Personal finance books for newlyweds

Non-investing personal finance issues including insurance, credit, real estate, taxes, employment and legal issues such as trusts and wills.
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CrowTRobot
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Personal finance books for newlyweds

Post by CrowTRobot »

My daughter recently got married (to a good guy...whew!). For Christmas, I'd like to get them a book or two on personal finance. For her 18th birthday (she's now 26) I got her 'Personal Finance for Dummies' and 'Bogleheads Guide to Investing', in addition to $1000 to open a Roth IRA. She's been pretty good about applying the info from those two books. I'd just like some ideas from you guys about what might be good additions. I'm considering Dave Ramsey's 'Total Money Makeover'...any thoughts/ideas are greatly appreciated.
livesoft
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Re: Personal finance books for newlyweds

Post by livesoft »

Perhaps a tome such as Jane Bryant Quinn's "Making the Most of Your Money" would be good? It would be a good reference book for insurance, savings, wills, loans, credit cards, etc, etc.

Unless they were horribly in debt, clueless, and needed an intervention, I would avoid Ramsey.
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Topic Author
CrowTRobot
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Re: Personal finance books for newlyweds

Post by CrowTRobot »

livesoft,
Thank you for the suggestion. No, they're not in debt, clueless, or in need of an intervention; I just want to do all I can to help them avoid those situations.
donall
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Re: Personal finance books for newlyweds

Post by donall »

"Perhaps a tome such as Jane Bryant Quinn's "Making the Most of Your Money" would be good? It would be a good reference book for insurance, savings, wills, loans, credit cards, etc, etc."

We bought this for both our kids, as it is an all around good book for almost any situation you may find in personal finance. It's easy to read also. One has used the book as a reference, while the other has it in the bathroom for reading material.
Last edited by donall on Sat Dec 08, 2012 5:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
rec7
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Re: Personal finance books for newlyweds

Post by rec7 »

CrowTRobot wrote:My daughter recently got married (to a good guy...whew!). For Christmas, I'd like to get them a book or two on personal finance. For her 18th birthday (she's now 26) I got her 'Personal Finance for Dummies' and 'Bogleheads Guide to Investing', in addition to $1000 to open a Roth IRA. She's been pretty good about applying the info from those two books. I'd just like some ideas from you guys about what might be good additions. I'm considering Dave Ramsey's 'Total Money Makeover'...any thoughts/ideas are greatly appreciated.
Dave Ramsey is a good idea. I think this one would be great too http://www.amazon.com/Stop-Acting-Rich- ... 1118011570
DaveS
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Re: Personal finance books for newlyweds

Post by DaveS »

The Bogleheads Guide to Retirement was intended as a book to give to young people to be a guide to forming a life plan for finances. Amazon B @ N they all have it. Dave
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Toons
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Re: Personal finance books for newlyweds

Post by Toons »

"The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need"-Andrew Tobias

I posted the Amazon link below as you are able to "look inside" the book.
I never purchased it as it is usually available at most libraries,but it I have read and
re-read it several times.Timeless common sense advice. :happy :happy

http://www.amazon.com/Only-Investment-G ... rds=tobias
"One does not accumulate but eliminate. It is not daily increase but daily decrease. The height of cultivation always runs to simplicity" –Bruce Lee
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CrowTRobot
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Re: Personal finance books for newlyweds

Post by CrowTRobot »

DaveS wrote:The Bogleheads Guide to Retirement was intended as a book to give to young people to be a guide to forming a life plan for finances. Amazon B @ N they all have it. Dave
I actually have that book and never even thought of it as a gift until now.

And I appreciate everyone's suggestions.
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nedsaid
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Re: Personal finance books for newlyweds

Post by nedsaid »

Some of the best financial advice can come from savvy parents.

From my parents, I learned some really excellent financial lessons that have served me well.

1) Establishing and maintaining an excellent credit rating is vital. My dad co-signed with me on my first Visa card and after a year was able to get one on my own. Excellent credit gets you better rates on car loans, mortgages, etc.

2) Don't waste your money on whole life insurance. Buy term.

3) Be conservative in your spending.

4) Have money in the bank.

5) Don't overspend on cars. Having to have a new car every three years really puts a dent in your finances. Either buy a used car and save on the depreciation or buy new and keep it for a long time.

6) Have some type of investment. My folks always had a real estate investment. In later years, my mom prudently invested for retirement.

The best financial book is a good example from mom and dad.

I recommend the Boglehead's Guide to Investing and Guide to Retirement Planning. The Andrew Tobias book, "The Only Investment Guide You Will Ever Need" is also good.

Dave Ramsey is good. I don't get the radical no debt philosophy and I think his investment advice is weak. He is best for people head over heels in debt that need an intervention. He is very strong on debt reduction and budgeting. Most of his advice is really good. I think that having good credit is vital in today's economy and credit cards are essential particularly if you travel. It is the misuse of credit cards and credit in general that gets people in trouble. If your daughter and son-in-law are financially savvy, skip Dave Ramsey.

James Stowers, the founder of American Century Investments has written books on investment and personal finance that do a good job explaining the basics of personal finance and investing. He of course won't promote index funds but his books are good primers. They are illustrated with humorous cartoons. Yes You Can Achieve Financial Independence is really good. Reach Your Goals and Achieve Your Dreams is also a good book. There is also Find More Meaning in Life. There is also a free newsletter that is available. http://www.yesyoucanonline.info/Index.htm There is the link for those materials.

The Smart Book on Investing by Daniel Solin is also good. Brief and to the point. Very Bogleheaded in investment philosophy.
A fool and his money are good for business.
bigfun
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Re: Personal finance books for newlyweds

Post by bigfun »

http://www.amazon.com/All-Your-Worth-Ul ... 0743269888

My first post here for this important topic. From 2006, All Your Worth by Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi. Very practical advice I wish I'd gotten in my 20s. The basic concept is expenses broken into 50% needs, 30% wants and 20% saving. Despite good lessons from my parents, I didn't really grasp the importance of living on 50% of income until reading this, and it would be helpful for folks of all ages.
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Lacrocious
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Re: Personal finance books for newlyweds

Post by Lacrocious »

livesoft wrote:Perhaps a tome such as Jane Bryant Quinn's "Making the Most of Your Money" would be good? It would be a good reference book for insurance, savings, wills, loans, credit cards, etc, etc....
20+ years ago we bought that book and it was a great assistance! Highly recommended!
- L
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CrowTRobot
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Re: Personal finance books for newlyweds

Post by CrowTRobot »

Thanks to everyone who replied with recommendations; it was greatly appreciated. I went with "The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need" by Andrew Tobias and "The Smart Book on Investing" by Daniel Solin. Actually, they were the only two recommended books I could find at our local Barnes & Noble (She lives out of town and I wanted to get everything in the mail today). However, her birthday is a couple of months away so I'll be adding to her library then.

Again, thank you all.......and I'm still open for suggestions...
rec7
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Re: Personal finance books for newlyweds

Post by rec7 »

Some of the books are about retirement I read them when I was working they help you change your mindset. A person can pick up some good ideas out of each of these books. Many of these book are cheap used on the net. Here is the list of the books I liked best

The Millionaire in You

The Wall Street Journal Guide to Planning Your Financial Future

The Wealthy Barber

Richest man in Babylon

Stop Acting Rich: ...And Start Living Like A Real
Millionaire by thomas stanley

The Millionaire Next Door

Consumer Reports Money Book

Rich Dad Poor Dad

Living rich by spending smart

Live well on less than you think

Retire on less than you think

Rags To Retirement

The Four Pillars of Investing

The Wall Street Journal complete home owner's guidebook : make the most of your biggest asset in any market

The Little Book of Common Sense Investing

The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing

The Wall Street Journal complete retirement guidebook : how to plan it, live it and enjoy it

The Richest Man in Babylon

The automatic millionaire : a powerful one-step plan to live and finish rich

the Armchair Millionaire

The Coffeehouse Investor

Rags To Retirement

How to retire early and live well on less than a million dollar

Cashing in on the American dream : how to retire at 35
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JupiterJones
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Re: Personal finance books for newlyweds

Post by JupiterJones »

CrowTRobot wrote: For her 18th birthday (she's now 26) I got her 'Personal Finance for Dummies' and 'Bogleheads Guide to Investing'
Funny, when I read the title of this thread, but before I read your post, I was thinking of those two exact books!

Well, you've already bought your books, but I will chime in to agree with those that said the Dave Ramsey book is not really necessary. I use a lot of his advice, but I also ignore a lot of it too. He has very strong opinions on how married couples should handle their finances and he brooks no dissent. So I wouldn't give newlyweds a copy of the book without taking a marker to it and making my own annotations. Maybe entirely tearing out the pages on investing. 8-)

JJ
"Stay on target! Stay on target!"
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