Customer Reviews

Live Well on Less Than You Think: The New York Times Guide to Achieving Your Financial Freedom

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is one of the best books I've seen on financial management for the average person. It is clear, simple, practical and completely workable. It is relevant to anyone, from the guy starting a first job out of high school to a retiring couple with a good income from a pension plan. It works for the well-off, the middle-class, and the "blue collar" worker.

This is not typical general advice about how to budget and save (zzzzz). This is specific, useful information and advice on the practicalities of credit, debt, home ownership, Social Security, car buying/leasing, education's relationship to career placement and earnings, insurance, banking, and choices in where to live and work to best suit your lifestyle. Some individual chapters are worth the price of the book all by themselves.

Not only does the author tell exact how-tos, but he also teaches how to think about money and managing it.

Another big plus: the author includes many references and URLs for further self-education and self-improvement in financial matters.

I'm buying more copies as gifts for friends and relatives.

This book is a guide to getting your financial house in order for young and middle-aged adults. Brock begins with a chapter on generational attitudes towards money. According to his observations, Baby Boomers tended to be spoiled, so they have had rather irresponsible money habits, running up big debts and not preparing adequately for retirement. Generation X'ers, on the other hand, have a more realistic view on money and jobs, and so they seem to borrow relatively less and save relatively more than the Boomers. Whether or not these stereotypes hold water remains to be seen, and like any stereotypes, there are obviously multitudes of exceptions. Nevertheless, the interviews and statistics that Brock presents in the opening chapter are interesting.

The remainder of the book contains a laundry list of actions people can take in order to maximize their standard of living within the income they usually earn. Brock includes chapters on types of debt, financial implications of choosing where to live, the value of economizing on small purchases, types of insurance policies to carry or avoid, the value of minimizing higher education expenses, the financial advantages of buying used rather than new cars, how to choose credit cards, and how one's fixed expenses may change after retirement. At the end of the book is a short chapter in which Brock works out a hypothetical example of how one couple's standard of living can be increased by following each of the suggestions in the book. There is also a short list of Web resources and an index.

Brock concludes with the simple statements: "Cutting expenses increases income. You can live well on less than you think." While these statements are laudable, Brock's interpretation differs from what you might find in a book about simplicity. In this book, Brock does not push for forgoing income in order to have more time for the important things of life. Instead, he seems to be trying to help people see that perhaps they don't really need as much more income to get by as they think they do. The weakest chapter in the book is the one about how to cut expenses by making better choices on purchases. Brock exemplifies his methods of getting deals by recounting how he managed to get a $350 pair of dress shoes for only $100 on eBay. Yikes! If that's a bargain, he's obviously in a different shopping league than me. Wouldn't it be cheaper to figure out how not to need such shoes, or to cruise some thrift stores if dress shoes are really necessary? On the other hand, the information about choosing which insurance policies to carry is quite clear and useful.

This book would be a great gift for a graduating senior from high school or college, but is of little use to some one who has been managing their personal finances for years. He discusses debt,insurance,education,car payments,credit cards, and retirement.If you understand that you should avoid credit card debt, stay away from car payments, not buy gimmick insurance, and max out your 401K contribution you do not need this book. I suggest "Financial Peace" or "Total Money Makeover" both from Dave Ramesay to really it more in depth and to get your money's worth.

Brock scores anther big hit. The data he provides on salaries versus cost of living around the country are invaluabnle. Required reading for anyone who wants to lower his or her anxiety level about spending and saving. The chapter on how little things add up is especially enlightening, and the chapter on education costs is a real eye opener.

Look, If you have a bachelor's degree and don't know at least 75% of what's in this book, you need to go back to school. Most of this stuff is everyday knowledge to those of us who care about our money. This book is for those who finally woke up one day and said, "I need to start saving but I don't know how". The book basically says, analyze your needs, don't overspend, don't buy a new car (vs used), don't have credit card debt, save b/c you can't count on social security, and live in a lost cost area (Iowa). That's it. I just told you the whole book. Net: If you know nothing, get it, its worth it for $6, but me personally? I wasted my money.

As a younger person (in her late twenties) who is interested in securing her financial future and looking to increase her financial knowledge, I found this book to be lacking in several ways. While many financial books offer similar advice, they often offer new perspectives, Fred Brock seems to just repeat and mirror concepts from other books as well as his previous book. If you have read more than one other volume on financial advice, then you will find yourself a little bored. Much of his advice is common sense and not mindblowingly original. He stresses similar money-saving concepts as the "latte factor" and extends it to apply to soda, lunch, clothes, etc. He stresses the obvious - if you don't consume as much, you save more.

My biggest criticism of the book would be that Brock is too narrow with his advice. That is to say, his thesis that certain areas of the country offer more bang for your buck and will give you a more improved lifestyle for the money, all seem to be to be an attempt to justify his own move from an urban area to a rural one. He devotes many charts to displaying how families in San Francisco or New York are worse off than those in less urban areas. While I agree with this in theory, he doesn't take into account the cultural benefits from living in such areas. As someone who has always lived in an urban city, I know of course that my income would stretch farther elsewhere, but for me that does not outweigh an urban lifestyle.

Much of Brock's arguments can be condensed into a smaller volume, most probably an essay. He stretches many of his arguements so that they bleed into each chapter, albeit perhaps to pound in the point to the reader. All that being said, although not completely unhelpful, there are many other books on the market that would be of more help to most Americans than this one. I found this volume to be sadly disappointing and not as helpful as expected from the team of Brock and the NYTimes.

Since I'm a middle Baby Boomer, it was interesting to see the perspective of a few Generation X couples interviewed by the author.

These Generation X couples expected the Baby Boomers to break the Social Security system, so there won't be an Social Security left for them......and therefore they should be more self-reliant than the Boomers. The X'ers also thought retirement should be replaced with having a flexible set of work skills that allow you to work until you are dead. The X's will have a hard time building any significant net worth considering the average college loans are now $20,000 and the X'ers sampled had between $3,000 and $8,000 in credit card debt.

As a Baby Boomer, I am glad to see Generation X people plan to be more self reliant for their financial future.......my generation needs people to buy our stocks when we sell them for retirement living expenses!

I really enjoyed financial planner Deena Katz's recommendation to focus on low cost index funds....since I am a huge fan of Index Funds. Her recommendation for three index funds with 50% invested in the S&P 500, 25% in the Russell 2000, and 25% in foreign stocks is a very reasonable recommendation.

I also enjoyed the portion of the book about salaries and expenses as a function of geography. Choosing where you work or retire to can have a dramatic impact on your living expenses.

The author's opinion is that between this book and his first book, Retire on Less Than You Think....you can easily figure out how to live within your means today.... and you can also learn to live on less than the 70-80% of pre-retirement income that is assumed by Wall Street and the mutual fund industry.

Over-all a great practical guide on how to live within your means through smart planning about college selections, autos, and credit cards.

I would suggest companion books to supplement this book including:
The Richest Man in Babylon
Bogle on Mutual Funds: New Perspectives for the Intelligent Investor
The Millionaire Next Door
The Four Pillars of Investing: Lessons for Building a Winning Portfolio
A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing, Ninth Edition

The Coffeehouse Investor: How to Build Wealth, Ignore Wall Street, and Get On With Your Life
The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing
Wealth: Grow It, Protect It, Spend It, and Share It
All About Asset Allocation.

Reading this book is like eating leftovers. Warmed over finacial basics. The author offers few fresh ideas and certainly nothing that will even mildly improve my life style.
Someone will live better if you buy this book, it just won't be you.

It is not how much you make, but how much you keep at the end of the day. The author states that the easiest way to increase income is to cut expenses. Big corporations do it all the time, but few people are willing to follow this strategy. By spending less, we are freeing ourselves from unnecessary debt and concern about the future.

The author demonstrates to readers some of the ways that they can lower expenses. People should pay attention to the dramatic differences in the costs of living in different cities. Even though salaries are higher in high-cost areas, they almost never increase enough to match the increased living costs. This is especially helpful when looking for a job. People also tend not to pay attention to the little things. They might spend $1 per can of pop and not pay attention to how quickly it adds up. If they went to the grocery store and bought pop in bulk, they would not have to cut on consumption, but they would still save money.

Other topic areas where individuals can save money are insurance, education, cars, and credit cards. It is easy for all of us to read this information and see how it can save us money, but the key is execution. I do recommend this book.

- Mariusz Skonieczny, author of Why Are We So Clueless about the Stock Market? Learn how to invest your money, how to pick stocks, and how to make money in the stock market

Of course, the best reading skill is the use of discernment. Keep the info that resonates/is useful and toss the rest. I was on the right track, but as a baby boomer, did not get on the track soon enough. I read this book one week ago and used some of the advice. I have already seen significant results in cold, hard cash. That says it all.

I am also going to share the reviews with my smoking cessation classes. They are all going to have significant extra money soon.

Thanks, Fred!