Get a Financial Life

August 1, 2016

Personal finance commentator and journalist Kobliner empowers millennials to take control of their finances and demystifies key concepts in this updated edition. The guide is divided into chapters on debt, investing, renting and home-buying, insurance, taxes, and more. New additions include topics such as internet banking, socially responsible investing, and updated tax laws. Kobliner acknowledges the money struggles unique to this generation, including stifling student loan debt, tightened home lending rules, and the unpredictable economy. She avoids dumbing down the material as she walks young readers through these topics, finalizing each chapter with a "cramming" guide of key takeaways. While Kobliner successfully defines and explains many financial concepts, how-to advice on borrowing money from friends and relatives, home equity lines of credit (HELOCs), deferring student loans, and cashing in retirement savings should probably have been omitted. However, the good advice far outweighs the bad as Kobliner provides concrete examples of how time can be a young person's greatest wealth-building tool. It's a good postrecession companion to Suze Orman's The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke. VERDICT A recommended addition to any millennial's financial toolkit.--Jennifer Clifton, Indiana State Lib., Indianapolis

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