Review/Giveaway: Get Financially Naked

A WINNING READINGS GIVEAWAY!

Title: Get Financially Naked: How to Talk Money With Your Honey
Author: Manisha Thakor, MBA, CFA, and Sharon Kedar, MBA, CFA
Genre: Nonfiction - personal finance
How to enter: Leave a comment on THIS post right here! If you're a subscriber or a follower, leave a second comment for a second entry.
Entry deadline: February 25, 2010
Restrictions: Open internationally!

That's right, enter right here for this giveaway. This is my review copy, so it has been gently read.

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"Happily Ever After is not a financial plan."

Getting Financially Naked was written by two personal finance experts: Manisha Thakor, MBA, CFA and Sharon Kedar, MBA, CFA. Published by Adams Media, this 208-page paperback has a list price of $12.95.

Here's how the publisher describes the book:

You may think that marital bliss means money doesn't matter, but in today's troubled economic times, that's simply false hope. And with layoffs galore and
debt mounting, financial stress is through the roof. Think keeping afloat and affectionate is impossible? Think again.

Accessible and easy to follow, the three-part process presented in this book teaches you how to:

• Accurately interpret your current financial condition
• Become truly involved in the costs of the couple
• Move forward using the "three powers steps to financial success"

And here's the info on the authors:

Manisha Thakor, MBA, CFA (Houston, TX and Santa Fe, NM) and Sharon Kedar, MBA, CFA (San Francisco, CA) are best girlfriends and the coauthors of the hit book
On My Own Two Feet: A Modern Girl's Guide to Personal Finance. Both Thakor and Kedar earned MBA degrees from Harvard Business School and are Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholders. As personal finance experts, their work has been featured in national media such as BusinessWeek, US News & World Report, Glamour, Woman's Day and NBC Nightly News. Thakor and Kedar are fully committed to getting financially naked with their husbands and effectively managing their household finances.

I recently read a Christian book on finances (Financial Purity), and this is a great addition or follow-up to that one. It's one thing to get your OWN finances in order - to identify your financial beliefs, priorities, and where your money is going - and that's really where you should start. And then, if you've got a significant other, it's vital to "get financially naked" - vulnerable - and share your priorities and challenges with the other.

The first thing I liked about this book is that it's not really about money, but rather using resources where YOU want them to be used - "Owning your life." Or from a Christian perspective - consciously giving God ownership, not only of your life, but also of your resources.

I also like the emphasis on finding out where your honey stands BEFORE committing to sharing financial obligations. It's not as obvious as you might think; for instance, if he's a big spender, you may assume he has lots of money coming in, but that may not be so. This book gives great practical advice on getting things out in the open for discussion.

If you're already married and committed, it's not too late for the book. The five power steps to financial success (or peace of mind, if you prefer) can be worked on together, once you know where you both stand.

It's kind of funny - in my marriage, money hasn't been a huge issue. I assumed we were fairly compatible; we've always had just enough, I'm not a big ticket spender, and my husband always brings up big purchases with me before spending. (It helps that we have separate bank accounts - though that could get a little touchy if I'm not working, I guess.) We use credit, but only for convenience to the point where we can easily pay it back. And we're not too concerned about saving up for the future - it's in God's hands and He keeps providing!

But with the books I've been reading, not only have I come to realize that a lot of money just disappears for no significant purpose, we have had a few discussions about finances lately. And I learned my husband's pet peeve has been energy drinks. Hey - I figure $1.50 for a drink is a deal compared to the expensive coffee drinks I could be getting, but I guess $3 a day does start to add up.


So I'm on a $1/day budget for drinks right now. And trying to be better about tracking what I spend. I'm not sure how much I like this accountability thing that makes me question my own judgment, but I DO like having things out in the open. I'd like to be able to say: "Look - I've cut our monthly grocery spending by $100 this month! How do you want to invest that $100?"

Financial intimacy can be scary, but this book is a great resource for those who want to go there...

Thanks to Meryl L. Moss Media Relations, Inc. for the review copy of this book.