Smart Women Finish Rich: 9 Steps to Achieving Financial Security and Funding Your Dreams

by David Bach

Book Overview

Many women, whether they've managed million-dollar budgets at work or managed kids, bills, and car payments at home, feel at a loss when it comes to figuring out their financial futures. Often, they... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 076791029X
• ISBN13: 9780767910293
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Crown Business
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Wonderful book. I learn so much from it

Wonderful book. I learn so much from it

I'm FINALLY motivated to put my financial house in order

I'm turning 40 next year, and I've done a fair share of reading/research on retirement planning -- not a lot, mind you, but a fair bit. Much of it was dry, boring, or just plain incomprehensible. As a result, my savings and investing were haphazard (at best), and my record keeping was, frankly, pathetic. "Smart Women Finish Rich" has motivated me like nothing else has. I don't know if it's because it's easier to understand and doesn't through a lot of jargon around, or if it's because Bach is so personable and seems genuinely interested in his readers. What really lit the fire underneath me though were the various charts he had illuminating the value of compounded interest, using time to your advantage, etc. Now, this is something we all "know" at the intellectual level, but the way he presented it was enough to get me off my rear and working on putting my financial house in order. In the past several days, I have set up my filing system, reviewed my IRA account, requested and reviewed my credit report, opened an account for my "emergency fund" and scheduled automatic deposits, and made a plan for paying down credit card debt. In the next week I'll get the ball rolling to contribute to my employer's 401(k) and get estate planning done for myself and my husband. I can't say enough good things about how this book has helped me put my financial priorities in order. The reduction in my anxiety level over money is amazing. Well worth it!

You'll only get out of this book what you put in.

A couple of reviewers blasted this book as being useless rehashed financial advice. I'll bet you anything that those reviewers didn't really give the book a chance. I know because I almost didn't, and initially I had the same reaction as they did. I'm an intelligent woman, my father and grandmother both taught me about investing growing up...also, as another reviewer mentioned, there are some pretty hokey "personal accounts" used to illustrate lessons, that I could have done without. I bought the book at the airport for something to read on the plane and if I wasn't forced into a situation where I had nothing else to read, I probably never would have made it past the first couple of chapters. I'm so so so very glad that I did. You can't just skim this book for the bits you think are relevant to you; you have to really get into it. Read it from cover to cover, then go back and start working on the charts like the "values ladder" and "Goals for Designing a Proactive Life" worksheet. Why? Because they make you look long and hard at your own value system, visualize the future you want for yourself, and then write down specific and measurable steps to take to get there...no matter how modest those step may be initially. I don't make a lot of money, and despite what my father and grandma taught me I've accrued almost 15 grand in credit card debt, not to mention college loans. I work in a field that doesn't really inspire me because I've always wanted to be a full-time artist. Until I read this book that was just a far off dream. I never really thought about what it would take for me to get there. As Bach says, until you write a goal down with specific steps as to how you will accomplish it, it's not a goal, just a wish that probably won't come true. It's only been a week and I've already learned so much about myself as well as my finances and I'm happy to say that I've worked out a plan where I will be able to quit my current job and work as a full-time artist within the next ten years. To say this book has changed my life is an understatement. Like many other reviewers before me, I'm buying copies for everyone I know.

Excellent investment book

I am a 29 year old mother of a two year old girl and my husband and I have our own business. I knew absolutely nothing about investing but I felt that we were getting older and we needed to start thinking about saving for the future. This book has opened up a new world to me. We have very little money and I was scared to risk or needlessly spend what we do have. This book has shown me how to secure our financial future. Before this book I never even considered getting life insurance. After reading this book, the first thing I did was go out and buy a term life policy so my daughter will be protected in case anything happens to my husband or myself. My insurance agent was so impressed at what I knew about life insurance that he told me that 95% of the people he sold insurance to did not have my insurance buying knowledge. I learned everything I knew about life insurance in 20 minutes from reading this book. This book lays out in terms that anyone can understand how to protect your family and make your dreams come true. Being a small business owner I especailly appreciated Davids advice for those of us who are self employed. The best part of this book is the section that shows you do not have to be rich to save and invest. Even those of us with modest incomes can achieve our financial goals. It's all about make wise spending choices. The wisest choice of all would be to buy this book! I can't really say enough good things about it. The only part missing for me was a section on investing for college. I was looking for some advice on how to invest for my daughter's college education. I also bought Suze Orman's book Road to Wealth and this topic is covered quite thoroughly in there. Actually whenever I have a financial decision to make I read the topic in David's book and then follow up with Suze's for a second opinion. They always seem to agree in their own ways and I feel like I am making the best decision I can to secure my family's financial future.