Scan barcode
angelinazahajko's review against another edition
3.0
[3.5 stars]
The Wealthy Barber is a book that is thrown at all Canadians who are interested in financial planning and I definitely understand why. It’s easy to follow with its narrative format and his “common sense” philosophy that advocates for paying yourself first above all else is something that everyone could get down with.
Unfortunately, I think the first edition of this book was plagued by its time. It’s a book written pre-internet, pre-2008, and pre-COVID; therefore, I found myself second guessing a lot of the information I was reading. Additionally, the goofy novel style definitely read like a 90s PSA that your teacher would play on a wheel-in TV. I understand the hype, but I think for someone my age (there were a lot of chapters about things that I will not have to worry about for awhile like wills and life insurance) and someone in my generation, there are better financial planning books out there.
The Wealthy Barber is a book that is thrown at all Canadians who are interested in financial planning and I definitely understand why. It’s easy to follow with its narrative format and his “common sense” philosophy that advocates for paying yourself first above all else is something that everyone could get down with.
Unfortunately, I think the first edition of this book was plagued by its time. It’s a book written pre-internet, pre-2008, and pre-COVID; therefore, I found myself second guessing a lot of the information I was reading. Additionally, the goofy novel style definitely read like a 90s PSA that your teacher would play on a wheel-in TV. I understand the hype, but I think for someone my age (there were a lot of chapters about things that I will not have to worry about for awhile like wills and life insurance) and someone in my generation, there are better financial planning books out there.
kaitlynnecook's review against another edition
3.0
I give this about 3.5 stars. It isn't a well-written book from a fictional perspective, but it wasn't really meant to be taken in as fiction in the first place. I think Chilton was brilliant for making a "financial self-help book" something more digestible to the average financially-illiterate Canadian. However, I still have to say that the extra, meaningless dialogue and interactions between characters made me eye-roll more than I normally allow before I put the book in my donation box. I get that Chilton wanted readers to be able to identify with a character in some way, but it was poorly executed in my opinion. There's sports talk. There are poor attempts at not being sexist that end up just feeling like jokes. There are dated references (my fault for being young I suppose). That's really all I can remember from all my skimming I did when I encountered those passages.
BUT! The financial bits that you actually read the book for are good and I liked the different perspectives each character gave as to drive the point that there is no one-size-fits-all answer to how you should plan your finances. I'm glad I read this as my first step to understanding how to plan my finances as I get older and I now think everyone should read this, or something maybe more recently published, before they finish their undergrad at the very least. While some of the characters in the book dreamed of becoming millionaires, I just want to be able to feel like I can live comfortably in the future, especially as I pursue a career that isn't known to make large amounts.
BUT! The financial bits that you actually read the book for are good and I liked the different perspectives each character gave as to drive the point that there is no one-size-fits-all answer to how you should plan your finances. I'm glad I read this as my first step to understanding how to plan my finances as I get older and I now think everyone should read this, or something maybe more recently published, before they finish their undergrad at the very least. While some of the characters in the book dreamed of becoming millionaires, I just want to be able to feel like I can live comfortably in the future, especially as I pursue a career that isn't known to make large amounts.
letitiaharmon's review against another edition
2.0
This was recommended to me when I said "I know nothing about finances or investing and I want to learn" but I'm honestly not sure why because it's SO dated. Even I know the maximum annual contribution to an IRA has changed since 1998.
But being dated is not the worst part. You know those employee training videos from the 90s where they hire a friend with nice hair and a former frat boy who took drama in college and force them to convey a point through stilted dialogue peppered with dreadful jokes? This is that in book form. It's. Awful. Add in a dash of misogyny (apparently it was still ok to body shame pregnant women in the late 90s and just out and say that you preferred a son because you wouldn't be able to relate to a daughter???), combine it with the author's clearly high opinion of his wit and mocking of the sister who makes more in a year than he and his dad combined (which leaves me wondering where is HER book???), and you have...The Wealthy Barber.
Ok, so it's that bad, then why not rate it 1 star instead of 2? Because BECAUSE two things... 1. There is some evergreen good advice in here that is not completely irrelevant (although it becomes irrelevant the moment you start talking specifics because every law concerning everything from mortages to tax brackets has significantly changed), it's just that it can be found in other more current, less cringe-worthy sources.
But 2. This book does do something that I haven't seen other financial planning or investing advice books do. I was already doing this, so it's not revelatory, but I was glad to see it all the same. This book does NOT tell you to live an ascetic life and have no fun so that you can retire and live it up. No, finally, this book honors that if you ARE saving for retirement, if you DON'T have debt other than mortgage or education, then why the heck are you budgeting yourself down to pennies every month and waiting to live your life until you're 75? Live now. I have watched all my biological grandparents reach old age, retire, and be shocked and devastated to discover they didn't have the health, knowledge, or travel buddy to do all the things they had promised themselves they would do once they retired. They subsequently had a boat load of money and a lot of regrets. While saving makes sense, saving to the point of just waiting for the day you retire to start enjoying life has always seemed backward to me. I'm grateful to this book for pointing this out.
But there, you just got all you needed to know from my review sooooooo...read it if you really love dad jokes, I guess.
But being dated is not the worst part. You know those employee training videos from the 90s where they hire a friend with nice hair and a former frat boy who took drama in college and force them to convey a point through stilted dialogue peppered with dreadful jokes? This is that in book form. It's. Awful. Add in a dash of misogyny (apparently it was still ok to body shame pregnant women in the late 90s and just out and say that you preferred a son because you wouldn't be able to relate to a daughter???), combine it with the author's clearly high opinion of his wit and mocking of the sister who makes more in a year than he and his dad combined (which leaves me wondering where is HER book???), and you have...The Wealthy Barber.
Ok, so it's that bad, then why not rate it 1 star instead of 2? Because BECAUSE two things... 1. There is some evergreen good advice in here that is not completely irrelevant (although it becomes irrelevant the moment you start talking specifics because every law concerning everything from mortages to tax brackets has significantly changed), it's just that it can be found in other more current, less cringe-worthy sources.
But 2. This book does do something that I haven't seen other financial planning or investing advice books do. I was already doing this, so it's not revelatory, but I was glad to see it all the same. This book does NOT tell you to live an ascetic life and have no fun so that you can retire and live it up. No, finally, this book honors that if you ARE saving for retirement, if you DON'T have debt other than mortgage or education, then why the heck are you budgeting yourself down to pennies every month and waiting to live your life until you're 75? Live now. I have watched all my biological grandparents reach old age, retire, and be shocked and devastated to discover they didn't have the health, knowledge, or travel buddy to do all the things they had promised themselves they would do once they retired. They subsequently had a boat load of money and a lot of regrets. While saving makes sense, saving to the point of just waiting for the day you retire to start enjoying life has always seemed backward to me. I'm grateful to this book for pointing this out.
But there, you just got all you needed to know from my review sooooooo...read it if you really love dad jokes, I guess.
laurenmcdon's review against another edition
5.0
If you wanna live the gooooood life and your parents aren't willing to give you a small loan of a million dollars..... READ. THIS. BOOK.
_ainsley's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
not to be read for fun. very precise and easy to understand for the most part.
books_lover42's review against another edition
I had to read this book for work but skimmed most of it and didn't enjoy it. I'm sure for many with no financial background, this book may be helpful.
jenny_n's review against another edition
3.0
This was a bit corny, and reads like a seminar presentation, but it gives some examples about how to deal with personal finance. I gained the most out of the parts relating to insurance.
shesuncorked's review against another edition
5.0
The dialogue is kind of cheesy and annoying towards the end, but I found this book very informative and helpful. It's a very good beginner's lesson for financial planning.