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AP Econ Book Review Alex Boss The Complete Idiot's Guide to 12/10/08 Personal Finance in Your 20s Period 3 and 30s

The subject of personal finances can be very worrysome and daunting to think about as a high school senior. Many of us are so concerned with our cars, electronic gadgets, and other modern conveniences, that we often forget to consider that we may not be able to have everything we want when we reach adulthood - at least not at first. Luckily for us, Sarah Young Fisher and Susan Shelly offer some useful tips in their book The Complete Idiot's Guide to Personal Finance in Your 20s & 30s. As the name implies, the book is targeted at twenty- and thirty-year-olds. When the authors give specific examples they refer to the readers as if they have graduated college and have the ability to find a place of their own. The references to adulthood are somewhat annoying, but we will all need to use the information soon anyway, so it is not too much trouble. The book is divided into five main sections and twenty-six chapters with clever titles such as "There's No Place Like Home" and "To Everything There Is a Season". TCIGTPFIY20s&30s covers topics ranging from establishing a credit history to retirement planning. Sarah Young Fisher and Susan Shelly were not kidding when they titled this book. It is sad to think that any twenty- to thirty-year-olds would need someone to spell everything out so much for them. For example, on page 79 there is a tip for buying health insurance which includes the following: "A good place to start for an idea about rates and different policies is HealthcareShopper.com. It's on the web at www.healthcareshopper.com." If that is not enough, the authors state that working people most likely bring home a paycheck once in a while - what a novel idea! In all seriousness, the guide is cleverly organized and easy to read. It contains advice in little gray boxes titled one of three things: "Dollars and Sense", "Pocket Change", or "Money Pit". These tip boxes show information about saving a portion of your income for an emergency fund, watching out for financial counseling scams, and a multitude of other topics. There are also phone numbers and websites, as well as a glossary of terms and summaries at each chapter end. In addition, some chapters contain tools like the "Net Worth Worksheet" on pages 80 through 82 and "Your Financial Lifestyle" checklist on page 86. TCIGTPFIY20s&30s is a self-help book in every sense of the word. The book makes readers take a step back and evaluate their spending habits and in doing so seems sort of depressing. The authors even mention once or twice that making smart decisions concerning personal finance is comparable to going on a diet. People eat more and more food because it makes them feel good, so it is very difficult to stay motivated when dieting, especially if they trip up one day. The same is true for spending money. A person with a lot of debt due to college loans, for example, might try to cut back on spending and succeed for a while. One day, that person could see an ad for the latest iPod and feel like he or she cannot live without it. The financial diet is going down the drain because if someone succumbs to instant gratification one day, it will probably happen again on another day and the debt will just keep piling on top of that burdensome college debt. Instead of being morbidly obese, which is technically possible at the same time, the person will be financially ruined. After reading this book, adult life seems sort of intimidating because there are so many new things we have to think about. With the exception of those young adults who are still living with good old Mom and Dad, we will have to fend for ourselves in the real world. I never really thought much about this before reading this guide, but college, apartments, jobs, and cars, etc., are a lot to juggle at one time. I have a newfound respect and admiration for adults because they have so much more to deal with than kids and they handle it all so well (at least most of them do). Sure, we have five hours of homework a night, but we do not have to foot the bill for the heating, electricity, health insurance, mortgage, and college tuition for several kids. Page one pretty much expresses the feelings of all young adults just starting out in the real world because it cites the phrase,"Nobody told me it was gonna be like this!" Fortunately, that fact is no longer true after reading the guide. I must say, however, that chapter four was slightly scary. It is the chapter that discusses "Credit Cards and Debt". Sure, the idea of a credit card sounds pleasing to the ear, but of course everything positive has some sort of negative aspect(s). Credit cards can get people into a lot of trouble. One day, you could be purchasing a fur coat from Bloomingdale's and the next you could be in the poor house. Credit card holders often behave like Eve did in the Garden of Eden; Eve just had to have that apple so she gave in to temptation and took it off the devil's tree. In the same way, credit card holders put their financial well-being on the line when they use their credit cards to buy things that they cannot afford. Reading TCIGTPFIY20s&30s has made me want to keep up with my credit card payments and keep track of a budget, but when the time for that actually comes, it might not seem so simple to do so. Sure, I could find a decent job after college and make a high enough salary to enjoy some air conditioning and cable television, but what about those surprise costs the book mentions? Well, it is very important to expect the unexpected and set aside some money for an emergency fund and budget for things like car repairs or natural disasters. The book suggests that an emergency fund be three to six months' salary, but it seems like it would be difficult for someone just starting out to save that much money because they have so many other things to pay for. Even if you cut back on Starbucks runs and fine dining, it does not seem possible to create this fund and you could easily be faced with the problem of that pesky credit card debt. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Personal Finance in Your 20s & 30s puts living in the real world as a young adult into perspective, especially for teens who live in the soap opera that is high school. We are so caught up in our relationships with our friends and making good grades to get into college that we forget that we will be on our own someday and will need to know how to fend for ourselves in reality. As the title of chapter 17 states, we are playing 'The Game of Life" and the fact is it is not a game. If we slack off on our taxes or mortgage payments, somebody will be hunting us down. Sarah Young Fisher and Susan Shelly's book helps teens know what to do when purchasing a car or home in the future, and how to handle our saving and spending opportunities; that does not mean that life will be a game, but it will certainly be more pleasant dealing with personal finances when we are armed with all of this information.