Introduction
I actually like this book because most of the stuff in this book I already knew and it was a good revision to get to know that whatever I knew till that point was nearly correct. The book covers a lot of basic personal finance concepts one needs to understand. This is a very simple book. Anyone can read it and get to know about the personal finance concepts. There is no prerequisite to read this book. It’s beginner friendly with no complex jargons and phrases. The author maintains a friendly tone and a humorous way of putting stuff.
Lets get into the book
Let’s talk about what the book talks about. The book talks about how to maintain your money, how to create your emergency fund, how to buy insurance, how to invest and how to think about investing, retirement, etc.
Let’s talk about the money box which is one of the first things the author talks about. She says that one should have three bank accounts for effective money management. One is the Income account where you receive all your income, next one is the Spend It account where you spend your money from for expenses, and the last one the Invest It account which is where you will put money for investing. The author doesn’t like when you take money from the last bank account.
She talks about the importance of emergency funds, how important is health insurance and why it is not enough to have just your workplace provided insurance, she talks about investing where she talks about which investment vehicle is best for today’s investors with considering not only returns but also risks, liquidity, and costs.
Anyone who is interested in learning more about personal finances, investing in mutual funds, this book is a beginner friendly choice.
The author also explains the basic concepts with enough and simple examples. For example, she explains the concept of equity with a biryani business and it was entertaining and informative to listen to.
She talks about why thinking about investments only in terms of returns is harmful and why we should think about other attributes when it comes to investing.
She talks about Mutual funds as her preferred investment vehicle because of the safety and regulations towards mutual funds and how it has a product for every need. It was refreshing to know about mutual funds because we think about real estate and gold whenever we think about investing and she really breaks down the costs, maintenance, headaches, taxes of different asset classes.
Finally, she clubs everything and puts it in a money box, where all your money related work is sorted and you’re free to live your life.
She beautifully explains how important it is to have life insurance in place as a protection for the family after one’s death. She talks about the mutual funds industry and SEBI’s tighter and tighter regulations around the interest of investors investing in mutual funds.
Conclusion
Overall, it’s an easy book to read and you can finish it fast within 2 days.
I recommend this book to anyone who is new to finance, investing, insurance, etc to purchase and have a read to know about personal finances.