SIX BOOKS TO HELP RAISE YOUR FINANCIAL GAME
▶ New titles support people’s more mindful approach to their personal finances, reports Keith Fernandez
When the going gets tough, the tough stop going to brunch. Or at the very least, they rethink their financial habits. Certainly, that seems to be the case here in the UAE, where 89 per cent of respondents in a recent Standard Chartered survey said the coronavirus pandemic had prompted them to take a more mindful approach to saving and, by extension, towards financial matters.
But whether you are thinking of how the uncertain economy might affect your retirement plans or wondering how to take control of your finances, a book is a good place to start.
With that in mind, here are the best new personal finance books on the market.
Broke Millennial Talks Money by Erin Lowry
Money is a major cause of conflict in relationships of all kinds, partly because everyone has such a different understanding of the subject. As the author of a popular blog and two other books in the Broke Millennial series, author Erin Lowry says she was often asked how to talk about money.
“People would ask specific questions about awkward interactions that were seemingly only made uncomfortable about money,” she writes in the introduction to her new book, published in December.
These included questions about travelling with friends where everyone was on a different budget, paying for a dinner they were invited to or helping settle a partner’s student loans.
That got her thinking about creating a definitive guide to navigating these conversations. The result is a chatty compendium of advice on how to talk about money at work, with family, friends and romantic partners.
The finance writer, based in New York, covers scenarios including how to tell friends you can’t afford the kind of lifestyle they have and how to negotiate money matters with your boss.
$16.00, penguinrandomhouse.com
The Good Retirement Guide 2021 edited by Jonquil Lowe
Retirement is traditionally a time to take it easy, travel and maybe pursue a lifelong hobby or two. But whether you get to do that depends on how much money you have saved.
The Good Retirement Guide helps you determine how you’d like to spend these years and create a roadmap to get there. Although written for UK audiences, the book – which has been updated for 2021 – contains useful tips and insights that anyone thinking about their retirement will find useful.
“In The Good Retirement Guide, we prompt readers to research their options thoroughly, thinking about their sources of income
– and their stability given exchange rate fluctuations, how their spending will change, the ins and outs of buying property abroad, and healthcare costs,” editor Jonquil Lowe, an economist and personal finance writer, tells The National.
“Often, people overlook the tax aspect. Countries have different tax systems – outside the UK, for example, annual property taxes are common.” £19.99, koganpage.com
Financial Feminism by Jessica Robinson
Women in the Middle
East managed nearly
$800 billion in assets, or about 13 per cent of the region’s total wealth, according to data from the consultants BCG. While that figure is set to grow at a compound annual growth rate of nearly 9 per cent over the next three years, there is a long way to go before they achieve gender parity.
Dubai sustainable financial strategist Jessica Robinson believes a feminist approach can help women take charge of their finances.
“There is a great deal of evidence now that many women do not feel very confident when it comes to money matters, compounded by feeling patronised by the financial industry,” she tells The National. “We can change the world through our investment decisions, and now is the time to be empowered.”
Her new book, Financial Feminism: A Woman’s Guide to Investing for a Sustainable Future, aims to help women use their finances to bring about a cleaner, fairer world.
“When it comes to investing, it is clear that many women are highly motivated to think about societal and environmental impacts in their investment decisions,” she says.
“At the same time, women feel disengaged from money decisions and the financial industry. I want to change this and encourage women to be sustainable investors.”
Dh46, Amazon.com
2030 by Mauro F Guillen
We have heard a lot about how the coronavirus pandemic accelerated technological and socioeconomic trends that have been slowly gathering momentum. However, what does that mean for a world bursting at the seams with 8.5 billion people, more grandparents than grandchildren and more robots than workers?
Wharton sociologist Mauro F
Guillen explores the impact of those themes in his new book, 2030: How Today’s Biggest Trends Will Collide and Reshape the Future of Everything.
While not strictly a personal finance book, this roadmap to navigate the turbulence ahead, as Guillen calls it, serves as a big-picture view of how any investment decisions you make today might play out by the end of the decade.
Should you invest in cryptocurrencies? Are sub-Saharan Africa’s middle classes on your radar yet? And what role will senior citizens play?
“All of us will need to approach this new world differently than we have in the past,” he writes. “The [book] offers principles and approaches we can use to make sense of this new reality – and prosper from the opportunities it creates. It’s all unfolding in our lifetime.”
$14.99, wsp.wharton.upenn. edu
Real Life Money: An Honest Guide to Taking Control of Your Finances by Clare Seal
Will 2021 be the year you finally learn to manage your money? Clare Seal’s account of her road to breaking free of debt may help.
A bonafide financial influencer, Seal is the Instagrammer behind @MyFrugalYear, an account she set up anonymously in May 2019 to help her stay on the road to clearing a £25,000 mountain of debt.
Within the first year, the mum of two had gained 45,000 followers, and while she is still in debt, the book is a psychological course in unpicking our attitudes to money (and other people). It is all about taking ownership of our actions, while simultaneously acknowledging that our debt traps may not be entirely of our own making.
It’s a gentle, easy book with Seal playing BFF, an attitude that helps the message hit home. As she writes: “Stop defining yourself by your financial situation. You are so much more than your debt.” A companion journal is also available.
£14.99, uk.bookshop.org
Die with Zero by Bill Perkins
If the pandemic has awakened you to your own mortality, you might want to reconsider your approach to money. Energy trader Bill Perkins offers a counter-intuitive look at traditional wisdom in Die with Zero: Getting All You Can from Your Money and Your Life. More philosophical treatise than practical financial plan, the entire book is summed up in one question: “When does the ant ever get to play?” he asks at the start of the book, referencing Aesop’s tale of the ant and the grasshopper. Inspired by Nobel-winning economist Franco Modigliani, he encourages us to think about the concept of net zero. This is where experiences matter more than accumulating wealth for the sake of it. Perkins introduces concepts such as time bucketing (a way to maximise memorable moments), as well as your “spend curve” and “personal interest rate”, which help you determine whether to invest in or delay potentially life-changing adventures. Similarly, rather than leave a financial legacy, he suggests giving away money. Contrary to popular belief that we may have too little money as we age, he cites data showing that for heads of households between the ages of 70 and 74, the median net worth is $225,390. Actuarial tables and annuities are among the solutions he offers to get there – although they may not work for everyone. Still, it is a concept worth thinking about if only to determine your own personal balance between the ant and grasshopper lifestyles.