From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Quinn's latest guide to personal finance covers the usual terrain: budgeting, consumer debt, mortgages, college funds and investments. However, not every financial writer is blessed with Quinn's charm-a blend of Pollyanna and Mary Poppins with a snappy wit thrown in-and her sensible approach to streamlining one's financial life make this a stellar entry in the genre. Quinn's most useful observation is that people seldom spend money they can't lay their hands on. Hence, she advocates the use of automated account debits to "disappear" paycheck earnings into savings. Credit card debt is dispatched with admirable simplicity: request lower rates from lenders, switch to a cheaper card, or convert credit card to mortgage loan debt. While such solutions aren't foolproof, Quinn explains the caveats of such methods. Some of the more confusing, recent mutations in home mortgages-Option and FlexPay Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs)-are explained and wisely cautioned against, though Quinn could easily be more emphatic in her warnings. She also addresses the topic of college tuition with a sensible bargain-hunter approach: despite the prestige of the Ivy League, many state or small private colleges offer equivalent or superior educations for considerably less money. Quinn's anecdotes about her own monetary struggles add credibility to her advice and uphold her well-deserved reputation as a source of sound financial guidance.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
No newcomer to the personal financial world, Quinn is best at conveying the simple rules of success--under many different guises, like Jordan E. Goodman's Everyone's Money Book (1993). Here, the emphasis is on streamlining financial plans and actions in today's no-time-for--anything environment. The answers? One: use automatic payments for money obligations, such as the employer retirement plan, college funds, and mortgages. Two: investigate all the insurances, and understand necessities versus nice-to-haves. Three: rely on diversified mutual funds (and continue rebalancing your portfolio) for retirement savings. Four: ensure you've compiled checklists for your critical information and know where to find your files. Her best yet? "You can't see the future. If you're saving steadily, that doesn't matter. Only a few things work, and you've found them here." Barbara Jacobs
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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