Review: Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes and How to Correct Them By Gary Belsky and Tom Gilovich

This fascinating book by a popular financial journalist and a college professor may not be the newest book on the shelf, and it may not have the most hype, but by far, it is one of the most interesting personal finance books we have ever read. This book goes where not many do – into the human psyche – to determine why we develop certain spending habits, and how to break them before they break us.

The main premise of this book is that even the smartest people, the ones that should know better, really don’t when it comes to money. By taking a look at behavioral studies, the two authors came to the conclusion that some of our spending habits are so ingrained that unless you get to the root of the behavior, you’ll never be able to make much of a difference in your personal finances.

This was an interesting take on a subject that has been beaten to death. Why do we spend so much? Because in many cases, we have trained ourselves to do it. By breaking free of this behavioral cycle, the authors assert that we can start to manage our money more effectively and begin to see real changes in how we look at money, and how we treat it.

Truly a fascinating read that offers some hard hitting advice. Every single chapter contains a wealth of information, from how mental accounting can trip you up, to how overconfidence can bring about your financial ruin. Read this book more than once, and take the time to really think about each chapter and the lessons contained herein. Most will be able to spot similar behaviors and the results may be pretty shocking. Even if you thought you were a personal finance whiz, you may change your mind after reading this book.

We recommend this book to anyone interested about personal finance and particularly to those that haven’t yet been able to figure out where they are going wrong with their finances. The little case studies make it easy to spot where you may be tripping up, and the action plans are very easy to follow. While some beginners may get a little lost, overall, the book is simple to read and offers some truly remarkable advice that hits home, regardless of your financial situation.

Whether you are rich or poor, financial stable or drowning in debt, this book is a very beneficial read. Unlike many in the genre, it is not terribly dry and uninteresting. Instead, it produces stories, case studies and real world examples of money mistakes and then provides the reader with the solution they need to preempt that bad behavior and change things. By far, in our opinion, one of the best books written on personal finance and one that should be read by anyone that needs to start managing their finances properly.

Originally posted 2008-10-24 05:41:43. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Blog Traffic Exchange Related Posts
  • blog traffic exchangeBook Review: You Don't Have to Be Rich By Jean Chatzky Can a book about lowering your financial expectations be any good? We were intrigued by the premise of this book and decided to give it a try. It was a bit surprising in some places, and a little disappointing in others, but overall it was a very interesting read that......
  • seascape3 Reasons Why Paying With Cash Hurts You in the Long Term Many of us have been conditioned to think that living debt free is the only way to be. While there is some truth in this statement, if you’re completely debt free and using only cash, you’re hurting your chances of getting a new home, and you may end up in......
  • blog traffic exchangeThe Little Book That Builds Wealth By Pat Dorsey Wiley Publishing has put out a series of “Little Books” but this one may be the most important. If you are looking for ways to logically increase your wealth and secure your financial future, this is definitely a great starting point that will get you going in the right......
  • budgetingCreating a Budget 2 Now that you know where your money is coming from and where it is going, the next step in this budget creation process is going to be for you to break all of your expenses up into two different categories, separating your fixed expenses from your variable expenses. Fixed Expenses......
  • blog traffic exchangeReview of the Millionaire Mind Thomas J. Stanley's follow-up to his well-received book The Millionaire Next Door, follows a pretty interesting premise. It basically picks the brains of millionaires to find out how they got their wealth and how they keep it. It certainly offers an interesting read and I do recommend it, but not......
Blog Traffic Exchange Related Websites Online Stores If you liked this article, vote for it on del.icio.us and stumbleupon.


Categories:

Book Review, Goal, Money, Personal Finance



Tags:

, , , , , , , , , , , , ,


0 comments ↓

There are no comments yet...Kick things off by filling out the form below.

Leave a Comment

Email Updates

amount of money bad debt banks Budget cash money credit card credit card debt credit cards credit history creditors credit rating credit report credit score debts economy emergencies emergency fund enough money financial future frugal tips how much money insurance interest rate interest rates investments investors job lenders little bit living paycheck to paycheck loans Money money life multiple streams of income paycheck paycheck to paycheck Personal Finance premise retirement risk saving money savings account stock market Stocks streams of income