Hi guys,
In the next few weeks I’d like to share with you the best finance books that I have been reading recently.
I love blogs and podcasts for easy listening and reading, but when I want to really digest and learn something, there is nothing like being able to sit down with a book and learn it from A to Z, in a concise and efficient format.
Book Review: The Financial Residency's Create Your Financial Plan Without The Long Hours and Sleepless Nights
First up, The Financial Residency’s Ryan Inman and his wife, Dr. Taylor Inman, wrote a book called Create Your Financial Plan without the long hours or sleepless nights. I’m really loving this book for the young resident, early attending, or personal finance beginner.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by all the money mumbo jumbo out there and are struggling to apply it to your own life, this is the book for you.
It has the basics laid out in an easy to read format. Not only does it have the pertinent info, it’s presented in a way that is engaging. It gives you the opportunity to interact with it and apply the didactics to your own life as you read. Every couple of pages, there is a fill in the blank worksheet that lets you take a minute to think about your own situation. I think this is such a great idea.
After all, personal finance is personal and learning personal finance should be a personal process, too.
Interspersed between the didactics of the book are Taylor’s thoughts on how the ideas in the chapter applied to her medical career and life. In my opinion, that personal touch made the book all the more relatable.
The book starts out by having you lay out your goals for the future and some ways you can get there. Then, it asks you what your ideal future is and has your write it down. I love that because just the act of dreaming big and writing it down makes the dream more achievable.
Next, Ryan gives us the big picture- a mind map of all the finances, and gives us instructions on how to get organized.
By chapter 4, Ryan rolls his sleeves up and dives into the nitty gritty.
First, he gives guidelines for setting up your household budget and cash flow plan. He recommends that 50% of your take home goes toward fixed expenses, 25% goes towards variable expenses, and 25% goes toward savings. By the way, that’s take home pay, after automatic withholdings such as 401k, HSA, FSA, etc.
So, if you follow this plan, which I agree with, your savings rate will be higher than 25% if you add in the automatic withholdings.
Next, Ryan breaks down debts and debt management. After that, he explains the different insurances an attending usually needs. Then, he gets into retirement plans and estate planning.
I love chapter 9, the financial health assessment and prescription chapter because it’s full of actionable ideas, as exemplified in the step by step financial priorities list.
Another great nugget is the “How much house can you afford?” chapter. Ryan provides a worksheet here that walks you through exactly how to calculate how big of a house you can afford.
Lastly, check out the back page- Ryan asked me to be one of the first readers of his book and write a review for him for the back cover. So I may be a little biased by that compliment, but I do feel confident that I would recommend this book even if he hadn’t asked me to be one of the reviewers. I think this is a great book for the DIY’er who is looking to get their financial house in order, but doesn’t want to or doesn’t have the time to sit down with a financial advisor. There is solid, actionable advice here that is very similar to the steps Josh and I took to get our financial house in order.
Happy reading and stay frugal, y’all!
Disha
Standard Disclaimer: Not meant as individualized financial advice. This post contains affiliate links. TFP has no financial relationship with The Financial Residency.
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