The travels and adventures of a girl from the islands.
Just finished reading “Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game” by Michael Lewis. Very interesting blend of baseball, business, and boldness. He lost me during the all-statistics chapters but he did great with the human interest part of the story. Will write a more comprehensive book review once I have the time (when will that be?!).
Now I need to see the movie đ
One of my favorite books of all time is âSmart Women Finish Richâ by David Bach. The book that started Mr. Bachâs âFinish Richâ series, âSmart Women Finish Richâ is a guide to personal finance written especially for women. Consider these facts:
1. In general, women live longer than men.
2. Women are more likely to take breaks in their careers in order to care for family members, be they children or elderly parents.
3. Women still make less money than their male counterparts.
Taking all these things into account, women have to take more steps in order to secure their financial future. This is where âSmart Womenâ comes in.
Prior to reading this book, I thought that I already had a pretty good grasp of my finances. I got my first job, took home my first paycheck, started saving everything I could. I got my first credit card. It was only upon reading âSmart Womenâ that it finally sank in that the things I did NOT know about money far outweighed the things that I did know. I knew inflation was a bad thing but didnât know just how badly it could affect money lying stagnant in a savings account. I knew how the stock market worked but not how to go about making money in it. I didnât know what a mutual fund was. I didnât realize just how important having health insurance was. Through reading âSmart Womenâ, I found out all of these and much more. Most importantly, I found out how to make my money work for me.
âSmart Womenâ is geared towards personal finance newbies, with worksheets to accomplish and easy-to-understand text largely free of jargon. Because it is an introductory text, âSmart Womenâ doesnât contain any âearth-shatteringâ revelations for someone whoâs already well-versed in financial planning. Mr. Bach also makes frequent references to United States law, especially when discussing taxes, retirement accounts, and company benefits, but that doesnât mean that you should skip those sections entirely. In fact, you should read those sections to find out how the US government is helping their citizens save money and prepare for retirement. Makes you wish that the Philippines had similar legislation.
The first thing I did after reading the book was analyze my financial situation and plans for the future. The second thing I did was to consult with a (well-off) friend in the finance sector and pick his brain regarding suitable places to invest in. The third thing I did was to put money away in a mutual fund. Prior to reading âSmart Women Finish Richâ, the future had always seemed to be something off in the distance that wouldnât arrive for many, many years. The future is still a long way away, but that just means that I best start preparing for it now.
