Your Money or Your Life
The Book in 3 Sentences
Vicki Robin expresses the fundamentals of financial stability in an ever-growing consumer economy.
This book illustrate the importance of defining "enough" instead of "more", and redefining the things that matter the most in our lives.
Changing our perspective about debt and our desire for more goods can open doors to living a sustainable lifestyle, within our means, while persuing ultimate fulfillment outside of work.
Top 3 Quotes
"A 2015 US Federal Reserve Board report found that 47 percent of Americans would have to borrow money or sell something to cover a $400 emergency expense."
"The only real asset you have is your time. The hours of your life."
"If you live for having it all, what you have is never enough."
Who Should Read it?
Your Money or Your Life contains a message for anyone entering adulthood: Money is something which we trade our time and energy for: "He who knows he has enough is rich." Taking on debt and spending money frivolously leads down a path of financial instability. Learning to recognize our limitations, living withing our means, and planning for the future are some of the best lessons a young adult should learn. Making the right decisions while you're young will lead to the best outcomes later in life.
How the Book Changed Me:
Many of my spending habits are likely considered irregular to most 18 year olds: looking at my reciepts regularly, planning for unexpected expenses, and saving money in four seperate accounts are just a few of my strange tendencies. Call me a nerd, but how diverse is your investment portfolio?
Personally, I already have been living and working on the principles in this book. My exposure to Dave Ramsey at a young age, compounded with a variety of odd occurances, has led me to painstakingly evaluate my fincancial situation regularly, typically looking six to twelve months into the future.
Passive income has become idiolized in recent years, but in reality, very few types of income are truly "passive". Trading time for money has been a struggle for me since the day I worked my first job. When I was 15 I realized I could make more money for myself than for someone else. But it wasn't until I was 17 that I really started to pay attention to where that money was going. Now, as I prepare for college and life beyond, the pressure to make the right financial decisions has never been more important.
I think there are likely millions of adults in their thirties and fourties wishing they would have prepared better for the future. Let's not make those same mistakes. Let's become proactive about our money, instead of reacting to poor decisions. And perhaps one day we will realize we have enough.