Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties - Get a Financial Life

My daughter bought this for school as required. Likes the class and learning how to plan her financial future at 21. So proud of her for looking ahead and taking necessary steps to save her money and invest it for a home. She is working two jobs and is financially responsible. Making necessary short term sacrifices as this book teaches. Applying techniques and principles she learned from this book and her class. Listening to mom didn't seem to work as well for her!! Haha!

This book served me well as an introduction to the fundamentals of personal finance. By following each step before moving on to the next, "Get a Financial Life" helped me formulate a financial plan and make it a reality. I repaired my credit, bought my first house, paid off my student loans, eliminated my credit card and automotive debt, and created a way to save/invest 28% of my gross monthly income. It required a few years of sacrifices on my part, but I credit this book with teaching me the "how, what, when and whys" of financial freedom.

This book has become the standard gift for the new graduate from our family. Graduates usually receive money, this book explains the power of saving and smart consumption to young people. In an age when most people can't seem to save and we are all on our own financially, it couldn't happen sooner!

Most of the principals here I learned early on from my parents or first year or so working. I was looking for something with more substance in investment strategy, but it does lay out some basics. Some good medical, insurance, tax tips, etc that everyone should know too. All in all, very easy and pleasant read - book is broken into short sections so it's easy to pick up for ten minutes or so and come back at a later time. I recommend this to most new grads who're new to working or living on their own.

So many of the beginner finance books my husband and I have looked at were terrible. The first 3 we looked at were super patronizing. The other 2 we looked at were religious. Get a Financial Life is good. It doesn't dumb it down. The author writes like she is talking to an adult. It's pretty basic, but that's what we need right now.

The information in this book was the type that your big sister should have told you. I was lucky enough to have a big sister to explain these things so I didn't need the book. But if you are truly just starting out into adulthood, you'll enjoy the helpful hints such as how to evaluate the checking accounts offered from different banks or how to start a retirement account. If you're very young, if you're very new at being an adult, and if you have nobody to guide you this book has all the essential advice.

All the talk about this book being "easy" to read are BS. This thing reads just like a text book. I bought to preview for my high school graduate nephew- there's no way he would read this. (Would being the key word)... boring, small font, talking down to readers. Save your money and buy another book.

The information in this book was the type that your big sister should have told you. I was lucky enough to have a big sister to explain these things so I didn't need the book. But if you are truly just starting out into adulthood, you'll enjoy the helpful hints such as how to evaluate the checking accounts offered from different banks or how to start a retirement account. If you're very young, if you're very new at being an adult, and if you have nobody to guide you this book has all the essential advice.

All the talk about this book being "easy" to read are BS. This thing reads just like a text book. I bought to preview for my high school graduate nephew- there's no way he would read this. (Would being the key word)... boring, small font, talking down to readers. Save your money and buy another book.

I first read "Get a Financial Life" by Beth Kobliner when I was 19 years old. This book set the stage for my finances in which I have been well beyond my peers with planning, preparation, guidance and goal-fulfilling. Kobliner writes for the beginner and the beginner that wants to find out more. I am now 31 and have purchased this book at least 20 times for friends and family over the years. This is an important book that time and time again, people say to me, "How did I not know this?" Exactly. Now you do. Thanks Beth.

Thank you Beth Kobliner for addressing every major financial worry I had in 300 short and informative pages. Every question I had, you answered. Every reason I had for procrastinating, you guessed at.
This book is a must for all twenty and thirtysomethings. It breaks down saving for retirement into terms we can all understand, and will make you feel good about where you are in life
even if you're not making the big bucks. You'll find yourself reading chapters over and over again until you've memorized the concepts and the theories. Moreover, this book will pay for
itself in the money you save on taxes, insurance, and piece of mind. I wish someone had given me this book years ago when I graduated college. I'd have a lot more money in my savings
account and a lot more confidence in my financial situation if they had!!

I bought an earlier version of this book way back in 1996. I had just gotten my first job and I was looking for information on how to manage money and to find out how much I could "afford" when buying a car and/or other expensive stuff. This book helped with all of that. It helped me understand the basics of personal finance, loans, insurance, 401(k), etc. There's lots of good advice in there, so I'd certainly recommend buying this book. The information is this book is beautifully organized and very easy to digest.
Unfortunately, I haven't learnt a whole lot about personal finance since reading this book. I've read numerous books on personal finance after this one. All of them tend to say more or less the same things as this book, but they haven't said it as well.
Bottomline, if you understand the basics of personal finance (such as the principles of compounding, the importance of investing early in a 401(k), why it's bad to have credit card debt, etc.), you can probably afford to skip this book. Otherwise, it's a must have.

This book covers many of the basic requirements needed by those in the early stages of their financial lives. The advice is excellent and the author points out the importance of beginning a savings and investing program while still young. In addition, she covers many topics offering good guidance for her readers everyday lives, including how to decide between renting or buying, how to find a bank and choose the right type of account to open, etc. My only complaint with her advice is the suggestion readers "consider mutual funds your entire investment universe, at least for now." That is bad advice. Now is the time for learning how to invest in individual stocks and how to use options to make those investments safer. Learning how to make careful stock selections is worth the time and effort, and IMHO, using mutual funds is not the path to financial success.

This updated version of Beth Kobliner's work (5/2000) can help the folks in their 20's and 30's get a handle on their finances. Even with a college education, most students fail to come away with sufficient knowledge on how to manage their dough. This book is an easy read, not filled with useless info. There is special emphasis on paying off college loans, getting credit cards, buying a car, and financing a first house or apartment. Things that you really need to know. The main chapters include: Figuring out Where You Are and Where You Want to Go, Finding the Best Loans and Getting Yourself Out of Hock, How to Get the Most from Your Bank for the Least Amount of Money, All You Really Need to Know About Investing, Living the Good Life in 2030 !!, Getting an Apartment or House of Your Own, What Insurance You Need and Don't, Finding the Right Policies and Forgoing Coverage You Don't Need, Making Your Life Less Taxing. There is info on using the Web to help you save, spend and invest wisely, how to refinance your high-rate debt and avoid hidden fees and traps, taking advantage of the latest tax breaks- including deductions for student loans, and planning your long range savings program. In addition, there are details on car leases, credit reports, mutual funds, and more. A wealth of information available for less than 12 bucks. Highly recommended. A great gift.

I was thorougly disappointed in this book. The information presented sounded as if it came from blurbs from brochures. It's as if Kobliner was trying not to be too technical or financial; she shot herself in the foot by being too topical and adding no depth. I would recommend this to young women in high school who read Seventeen magazine. That's the level of person at which the writing is aimed.
In addition, the sub-title states that it's a book for people in their twenties and thirties. If that's the case, why does the author pretty much say that if you start when you're 35, which I am, it's too late; I guess I've missed the boat. Last time I checked being 35 still constituted being in your thirties.
I feel cheated, too, by the fact that the book is very dated. It's the type of book that needs to be revised every year. It needs Web addresses, email addresses. The age of phone numbers is over. Don't buy this book if 1) you're halfway intelligent; and 2) you've reached Kobliner's middleage mark of 27.

Books like Beth Kobliner's have to earn their place on your bookshelf. After all, these days plenty of personal finance advice is available for free on the Internet. That said, this book is a wise investment for early-career professionals who would like advice about getting out of debt. Although its guidance is solid-if-predictable, it is well-researched and straightforwardly written. Kobliner provides an authoritative "further reading" list for those who want to delve deeper into how to get their finances on an even keel. This book does not promise to make you rich overnight, and it doesn't exactly qualify as a page-turner, but it lends a helping hand. We recommend it to young people whose financial life is just a bit too exciting.

This book really boosted my confidence about managing my own finances. It always made me so nervous to think about being on my own, trying to save money, doing taxes, getting insurance, all that stuff. But after reading just the first chapter of "Get a Financial Life", I felt much, much better. I highly recommend it--you will feel a lot less overwhelmed about "the real world" after reading it! Just some advice, however: according to my mom, who is a tax accountant, the tax chapter is completely out of date and not worth reading. Other than that, it's a great book.

I bought an earlier edition of this book, about 20 years ago (~1996), shortly after getting my graduate degree. I highly recommend it. Reading this book (along with taking typing in 8th grade) was one of the most valuable things I ever did for myself.

Getting a good financial start in your twenties and thirties can save lots of grief in your forties and fifties. Personal finance writer (and Gen Xer) Beth Kobliner covers it all: handling debt, banking, investing, insurance, home buying, and taxes. In a chapter called, "Living the Good Life in 2030," she also makes a persuasive case for getting started early on retirement planning. There's even a "crib notes" section that summarizes the book for busy folks -- though a savvy reader will press on for all the valuable advice that follows.

This book has vital reference material for people of all ages. The author gives all the information you'll need to get started on everything from debt consolidation to the diference between a stock and money market fund and tells you who to call for more. It reaffirmed the things I am doing right and let me know where to go from here. I've already recommended it to several friends, who in turn have bought it, read it, and recommended it to others. The statistics and tables really open your eyes.

Beth Kobliner sets up an outline for young adults to follow in order to achieve financial stability. She takes her readers through the importance of understanding one's own budget, knowing how much one must save and how much one has to spend. After her readers have stock of their financial situation, Kobliner goes into more specific situations in order to help readers make smart fiancial decisions. Her analysis on how to get out of debt by paying off your high interest rates as fast as possible is common sense, but still solid financially. The remainder of the book follows much the same pattern as Kobliner explains the importance of inexpensive banking, how to invest, how to handle a retirement account, what to look for in insurance, how to finance your first house, and other important financial decisions. The book gives good advice for people tackling these situations for the first time. It is a must read for anyone without a parent or more experienced elder to turn to for advice or for those who would rather learn things on their own than ask for help. Kobliner gives solid advice and addresses the issues that her reading audience of young adults are most likely to encounter. I would recommend this book to anyone.