By: Farnoosh Torabi
As a personal finance blogger, I read a lot of books on personal finance. These books range from the simplified budgeting and saving books to more complex books (like Early Retirement Extreme, which I’m reading now). In all honesty, Psych yourself rich lands somewhere in the middle. Parts of the book are over-simplified. Other parts seem to make things more complex than they should be.
One of the biggest things that I had against the book was that it wasn’t written for me. What does that mean? Well, the book was written for the younger folks out there. The 20-somethings that are struggling with their careers, relationships, and money. I’m a 30-something (just barely, though) that is pretty secure where I work, married, and have a pretty good grasp on my money despite my money being a bit unruly at times. Many of the topics just didn’t apply directly. I certainly could take the general lesson involved and it could apply, but at the surface, it isn’t the same. Also, it’s more of a primer. It doesn’t go in depth on a lot of the topics, choosing to cover more topics, but shallowly.
The one thing that I really enjoyed about this book. Yes, enjoyed is the right word. Even for as strange as it may seem to use that word with a non-fiction finance book. I’m a sucker for the psychology of things. The why we do what we do. Torabi did an excellent job of exploring the psychology behind many of the financial moves that we make. Speaking from experience, she wrote extensively on the psychology of the layoff. I, personally, have never experienced a layoff. I’ve been lucky. I know there are plenty who have in the last few years especially. More important than the psychological effect of the layoff, she takes on the attitude you need to take once you’ve been laid-off in order to quickly recover and gain your feet again.
The psychology aside, this is an excellent book for a beginner in personal finance. Someone who finds themselves deeply in debt, or facing repayment issues based on a layoff. It’s also aimed at those (like me) who like to know why they are doing something, or why they are feeling the way they are about their finances. The book is well written, with some very nice asides that give it a personal touch.