Money Management & Personal Finance

Smashed Avocado

August 14, 2020September 11, 2021Amazon, Books, Money Management & Personal Finance, Property Investing, Resource

Smashed Avocado
How I cracked the property market and you can too
Nicole Haddow

If you think getting into the property market is out of your reach this book is for you.

Journalist Nicole Haddow takes us through the steps she took to get her first property. At thirty, she found herself with credit card debt and unstable income. Within only two years, she turned her financial circumstances around to purchase her first property.

For anyone thinking that the property dream is out of reach, think again. Nicole did it on a single income in two years.

Shares Made Simple

June 24, 2020June 24, 2020Amazon, Books, Investing, Money Management & Personal Finance, Resource, Shares

Shares Made Simple: A Beginner's Guide to Sharemarket Success
Roger Kinsky

On the front cover of this book it states 'Simple, easy to understand strategies anyone can use for success!'.

I don’t necessarily agree with that statement. So why am I recommending this book?

When you invest in index funds you are investing in all the companies in the share market that the index fund is following. So, for example if you invest in an Australian index fund you are investing in say the top 500 companies or all the companies represented in the Australian share market. When you invest this way, you are not buying shares in one specific company directly. The index fund does that for you. For example, your index fund would have shares in the Commonwealth Bank so you are invested in that company but you haven’t gone out and bought the CBA shares directly.

If you want to buy shares in specific companies then more research is involved and you need to understand the language of share investing so to speak and you can learn that from this book.

If you want to understand how to read the financial news in the papers, this book will explain all the jargon for you. For example, there are statistics available about companies to help you understand their fundamentals such as the price to earnings ratio also referred to as the PE ratio.

Understanding these statistics help us make sound investment choices when choosing shares. Personally, this kind of investing makes my eyes glaze over and my brain switch off. I don’t want to invest in individual company shares. I don’t want to have to research the companies and understand their fundamental and unless you are a reckless investor, this is what you need to do if you want to invest in individual companies.

Personally, I think investing in only a few companies is risky because no company is indestructible, unless of course you own shares in a lot of different companies. However, you need a lot of money to do that. There is nothing wrong with investing in companies individually if that is your interest and you want to put the time into understanding the companies.

If you want to do that you need to understand the language of investing in shares and Roger’s book will teach you that.

For me personally, reading this book just affirmed for me that I am really happy investing in index funds and that is the best strategy for me because I don’t have the interest or the inclination to spend large amounts of time researching companies.

I want my investing to be simple, easy to understand and implement, as well as getting the best return with the least amount of fees.

Millionaire Teacher

May 20, 2020June 19, 2020Amazon, Books, Investing, Money Management & Personal Finance, Resource, Shares

Millionaire Teacher
The Nine Rules of Wealth You Should Have Learned in School
Andrew Hallam

Obviously, being a former teacher, there is no chance I would pass up a book with the title Millionaire Teacher!

I was not disappointed.

I know a lot of people have a desire to invest in shares but have a road block because they don’t understand it or don’t have any clue as to where to start.

This book is your answer.

Millionaire Teacher is an excellent guide for learning about investing in shares. Andrew doesn’t try to teach you how to ‘beat the market’ or how to ‘pick the best shares’. This book teaches simple strategies for how to invest in the share market without having to be a financial expert. Andrew explains how the share market works and how to invest in a simple and systematic way that minimises risk and maximises returns.

There are no fancy strategies or trading going on here. In simple laymen’s terms, Andrew explains index funds, bonds and exchange traded funds (ETF) and how to invest in them.

He outlines specific strategies and funds that can be invested in, in America, Canada, Great Britain, Singapore and Australia.

What surprised me was how simple investing can be, and Andrew has such a relatable and down to earth nature. I especially enjoyed how he uses Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory as an analogy for how the stock market works.

I found this book very practical and informative. I especially appreciated the information on why it is important to invest in low cost funds and how paying higher fees can have a significant effect on the return of your investment. Maybe I’m a little bias because of my former occupation but I love love love that Andrew was a school teacher and not only did he educate himself and take responsibility for his own finances he also went out of his way to educate others. What a guy!

Seriously ladies, if you want to learn how to invest in the share market and do it in a simple and effective way that minimises risk, get this book.

The Barefoot Investor for Families

August 31, 2019May 31, 2020Amazon, Books, Money Management & Personal Finance, Resource, Teaching Children About Money

The Barefoot Investor for Families
The only kids’ money guide you’ll ever need
Scott Pape

This is the best family and kids money guide I have read to date. Just like his first book Pape has a way of really simplifying financial concepts and strategies. He outlines exactly what you need to do to teach your children about money. And if you don’t know that much yourself don’t worry this book simplifies everything and you can learn as you read the book and or also pick up a copy of his first book The Barefoot Investor to get your personal finances in order first.

As a teacher I know first hand making things sound simple and easy is not as easy as you may think. I take my hat off to Scott Pape as financial literacy is so important and he has made it accessible to all Australian families. If you can teach your children the concepts and skills explained in this book you are setting them up for financial success for life. If you have children you need to read this book. Period!

The $1000 Project

August 31, 2019May 31, 2020Amazon, Books, Mindset & Self-Help, Money Management & Personal Finance, Resource

The $1000 Project
A easy guide to mindful saving, active earning and financial wellbeing
Canna Campbell

I have so much respect for this inspiring woman. I first discovered Canna’s You Tube channel about a year ago and admit I haven’t seen a lot of her channel as watching a You Tube is not something I can do while driving, which is the time when I do a lot of my financial study by listening to podcasts and audio books. So it wasn’t until more recently that I realised she had published a couple of books too. Well I’m yet to read her second book Mindful Money but after reading this one I will certainly be getting my hands on it as soon as possible. The $1000 Project is a fantastic and realistic challenge to create more money. Canna details how she came to creating it and her 12 month journey to reach her goal of making a passive income of $2000 per year by creating and investing 40 parcels of $1000. She fell just short of achieving her goal but so what! She achieved so much more by learning about herself and inspiring others. I absolutely love that she didn’t sugar coat how hard it was to do and that there were many times she had to dig deep to stay committed to her goal. To top it off this is a really easy read. I think it only took me a couple of nights to finish it. I highly recommend this book.

How to be a Super Smart Woman

August 31, 2019May 31, 2020Amazon, Books, Money Management & Personal Finance, Resource

How to be a Super Smart Woman
New Strategies for Superannuation
Pauline Taylor

This is an important book that all Australian women should read.

Understand your super ladies! It’s your money and your future, do yourself a favour and empower yourself with knowledge about this topic.

If you ever read this Pauline- thank you for writing this book. Statistically women live longer than men. In addition to this on average men retire with more super than women. Why? Super is designed to work with consistent, regular contributions over a long period of time. Many women take time out of the work force to raise a family, furthermore when they return to work it is often in a part time capacity. This can have a dramatic effect on women’s super in retirement. There are many things you can do to make sure you have a healthy super in retirement. I highly recommend this book for women of all ages to learn how to make the most of their super.

The Little Book of Common Sense Investing

August 31, 2019June 10, 2020Amazon, Books, Investing, Money Management & Personal Finance, Resource, Shares

The Little Book of Common Sense Investing
The only way to guarantee your fair share of stock market returns
John C. Bogle

John C. Bogle was the founder and former chairman of the Vanguard Group. In 1975 Vanguard created the world’s first index mutual fund and still offers low cost index funds today. This is a book about investing in low cost index funds and the reason behind why this is an effective long-term investment strategy. If you don’t know what index funds are or have little or no knowledge of the basics of investing in shares this book is not quite right for you yet. I would suggest studying up on the basics firsts by visiting the ASX website and doing one of their free online courses in shares or start by reading the Millionaire Teacher by Andrew Hallam to understand the fundamentals. I personally think investing in low cost index funds is a great strategy and Warren Buffet one of the most successful investors of all time also favours it.

Unf*ck Your Finances

August 31, 2019May 31, 2020Amazon, Books, Money Management & Personal Finance, Resource

Unf*ck Your Finances
Melissa Browne

Ok so the title might put some people off. Truth be told I love a good swear word and love that Melissa has enough courage and sass to be so bold. If you are offended by colourful language this is definitely not the book for you. However, if like me you are happy to converse like a sailor you will love this book as I did. Melissa presents some excellent strategies to get your finances on track including a great way to set goals and stay on track with them. She also touches on our mindset about money and acknowledges the shame many of us associate with money. Not to mention she is a qualified accountant and financial advisor so she knows a thing or two about personal finance! And finally she is an Australian women promoting financial wellbeing and is helping others. What’s not to like?

The Barefoot Investor

August 31, 2019May 31, 2020Amazon, Books, Money Management & Personal Finance, Resource

The Barefoot Investor
The only money guide you will ever need
Scott Pape

If you’re in Australia where I am, unless you have been living under a rock, I’m pretty sure you would have heard of Scott Pape the Barefoot Investor. I would recommend his books if you are just starting out with managing your money and want to learn the basics of managing your money in a very simple way. He is all about simplicity which is great and I highly recommend him.

Pape is an unapologetic Aussie bloke who says it like it is and has an ability to really simplify financial concepts. An essential read for any Australian starting out on their financial journey. I think what really distinguishes Pape and explains why this book is a best seller is that he lays out a step by step program you can follow along with. He doesn't use any jargon and this makes this book so accessible to the everyday person. Pape also includes references to actual financial organisation such as banks, super funds and fund managers that he uses. This is such a selling point for me, as even though he is not suggesting you use who he uses, it gives you a reference point and somewhere to start researching what may be suitable for the reader. A top read.

Making Money Made Simple

August 31, 2019May 31, 2020Amazon, Books, Money Management & Personal Finance, Resource

Making Money Made Simple
Noel Whittaker

On the first page of this book it states “The aim of this book is to cover the essentials of money, investment, borrowing and personal finance in a simple way’ and Noel does exactly that. It might not be as catchy or entertaining as some of the other personal finance books I have read (Sorry Mr. Whittaker) but this book explains money in simple terms and provides lots of examples so you can understand the numbers behind the strategy or theory. I would not hesitate to recommend this book. I read this early on in my journey to educating myself about money and it certainly laid the foundations for the knowledge I have today and influenced how I manage my money to this day. Thank you Noel.