I checked this book out of the library.
Before raving about the guide I’ll bring up one glaring issue.
Author Tori Dunlap talks about ESG investing–Environmentally and Socially Responsible Investment Funds.
The Republicans in the U.S. government enacted a law to make ESG investing illegal.
In Effect you cannot decide for yourself what companies to invest your hard-earned money in.
These kinds of “Social Choice” funds do not invest money in fossil fuel companies, gun manufacturer, or the weapons industry among other businesses like these.
It would’ve become illegal to invest in companies that put people and the planet before the greed that creates deplorable conditions for workers everywhere.
LL Cool Joe–President Joe Biden–did one thing right. He vetoed the act that made ESG Investing illegal.
So as of today we can invest our money where we’d like if we so choose to invest our money in the stock market.
Should a Republican become president we can kiss this free choice goodbye.
Other than this reality that I was compelled to point out Tori Dunlap’s book should be required reading for those of us–even clueless guys–who need this kind of financial help.
Some of us love balancing our accounts and are aware of exactly what our account balances are on any given day. Not everyone needs to read The Financial Feminist.
Either way I recommend this book to everyone.
The difference is Tori Dunlap’s tone of voice is warm and empathetic. Unlike other personal finance authors she asks you not only to record one month’s worth of purchases. Dunlap tells you to write down why you bought the items and how you felt when you paid for them.
The second part that I liked was the chapter where you create financial goals with a mission and timeline that you want to achieve and how to fund this objective.
After that I stopped reading the book and skimmed only the interviews she featured with other women.
One woman was African American and stated point-blank that if she didn’t budget enough money for grooming her credibility would be trashed interacting with employers.
In one other finance book I read and can recommend the author claimed you didn’t need to adhere to a budget at all. Which makes sense. His belief was that you can use your money “to have anything you want–you just can’t have everything.”
So for some of us we’re going to splash cash on makeup at Sephora. Others are naturally inclined to shop at Walmart for Flower Beauty by Drew Barrymore.
The beef that Tori Dunlap has is that women are told to save money and stop spending frivolously. Men are told to invest money and accrue wealth. This fact is evident in the kinds of results that are given when women and men search on this topic on the internet. Different methods are shown for women than the ones for men in the search results.
I check out a lot of personal finance books from the library. First I check to see if a woman wrote the book. In one guide I checked out a woman told women readers to deduct car loan payments on the tax refund when you used your car for a business. Should every women want to be an entrepreneur? How is that advice supposed to help ordinary woman?
The Financial Feminist is the best book of its kind. Even for readers who are shrewd investors or veritable wealth wizards I recommend reading this Tori Dunlap book.
I’ll end here with the best personal finance books I’ve read:
Balance: How to Invest for Happiness, Health, and Wealth. Andrew Hallam, 2022.
Good Money Revolution: How to Make More Money to Do More Good. Derrick Kinney, 2022.
Money Strong: Your Guide to a Life Free of Financial Worries. Liz Davidson 2023.
Simple Money: A No-nonsense Guide to Personal Finance. Tim Maurer 2016.
Everything You Know About Money is Wrong: Overcome the Financial Myths Keeping You from the Life You Want. Karen Ramsay, 2001.
Happy Money. The Science of Happier Spending. Elizabeth Dunn & Michael Norton, 2014.
The Next Millionaire Next Door. Thomas J. Stanley & Sarah Stanley Fallaw, 2020.
The Smartest Retirement Book You’ll Ever Read. Daniel R. Solin, 2010.
We Should All Be Millionaires: A Women’s Guide to Earning More, Building Wealth, and Gaining Economic Power. Rachel Rodgers, 2021.
Invest Like You Give a Damn: Make Money, Change the World, Sleep Well at Night. Marc de Sousa Shields, 2017.
Your Essential Guide to Sustainable Investing: How to Live Your Values and Achieve Your Financial Goals with ESG, SRI, and Impact Investing. Larry E. Swedroe 2022.
Again the Republicans in the U.S. government are trying to make this kind of investing illegal. Thus this book might become obsolete if a Republican becomes president.
The Ultimate Retirement Guide for 50+. Suze Orman, 2020.
The only Suze Orman book I recommend. She reduced an adult man to tears in a personal finance DVD where she was giving advice to audience members. She berated him for going to school to get a degree to have a new career. She told him he could’ve done fine in life by remaining a waiter for the rest of his life. What if he wanted to do something else? I was unemployed and had no job when I was back to school to obtain a Masters degree. Suze Orman is against doing this. Take what she says with a grain of salt. In her 50+ retirement guide she appeared to redeem herself with solid advice.
Why Should White Guys Have All the Wealth? How You Can Become a Millionaire Starting from the Bottom. Cedric Nash 2023
Left of the Dial 