Books About Managing Money (For Nannies)

Weekly Trip to the Library

This week we discussed starting the new year with a new attitude towards managing your money. We told you to plan a budget and live within your means.

The next most important step is to pay-off debt. Then, you should build a savings account or emergency fund. Once your debts are paid-off and you have a good savings you should consider retirement investments and finally if there is some income left over give to charity.

Here are just a few of our favorite book choices to help you gain control over your finances.

The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke
By Suze Orman



Suze Orman has been writing financial advice books since 1995, and she makes it easy for those of us with little financial experience to understand.

This book is aimed specifically at "Generation Broke," those in their twenties and thirties who are working, yet buried in credit card debt and student loans. This user-friendly guide offers a clear introduction to practical investing and money management techniques that can turn even a dismal financial situation around.

Suze Orman has a knack for taking the fear out of money matters, and in The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke, she shows readers how to set priorities and achieve goals, whether it is to buy a house or save for retirement or pay for a child's education.

She also offers inspiration to readers to face their financial problems and get started on a solution. After all, there is good news: young people still have the time to correct problems so that they will never be broke again. Readers who find terms such as diversification and IRA rollover scary--or worse, unimportant--will learn much from this book.

She clearly explains what a FICO score is and why it's so important, offers the lowdown on stocks and mutual funds, provides career advice, and offers lots of tips on dealing with student loan debt, saving money even when times are tight, debt consolidation strategies, and the safest way for newlyweds to merge their finances. She also offers information on credit cards, including why canceling cards is not a good idea, when it makes sense to use them, and the best strategies for paying them off. It may not be the only money book you'll ever need, but it's an excellent place to start. -- Shawn Carkonen

See a review of her book The Road to Wealth: A Comprehensive Guide to Your Money: Everything You Need to Know in Good and Bad Times [ROAD TO WEALTH REV/E] below and stop by next Wednesday when we will review the book: Women & Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny by Suze Orman.

Overcoming Underearning® A Five Step Plan To A Richer Life
By Barbara Stanny



So many nannies complain about how their employers buy too many clothes, waste their money throwing out so much food, buy too many toys. But, there is no reason for nannies to worry about how their employer's spend their money. They can do what they wish with their money. You only have to worry about your own money. Even the low income nanny can manage her money, improve her attitude, take control of her money, and have a high quality of life.

Overcoming Underearning(R): A Five-Step Plan to a Richer Life asks:

1. When it comes to money, are you controlled by fear?
2. Do you underestimate your worth?
3. Are you ready to go to the next level, but can't seem to get there?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may be an underearner. Underearners are self-saboteurs who don't live up to their earnings potential, says Barbara Stanny, a financial educator, motivational speaker, and career counselor. Whether they make $10 an hour or six figures a year, they tend to live paycheck to paycheck, are often in debt, and have a high tolerance for low pay. Ironically, many work incredibly hard.

The good news is that underearning is a self-imposed condition. By focusing on overcoming it, underearners will not only earn what they deserve, but live a richer life. With techniques and exercises that have helped thousands of people, Stanny teaches five essential steps to financial independence and brings a message of empowerment to all those who chronically undervalue themselves. Short homework exercises will help you to dig deeper to uncover the blocks and barriers that keep you from achieving your goals.

Stop by next Thursday when we will review the book Prince Charming Isn't Coming: How Women Get Smart About Moneyby Barbara Stanny.

The Finish Rich Workbook
By David Bach



Who doesn't love a workbook in which you can plug in your personal answers while reading a book? David Bach created a workbook to include your personal data in The Finish Rich Workbook: Creating a Personalized Plan for a Richer Future.

David Bach's message to building wealth is "values first, stuff second." With his national bestsellers Smart Women Finish Rich and Smart Couples Finish Rich, David Bach has shown millions to take control of their financial future.

Step 1: Determine if you have a credit card problem.
Step 2: Pay down your debt systematically.
Step 3: Get your credit-card company to lower your interest rate.
Step 4: Get your credit report.
Step 5: Scrutinize your credit report for mistakes.
Step 6: Know your legal rights.
Step 7: If you find a mistake, aggressively challenge it.
Step 8: Find out your fico score.
Step 9: If you are drowning in debt, get help.
Step 10: If you are in a credit-card hole, stop digging!
Step 11: Stop all those credit-card applications from filling up your mailbox.
Step 12: If you are married or have a partner, work on your debt problems together.
Step 13: Protect yourself from fraud.

Stop by next Tuesday when we will review David Bach's Smart Women Finish Rich: 9 Steps to Achieving Financial Security and Funding Your Dreams (Revised Edition).

The Road to Wealth: A Comprehensive Guide to Your Money--Everything You Need to Know in Good and Bad Times
By Suze Orman



Like most of her other Suze Orman books, The Road to Wealth: A Comprehensive Guide to Your Money--Everything You Need to Know in Good and Bad Times is written in a question/answer format with a brief introduction to each chapter, and covers the usual ground from managing debt, to stocks and bonds, and to wills and trusts. The beauty of this format is that it's easy to cover your area of interest in a short period of time. An added bonus with purchase of the book, is a free one-year subscription to her online newsletter. Practical, to-the-point, easy to understand financial information - what more can we ask? To read her other titles as well.

Other Suze Orman books we like include:
Suze Orman's Financial Guidebook: Put the 9 Steps to Work
You've Earned It, Don't Lose It : Mistakes You Can't Afford to Make When You Retire
The Courage to be Rich: Creating a Life of Material and Spiritual Abundance
Stop by next Wednesday for the review of Suze Orman's Women & Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny

Next week we will post our favorite books on managing money for women.

What or who are your favorite sources for managing money for other nannies? Do you have a book or site you particularly like?