The Financially Confident Woman by Mary Hunt

Learning about money has been an important activity one can devote his or her time on. Most of us are aware of the fact that to properly operate as an individual or group in this modern age, we need to have money as a primary medium of exchange. However, I would argue that it is not only money that we need. More important than money is the financial knowledge to properly use and manage the said tool.

In this book entitled The Financially Confident Woman, Mary Hunt makes the case that women should have appropriate knowledge of financial matters. This will eventually lead to having the confidence in handling money, thereby having more power to direct their lives.

ACCURACY AND RELIABILITY (Score: 3/5)

This book is written by an award winning author and a sought-after motivational speaker. For more than two decades her organization Debt-Proof Living has been helping thousands of individuals to become more financially responsible and live debt-free lives. Despite lacking the formal degree in finance, Mary Hunt is able to provide a very sound and compelling financial advice that worked and continue to work for many individuals.

However, what I less likely to appreciate in this aspect is the tendency to overemphasize that only women need to be more financially confident. The book is in the danger of stereotyping women as the only one who needs help. For this to be true, the book should have presented at least some findings that, at least in the US if not the whole world, more women around this year are less confident in money matters. Presenting a case study would have produced solid evidence that more women need help in being more financially confident at this time. This would put the book in front of its present audience.

The advice in this book is equally applicable to every one regardless of gender or sexual orientation.

SUBSTANCE AND VOICE (Score: 4/5)

The purpose of the book is to give advice to help women be more financially confident. As you might have guessed, the intended audience of this work are women. It would have been better when there are more discussions than what was already presented as to how women can leverage their husbands or significant others towards financial confidence. No one can be truly confident on financial matters if they don’t have a sound relationship with their partners.

STYLE (Score: 5/5)

I commend the book for its writing style and wits. It is very easy to understand and follow since there are no complex financial jargons. The entry about compounding was so easy to follow. The author herself confessed that she couldn’t take in too much computation.

Moreover, aside from being informative the book is also funny and entertaining. Mary writes in such a way that you can vividly see her escapades when she was young.

STRUCTURE (Score: 5/5)

The overall structure aids to the understanding of the readers. The table of contents is clear as well as the organization of ideas inside the book. The book uses highlights and sub-headings that would make it easy to outline the ideas being discussed. I actually used the structure of the book to in noting the important nuggets of ideas.

ILLUSTRATION AND FORMAT (Score: 5/5)

There is enough illustration provided which made the presentation effective. I particularly like the table about compounding which stressed the points that the earlier we save the better.

Overall, this is a good book about finance. It offers sound advice that everyone can do and appreciate. I would recommend the advice this book not just to women but to everyone.