Customer Reviews

Prince Charming Isn't Coming: How Women Get Smart About Money

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Balancing my checkbook makes me crabby. The
word "investment" gives me cramps. Fortunately,
*Prince Charming Isn't Coming* is the perfect
panacea for women who suffer from financial
phobia and monetary pain.

Barbara Stanny's book is worth reading! Her
advice is grounded in experience, which makes
it valuable. She shares how her own fiscal
disaster led to her financial self-education.
Now she is educating others.

Financial wisdom is an essential goal for all
women, insists Stanny. She identifies "The
Seven Realizations of Financial Enlightenment,"
priceless insights that serve as the basis for
her motivational money guide. The book
includes sound investment advice, great
resources and fundamental reasons for why
we should take charge of our financial situation.

Before reading *Prince Charming Isn't Coming,*
the only stock market I shopped was a local
grocery store. Halfway through the book, I
was perusing Wall Street Journals, browsing
the web for investment sites, and correctly
distinguishing between Peter and David Lynch.

"When a woman...makes financial decisions
based on who she is, not on what she should
do, and when she acts firmly and confidently
on those decisions, then she becomes a very
powerful woman," Stanny writes.

Power,eh? I like that.

*Prince Charming Isn't Coming* is more than a
financial fairytale, but it has a happy ending.

I found Barbara Stanny through David Bach's (*The Automatic Millionaire*) recommended reading list, and I'm pretty sure her books are changing my life. Ignore the whiners who complain "There's not enough investment advice in this book!" because that's not what *Prince Charming Isn't Coming* is about--and it's not at all what it *claims* to be about. It's about realizing that YOU, and only YOU, are in charge of your financial life, and that controlling your money and owning your future is actually much easier, more gratifying and less trouble than NOT enriching your life and understanding your money. Barbara Stanny is like an Abraham Lincoln for women--she sets us free. Her communication style is impeccable, and I want to give a copy of her--okay, her books--to everyone I know. HIGHLY recommended.

I have had this book for two hours. My husband has been trying to get me to take over the chequebook and I have been sticking my head in the sand-- knowing how much we need and what is going out and coming in has been depressing. I read Barbara's first chapter and asked for all the information on our finances which he gladly gave to me. I will be up all night sorting this mess out and instead of feeling safe in my ignorance, I feel a huge burden lifting as I am becoming informed as I begin to untangle things.

Barbara's most valuable degree is the one that she got from her gilded life and then being forced into the University of Hard Knocks. She is forthright and direct in her writing approach and shows how anyone can suffer from ignorance and benefit by finding out about things that directly affect them-- and to never trust lawyer ex husbands!

I am so thankful that I bought this wonderful book and for her exposing the emotional side that I wasn't aware that I was dealing with in confronting monetary issues. Thank you, thank you Ms Stanny!

I'm not sure how she did it, but by the time I finished reading *Prince Charming Isn't Coming*, I was inspired to pull my head out of the sand and start paying attention to my money. There was no "a-ha!" moment, nor did any lightbulbs go off over my head, but I now feel more confident about investing and have started reading financial magazines. Joan Rivers points out that others may be smarter about money than you, but no one will care more about your money than YOU will. That stuck with me. This is definitely a book for beginners, but Barbara has a list of suggested reading, as well as some organizations worth looking into at the end of the book. I highly recommend this book to any woman who has always let her husband (or some other man) take care of the finances for her. If the women profiled in the book can become successful investors, so can you!

I bought this book thinking that it would offer tips and strategies pertaining to how to begin investing, planning for future and retirement, or even just how to better understand financial jargon. It offered none of the above.

The book details (repeatedly) how women grow up thinking some man is going to come along and take care of them. Sure, I get that. The book is, after all, called "Prince Charming Isn't Coming". Ok, so I get it in chapter one. Why then is the author still going on about societal brainwash and female dependancy halfway through the book? We, the readers, are still stuck on the same lesson started on page one! I found that frustrating and condescending.

Instead of educating the reader about IPOs, Stock Mutual Funds, IRAs, or even general budgeting techniques, the reader is dragged through murky and irrelevant topics such as the psychological stages of learning: Unconscious Incompetence, Conscious Competence, Unconscious Competence, and Conscious Competence. Hmm... thought this was a book on money, not psychology!

Perhaps most infuriating is the assumption that the reader, a woman, will not be able to comprehend anything that a financial pro might say to her. For example, this charming passage insinuates that even the author, daughter of one of the founders of H&R Block and the 'guide' who is leading us through this 'journey' needs to have it 'dumbed-down'.

"Sometimes when I met with financial professionals, I brought my statement along. 'This is a very conservative portfolio,' they would say. I had no idea what that meant. They would patiently explain everything, but their words, like rising steam from a boiling kettle, floated right over my head."

The only saving grace of this book, in my opinion, is the Resource Guide in the back of the book, where the author tells you where you can find information that will actually be useful.

I strongly recommend against this book if you're looking for solid information and trying to learn about the world of financial planning and investing.

I ordered this book a year ago, then took about six months to get around to reading it. Wow - just proves her point that money wasn't a subject I felt comfortable even thinking about, and now I wish I'd read it sooner. This book has absolutely changed my way of thinking and, thank heavens, my life. After two failed engagements, I found myself in a financial morass I thought I'd never escape. This book helped me feel less stupid, more empowered, and very rah-rah-get-going. It helped me understand my thinking well enough to begin to change it, and by understanding I don't mean realizing I was making mistakes, but the reasons WHY I was making them. I now recommend this book to every single woman I know (single or otherwise), refuse to lend my own copy (I re-read bits each week) and am working my way towards a balanced investment portfolio. BTW, my prince has come along and he thinks it's sexy that I am financially independent -- I wouldn't have been so attractive if I were the 'old' financial me.

"Prince Charming Isn't Coming", is captivating. Stanny's personal experiences are engaging, and her "Seven Realizations of Financial Enlightenment" is a process that all women should go through and learn from. What I really liked about this book is that it gives the reader a resource guide at the end. A list of sources that one could use to continue the journey of taking control of one's finances.

I expected this book to have more information. I expected to learn more about finances. The entire first half of the book is just a pep talk, saying that women need to learn more about money (I know I need to learn more about money; that's why I bought a book I thought would teach me something). The second half finally offers some useful advice, but still the short of it is: Do Research! (I know I should do research; that's why I'm reading books). There are a few notable pointers here and there, but you really have to dig. They are so in the middle of pep talk and testimonials about feelings that they could be easy to gloss over.

This book should be made required reading for high school. I wish I had known all this information years ago.

Although the book is written for women, don't assume men can't benefit from it.

Thank you Barbara Stanny.

This has been an excellent reading experience for me. I have gained valuable insight into the world of managing money. Barbara has written the book such that anyone regardless of income or knowledge level can benefit and grow. I feel so much better knowing that I am not the only women out there with fears about money management and investing. I truly appreciate the reference section and the suggested reading. I have recommended this book to all my friends and family. My future is looking so much brighter now thanks to the information presented in this book. I feel empowered!

Thanks Barbara!