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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 youโve 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, youโve probably heard some version of these quotes: โWhatโs keeping you from being rich? In most cases, it is simply a lack of belief.โ โSUZE ORMAN, The Courage to Be Rich โAre you latte-ing away your financial future?โ โDAVID BACH, Smart Women Finish Rich โI know youโre capable of picking winning stocks and holding on to them.โ โJIM CRAMER, Mad Money Theyโre common refrains among personal finance gurus. Thereโs just one problem: those and many simiยญlar 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, weโve taken matters into our own hands, embracing the can-do attitude that if weโre smart enough, we can overcome even daunting financial obstacles. But thatโs 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, pracยญticesโfrom accepting payments from banks and corporations in exchange for promoting certain prodยญucts 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 popularยญized the idea that cutting out lattes and other small expenditures could make us millionaires. But reducยญing 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 setbacksโtwo 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 hanยญdling finances. Financial literacy classes will prevent future ecoยญnomic 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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