Books on personal finance are boring.
Right?
Well not this one! The Wealthy Barber, a slim little 199 page book by David Chilton, is such a fun and easy read that you will barely believe that you are learning something.
The setup is this:
A young man and his wife are expecting a child. As many couples do when this momentous life change occurs, they realized that it’s time to take a good look at their finances. Problem is, they don’t know where to start. That’s ok-they know just who to ask-Good old Dad! After all, Dad & Mom are retired and living very comfortably, so they must have it all figured out.
The next weekend our hero and his wife take a trip up to Ann Arbor to visit Mom & Dad. When he asks about financial planning the advice he gets isn’t quite what he was expecting. . . “Go get a haircut!”
Turns out, everything the father has ever learned about financial planning was from his barber, Roy. Roy is so knowledgeable about finances that he is now a millionaire-but continues to cut hair just because he enjoys it.
The way the information in this book is presented is brilliant. The son goes to the barber & brings along his best friend and his sister. The three “students” all come from different situations-one is married with a kid on the way, another is single and doing ok, the third is single and doing very well. Also present are a couple of the older barbershop “cronies” who have been recipients of Roy’s advice in the past.
Having these various characters gives a perfect platform for the author to deal with financial situation from all different viewpoints while still keeping up the fun narrative style. The friends ask questions, tease each other, and generally build the story along while imparting information.
I learned so much when I read The Wealthy Barber for the first time 8 years ago. It is not going too far to say it shaped my personal philosophy on finances. The book outlines a basic methodology for dealing with your finances, without going too deeply into the nitty gritty. You won’t find the specifics of which mutual funds to invest in here-instead you’ll learn why you should pay yourself first, why you should always buy term life insurance and why you may not need to make a budget.
I highly recommend that you put this book on reserve at your local library immediately! You may enjoy it so much that, like me, you have to buy a copy.
Now for the basic info:
Title: The Wealthy Barber
Author: David Chilton
Legnth: 199 pages
Chapters (ten)
The Financial Illiterate
A Surprising Referral
The Wealthy Barber
The Ten Percent Solution
Wills, Life Insurance and Responsibility
Planning for Retirement
Home Sweet Home
Saving Savvy
Insights into Investment and Income Tax
Graduation
Cost (via Amazon): $11.20
So have you ever read The Wealthy Barber? If so, what did you think of it?
Photo by Tatoodjj
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
The Wealthy Barber was the first personal finance book I read, and it really was my first taste of educating myself in the world of finance. I was shocked that there was all this information that I had never heard of in school or my upbringing years.
I've just placed a hold on this book at the library. They also have a VHS & audiobook format which I might try after reading the book. This book sounds similar to another book I read several years ago. I can't remember the title but it had the word Babylon in it. It was the story of a man in who learned financial lessons from a wealthy man while working for him. The one I've always remembered from that book was to always put 10% of everthing you earn into a savings account & never dip into it. Wish I could remember the name of that book!