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Get a Financial Life
Book

Get a Financial Life

Personal Finance in your Twenties and Thirties

Beth Kobliner
Fireside, 2009
First Edition: 1996
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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Applicable

Recommendation

Books like Beth Kobliner’s have to earn their place on your bookshelf. After all, these days plenty of personal finance advice is available for free on the Internet. That said, this book is a wise investment for early-career professionals who would like advice about getting out of debt. Although its guidance is solid-if-predictable, it is well-researched and straightforwardly written. Kobliner provides an authoritative "further reading" list for those who want to delve deeper into how to get their finances on an even keel. This book does not promise to make you rich overnight, and it doesn’t exactly qualify as a page-turner, but it lends a helping hand. getAbstract recommends it to young people whose financial life is just a bit too exciting.

Summary

Getting Your House in Order

If you can’t save money no matter how hard you try, you have something in common with most people, but you ought to change that as soon as possible. Follow these seven basic laws to put your financial house in order:

  1. Get health insurance – Talking about how to increase your financial security is pointless until you have health insurance, because a single medical problem could bankrupt you. Health insurance must become your highest priority. If your company doesn’t offer it, buy it yourself. You can search online for information and quotes.
  2. Reduce your debt – The best way to start saving is to put every spare penny you have into reducing your high-interest debt. The interest rates on some loans are higher than the return you’d receive from investing the money. Credit-card interest rates are often extremely high. Search the Web for credit card issuers who offer low rates.
  3. Start saving for retirement – The best time to start saving is when you’re young. Interest rates will really start working for you as you get older and accumulate principal. Take advantage of your employer...

About the Author

Beth Kobliner was a staff writer at Money magazine and a contributor to The New York Times. She frequently appears on CNN, MSNBC and other news programs. She began her career researching and writing columns for personal finance guru Sylvia Porter.

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