Reviewed: “Dealing with Difficult People,” from The Results-Driven Manager series, Harvard Business School Press, 2005, $14.95, 139 pages.


Managing conflict at work is kind of like Kenny Rogers says in “The Gambler”: “You’ve got to know when to hold ’em. Know when to fold ’em. Know when to walk away, and know when to run.”

Learning what to do — as a manager — during disputes in the workplace is the topic of “Dealing with Difficult People,” a tidy little collection of articles from the “Harvard Management Update” and the “Harvard Management Communication Letter.”

Full of short and to-the-point articles and helpful suggestions, the slim book is a guide for senior to middle managers for dealing with difficult employees. It offers useful information for management types as well as anyone who needs to brush up on conflict resolution in the workplace.

As someone who avoids conflict like the plague, I particularly enjoyed the chapter called “Don’t Just Do Something — Sit There.”

“If a dispute doesn’t interfere with an employee’s performance, does not disrupt the work environment, and is not a violation of company policy, then ‘benign neglect’ is probably a suitable approach for a manager,” said David Lipsky, director of the Institute of Conflict Resolution at Cornell University.

Managers should look at such situations as “an opportunity for your staff members to develop their problem-solving skills.”However, the book notes, there are certain situations in which a manager should definitely intervene:

•When the disagreement is between an assertive employee and a timid, less vocal person.

•When an argument between two employees has broadened to encompass additional staff members.

•When the conflict involves illegal conduct, such as sexual harassment or civil rights violations.

However, the laissez-faire approach to management isn’t always the best tack, per the chapter “Don’t Avoid Conflicts — Manage Them”

“Ducking conflict,” Monci J. Williams, author of the chapter, advises, “may actually make it harder for us to achieve our goals.”Managers, when they see a conflict brewing, “may notice that both parties repeatedly assert their own needs and wishes, and tell each other why the other guy is wrong. The experts call this the ‘attack/defend spiral,’ and it’s where most of us flame out.”

The solution, according to the Harvard experts, is to use “neutral ‘opening’ and ‘informing’ statements to encourage the other person to open up. Comments such as ‘I know we’ve both been very concerned about X, but I also know that Y is very important to you; I’d like to understand that better’ encourage the other person to talk about her concerns and wants.”

(But doesn’t that take for granted a civilized and polite workplace?)

Also noted is “When to Walk Away from a Fight,” in a chapter written by Rebecca M. Saunders.

During a work-related argument, “If the other person is fidgeting, leaning forward, or shaking a finger in your face, then back off politely,” Saunders writes. “If both parties insist they are right and refuse to back down, the cost can be high — angry words and hard feelings that never go away can make the workplace unpleasant for everyone.”

It’s important to “take a breath and decide if it’s worth escalating or not,” she said.

And, like “The Gambler” says, “Now every gambler knows that the secret to survivin’ is knowing what to throw away and knowing what to keep.”Remember to play your cards right when dealing with difficult folks at work.

I love a good poker metaphor.

If you're like me, you can't walk through the doors of a bookstore without 1) spending hours perusing the stacks and 2) spending money you didn't actually have. (usually at least $30, in my case).

Here in the editorial offices of The Mercury (I make it sound grand, don't I?) editor Nancy March, author of The Daily Overload, had the idea to bring in some of her recently read books and magazines and start a lending library. Other readers in the office, including myself, have contributed, and I've been picking great books from there ever since. A great way to save money! When the books have been in the "library" a long time, we will cart them over to Gently Used Books in Douglassville. (Another great place to save money and find great books locally, as is the Pottstown Public Library).

Below is an interesting "On the Money" column from the Associated Press about saving some money on books. I usually run this weekly column on the print side, but it got bumped with all the craziness on Wall St. in the past two weeks. But saving money is always timely. And saving money on books rocks!

Read on for more ways to budget your reading habit:

Beyond the library: 6 ways readers can cut costs
By Candice Choi
AP Business Writer
NEW YORK — One budget line Wendy Li isn’t watching even in this tight economy is her spending on books. That’s because she uses PaperbackSwap.com, one of the book trading sites that are growing in popularity.
“All I have to pay for is the postage,” said Li, a 44-year-old banker in New York City. A diet of three books a month costs her only about $6, clearly a bargain for an avid reader.
Whether it’s trading titles, downloading e-books or tapping discounts at major retailers, borrowing from the library isn’t the only way readers can cut costs.
Here are five ways to ensure your love of reading doesn’t become a casualty to high food and gas prices.
Start Swapping: If you’ve got books to barter, check out sites such as PaperbackSwap.com, Bookins.com and BookMooch.com.
The rules are simple; generally you list the books you’re willing to trade. Every time you mail a title out, you get a credit or point, which you can redeem for a book. At PaperbackSwap.com, which currently lists 2.4 million books, you can also purchase credits for $3.45.
Membership is free on all three sites, so your only cost is shipping. Mailing a paperback at the lowest rate typically takes around seven days and generally costs less than $3. After you get a book, it’s yours to keep if you wish.
One drawback to these sites is that new or rare titles may be hard to find. Also, because you’re trading with strangers, you won’t get the same guarantees as with a retailer. But the sites may be able to help mediate a dispute, or award credits for lost damage.
Bookins.com, for example, promises to refund shipping charges and award credits if you don’t get the books you were promised. However, there aren’t any guarantees at BookMooch.com or PaperbackSwap.com, which, despite its name, also lists hardcovers, CDs and DVDs.
Kelly Fowler, a member of the site for two years, said she once agreed to swap three books with a member in a discussion forum. Yet after mailing out her box, she never received the books she was promised.
Fowler, a 38-year-old homemaker in Clinton, Tenn., notified administrators and said the member was immediately banned. She never got her books back, but she said it’s only happened once in the more than 300 swaps she’s made to feed her love of harlequin and romance novels.
For a more unusual approach to trading books, there’s BookCrossing.com. The idea is to leave books in public places — in an airport lounge, on a park bench — and let people find them. Users log onto the site to note where they “released” the book. For instance, someone recently posted that they left a copy of “The Nanny Diaries” at a Starbucks in the Kingsview Village Shopping Center in Germantown, Md.
Users can search for books by city, type of venue (such as museums, coffee shops) or title. This may be a little too whimsical for some, but it does save the cost of postage.
Buy Smart at Major Retailers: If you’re ordering a book online, remember to compare prices at major retailers. On Amazon.com, for example, a new paperback copy of the best-seller “Eat, Pray, Love” was listed for $9, compared to $10.50 at Borders.com and $13.50 for nonmembers at BarnesandNoble.com.
What’s more, all three retailers and eBay.com also offer used copies through third-party sellers. Borders recently listed used paperback copies of “Eat, Pray, Love” at prices ranging from $4.44 to $15.75. Sellers are typically authorized by the retailer, but be sure to check each site’s guarantee policies on quality and returns. You can also view customer ratings and comments on third-party sellers.
Plus you’ll want to check to see if there are any deals advertised for shipping, or membership programs that may offer regular discounts.
Go Electronic: With the help of volunteers, the nonprofit Project Gutenberg compiles e-books and offers 25,000 free titles at www.gutenberg.org. The catalog includes fiction, nonfiction and reference books no longer protected by copyright.
DailyLit.com sends serialized books via e-mail. You can set the time it arrives in your inbox and adjust the size of how much text you want in each installment.
The site has 650 free classics and 350 additional titles ranging in price from $1.49 to $9.99.
Hit the Pavement: Trade-in your unwanted books at a used book store. Most used book stores don’t pay much, but you might get a better deal in store credits.
Set aside some time to browse the shelves. They may not be as tidy or well organized as at a major chain, but you may come across a rare or out-of-print title you wouldn’t find elsewhere.
Buy at the Library: Libraries often hold sales to clear out space for new books. Prices are generally even lower than at used book stores.
Additionally, about two-thirds of the 65,000 public library systems in the country have a local Friends of Libraries chapter that helps raise money. Most chapters hold annual book sales where paperbacks usually go for around 75 cents and hardcovers sell for $1 or $2, said Sally Reed, executive director for the national organization.
While you’re there, don’t forget to sign up for a library card if you don’t already have one. You won’t be the only one checking out books in this economic climate. Last year, borrowing at libraries nationwide was 10 percent higher than during the 2001 economic downturn, when there was a similar spike in visits, according to the American Library Association.

On the Net:
www.paperbackswap.com
www.bookmooch.com
www.bookins.com
www.bookcrossing.com
www.amazon.com
www.barnesandnoble.com
www.borders.com
www.dailylit.com
www.ebay.com

Reviewed: “Escape the Mid-Career Doldrums: What to Do Next When You’re Bored, Burned Out, Retired or Fired,” by Marcia L. Worthing and Charles A. Buck, Wiley, Nov. 2007, $18.95, 204 pages.

If your feel like you’re stuck in a job you have no passion for, uncertain how to make your escape — you’re not alone.

When I graduated from college with my bright, shiny journalism degree and no job, I went to work as a secretary in a chemical company. Frankly, I worried what the dangerous chemicals stored nearby were doing to my health, but it paid the bills. Every day, counting the minutes until my lunch break or until quitting time, I plotted my exit from this occupation.

While the job that “saved” me from the chemical company wasn’t my career salvation (I sold custom-made furniture on a commission-only basis, and was not terribly good at it), it was a stepping stone that helped me to see where my natural abilities did not lie. And, on the bright side, I now know how to accessorize a room.

Those were, no question, the wrong jobs for me, and I knew they were temporary. But even the right job — the right career — can become wrong for you.

Written by a career consultant and a career coach, Marcia L. Worthing and Charles A. Buck, “Escape the Mid-Career Doldrums: What to Do Next When You’re Bored, Burned Out, Retired or Fired,” is a handy reference designed for those who are established in a career and yearn to make a move or for those who are forced out by way of layoffs or who choose retirement but aren’t ready to leave the workforce.

“Escape the Mid-Career Doldrums” offers practical advice and soul-searching exercises to those stuck in what the authors call the “BBRF Syndrome” (bored, burned out, retired or fired). The goal is to get them back on track.

One caveat is that the intended audience is a narrow group: extremely successful business professionals. So, while those of you who are not high-level executives may find some pearls of wisdom, you may be a little put off by the hoity-toity real-life “examples” given.

Here’s one: “Richard, a highly successful human resources executive for a top corporation, had over 200 employees reporting to him and a high-level executive role that allowed him to take on strategic and planning responsibilities. Despite a great salary and other perks, Richard was bored.”

They lost me even before “great salary.” Poor Richard. So misunderstood.

But, I accept that even top-level, high-paid executives get bored. And certainly, in the wake of the economic rollercoaster ride we’ve been on of late, many highly-trained professionals are being abruptly laid off or forced into early retirement.

If you’re a mid-career professional and find yourself out of job, as painful as that may be, the authors say it’s important to keep an open mind. Consider going back to school, starting a consultancy, working part-time or volunteering or working for a nonprofit organization that might benefit from your expertise.

Before doing anything, Worthing and Buck advise readers to get to the bottom of why you were bored with your job, or why you were fired.

“When you don’t know the real cause behind your boredom, burnout, retirement or firing, you can’t respond to it effectively. Your false belief about why something happened will prevent you from emerging from your career blues and discover what you really want to do for the next 10, 20, or 30 years,” they write.

The reality, they say, is that there are “plenty” of opportunities for the mid-career professional, “but a variety of factors make it seem like few opportunities exist.”

Making a change won’t be easy, and just as when I began my career search, you may start out going one direction, only to find it’s not the right path.

“Be open to new opportunities. Just because you had a plan to start your own business or to divide your time between part-time work and travel doesn’t mean you can’t adjust this plan,” the authors write.

Thoughtfully, they remind the reader: If you’re mid-career at 50, you technically have another 25 working years ahead of you.

I love that I can borrow from the WSJ and their talented writers. I'm sure there are a lot more outdated ill-chosen titles out there. Got any suggestions?

Change of fortune makes for book-title bloopers
By LOUISE RADNOFSKY
The Wall Street Journal

WASHINGTON — A financial crisis, a historic presidential campaign and a series of political scandals have scrambled how people understand the world in the past few years.

For some authors, that presents a ticklish problem.

"Obviously I would change the title," says David Lereah, the former chief economist of the National Association of Realtors and author of "Why the Real Estate Boom Will Not Bust — And How You Can Profit From It," published in paperback in February 2006. "There are places in the book where I actually say the boom is not healthy. But people don't read the book, and they just look at the title and they criticize it."

Brooke Masters, author of "Spoiling for a Fight: The Rise of Eliot Spitzer," says her book was right at the time it came out — 18 months before the New York governor was brought down by a sex scandal in March of this year. In any case, she adds, "Spoiling for a fight is totally accurate."

This election season will likely bring more casualties. Among "Why the Democrats Will Win in 2008: The Road to an Obama White House"; "A Bound Man: Why We Are Excited About Obama and Why He Can't Win"; and "Comeback: Conservatism That Can Win Again," someone has to be wrong.

Politics, economics and social-science books are a mainstay of adult publishing, an increasingly lucrative market. Nonfiction sales in the U.S. have risen steadily to 311 million books in 2007 from 270 million in 2004, according to Nielsen BookScan.

But with tens of thousands of new titles competing for attention each year, authors have to make some bold claims — and fast. It's possible to turn around a topical book in weeks. What was once written as history is now appearing as prediction.

"It was more timely than a monthly magazine," says Steve Gill, a conservative radio host and author of "The Fred Factor: How Fred Thompson May Change the Face of the '08 Campaign," which was published by Mr. Gill's business partner in May 2007.

The book "blew through" its first print run of 10,000 copies ahead of the former Tennessee senator's declaration in September 2007 that he would run for president, Mr. Gill says. The Thompson campaign lasted barely four months. The book sold about 2,000 of its new run and the remainder were given away or trashed.

"It was truly intended all along to be a work in progress," Mr. Gill says.

Traditional publishing houses say they still want books to feel timeless despite the fast turnaround that new technology allows. "You hope that the book, even if it's about current affairs, will stand as a record of that event," says Carol Schneider, executive director of publicity and public relations for Random House Publishing Group, a division of Bertelsmann AG's Random House Inc.

But she acknowledges that accidents happen. "There's no way to manage it. You're talking about life."

That doesn't sit well with authors, who often blame their publishers when books are overtaken by events. "We argued back and forth," says Mr. Lereah, the real-estate author, who says he didn't want the titles to be so bold. "But you know, I'm a big boy, I agreed to what they told me to do and you've got to live with it," he adds.

Doubleday Business, Mr. Lereah's publisher and a unit of Random House, confirmed that the book's titles were suggested by the publishing team but said that they were based on his reasoning.

"In retrospect, everyone was fooled," says Roger Scholl, editorial director for Doubleday Business. "I would certainly say I was fooled. No one saw what was going to happen with real estate."

Mr. Lereah's book was served up in hardcover in February 2005 with the title "Are You Missing The Real Estate Boom? Why Home Values and Other Real Estate Investments Will Climb Through the End of the Decade — And How to Profit From Them." That edition sold 12,000 copies.

It was downhill from then. The paperback sold 2,300 copies in 2006 and 250 in 2007, according to Nielsen BookScan. So far this year, it's notched just 20 sales, Nielsen says.

Publishers say they're under pressure to craft titles that can quickly launch a book. "There is a trend of subtitles getting longer and longer and publishers insisting that a subtitle needs to explain everything about the book," says Bruce Nichols, vice president and publisher of Collins, a division of News Corp.'s HarperCollins. (News Corp. is the owner of Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal.)

Kevin Hassett, co-author of the 1999 book "Dow 36,000: The New Strategy for Profiting From the Coming Rise in the Stock Market," says criticism of his book isn't something he's lost a lot of sleep over. He is now an economics adviser to Republican presidential candidate John McCain. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed yesterday at 11230.73.

"I think that it's important for public discourse for people to be willing to take clear positions," he says. "You can be negative and be wrong year after year and somehow it doesn't create angry critics, but if you're optimistic and incorrect the response is much more vocal."

And angry readers? They mostly have themselves to blame, says Philip Tetlock, a psychologist and author of "Expert Political Judgment: How Good Is It? How Can We Know?" which details humans' insatiable desire for more certainty than is possible.

"My counsel is greater modesty," Mr. Tetlock says. "People should expect less from experts and experts should promise less."

(It's always fun to see what everyone else is reading.)

WALL STREET JOURNAL BEST-SELLERS

FICTION

1. "Breaking Dawn" by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown)

2. "Eclipse" by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown)

3. "Devil Bones" by Kathy Reichs (Scribner)

4. "The Gypsy Morph" by Terry Brooks (Del Rey)

5. "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown)

6. "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" by Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows (The Dial Press)

7. "The Host" by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown)

8. "New Moon" by Stephenie Meyer (Little Brown for Young Readers)

9. "Silks" by Dick Francis (Felix Francis Putnam)

10. "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" by David Wroblewski (Ecco)

11. "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed" by Sean Williams (Del Rey)

12. "Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Sanction" by Eric VanLustbader (Grand Central Publishing)

13. "Smoke Screen" by Sandra Brown (Simon & Schuster)

14. "The Laughter of Dead Kings" by Elizabeth Peters (William Morrow)

15. "Moscow Rules" by Daniel Silva (Putnam)

NONFICTION

1. "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch, Jeffrey Zaslow (Hyperion)

2. "Stori Telling" by Tori Spelling (Simon Spotlight)

3. "StrengthsFinder 2.0: A New and Upgraded Edition of the Online Test from Gallup's Now, Discover Your Strengths" by Tom Rath (Gallup Press)

4. "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne (Atria Books/Beyond Words)

5. "The Obama Nation" by Jerome R. Corsi (Threshold Editions)

6. "Six Disciplines Execution Revolution" by Gary Harpst (Six Disciplines Publishing)

7. "Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea" by Chelsea Handler (Simon Spotlight Entertainment)

8. "When You Are Engulfed in Flames" by David Sedaris (Little, Brown)

9. "The Case Against Barack Obama: The Unlikely Rise and Unexamined Agenda of the Media's Favorite Candidate" by David Freddoso (Regnery)

10. "Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap ... and Other's Don't" by Jim Collins (Collins)

11. "Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life" by Spencer Johnson (Putnam)

12. "Fleeced" by Dick Morris & Eileen McGann (Harper)

13. "You: Staying Young: The Owner's Manual for Extending Your Warranty" by Michael F. Roizen and Mehmet C. Oz (Free Press)

14. "The One Hundred" by Nina Garcia (Collins Living)

15. "Four Hour Work Week" by Timothy Ferriss (Crown)

The Wall Street Journal's list reflects nationwide sales of hardcover books during the week ended last Saturday at more than 2,500 Barnes & Noble, B. Dalton, Bookland, Books-a-Million, Books & Co., Bookstar, Bookstop, Borders, Brentano's, Coles, Coopersmith, Doubleday, Scribners and Waldenbooks stores, as well as sales from online retailers Amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.

The Great Man: A Novel by Kate Christensen

My review

Rating: 4 of 5 stars

This novel is not about a great man at all, but the strong, unique and falliable women who surrounded a celebrated but morally weak artist in his life.



After the artist's death, his sister, his wife, his mistress, his grown daughters and his mistress's best friend are reminded of their time with him through the eyes of two biographers writing about him.



Sometimes comical, often biting, The Great Man gives us female protagonists who are grandmothers, or old enough to be grandmothers. And their voices are anything but tedious.

Reviewed: “New Rules @ Work: 79 Etiquette Tips, Tools and Techniques to Get Ahead and Stay Ahead,” by Barbara Pachter with Ellen Schneid Coleman, Prentice Hall Press, 2006, $13.95, paperback, 258 pages.

Author Barbara Pachter says it’s a good strategy, at a business event where alcohol is served, to order a drink you don’t much like and slowly sip it to make sure you don’t overindulge.
I (sort of) put this theory to the test at a recent after-hours networking event, when the bar had run out of the red wine or beer I would have preferred, and I had to drink (gasp!) light beer. But I don’t think that was exactly what Pachter was getting at. When the drinks are free, I’m not all that picky.
Pachter, author of numerous business books including “New Rules @ Work: 79 Etiquette Tips, Tool, and Techniques to Get Ahead and Stay Ahead,” states that when drinking alcohol in social/business situations, “Have a good time but…don’t forget your behavior always matters. Just because you are out of the office doesn’t mean that your behavior doesn’t count.
“Many workplaces don’t have a lot of rules — or may not enforce a lot of rules — when it comes to etiquette, or prescribed conduct, in or out of the office. “New Rules @ Work,” is practical and helpful in filling in the blanks.
Take the case of professional attire:Years ago, I was a contractor at a mutual funds company. Proper professional attire that included suits with conservative skirt lengths and certain types of shoes (no open toes, sneakers or clogs) worn with “proper hosiery” was required.
A lot of companies, however, opt for a “business casual” dress code. And in the heat and humidity of summer, those already casual rules may become even more relaxed, according to Pachter.
However, the author states, warmer weather doesn’t mean you can suddenly wear tiny skirts, skimpy tops or otherwise inappropriate clothing to your job.
“Sexy is not a corporate look,” warns Pachter.
She suggests, “If your company does not have a written policy, look at what other people wear, especially the more senior people, the more successful ones. They are often good role models.”
There’s also a chapter devoted to “e-mail embarrassments.”
“Of course, it is inappropriate to say negative things to coworkers about colleagues — past or present — whatever technology you are using. However, the risks multiply when you use e-mail,” Pachter writes.
Many of us have been on the receiving end of an inappropriate e-mail that was erroneously sent to “reply all” instead of just to the sender. Pachter advises avoiding potentially embarrassing e-mail situations by beginning a fresh e-mail rather than replying in the heat of the moment.
A chapter I found particularly helpful discussed handshakes.“You should be certain to shake hands when you: Greet someone with more than just a hello and when you say goodbye; are introduced to someone; are visited in your office by someone from outside the company — for example, a customer, client or vendor; encounter a business colleague outside the office; or feel it is appropriate.”
There are times when I first meet someone in a professional capacity and that person does not extend their hand for a handshake. It’s sometimes awkward and feels like a rejection. What I learned from Pachter’s book is that I, as a woman, should not hesitate to extend my hand first — something that I realized that I do sometimes hesitate to do.
The proper etiquette is that “a man should wait for a woman to extend her hand.” Also: “The higher-ranking person should extend his or her hand first.”
Another chapter I found interesting discussed saying hello to people at work. It sounds simple enough — greeting those you see every day or even returning a hello — but not everybody does it, according to Pachter.
“You would not believe how many people tell me they are frequently ignored when they say hello to colleagues they encounter in hallways, elevators, cafeterias and elsewhere in the office,” she writes.
Her guideline: “If you make eye contact with someone who is within 10 feet of you, you must acknowledge the person with a nod or a smile. At five feet you must say something: ‘Hello,’ or ‘Good morning’ will suffice.”
Even a simple greeting can make your boss, coworker or client feel a connection. Like Pachter’s other tips, this one might just help you “get ahead and stay ahead.”

Reviewed: “Debt is Slavery: and 9 Other Things I Wish My Dad Had Taught Me About Money,” by Michael Mihalik, October Mist Publishing, 2007, $14.95, 128 pages.

Michael Mihalik was inspired to write this little book because of his own struggles with debt after college.
Mihalik, an aerospace engineer when not penning books, proudly mentions several times throughout “Debt is Slavery” that he has overcome his early credit card debt and is so financially savvy now he was able to take six whole weeks off in order to write his book. Six whole weeks.
This is where I think to myself that I or pretty much anyone who can put pen to paper might be able to come up with 128 pages on any topic if given a month and a half.
When it comes down to it, I don’t think Mihalik’s experience overcoming his debt is anything remarkable. He overextended himself with credit cards while in college and it took a while for him to bail himself out. Well done, Mr. Mihalik, but I also learned that “easy credit” lesson the hard way. So did a few others I know.
While sound, Mihalik’s pointers to overcome your debt are far too general, to the tune of: Don’t buy things you don’t need. Um, OK.
“I came up with 10 basic ideas and rules about money that allowed me to gain control of my finances and pay off my debt,” Mihalik states. “They literally transformed my life.”
Mihalik was 13 when his father died, and the premise of the book is that Mihalik had to come up with his own rules for money because his dad never had the chance to teach him.
“That’s not the easiest way to learn. I wish someone had just taught me the rules, but fate had other plans for me,” he writes. “If you’re drowning in debt, if it seems like you’ll never get ahead financially, or if you’re forced to work at a job you dislike to pay the bills, this book has something for you.”
Something, yes. Something in the way of very general advice.
(Specific financial advice, let it be noted, should come from a financial services professional).
The author says that when he got out of college, armed with his engineering degree and several pre-approved credit cards, he soon found himself in roughly $20,000 of debt and living beyond his means. At the time, Mihalik said he searched for a self-help book but could find none that were short and to the point. There, his idea for this book was born.
“After I eliminated my debt and gained control of my finances, I wanted to help other people do the same, so I decided to write the book I wish had been available to me,” he writes.
It took Mihalik one “hellish year” to get out of debt, he says.
The core lessons of the book are sound: Debt is bad. Try not to get into it. Possessions won’t bring you happiness, so stop buying them. Find work you enjoy, and you’ll be happier. Don’t just save, invest in “income-producing assets.” Spend less than you earn.
Are these suggestions bad advice? Not at all. Did I need to read this book to learn them? Not at all.
The one piece of advice that piqued my interest was the chapter — I mean the three whole pages — on how to save 50 percent of your salary.
“If you save 50 percent of your salary, for every month you work, you will save enough to take a month off — without changing your lifestyle,” Mihalik writes.
Hmmm. Saving half my salary. I don’t think that’s even possible.
But Mihalik anticipates this reaction, and advises trying for a 33 or 25 percent total savings — over and above the maximum 401k plan contributions you can make at work, that is.
To save this quarter of your salary, you have to make a budget, he says.
I agree — making a budget is a great idea for anyone who has any debt at all. It helps you see where your money goes.
Additionally, Mihalik advises, you should budget for savings, trips and special purchases. Yes, all good ideas, but still super-simplified and general.
My advice is to save the money you would spend on this book and add it to your savings.