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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 youβve 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, youβve probably heard some version of these quotes: βWhatβs keeping you from being rich? In most cases, it is simply a lack of belief.β βSUZE ORMAN, The Courage to Be Rich βAre you latte-ing away your financial future?β βDAVID BACH, Smart Women Finish Rich βI know youβre capable of picking winning stocks and holding on to them.β βJIM CRAMER, Mad Money Theyβre common refrains among personal finance gurus. Thereβs just one problem: those and many simiΒlar 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, weβve taken matters into our own hands, embracing the can-do attitude that if weβre smart enough, we can overcome even daunting financial obstacles. But thatβs 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, pracΒticesβfrom accepting payments from banks and corporations in exchange for promoting certain prodΒucts 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 popularΒized the idea that cutting out lattes and other small expenditures could make us millionaires. But reducΒing 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 setbacksβtwo 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 hanΒdling finances. Financial literacy classes will prevent future ecoΒnomic 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.
 Media BuzzTell Me More - March 5, 2013
CBS This Morning - February 28, 2013
Daily Show with Jon Stewart - February 20, 2013
Diane Rehm Show - NPR - December 17, 2012
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