Customer Reviews

Talking Dollars and Making Sense: A Wealth Building Guide for African-Americans

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4 star:		(1)
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I was elated to read a financial book by a saavy African American female who knows her stuff. This is a book I would recommend to everyone,especially those of of us in the Black community. We need to hear this message, that offers us a provocative look at our hangups with money, spending habits, etc. It provides a rich historical background along with the necessary steps to build wealth. The focus is on changing the mindset of our community from income to wealth. It is written for laymen and is easy to grasp. There is no reason for us to remain ignorant about money when we have the kind of sensible knowledge that Ms. Brooke Stephens has given us in this exceptional book.

I have purchased several financial advice books in the past year to get on the road to financial success, especially the books by author Suze Orman, who is an excellent author. But this book tackles the same issues with an African-American perspective that is very beneficial. Ms. Stephens really gets to the "real reasons" why collectively, African-Americans do not have the financial security and the clout that we should have in this country. My grandparents who have always been ardent investors always said the old saying "Black people put their money on their back, whereas other races put it in the bank." I am so glad that the author addressed this phenomena that is so prevalent in our community. We all know people in our community who have this problem..for example, when I attended Howard University, I knew numerous students that could barely get financial aid for school but they would work three jobs to pay for a leather coat and a Gucci bag, but the international students who were strapped for cash would work three jobs to pay for SCHOOL. This book should be required reading for all children and their parents!!!!!

I read this book about three years ago when I was deeply in debt always borrowing from one credit card to pay another credit card. After reading this book I stopped making Tommy Hilfiger, Perry Ellis and Ralph Lauren so rich and started paying myself and it has paid off in ways I could not imagine. I don't have ten credit cards anymore and I don't bounce checks anymore either, but instead I am reading Black Enterprise and the Wall Street Journal looking for the best investment opportunities.

PRIOR TO READING BROOKE'S BOOK I DID NOT HAVE AN IDEA ABOUT INVESTING MY MONEY WISELY. NOW I SEE RESULTS WITH MY MONEY AND MY SPENDING.

This book should be read by every african-american. While I was reading I thought she was talking about me. We seem to spend more money on unnecessary things and worry and complain about how we are going to pay those high interest credit cards. I now look at life and living a whole lot different. I have passed the book on to other family members in hopes that it changes their lives like it has changed mine.

While Earl Graves serves as a mentor for business, Brooke Stephens explains how to be financially responsible and smart. Her style is straight forward and easy to follow. I especially like her use of examples from African American history to drive home the importance of her lessons.

This is a must-read book for the entire family! It addresses attitudes, history lessons, and a wealth of information on why African-Americans MUST do better at managing and saving money in order to build wealth. It also includes the nuts and bolts on HOW to achieve building financial wealth.

This is a great book for african-americans. She develop ways for people to save money and she breaks it down on how to start investing your money.

Talking Dollars, and Making Sense is a very enlightning book. It covers all aspects of finance and how to save money. Brook Stephens does her homework and uncovers the history of how slaves struggled to build wealth with the many obstacles they faced. I learned lots of tips on how to get my own financial house clean, and I am glad I invested my time to read Talking Dollars, and Making Sense. It was truly a wake up call to start to pay myself first. Anyone thinking about reading it should pick it up as soon as possible! It will save your financial life!!

The history and research on black economic development was great. I also found it such a comfortable and easy book to follow in reading the financial, investment concepts. This is now my Bible about money!