Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping By and Get Your Financial Life Together (Broke Millennial Series)

One of my most significant complaints about personal financial literature is that it comes from people who have a base level of wealth, often much older and out of touch with what it's like to be broke in our current economy. Much of the advice given is "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" and doesn't recognize the real challenge in making and keeping money. That's why I was initially interested in The Broke Millenial, and it did not disappoint. The book details many aspects of personal finance like paying down debt, living with your parents, revealing your financial status with your partner, investing, and credit. It approaches these topics from a non-judgemental "hey, I've been there" kind of attitude, making the topics a lot more approachable.The book starts by discussing different financial situations common for young people today to help identify what areas you need help in. It then guides what chapters are most important for you to go over. She discusses that the book is meant to be read out of order, that it's structured in a way where you can flip to any chapter when the information is relevant and get a refresher on what to do. There are so many covered topics that are incredibly helpful for any financial situation.I liked the book because she acknowledged that financial advice is often out of touch with how humans behave and that some things that technically cost more save money in the long run. For example, she mentions the debt avalanche vs. snowball method and how while avalanche technically pays the lowest interest, most people can't sustain that level of dedication. It's demotivating to try to tackle a mountain. Another thing I liked was that she gave a lot of practical advice I wouldn't have considered like utilizing a financial advisor even if you don't have wealth and how to know which advisor to choose. I also loved the light-heartedness of the book. One of the things I didn't like was her use of "hip" humor to try to appeal to her audience. Maybe it's because I'm Gen Z, but a lot of the jokes referencing things like swiping on Tinder, etc., that were trying to appeal to a modern audience weren't my sense of humor. Luckily, these jokes weren't often, so they were easy to move on from.I would highly recommend this book to young people. It's easier to read than economists that steep their information in statistics or hardcore "you're broke because you choose to be" mentalities. It's also brilliant for covering modern student debt because that's a relatively new societal issue, and she addresses it in a very "you can't change having the debt, so let's form a game plan to pay it."My favorite pieces of advice from the book were debt avalanche vs. debt snowball, the different types of budgets, and choosing a financial advisor. Debt avalanche vs. snowball (or a hybrid) discusses different strategies for paying off debt, where one focuses on the highest interest where one focuses on the lowest balance. This is important because it's easy to try to tackle too much and get overwhelmed. The different types of budgets she presented were useful because they gave me some ideas on managing my money and things I can try to make me aware of my spending. Choosing a financial advisor was helpful because she gave good information on the credentials you should be looking for, like fee-only. Many financial advisors are just pushing products and don't have your best interest.

This book is an insightful, profitable tool to aide in the illumination of your financial health. As someone whom has never delved into their own financial routines, this book offered a plethora of productive tools that everyone should know and use to achieve financial security. I believe that I will really benefit from this read and implore others, whom may be in the dark financially (or not), to do the same. I also really benefitted from purchasing a physical copy of this book as I loved adding my own notes in that margins and with post its, as well as highlighting and tagging certain pages to come back to.