No BS Finance

One of the good things about being laid up for a few days was having the time to finally read the copy of Jane Bryant Quinn’s Smart and Simple Financial Strategies for Busy People I won a while ago at Free Money Finance.

I knew of Ms. Quinn, but had never read anything of hers previously. I was impressed and enjoyed the book - not so much because it taught me much new, but because it was a validation of my strategies. Keep it simple, save as much as you can (not as much as you think you can), and start early.

I don’t share her enthusiasm at using your bank for online bill-paying. My preference is to pay online or be auto-charged directly. I refuse to pay a fee for bill-pay and every bank I’ve seriously considered over the past few years charges for the privilege. I mail out less than 5 checks each month, so the postage savings isn’t even there. If that’s the worst thing I have to say about the book…

Her endorsement of 529 plans for college saving and index funds for investments already line up nicely with my style. Her choice of index funds, especially outside of stocks, interests me and I will look into her favorites to see if they have a place in my portfolio. Her mortgage recommendation - stay with a simple fixed-term or ARM instead of interest-only or weird, complicated loans - is right on the money.

Overall, this is an excellent book. 4 out of 4 stars.

I received a complimentary copy of Joe Hanson’s Good Debt, Bad Debt. Overall it’s got its heart in the right place, but I can’t make an enthusiastic recommendation to buy. That being said, it’s a quick read that would be helpful for someone still undecided about their ability to save meanigfully for the future. Hanson gives a quite thorough explanation of the poor planning and habits he was surrounded by from birth and covers all of his poor decisions as an adult as well. He then explains how he changed and made the effort to increase his savings.

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