I cannot resist kicking off this post and this year with a quote.

“So many books, so little time.”
― Frank Zappa

This little quote sums up pretty much my recent years. I love reading books but I have to admit that in the past two years I consumed written content mostly in form of blog posts. I am not a fan of new years resolutions so the decision that in 2019 I want to read more actual books is more of a plan. When I saw that one of the first bloggers I started to follow wrote a book and offering a copy for review I knew that I will take the challenge to write my first book review. Enjoy.

The Proven Path To All The Money You Will Ever Need

I think that I don’t really have to introduce Grant Sabatier from MillennialMoney.com to anyone who spent a couple of months in the personal finance blogosphere… Still, if you don’t know him yet, don’t worry, he is starting the book by introducing you to his story. Despite he followed the proven path of the previous generations (go to good schools, learn well, get good grades, etc.) somehow still ended up broke moving back to his parents’ home. But unlike many other folks, this situation did not push him into the abyss of self-pity and desperation but invoked a thought process which resulted in crossing the finish line of being financially independent five years later. I will not spoiler the details here, give the book a chance, definitely worth a read.

Who should read this book?

I would state that everyone who wants to improve his/her financial future but I have to admit that for some reading it would be more important. The main target audience and the ones who need to hear these things the most are millennials in their twenties and thirties who are just at the beginning of their financial journey. It is not the case that older, family folks, like myself, will not find any valuable ideas (spoiler alert: you will) but that age group is the one I think can profit the most from getting familiar with the content of this book. Sneakers and wantrepreneurs, you should also read this book from cover to cover 😉

What is the book about after all?

Well, it is about financial freedom, and financial freedom is about getting back your time and freedom. If I had to summarize it in one sentence I would say:

This book is a blueprint, made of all kind of essential financial wisdom, glued together with Grants story and financial journey and infused by a true millennial mindset.

The book begins with the statement that “Money is freedom” and introducing the authors’ background and epiphany. Then he goes on explaining why should we all participate in the chasing of our freedom through reaching financial freedom.

In the next chapter, we start to get involved, and in our first task Grant shows how to calculate our number which would mark the finish line. But the goal is not enough, first, we have to investigate where we are standing at the moment. He gives a very detailed framework to analyze our situations and to get a clear picture of our snapshot.

From now on we can dive into our numbers and make a lot of calculations which will deepen our understanding even better. Then he starts to sketch up the possible advancements in the ways we are making (or saving) money. After an introduction to a proper and comfortable budgeting process, we get to the part where we get embraced to stick to our 9-to-5 jobs, maximize the benefits of it and use it as a launching pad to freedom.

Next, we are getting educated on how to find, establish and run a successful side hustle to fast track the financial advancement. In the next chapter, he walks us through his 7-step investment strategy which pretty much covers the tidbits any average Joe should know and use. Of course, real estate investing cannot be left out.

When the path is clear and you stick to the progress you finally start to get close to your target. You will find the necessary help in the last two chapters to plan how to use your well deserved accumulated wealth and finally a little eye opener/focus keeper philosophy which will make you understand that while money is important it is the tool, not the goal. When you understand this you will live the “Rich Life” you always dreamed of.

My key takeaways from the book

It turned out that we are thinking about many things very similarly with Grant, mainly on life philosophy and about owning stuff. If you are like me, lurking in the personal finance blogosphere and consuming blog posts on a daily basis, possibly you will be familiar with most of the topics covered in this book. Still, there are messages which cannot be repeated enough times so here are the points I found exceptionally interesting.

• The relationship between time and money should not be linear. We should learn the “enterprise mindset” and apply it to our finances. The sooner you can break that linearity the faster you can reach your financial goals.
• The main role of a financial advisor is not to bring stellar return opportunities to you but to prevent you from making the dumbest decisions on the most important fields of your financial life.
• The understanding of this simple truth: $1 invested will worth more tomorrow, $1 not invested will worth less. That inflation thing truly ruins everything, still, many folks just ignore it like as it isn’t existing.
• Not meeting budgeting goals can make you feel guilty. Budgeting is a lot like dieting: the more guilt you feel, the less likely you are to stick with it… (explains why I hate budgeting too)

There are possibly many more but these were the ones I cannot resist highlighting 🙂

If my review raised your curiosity you can find out more about the book at financialfreedombook.com or get a copy on Amazon.