You Can Do the Math: Overcome Your Math Phobia and Make Better Financial Decisions

By Ron Lipsman

Book Overview

Every day we are faced with financial decisions. Should I buy that DVD player or 100 lottery tickets? What percentage of my salary should I allocate to my 401(k)? How much should I be saving for my daughter's college education? Will I be better off leasing or buying my next car? The problem for most of us is that we freeze up when making these choices; regardless of our level of formal education, we find ourselves intimidated by the numbers and poorly prepared to make some of the most important decisions of our lives. We've become a society of math-o-phobes with profound consequences for our financial well-being. In You Can Do the Math, Ron Lipsman draws from over 30 years of teaching mathematics to help you take control of your financial destiny by applying basic arithmetic techniques. Step by step, he walks you through the fundamental calculations that underlie virtually every financial decision.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0313351538
• ISBN13: 9780313351532
• Release Date: March 2008
• Publisher: Praeger
• Length: 216 Pages
• Weight: 0.76 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.3" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

You Can Do the Math

This book was fabulous. It explains in simple detail how you can overcome your math phobia and apply simple math concepts to such decisions as: should I buy or lease a car? should I invest in a tax-deferred account or a regular account? and, what type of insurance is best for me? The author, Ron Lipsman, also has a companion website where you can plug in your own situation and arrive at the appropriate financial decision given your facts and circumstances. What could be easier than that? I always wondered about buying vs. leasing a car, but I never understood how to calculate which option was a better deal. Ron Lipsman explained it all in an easy to follow format. I would recommend this book to anyone who doesn't understand the math behind every day decisions that affect the financial goals in his or her life. You can save a tremendous amount of money and a great deal of anxiety if you only know the math behind these important decisions. You never have to be afraid of walking into that new car showroom again. You need not fear the mortgage process again or listen to someone who may know less than you do on financial decisions. I enjoyed reading this informative book and Ron Lipsman's lively examples make it easy to understand some (what I thought were) difficult concepts. The book gives you the power to make your own decisions because you now understand the concepts behind the decision. A "must read" especially for people in their twenties and thirties who have many financial decisions ahead of them. This book is witty and informative on some of life's biggest decisions.