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I’ll gladly cop to being a book nerd. And a finance nerd. So when a new personal finance book hits the market, I’m all over it!
Secrets I Learned by Sleeping with My Financial Advisor: Personal finance, mindset, habits and strategies made fun! by Alice Von Simson just hit Amazon last week, and I have thoughts.
Wondering if this would be a good book for you (or maybe for that friend who’s always complaining about her finances)? Read on…
Personal Finance Book Review – Secrets I Learned By Sleeping With My Financial Advisor
I might as well tell you upfront that this is the personal finance book I wish I had written. If you notice a twinge of jealousy while reading this review, it’s because I’m a bit jealous.
In Secrets I Learned by Sleeping with My Financial Advisor, Alice (that’s right; we’re on a first-name basis) does exactly what I’m attempting with Savings and Sangria: make personal finance accessible and fun.
She provides a basic financial education through this book, complete with actionable steps to help you get your personal finances in order. And because these lessons are so engaging and so full of relatable real-world examples, you’ll find yourself entirely interested in typically dry topics like retirement accounts, estate plans, and compound interest.
I was literally lol’ing throughout this book.
Everything Covered in Secrets I Learned by Sleeping with My Financial Advisor
Secrets I Learned by Sleeping with My Financial Advisor is divided into 12 manageable chapters (listed below). Pay attention to the mix: there are chapters on softer personal finance concepts like values and mentality, and there are chapters on super technical stuff like credit scores and optimizing debt.
1. Your Brain on Money
Explains why money triggers fear responses in so many people and how we can change our mindsets to better handle financial decisions.
2. How to Think Yourself Rich
Introduces the concept of exponential thinking to help us understand the magic of compound interest.
3. How to Stick to Your Values
Covers the importance of aligning your money habits with your values (because that’s when money actually can buy happiness!).
4. Why You Should Keep Your Money
A quick overview of how taxation and compound interest affect your life savings.
5. How to Create Fabulous Financial Habits
Using the power of habit to break bad financial habits and build the good ones that will make you rich.
6. How to Optimize Your Debts and Then Pay Them Down
How to objectively analyze your debts and create a payment plan that will save you a ton of money in the long-term.
7. Bad Debt vs. Good Debt
Yep, good debt is a thing. This chapter explains how you can leverage good debt to increase your financial success.
8. How to Increase Your Credit Score
The power of your credit score and what you can do to boost your score now and save a ton of trouble (and money!) down the road.
9. How to Look Like a Grown-Up (on Paper)
The basics of emergency funds, retirement accounts, insurance, and estate planning.
10. Choosing and Meeting with a Financial Advisor (Without Tinder)
How to interview financial advisors and choose one you’re compatible with.
11. How to Cut Spending Without Ruining Your Life
Quick and painless ways to cut expenses and give yourself more money to save and invest.
12. How to Feel Incredibly Smug Because You’ve Done It!
A well-deserved pat on the back for getting your finances in order.
What I Love So Much About This Book
Besides the sheer fun of reading Secrets I Learned by Sleeping with My Financial Advisor, my favorite thing about this book is that Alice doesn’t dumb things down for the reader. She explains concepts, sure, but she doesn’t act like you can’t handle things.
Take smart debt for example. I appreciate that Alice sees the objective value in leveraging debt to grow wealth. This is in direct contrast to the popular principles touted by financial guru Dave Ramsey. As much as I respect Dave Ramsey, it drives me nuts that he promotes cutting up credit cards and living debt-free. It feels like he doesn’t trust us to responsibly manage smart debt. And you deserve more credit than that.
Another refreshing thing about Secrets I Learned by Sleeping with My Financial Advisor: Alice isn’t a personal finance expert. This gives her the distinct advantage of being able to meet us (as readers) where we are. Most of us aren’t financial experts either. And finance experts often talk over our heads because this financial lingo is so second-nature for them. But Alice can put complex topics in terms we can all understand.
Also, this book isn’t stupid long. Instead of bogging you down in details, you get enough info to take action, then you get some guidance on exactly which actions to take. Tackle a chapter a day, and your personal finances will be transformed in under 2 weeks. Love this bite-sized content!
But It Can’t Be Perfect, Right?
Right; it’s not perfect. While Alice gives a solid overview of the different types of accounts grown-ups have, like emergency funds and retirement accounts, I’d have loved more detail on these accounts. Alice goes into different options for emergency funds (high-yield savings accounts, money market accounts, and CDs), but doesn’t dig into different types of retirement accounts or other mid-to-long-term investment accounts for big goals like buying a house, starting a business, or traveling the world. I know this is because she wants to leave the nitty-gritty to the financial advisor you’ll choose in Chapter 10, but a primer would be helpful in preparing for the interviews with advisors.
For digging into account details like these, I recommend Smart Women Finish Rich by David Bach. Bach will give you specifics, as well as some recommendations for choosing your retirement accounts and other long-term investment accounts. Of course, that book isn’t as much fun as Secrets I Learned by Sleeping with My Financial Advisor 😉
So Should You Read Secrets I Learned by Sleeping with My Financial Advisor?
I highly recommend reading Secrets I Learned by Sleeping with My Financial Advisor. If you’re new to personal finance, you’re going to learn a ton, and you’re going to enjoy it!
And if you’re already into personal finance, you’ll appreciate this fresh take on the subject. And you’ll probably still end up with a valuable financial lesson. Example: as someone who’s read tons of personal finance books, the idea of estate planning never really resonated with me until I read this. And now, thanks to this book, I’m working on the estate plan financial experts have been recommending forever.
Secrets I Learned by Sleeping with My Financial Advisor is a must-read!
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