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A review by camsbookcase
The Automatic Millionaire: A Powerful One-Step Plan to Live and Finish Rich by David Bach
2.0
As a bit of a personal finance nerd, I picked this book up when I spotted it at a used bookstore. I recognized the author’s name (ever heard of the Latte Factor?) and I thought I’d give it a whirl.
I may have liked this book a bit better if I had read it back when it was written in 2003. Besides being dated though, it is also cheesy and EXTREMELY basic. Even for the personal finance novice though, there are many, many books I would recommend over this one. (Beat the Bank by Larry Bates or The Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collins are 2 good ones). The main message of the book is that you should “pay yourself first” by “automatically” putting a set percentage of your income into RRSPs every month. Bach recommends RRSPs only, I guess because TFSAs weren’t a thing back in 2003? He doesn’t mention anything about weighing your income level and tax bracket against what they might be in retirement, and therefore whether RRSPs are an appropriate investment vehicle for you. He also recommends investing in mutual funds, but I suppose ETFs also weren't a thing back then. There are a few other things in the book that I questioned or disagreed with, but implementing the recommendations Bach makes certainly wouldn’t be a BAD thing. I just think you could do much better. And it would probably be best to get your advise from a book written more recently. I read the Canadian version.
I may have liked this book a bit better if I had read it back when it was written in 2003. Besides being dated though, it is also cheesy and EXTREMELY basic. Even for the personal finance novice though, there are many, many books I would recommend over this one. (Beat the Bank by Larry Bates or The Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collins are 2 good ones). The main message of the book is that you should “pay yourself first” by “automatically” putting a set percentage of your income into RRSPs every month. Bach recommends RRSPs only, I guess because TFSAs weren’t a thing back in 2003? He doesn’t mention anything about weighing your income level and tax bracket against what they might be in retirement, and therefore whether RRSPs are an appropriate investment vehicle for you. He also recommends investing in mutual funds, but I suppose ETFs also weren't a thing back then. There are a few other things in the book that I questioned or disagreed with, but implementing the recommendations Bach makes certainly wouldn’t be a BAD thing. I just think you could do much better. And it would probably be best to get your advise from a book written more recently. I read the Canadian version.