The Secret Language of Money: How to Make Smarter Financial Decisions and Live a Richer Life

by David Krueger and John David Mann

Book Overview

If money were about math, none of us would be carrying any debt.

The numbers are simple. What's complicatedis what we do with money. We usemoney to soothe our feelings and buy respect, to show how much we care or howlittle. We don't simply earn, save, andspend money: we flirt with it, crave it, andscorn it; we punish and reward ourselveswith it.

Without realizing it, we give moneymeaning it doesn't really have--whatformer psychiatrist...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0071623396
• ISBN13: 9780071623391
• Release Date: August 2009
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.3" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Money Really Does Talk

Krueger states in the introduction, "This book is a rare glimpse into the secret conversation you hold with yourself about the meaning of money in your life." This book helps you find out your personal relationship with money and what it all really means in your life. I was intrigued by the title and found myself completely engrossed as I began reading it. There is a definite psychology of money in how we perceive, work, save, spend, and plan for the future with it. I found this book to be informative, interesting, and entertaining. It's easy to follow and asks some extremely important questions with quizzes throughout. It's laid out in three sections, like a three act screenplay: Your Money Story, Plot Twists, and Writing a New Money Story. It also teaches you how to have a game plan, specific goals, and how to make grounded decisions about money. Find out what your life money story is telling you and what you can do about it. I recommend this book for anyone who is serious about making a money plan and sticking to it. It's a book that you'll find yourself referring to over and over. -Jennifer Chase, Author of Compulsion & Dead Game

An accessible, pointed survey discussing subconscious connections between money and happiness

THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF MONEY: HOW TO MAKE SMARTER FINANCIAL DECISIONS AND LIVE A RICHER LIFE surveys spending habits, money management, and comes from a former psychiatrist and business coach who examines how money connections to relationships, freedom, happiness and more. Those who feel they never have enough money and are controlled by it would do well to read this accessible, pointed survey discussing subconscious connections between money and happiness. A pick for health, business and general lending libraries alike.

Excellent book

This book has an excellent message on how to be smart with the money you have and earn. It also awakens your inner peace and gratitude towards everything you have no matter how little or big you think it is. I love it and recommend it even to teenagers.

Really good stuff

It really makes you think about what stops you from being free. Free from being emotional about money, from taking it for something else, from using it otherwise than for what it is supposed to.

Change your money story, change your life

Perhaps you have read The Richest Man in Babylon or The Automatic Millionaire. Both of those books teach you how to handle your money. But in my mind they are a lot like many weight loss books that advise you to eat less and exercise more. If you do that you certainly will lose weight. And if you follow the advice in either of the two books mentioned, you will be able to manage your money. But the problem is more than just knowing what to do with money, it is doing it. Everyone knows what they should do with their money. Spend less than you earn, save for a rainy day. The problem is doing it. And that is where The Secret Language of Money offers a real service to its readers. It goes beyond the spend less, save more mantra and takes an in-depth look at how our lives are totally wrapped around how we view money. The first thing the book does is to show how interwoven our money story is with our lives. We use money to represent many different things. And we try to use money to do things that it cannot do. We try to use money to "alter our moods, increase our self-esteem, and control others. We use money to try to soothe emotional pains and to buy the respect of others and ourselves." The more we try to do with money, the less we understand it. Our money story is so complex that we often refuse to fully examine how we think about money. There are countless people who are afraid to really face their money beliefs. And if you are not aware of your money story, you will be powerless to alter it. The book is filled with real life examples that Dave shares with us from his professional practice. And there are lessons to be learned from each case study. There is also an interesting recount of some of history's largest financial scams and speculative bubbles along with advice on how to avoid being scammed or falling into the speculative bubble trap. As a nation we would have been much better off if collectively we had heeded this advice and avoided the sub-prime mortgage meltdown. The book is also filled with exercises that will allow you to uncover your own personal money story and then to rewrite it in a healthier way. Unfortunately we are a consumer society and have been lead to believe that money will bring us the happiness we seek. Nothing could be further from the truth. As you will learn reading this book, the more we seek happiness through money, the more disappointed we are likely to be. We have experienced a steady rise in wealth but a corresponding steady decline in our perceived state of happiness. The solution is to understand the way you feel about money and what money means to you. Then sort out your ideals, needs and wants. Make sure that your wants do not dictate your life. In my opinion, the most important concept in the book is, "Your new money story begins with determining not what it is that you want to have, but who it is you want to be." The book is well written and full of interesting stor