Customer Reviews

Family Finance: The Essential Guide for Parents

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

In Family Finance, Ann Douglas and Elizabeth Lewin have capably collaborated to offer n essential, practical, "reader friendly" instructional manual on all aspects of managing personal finances. Readers will learn how to keep their spending under control, how to start a fund to secure their family's future; how to plan for a child's educational expenses; how to maximize retirement investments; even how to raise money-smart, finance-wise children. The authors draw upon their own extensive experience and expertise in addition to the input and experiences of fifty parents to show even the most novice financial manager how to take control of their money, their credit, their future plans and their present lives.

Family Finance was published in 2001. The provisions of The Tax Relief Act of 2001 did not become effective until 2002. Starting in 2002, qualified tuition programs were made federal tax-free through 2010. The book has a lot of excellent advice that is not affected by changes in tax law. The book is meant to be a guide.

It is important to note when books were published. There are still many excellent financial books sold that predate changes in tax law. Internet users should also be aware of articles they read on many web sites. Many have been written years ago and never updated. Beware of those that have no date at all.

Elizabeth Lewin, Co-author of Family Finance

i haven't finished it yet, but it's a fair book on basics. For me the book was a little too basic; i already knew things like how to pay your mortgage early.
For the price, its a decent primer, but it is also somewhat dated... written in 2000/2001, some of the discussion seems behind.

Save money by sewing your own clothes! Put yourself on a budget! I was shocked at how little info this nearly 300-page book offered (and the number of exclamation points used). I forced myself to read the entire book, thinking that I would learn something -- unfortunately not. This book would only be suitable for someone truly lacking a shred of common sense, and even then I suspect the reader would finish the book without a real sense of where to start when it comes to financial planning for a family (let alone for an individual).

I bought this book strictly for the chapter on college savings advice. Admittedly, I have only read one chapter, but found the information pretty general and presented in a way that often left my questions unanswered.

Even worse, the authors don't have all their facts right. For example, they say that the earnings on college 529 plans are subject to taxation once you start withdrawing from the account. I did a little more research--this is just plain wrong. Until the year 2010, all gains are, in fact, completely sheltered. This is a pretty serious error for a personal finance book to make, especially when your children's education is at stake.

I wish I could comment about the rest of the book, but I don't trust it.