Customer Reviews

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Personal Finance in Your 20s & 30's

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book covers EVERYTHING from saving money, moving out on your own vs. staying home, budgets, taxes, debt, your credit, insurance, buying vs. leasing a car, renting vs. buying a home, investing from 401k's, mutual funds, IRA's, CD's, marriage, and buying a house. As a 22 year old, out of college about 2 years and on my own just as long who knew very little about any of this, I found this book to be WONDERFUL and very useful. It really walks you through all of the important milestones that you will have in your 20's and 30's. It is actually one of the best books I have ever read and all my friends are impressed with my new Financial knowledge. After reading it I feel I really have a game plan for all the hurtles that I have not yet passed. I do have to stress that it is just for beginners and people who pay little to no attention to their finances past this month. OUTSTANDING BOOK! LOVED IT!

Okay, I am not an idiot by most standards. I do have a Master's Degree and certificates telling me honor societies let me join them. However, despite all my specialized studies, I learned very little about finances, investments, and economics. Since I try not to discuss things I know little about, at parties I avoided these topics. However, party-talk aside, the major benefit to knowing about finance is that it can help you plan you and your family's future.

Fisher and Shelly have compiled a very easy to read and direct book. I am a beginner, and felt as if I grasped most of what I read. Some of the material was even basic for me. They discuss bank accounts (compound or simple interest?), credit (annual fee or not?), personal budgets (do you need that $.70 Coke out of the machine everyday?), investments (CD here is not compact disc!), Housing, and much more. They cover every important aspect of personal finance for younger people approaching middle age. They make use of some quizzes so you can evaluate your financial know-how. The book will even pay for itself if you follow the 40 ways to save 10 dollars a week section. I have used many of their tips already. I recently (finally) got a credit card in order to establish my credit, but was sure to shop around using the web pages they provided.

Overall, this is not an advanced book, but it does cover the basic points. Some points might seem very simple and commonsense, but many of us have not had any education in financial matters. If you are in your 20s and 30s and feel like you have no financial guidelines or knowledge (as I did), this book should get you started in the right direction.

I think this is the absolute best book out there for members of generation X. The ideas are presented in a clear and easy to understand way. I have purchased three copies of this book and keep loaning it out to friends. I have read many others including Personal Finance for Dummies, Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting Rich, and Investing for Dummies, but this is the best by far. If you are looking for a personal finance book and are under age 40, try this one.

The book is great - I would recommend it to anyone looking to create a budget and be more cognizant of their spending habits, etc. The only problem I had with it was that it seemed to presume that the reader has already graduated college, and has student loans to pay off. My situation is different in that I am still IN college (as an older student). I'm trying to learn how to incorporate rent and daily expenses along with the specific financial issues that college students find themselves faced with. It would have been helpful to see some really specific advice regarding things like grocery shopping, deciding whether one should stick to a cell phone or add a land line, as well, or maybe some financial aid resources.

That aside, I don't regret purchasing the book, and I've gotten a lot out of it in spite of its lack of info that would have been more useful to me.

As a member of Gen-X with absolutely no personal financial management skills, I was delighted to find this book. Despite being a reasonably intelligent person, I didn't know how to budget or balance my checkbook, much less tell the difference between an IRA and a mutual fund. Personal Finance turned out to be an invaluable resource. It explains things clearly and concisely, and has information from the most basic topics (like budgeting) to purchasing homes and building retirement funds. I'd be lost and much worse off financially without this book.

However, there is one fundamental flaw: while the book's target market are those in their 20's and 30's, oftentimes the book comes across as meant for a much younger audience, and manages to be extraordinarily condescending and trite as a result. Especially in the beginning chapters, the tone often slips from being impartially informative to a desperate and misplaced effort to be "cool." Fisher and Shelly would have done much better to leave the outdated jargon and simplistic metaphors out.

Overall, this book is a valuable resource for the financially incompetent. It takes a little to get past the juvenile references, but once you do, it proves to be a great starting point for learning how to manage your money.

Fisher and Shelly have written a great guide to personal finance, covering bank accounts (and how not all banks are the same), credit cards, renting a home, getting a car, savings, budgets, savings, investments, taxes, insurace, retirement, financial advisors, and buying a home. While it talks about a lot, the authors consistently try to use simple and easy-to-understand examples and lots of examples.

Some of the topics I felt didn't relate to me at this time (e.g. buying a house), so I either skimmed them or skipped them. What's great about this book is that you can just pick and choose what you want to know about. I recommend the chapters on bugeting, investments, savings, and credit cards. Some of the chapters overwhelmed me (e.g. those on investments and mortgages) but I did learn the basics. And if I forgot what some things were, I could easily look at the glossary or skim through the chapter again.

The book also includes useful websites, books, magazines, and periodicals.

The main point that Fisher and Shelly focus on is that it is never too late (or too early) to learn about personal finance and that while you should live your life, you should also worry about the future. They don't tell you what to do and try to give the pros and cons for different options (e.g. of mutual funds, stocks, and bonds).

You should definitely read this book... Let it be the start of your journey to a better financial future, but not the end.

I bought this book and The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke. Skip this one and get Suze Orman's book instead. Both books are for people in their 20's or 30's, but Suze Orman's book covers much more material and many more options. The Idiot's Guide tells the same old story: budget, budget, budget, and is very light on details.

I found this book very informative. There were some terms that are out of date due it being published before the recession, but that was expected. I wish I had read it five years ago!

Who knew a book would have the gall to label someone a complete idiot? Apparently, I didn't care, because I ended up buying this book this year.

It's no secret to myself or others that I'm well within the "20's and 30's" range. Some of the chapters are no-brainers: savings, homebuying, budgets. There are interesting tips and details that would probably prove to be sobering to someone just joining the human race (from ages 18 and up, folks). But, I still flip through it sometimes to remind myself of the goals I have to put in place.

I think I'll probably return to this book once a year, to keep the details fresh.

Like all "Idiot" books I have read, this one has excellent organization. Technical jargon is kept to a minimum, and the conversational writing style moves along at a good pace. The level of user-friendliness makes the information instantly accessible and useful to young people who are concerned about their financial futures. The strategies are indeed suited to the age group in the title - 20s and 30s - because the strategies outlined are quite conservative. These will have limited use for people in their 40s or 50s who have suffered a devastating financial loss (such as foreclosure and bankruptcy)and are having to start over building for retirement. This book is just what it says. It provides a wealth of simple but crucial information, all for about the price of a movie ticket, with extra large popcorn and soda. Thumbs up!