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Book Review: Finance Action Hero Review

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Welcome to the first book review on the site. While attending FinCon, I was fortunate to get copies of 5 different books so I thought I’d start with reviewing those before moving on to other books out there.

Here is the first, written by the wonderful Peita Diamantidis who I had the pleasure of meeting and having lunch with during the conference.

Peita traveled all the way from Sydney, Australia to be at FinCon in Charlotte, NC. During our lunch, after a rather in-depth conversation on the differences between rugby and the various versions of rugby in Australia we got to talking about our various goals and projects.

Turns out Peita has written a book and she was kind enough to give me a copy . . . that I managed to devour easily in one weekend. I thoroughly enjoyed it and felt it was worth sharing. Particularly because unlike some other personal finance books I’ve read, I felt every rule in the book did, in fact, apply to me.

As part of my Finance Action Hero Review, I will be covering:

  • The premise of the book and why it has you thinking about money as an action hero
  • The rules Peita sets forth
  • How it’s still applicable even though Peita is based in Australia
  • Where you can learn more

So without further ado here is my Finance Action Hero  review:

“An everyday person, facing a mountain of challenges that they overcome by TAKING ACTION.”

This is the definition of an action hero and throughout the book, Peita acts as your trusty sidekick. You work to become an Action Hero taking on your finances with some basic training. As Peita points out, all action heroes go through training before taking on their first mission.

An everyday person, facing a mountain of challenges that they overcome by TAKING ACTION.”

Peita Diamantidis

One of the biggest reasons for financial troubles is that we dive in head first without making sure the pool is deep enough. We buy the house or the car or the expensive vacation. I’m guilty of taking such action in the past, and I know many other PF bloggers are as well.

We skip right past the basics because we don’t know any better. The purpose of Less Debt More Wine and the PF community is to help impart the education we all somehow missed growing up. Finance Action Hero does just that.

While Peita is from Australia, very little written is particular to just Australia. It encompasses ten basic rules to live by to set a foundation for your finances.

The Ten Rules of Finance Action Hero:

#1: There is no easy money

#2: Spend less than you earn

#3: Understand the difference between a want and a need

#4: Waste is stupid

#5: Don’t forget the power of compound interest

#6: Credit Cards are evil minions

#7: A little forethought goes a long way

#8: Paying tax is a GOOD thing

#9: A quarter of something is better than nothing

#10: Get your affairs in order

The ToolBox

Each chapter focuses on a different rule and goes in depth over the rule, giving examples, and homework to help you understand and apply the rule to your situation.

What I enjoyed about this book is that even though Peita comes from a financial background she leaves out all that jargon and speaks from personal experience. Personal finance is personal, and no one is perfect, we all make mistakes. 

With the online toolbox, homework at the end of the section and yes even some tough love, Peita gives you everything you need to start implementing the lessons in your life.

These are many lessons I’ve learned on my own searching the web. They also required a lot of trial and error. Had I had this book when I first started on my financial journey I would have saved a lot of time and money.

Perspective: Australia vs U.S.A.

There are a few minor points in the book I disagree with, but they are purely circumstantial. For example, I wouldn’t recommend canceling your credit card after paying it off since that can negatively impact your credit score.

However, the impact may be different in Australia I don’t actually know. As I mentioned before there are a few things in the book particular to Australia but rules themselves can and should be applied no matter what country in which you are located.

Where You Can Learn More

It is both a great read and an easy read. I ended up reading it in two sittings throughout the weekend. Though you could easily read it in one sitting if you have the time and no pets or kids to distract you. If you are interested in getting Finance Action Hero, you can find it on Amazon.

Finance Action Hero Review:  4/4 wine glasses.

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