For the past few decades, Americans have spent billions of dollars on
personal finance products. As salaries have stagnated and companies
have cut back on benefits, we’ve taken matters into our own hands,
embracing the can-do attitude that if we’re smart enough, we can
overcome even daunting financial obstacles. But that’s not true.In
this meticulously reported and shocking book, journalist and former
financial columnist Helaine Olen goes behind the curtain of the personal
finance industry to expose the myths, contradictions, and outright lies
it has perpetuated. She shows how an industry that started as a
response to the Great Depression morphed into a behemoth that thrives by
selling us products and services that offer little if any help.Olen
calls out some of the biggest names in the business, revealing how even
the most respected gurus have engaged in dubious, even deceitful,
prac­tices—from accepting payments from banks and corporations in
exchange for promoting certain prod­ucts to blaming the victims of
economic catastrophe for their own financial misfortune. Pound Foolish also disproves many myths about spending and saving, including:Small pleasures can bankrupt you: Gurus
popular­ized the idea that cutting out lattes and other small
expenditures could make us millionaires. But reduc­ing our caffeine
consumption will not offset our biggest expenses: housing, education,
health care, and retirement.Disciplined investing will make you rich: Gurus
also love to show how steady investing can turn modest savings into a
huge nest egg at retirement. But these calculations assume a healthy
market and a lifetime without any setbacks—two conditions that have no
connection to the real world.Women need extra help managing money: Product
pushers often target women, whose alleged financial ignorance
supposedly leaves them especially at risk. In reality, women and men are
both terrible at han­dling finances.Financial literacy classes will prevent future eco­nomic crises: Experts
like to claim mandatory sessions on personal finance in school will
cure many of our money ills. Not only is there little evidence this is
true, the entire movement is largely funded and promoted by the
financial services sector.Weaving together original
reporting, interviews with experts, and studies from disciplines ranging
from behavioral economics to retirement planning,Pound Foolish is a compassionate and compelling book that will change the way we think and talk about our money.