Stop Over-Thinking Your Money! The Five Simple Rules of Financial Success by Preet Banerjee

Over the last year I’ve been reading a lot of personal finance books. One that I really liked was Preet Banerjee’s Stop Over-Thinking Your Money! The Five Simple Rules of Financial Success. Banerjee deals specifically with Canadian finances and accounts, so it is useful from start to finish for those of us living here in Canada.

As advertised, Banerjee has five simple rules:

1. Disaster Proof Your Life
2. Spend Less Than You Earn
3. Aggressively Pay Down High-Interest Debt
4. Read the Fine Print
5. Delay Consumption

Spending less than you earn, paying down high interest debts, and delaying consumption are all pretty self explanatory. The other two rules are eye-opening though. By disaster proofing your life, Banerjeet explains why different insurance products might be right for you. And reading the fine print is important so you aren’t surprised by any contracts that you sign.

After his rules, Banerjee looks at investing, finding a financial advisor, and insurance.His discussion of financial planners was really good; he advocates for a proper financial advisor who will help you with an overall financial plan, whatever your goals may be. I also found the chapter on insurance to be interesting: he explains how companies come up with their premiums and why they go up as you age.

The one major flaw of Stop Over-Thinking Your Money is that Banerjee doesn’t include a bibliography or list of further reading at the end of the book. He does recommend some books throughout his chapters though, so I was able to write them all down as I was reading. Overall, Stop Over-Thinking Your Money is a great Canadian book on personal finances, especially for people who are just starting out on their savings journey.