Smart Couples Finish Rich
David Bach
Copyright 2001. (Revised in 2018, but this is the 2001 version)
Read: 4-26-2021
My Rating: 2/5
This one is a bit of niche book, but it happens to be one I purchased and reviewed in 2003 so I thought I should give it a re-read.
The short answer is, skip this one and just read "The Automatic Millionaire". He reuses almost half of the material from one book to the next, so you are not missing any of the basics of investing and his advice specific to couples can be boiled down to.
"You need to talk about money with your spouse. Preferably before you get married, but as soon as possible if you are already married. Will you pool all of your money when you get married? Who will pay the bills? How will you save? How do you determine who can spend how much? How and when do you plan to retire? If you don't have these conversations, you will argue and hurt your marriage."
The information specific to couples takes up about 55 pages. Then comes about 50 pages of Tony Robbins. I mean motivational speaker thinking. Talks about setting your values, building confidence, and visualizing your goals. These are not really discrete pages as they blend one into the next.
I think you could do just as well if you and your spouse could answer the questions above together and then jointly read "The Automatic Millionaire".
And of course, I'm taking all of this from the 2003 edition. It would be very interesting to know how this has been revised in 17 years. From this book in 2003 to his 2016 Automatic Millionaire books, the change that made me laugh the most was this one. It Definitely sounds like there is a story here.
2003 David Bach
"Many experts recommend that you never invest more than 20% of your 401k in your company stock. I feel that is too conservative. I currently have more than 50% of my 401k money invested in my company's stock."
2016 David Bach
"Your company plan may offer the option to buy company stock. If it does, please resist the temptation to overinvest. In my view you should never invest more that 25% and more reasonable 5% in your company stock."