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Exposing the Dark Side of the Personal Finance Industry
Penguin
January 2013
On Sale: December 27, 2012
304 pages
ISBN: 1591844894
EAN: 9781591844891
Kindle: B006CUDCUM
Hardcover / e-Book
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Non-Fiction
If you’ve ever bought a personal finance book, watched a TV
show about stock picking, listened to a radio show about
getting out of debt, or attended a seminar to help you plan
for your retirement, you’ve probably heard some version of
these quotes:
“What’s keeping you from being rich? In most cases, it is
simply a lack of belief.” —SUZE ORMAN, The Courage to Be
Rich “Are you latte-ing away your financial future?” —DAVID BACH,
Smart Women Finish Rich “I know you’re capable of picking winning stocks and holding
on to them.” —JIM CRAMER, Mad Money
They’re common refrains among personal finance gurus.
There’s just one problem: those and many similar statements
are false.
For the past few decades, Americans have spent billions of
dollars on personal finance products. As salaries have
stagnated and companies have cut back on benefits, we’ve
taken matters into our own hands, embracing the can-do
attitude that if we’re smart enough, we can overcome even
daunting financial obstacles. But that’s not true.
In this meticulously reported and shocking book, journalist
and former financial columnist Helaine Olen goes behind the
curtain of the personal finance industry to expose the
myths, contradictions, and outright lies it has perpetuated.
She shows how an industry that started as a response to the
Great Depression morphed into a behemoth that thrives by
selling us products and services that offer little if any
help.
Olen calls out some of the biggest names in the business,
revealing how even the most respected gurus have engaged in
dubious, even deceitful, practices—from accepting payments
from banks and corporations in exchange for promoting
certain products to blaming the victims of economic
catastrophe for their own financial misfortune. Pound
Foolish also disproves many myths about spending and saving,
including: Small pleasures can bankrupt you: Gurus popularized
the idea that cutting out lattes and other small
expenditures could make us millionaires. But reducing our
caffeine consumption will not offset our biggest expenses:
housing, education, health care, and retirement. Disciplined investing will make you rich: Gurus also
love to show how steady investing can turn modest savings
into a huge nest egg at retirement. But these calculations
assume a healthy market and a lifetime without any
setbacks—two conditions that have no connection to the real
world. Women need extra help managing money: Product pushers
often target women, whose alleged financial ignorance
supposedly leaves them especially at risk. In reality, women
and men are both terrible at handling finances. Financial literacy classes will prevent future economic
crises: Experts like to claim mandatory sessions on
personal finance in school will cure many of our money ills.
Not only is there little evidence this is true, the entire
movement is largely funded and promoted by the financial
services sector.
No awards found for this book.
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