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SET FOR LIFE

DOMINATE LIFE, MONEY, AND THE AMERICAN DREAM

Cogently written and ideal for those beginning their careers who are not averse to risk; some may find this fiscal plan too...

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A debut financial guide offers a novel approach to wealth creation.

Reports of the demise of the middle class have led to a spate of financial and investment books targeting the “average Joe,” a label often used in this work. Clearly, Trench intends the manual for a specific audience, “the full-time median (around $50,000 per year) wage earner who has little to no initial savings but wants early financial freedom.” The author’s three-stage formula focuses on the notion that creating and building wealth is about developing a “financial runway,” or the ability to live a desired lifestyle without relying on a traditional job. But rather than promote a get-rich-quick scheme, Trench lobbies for a period of self-sacrifice followed by bulking up on savings and investing in income-producing assets. The author lays out his proposition elegantly, using a strategy that moves from zero personal wealth to an initial accumulation of $25,000, growing that to $100,000, and culminating in fiscal independence. Much of the book emphasizes a do-it-yourself mentality and disciplined practicality. Trench chides the reader to be sensible and accept less than “the best.” The finest will cost a lot more but probably not be much better than “quite good.” This goes hand in hand with the concept of living “efficiently.” These are tenets of a kind of self-reliant, pragmatic philosophy that forms a foundation for the well-constructed book. Tactics abound: when it comes to housing, for instance, the author’s solution is to start by living in an inexpensive apartment close to work and, after saving some money, become a “house hacker”—purchase a multifamily unit, live in one part, and rent out the other. This is a key to wealth creation, writes Trench, but it may not be desirable or feasible for everyone. Other unconventional ideas, such as seeking out a performance-based job to generate higher than average employment income, are provided throughout.

Cogently written and ideal for those beginning their careers who are not averse to risk; some may find this fiscal plan too audacious, but others will likely embrace its spirit and pursue it with fervor. 

Pub Date: April 23, 2017

ISBN: 978-0-9975847-1-4

Page Count: 236

Publisher: BiggerPockets

Review Posted Online: May 2, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2017

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MASTERY

Readers unfamiliar with the anecdotal material Greene presents may find interesting avenues to pursue, but they should...

Greene (The 33 Strategies of War, 2007, etc.) believes that genius can be learned if we pay attention and reject social conformity.

The author suggests that our emergence as a species with stereoscopic, frontal vision and sophisticated hand-eye coordination gave us an advantage over earlier humans and primates because it allowed us to contemplate a situation and ponder alternatives for action. This, along with the advantages conferred by mirror neurons, which allow us to intuit what others may be thinking, contributed to our ability to learn, pass on inventions to future generations and improve our problem-solving ability. Throughout most of human history, we were hunter-gatherers, and our brains are engineered accordingly. The author has a jaundiced view of our modern technological society, which, he writes, encourages quick, rash judgments. We fail to spend the time needed to develop thorough mastery of a subject. Greene writes that every human is “born unique,” with specific potential that we can develop if we listen to our inner voice. He offers many interesting but tendentious examples to illustrate his theory, including Einstein, Darwin, Mozart and Temple Grandin. In the case of Darwin, Greene ignores the formative intellectual influences that shaped his thought, including the discovery of geological evolution with which he was familiar before his famous voyage. The author uses Grandin's struggle to overcome autistic social handicaps as a model for the necessity for everyone to create a deceptive social mask.

Readers unfamiliar with the anecdotal material Greene presents may find interesting avenues to pursue, but they should beware of the author's quirky, sometimes misleading brush-stroke characterizations.

Pub Date: Nov. 13, 2012

ISBN: 978-0-670-02496-4

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2012

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UNTAMED

Doyle offers another lucid, inspiring chronicle of female empowerment and the rewards of self-awareness and renewal.

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More life reflections from the bestselling author on themes of societal captivity and the catharsis of personal freedom.

In her third book, Doyle (Love Warrior, 2016, etc.) begins with a life-changing event. “Four years ago,” she writes, “married to the father of my three children, I fell in love with a woman.” That woman, Abby Wambach, would become her wife. Emblematically arranged into three sections—“Caged,” “Keys,” “Freedom”—the narrative offers, among other elements, vignettes about the soulful author’s girlhood, when she was bulimic and felt like a zoo animal, a “caged girl made for wide-open skies.” She followed the path that seemed right and appropriate based on her Catholic upbringing and adolescent conditioning. After a downward spiral into “drinking, drugging, and purging,” Doyle found sobriety and the authentic self she’d been suppressing. Still, there was trouble: Straining an already troubled marriage was her husband’s infidelity, which eventually led to life-altering choices and the discovery of a love she’d never experienced before. Throughout the book, Doyle remains open and candid, whether she’s admitting to rigging a high school homecoming court election or denouncing the doting perfectionism of “cream cheese parenting,” which is about “giving your children the best of everything.” The author’s fears and concerns are often mirrored by real-world issues: gender roles and bias, white privilege, racism, and religion-fueled homophobia and hypocrisy. Some stories merely skim the surface of larger issues, but Doyle revisits them in later sections and digs deeper, using friends and familial references to personify their impact on her life, both past and present. Shorter pieces, some only a page in length, manage to effectively translate an emotional gut punch, as when Doyle’s therapist called her blooming extramarital lesbian love a “dangerous distraction.” Ultimately, the narrative is an in-depth look at a courageous woman eager to share the wealth of her experiences by embracing vulnerability and reclaiming her inner strength and resiliency.

Doyle offers another lucid, inspiring chronicle of female empowerment and the rewards of self-awareness and renewal.

Pub Date: March 10, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-9848-0125-8

Page Count: 352

Publisher: Dial Books

Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020

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