Springtime Reading Recommendation: All Your Worth-The Ultimate Lifetime Money Plan by Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi

Have you ever been in the middle of a good book and kept thinking, "Oh, so-and-so should read this."? Well, that repeatedly happened to me while reading All Your Worth-The Ultimate Lifetime Money Plan by Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi. This mother/daughter team (yes, it's that Elizabeth Warren) wrote this book back in 2005. Although I don't agree with everything in the book, I agree with most, and feel that anyone who wants to make good financial decisions will benefit from reading it.

Although I think that everyone who reads it will find at least one useful nugget in the book, I think it will mostly benefit either those just starting out in their career (20-some things), or those who find themselves in financial straits and unsure how to find their way out.

What I like most about the book is that its tone is so positive. No one's made to feel bad about the difficult financial situation they may find themselves in, but instead they're given hope that they are capable of reversing things.

What I also like about this book is the concrete steps it asks the reader to take. There aren't a lot of esoteric ideas and theories here. Instead, it's "Do Step 1. Now do Step 2.", etc. Everything's easy to follow, with no jargon used requiring an advanced degree in finance to understand.

While there's more to the book than this, the main idea is that we should use 50% of our income for "must haves", 30% for "wants", and 20% for "savings". What are you supposed to do if you're currently spending 80% for "must haves" and 20% for "wants"? Read the book and find out so you, too, can have a "Money Plan"!