adding more add you are able.

Overall I think this is a great little book that covers a wide range of relevant topics and sticks to the basics in a practical manner with an engaging tone. As a personal finance nerd (and again not reflecting my employer) I would absolutely recommend to anyone that wants an introduction or just a reminder of the basics.
Profile Image for Theresa Wade.
733 reviews2 followers
June 26, 2020
Very well written book. Easily written to understand the required financial basics. It is perfect regardless of age. A book I will recommend my children read.

There are some areas that I haven't seen in a book that includes investment sections
I read the sections related to investments, I was thinking it would be great for someone to explain the different order types when doing a trader order and what they really mean. My husband and I are in our fifties and all we currently have for retirement is our 401K. I started researching in December and made my first trade. I am taking $100 each month and trying to invest it somewhere for the long term. I do wish there was an example I could go through to know exactly what columns to look at when reviewing balance sheets for a company (example to verify one's debt amount). Everyone seems to reference different columns or calculations and it becomes confusing Even if I end up getting an advisor, I would want to research to validate why they would recommend a stock.
6 reviews
April 9, 2020
When I started working right out of college, I spent a significant amount of time trying to figure out a budget, understand retirement contributions, and how investing in the stock market works. Ultimately, I ended up getting overwhelmed and disappointed because a lot of the information out there seems to be geared towards people who are decades older than I am and with very different financial goals. I ended up talking to the author a lot to figure out some of these things.

I wish this book was around when I started working but I’m glad it exists now. Even though I currently have a decent understanding of some of the topics addressed in this book, I still learned a lot and got so much more out of it.

This book isn’t just for newly employed graduates who are trying to figure out their financial future. It’s for anyone who at any point in their life wants to map out their financial future with the right understanding.

I highly recommend this to everyone. Even those who think they already have it figured out. You’ll definitely learn something new. You’ll be surprised with how much you’ll enjoy reading this and how easy it is to digest and understand topics that are otherwise complex to grasp.

Simply put, you won’t regret reading this.
Profile Image for Kathleen Duffy.
86 reviews57 followers
May 5, 2020
This is a book that all teens to 30-somethings should read. Heck, really anyone can benefit. I just wish this had been around 12 years ago when I was starting college (at an expensive private school that I'd leave a year later but am still paying off...). I had NO sense of monetary responsibility back then, and I majored in Journalism to avoid all math/finance classes. Now, fortunately, I work in the financial services industry, so this was a refresher course for me.
Profile Image for Piper.
1 review
February 26, 2020
I can't remember the last time I took notes while reading a book, much less so while also authentically laughing out loud at the delivery. I considered myself a fairly financially responsible adult, but this book has taught me so much practical information about which I was wholly unaware. I highly recommend this book for fellow millennials who have been as poorly prepared for their financial future as I was. It has done much to help ease my anxiety about my future security and provided simple steps I can take action on today.
Profile Image for Leland Ursu.
1 review
February 26, 2020
I am squarely in the demographic of this book, 27 years old, into my career, and hopelessly anxious about my finance and future. This book not only gives a digestable clear set of actions to take but is a pleasure to read. I found myself taking notes and making adjustments as I read but also constantly laughing at the dry "dad humor". Will be recommending this to all of my friends in a similar situation.
Profile Image for Pam Mooney.
990 reviews52 followers
June 17, 2020
"Practical" is key for me. I am definitely taking next steps. Thank you
9 reviews
February 21, 2020
Easy to read and conversational. Very important information for anyone with their first “big boy/girl” job, or newly single, divorced or widowed persons. I’d say it’s “common sense” info, but money topics AREN’T always common sense for some ... hence the need for this book. I believe this should be required reading in later high school years and certainly before one graduates from college.
Profile Image for Brandi Durbin.
9 reviews
April 20, 2020
Packed with useful information.

I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway. I found this book interesting and helpful it and it isn't boring as most financial books can tend to be. So much information everything is explained in detail that makes perfect sense.
Profile Image for Beth.
1,188 reviews29 followers
August 21, 2020
A very useful and easy-to-understand basic financial guidebook for those just entering adulthood (or adults who have questions about things they never - or barely - learned). Ursu provides what could be dry information with a good sense of humor and clear understanding, making these topics unintimidating. I would've appreciated a bit more direction with the estate planning section: it's great to know what documents you need and what they are (like a will, a trust, and a medical directive), but how does he recommend you go about creating them?
Profile Image for Medeia Sharif.
Author 19 books458 followers
August 22, 2020
I won this in a Goodreads giveaway. It’s a great book on financial do’s and don’ts. I only keep a few books on my shelf to reread, and this one I’ll be keeping. Each chapter ends with a summary section of major points. The target audience is younger adults, like twenty-somethings, but the tips really apply to everyone.
50 reviews
December 16, 2021
Great book for those just starting out. I had my library order the book after the author’s wife (a sorority sister of mine) mentioned it before Covid happened. The library finally got it in and both my husband and I read it. Just wish we could find a way to get our kids to read it now! It has everything we’ve told our kids but nice to have someone else that agrees with us put it in a book. Highly recommend!
Profile Image for Susan.
69 reviews
November 18, 2020
Now What? A Practical Guide for Figuring Out Your Financial Future by Brian M. Ursu is an amazing, straight forward resource especially if one is just starting out. More than another text on self finance, Ursu works through relevant examples and situations that lead to a future of self reliance. #GoodreadsGiveaway.
Profile Image for Rachelle.
1,371 reviews
June 5, 2020
Now What?... resourceful guidance for Millenials (and people of all ages and incomes) ranging from basics of financial literacy to loans, mortgages, debt, bills, funding retirement, and investing. The author guides readers in an approachable method through things to avoid and what to research when certain life events occur. General knowledge that benefits all readers, the advice is similar to other financial books, but is presented in an easy to understand, fresh way.
341 reviews
June 5, 2020
Wonderful. Helpful. Insightful. Easy to understand.
Profile Image for Hil.
112 reviews6 followers
March 16, 2022
Practical, helpful, well written!
Profile Image for Kelly Knapp.
948 reviews20 followers
March 7, 2020
Well Written

Many of the financial books I have read are written at a post graduate level in finances. Much of the readings are not easy to understand. However, this book was surprisingly readable. It is easy to follow and understand. It lost one star because it stresses the need to begin planning almost before you have finished school and assumes you are making a livable income, which is not really possible for most newly employed. Still it is one of the better financial tools I have read.
Profile Image for Juli.
211 reviews
nopesauce
June 14, 2020
Maybe I'm not in the right frame of mind at the moment for this. I'm sure this is filled with useful information, hopefully presented in a clear way. But... I am already really struggling with the tone of things and it's a giant turn off.

I like reading financial books. I think it's interesting and (like the author quickly points out) money matters isn't really something that we're really taught anymore.

I won a copy in a giveaway. I probably just saw the title and tag line of 'Real-Life Financial Advice for Your Fiscal Future,' and didn't look more that it is going to be (very) targeted. (target instead of geared towards specifically for the connotation)

(And again I will fully admit that much is on me that I'm not in the right place right now and am most likely being very nit picky and getting unnecessarily harsh for how quick this is irritating me)

Right off the bat in the author's dedication is to their five children. Five. Instantly to me this pinging: they are on the (most likely much) older side, and they are (very) well off to be able to be in a financial state to care for five children (or be having some form(s) of assistance). I'm already pre-disposed to be talked down to.

Then (no joke), this is what is decided to be the opening line: My wife is technically a baby boomer because of her birth date. I am technically a Generation Xer.
To go on to
There are only two and a half years between us. I often joke with her that I don’t understand her generation—the way they speak, the way they dress, the music they listen to. Then I boast about my generation and . . . well, you get the idea. I may be the only person who finds any humor in that, but it helps make my point. One of my children is a millennial, and although I don’t generally put much stock in generational labels, they are a convenient way for people to separate, segment, and categorize folks while also making up biased ideas about who they are. I am generally not a big fan of labels, but there is one thing that ties millennials together: a huge gap in their understanding of financial planning.

Really? You're going to be going on about not putting stock in labels, then label everyone around you. And what bugs me is complaining about 'hey millennials lack this' and you're also part of the problem (and don't want to admit it). If your kids are lacking in info= yes it was an opportunity missed as their parent.
Don’t blame your parents or your teachers or what you’ve been eating for breakfast for the gap. It’s more systemic than that. What’s been missing is the curriculum to give you the necessary financial-planning skills to thrive and find success and meaning in your current and future life.

No they are part to blame too. They are lumped in. They are not exempt.

And... I'm just like... do you check your privilege?
My daughter pointed this gap out to me recently. She had just completed her formal education and begun work as a software engineer in Silicon Valley. She had transitioned from impoverished college student to well-paid worker with significant financial benefits and big decisions to make.

One (of your five kids) went to school (assumption on my part that you're probably part of paying for it), and you're going to call her an impoverished student. Maybe this is really just a word choice thing. Obviously when you're going to school you're going to be in a very different financial atmosphere/lifestyle than later when you're (hopefully comfortably) having income. But impoverished student training to be a software engineer.
But aight.
I doubt there has ever been a generation more misunderstood than millennials. I have heard them broad-brushed as lazy, living in their parents’ basement, self-focused, unprepared for adulthood, and worse. Most of these mischaracterizations come from older people threatened by change. To be sure, millennials are quite different from previous generations, but I’ve found my millennial employees and colleagues to be ambitious, focused on the needs of others, and independent thinkers. They just see the world differently—as has every other generation before them.

oky doky. I want to start having shots every time they use a generational label they don't put much stock in.
And then there's also the anecdote from their professional life.
Why did they want to meet with a financial planner? It wasn’t to clear up all that debt. It was because—wait for it—they wanted to know how to start saving money to get their two girls through college. The daughters, as I previously mentioned, were already in high school. I was all of 20-something myself, and with the fundamental financial-planning training I had acquired by this time, I knew that growing a college fund that late was an impossibility. I can’t recall, but I hope I didn’t laugh when they asked me how to get their girls through college; I hope I had more professionalism than that. But to be fair, a laugh would have been justified. The reality was they couldn’t get their girls through summer camp, let alone college, given their circumstances.

Awesome sense of professional decorum. Can't wait to hear you talk about how you can help me while wanting to have a justified laugh.

I'm glad if someone gets something useful out of this book. I'm sure if you keep going ... it's bound to.. I don't know.. do something. But yea..I'm out fam.
Profile Image for Read Ng.
1,364 reviews26 followers
March 13, 2021
This was a GoodReads giveaway win of a Kindle ebook I had won a while back. Over the years I have read a lot of these, so I did not feel compelled to jump right on this one. And then I lost track of it when my old Kindle died.

It did not take me long to read this as I am quite familiar with the concepts. If anything, it was more "conformational bias" to how I understand personal finance. I did like the opening and the relevance to the millennial generation. I could see how it would help the target audience relate to the information. Of the books I have read in the past, this one is a good reference for the newbie.

Oh, the RMD information is out of date. New age is now 72. That would not really matter to the millennial, but does illustrate how how rules change over time and one needs to stay informed and adapt to change. Deadline to get to the publisher and Federal rule change must have overlapped.

Have a GoodReads.
667 reviews
July 19, 2021
Introductory finance book for teens, young adults, and woefully ignorant older adults written in a "hey, friend!" way (with some witty comments thrown in for good measure).

I liked it; Ursu explained information in an accessible manner without being overwhelming. He didn't try to push his business, or send you to his website, or any of those things some other self help books try to pull. And he included an index at the end, for readers who want to brush up on a specific topic without rereading the entire book (thanks!). Some references may need to be revised in the future - Rush Limbaugh, the Gates as a duo - but the rest should last a bit longer.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from a Goodreads giveaway in exchange for my honest review.
Profile Image for Abi Uhe.
43 reviews7 followers
May 5, 2023
While not the most thrilling read, as I'm not a financial expert - I'd align more with a novice, this book was great in terms of explaining financial concepts with understandable definitions as well as multiple examples. My only regret...that I didn't have the opportunity to read it before entering my 30s. I happened upon it as a Goodreads Giveaway and won the ebook.

I think it might be a great gift for college graduates or even high school graduates. The book is broken down into chapters and could be referenced as individuals reach certain points within their lives or read in entirety to have a better picture of planning for the future. I appreciated how the author used his humor to lighten up the information that he was shared.
Profile Image for Katherina.
510 reviews51 followers
February 6, 2021
I really liked this book. It covered a little bit about most, if not all, financial things. It was written in a conversation so tone that was easy to understand. And it was just good and useful. I would recommend this book to any younger people starting out with a career.
Profile Image for Jenn.
668 reviews
June 5, 2020
I won a copy of this book.

Easy to understand and read through, this book works for the world we used to live in. Give it to your recent graduate (high school or college) because there is good information in it.
63 reviews
October 17, 2021
The book was well written and the author was able to successfully explain some complicated (at least to me) financial matters in an easy-to-understand way, information that should be taught in high schools but typically isn't. I even appreciated the "dad humor", which is actually much milder than my own father's humor.
The issue I had with the book, which is the problem I have with every financial planning book I've thus read, is that these books are tailored more for those who have the means to save and invest in such things as stocks and bonds, typically those who work in the high-paying corporate world. What about those of us who work in public service jobs and other service industries that are typically paid much less than corporate jobs? How are we supposed to save and invest with so little? There never seems to be any sound advice available. At least, this author acknowledges the difficulties that millennials face (of which I straddle this generation with the Gen-Xers) including the increase of gig jobs and "stagnant wage gains" that result in what he termed "millennial anxiety", but then assumes that these same millennials are making twice of what I currently make now working in a public library. If you do work for corporate America or are able to make $62,000 or more a year (based on the median household income of 2018, which, if it were broken down by age group, this median would probably suggest that millennials are earning less than prior generations as other news reports have revealed) like the book assumes is the typical amount millennials earn, then yes, I highly recommend the book. But if you're barely able to save up $500 a year, let alone $5000 (as suggested by an example in the book), then I would suggest looking elsewhere for financial planning advice. I will admit, I'm saving the book in the hopes that once mine and my husband's incomes are combined (we were lucky enough to get married right before the pandemic hit, but he is unable to work as a result), we'll be able to apply the information shared in this book.
Profile Image for Jon Sluis.
1 review
October 9, 2021
Reading some of the other reviews I was a bit worried that the book would only cover basic concepts that most people would already know. While it is true the author definitely had an idea of who his target audience is (millennials looking for a no nonsense primer on financial matters), as a licensed CPA, I have already used antidotes, statistics, and facts presented within this book on multiple occasions with my own clients.

I appreciated the conversational narrative style of the book. I can imagine that the non threatening tone will allow any reader to absorb and comprehend the topics being presented. It felt like a father passing on sage and hard earned wisdom to the next generation.

I particularly enjoyed the section on biases and the impact these have on investing.

I plan to order several copies of this book and use as gifts for not only recent school graduates, but for anyone who is looking for a clearly written primer on all things financial.
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