How to Ruin Your Financial Life [Hardcover]

Ben Stein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2004

Anyone can write a book about how to get rich. The bookstores are full of them. They rarely work, though, which isn’t surprising since the people who write them rarely know much about money.

But it takes Ben Stein, economist, finance expert for Barron’s, commentator on finance for Fox News, and (fairly) successful investor to write a book called How to Ruin Your Financial Life. Written with the same tongue-in-cheek cheekiness as his bestselling How to Ruin Your Life, this book is a humorous road map showing you how to make something useful of the money that comes in and out of your life. Follow the rules—in reverse gear—and you’re bound to be a lot better off than you are now. Follow the rules as they’re written—and you’re highly likely to wind up in bankruptcy court—as millions do every decade.

Here are some of the rules, just to whet your appetite: Collect as Many Credit Cards as You Can and Use Them Frequently; Compete with Your Friends to See Who Can Own the Most Expensive and High-Status Possessions; Know in Your Gut That Only Suckers Work Hard for Money and That Smarties Like You Only Have to Find an Angle; Remember That Retirement Is a L-ooo-nnn-g Way Off, and Don’t Even Think about It Right Now; Bear in Mind That Only "Little People" Pay Their Bills or Taxes; Don’t Bother to Own Your Own Home Because Home Ownership Is a Hassle...and many more.

This book is a laugh-out-loud way to educate yourself, your children, and your friends about how money really works...and a way to smile while you’re straightening out that mess you call your financial life.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ben Stein, a nationally renowned "Renaissance man," was host of the long-running quiz show Win Ben Stein’s Money and is currently a judge on Star Search. He is a former White House speechwriter, Wall Street Journal columnist, trial lawyer, law school professor, scriptwriter, and novelist—and author of several self-help books; including How to Ruin Your Life; ISBN: 1-56170-974-3; and How to Ruin Your Love Life, ISBN: 1-4019-0240-5. He has seen the biggest (Richard Nixon) and the most famous (many Hollywood stars) ruin their lives. He has also seen how some seemingly ordinary people made something great of their lives—by doing the opposite of what he sees as ruinous acts and modes of thought. He resides in Los Angeles, California, with his wife and son.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Hay House (March 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401902413
• ISBN-13: 978-1401902414
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #709,797 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ben Stein (Los Angeles, CA) is a respected economist who is known to many as a movie and television personality, but has worked more in personal and corporate finance than anywhere else. He has written about finance for Barron's, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and Fortune; was one of the chief busters of the junk-bond frauds of the 1980s; has been a longtime critic of corporate executives' self-dealing; and has cowritten eight finance books. Stein travels the country speaking about finance in both serious and humorous ways, and is a regular contributor to CBS's Sunday Morning, CNN, and Fox News. He was the 2009 winner of the Malcolm Forbes Award for Excellence in Financial Journalism.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ben Makes Money Funny, March 30, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: How to Ruin Your Financial Life (Hardcover)

Ben Stein's real point is that financial success in life doesn't require being a genius at handling money -- it's about avoiding the dumb, completely preventable mistakes that we all make sooner or later. If I had read this hilarious book when I was sixteen, I would be far richer today. Read it yourself, and then get copies for your kids. It's everything you wish they knew but won't listen to coming from you. If this means you don't have to bail them out of debt later on, the money you save may end up being your own!

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Book Needed in High School as a Must Read, November 14, 2004

By 

Daniel Hurley (Chesapeake, VA.) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: How to Ruin Your Financial Life (Hardcover)

Considering the impending doom of the American financial situation in years to come, all High School students need to read this book to understand simple economics. One of the biggest complaints about Americans economically is that they don't save. Well Stein's virtually sarcastic way of telling you excactly how to ruin your life financially is amusing and direct such as "don't worry about maxing out your credit cards, you can always get another one and no one will foreclose because people really like you". Written in a way that teenagers will get the message and the humor, direct, short and sweet. This book is within a teenagers attention span, the smart ones will get the message in a few short chapters.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 55 principles to ensure your complete and utter ruin!, May 6, 2005

By 

Craig Matteson (Saline, MI) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: How to Ruin Your Financial Life (Hardcover)

Everyone makes mistakes with their money. We use it for foolish things, we spend too much, don't save enough, make dumb investments, and on and on it goes. Most of the time we try not to think about our mistakes and if we don't learn our lessons we end up making the same kinds of mistakes many times. So, sometimes it is good to get a reminder of all the kinds of mistakes we make and spend some time thinking about what we really should be doing to get our financial house in order.

Ben Stein has written "How To Ruin Your Financial Life" in a gently humorous way that lets us see most clearly the foolishness of the decisions we excuse ourselves in making. By writing the book as 55 financial principles you can follow to ensure complete and utter ruin, it is easier for us to recognize ourselves as having done far too many of these idiotic things. I call them idiotic because you will find yourself saying, "What kind of idiot would do THAT!" and then you will remember that it was you (me). So, the learning will begin and things will get better when you do the opposite of everything in the book.

For those that don't get it, the Afterword sets out the fundamental principles in a positive way.

One of the problems with reading little books is that you can dash through them quickly. Don't! Spend time thinking about each of these principles. Better you should take one a day and really ponder it than try to swallow everything Mr. Stein is offering in one sitting. Getting control of your money is too important to leave to happenstance.

Thanks, Mr. Stein!