Home > Media > Books > Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin - Your Money or Your Life: Transforming Your Relationship With Money and Achieving Financial Independence
Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin - Your Money or Your Life: Transforming Your Relationship With Money and Achieving Financial Independence
mjfrombuffalo's Full Review: Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin - Your Money or Your...
The first time I read this book I was plugging along, reading the chapters and half-heartedly doing some of the application exercises in my head, when it hit me. The clouds parted, angels sang from the heavens, sunshine streamed down and doves landed on my shoulders - a revelation. No, really, I had a revelation. Ok, so there weren't any doves or an angel chorus, but really - I was knocked off my feet by an idea in this book, and I saw how it just might be possible.
Your Money or Your Life is (the late) Joe Dominguez's and Vicki Robin's book about money - what it is, what it isn't, and what place it has in your life. Using a conversational tone, real-life examples, and simple exercises, Dominguez and Robin work to help you examine what role money has in your life and how you can make it so your life means more than making that money. They believe that following their steps (none of which involve selling snake oil or engaging in day trading) will lead you inexorably to Financial Independence. Let me explain - with some help from Pink Floyd.
Money, get away.
Get a good job with good pay and you're okay.
That's the old story of money. We all grew up with the idea that we need money and we'll get money by having a good job, working 9-5 'til 65 and then we'll have a life. So, as Dr. Phil would say, how's that working for you?
Dominguez and Robin posit that "good job" and "good pay" are relative. Do you spend a lot of money to keep yourself in that "good job" (commuting, work clothing, etc) - and, once you figure out what you really make per hour, is that still "good pay"? Is it a job that satisfies you, makes you happy, a place you can't wait to go to each day, or do you spend your off-time trying to take your mind off of work or rewarding yourself for having made it through another day? Chapter two is about computing your real wages per hour, along with figuring out how many hours you have to work for that car payment, new trendy jacket, etc.
Money, it's a gas.
Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash.
Dominguez and Robin invite you to look at various ways of saving money and then settle on the one investment vehicle they believe produces the most steady income and the least risk. Unfortunately, long-term Treasury Bonds aren't around any more, or only in shorter terms. Dominguez' and Robin's non-profit organization, The New Road Map Foundation, has been able to find similar investment stability/results; see their website (www.newroadmap.org)for details.
Meanwhile, they ask you to examine what you're using your "stash" for. Why do you need more money? For a better car, a bigger house, a Lear jet, to keep up with the Joneses? One of the best concepts in this book is their idea of figuring out where "enough" is for you. Enough is as relative as "good job/good pay," and if you don't set a benchmark for what is "enough" now, you'll end up never having enough - because you'll be judging "enough" by what the neighbors have. If for no other reason, read the book for this philosophical examination of your relationship with money (chapters 1-5, approximately).
Money, get back.
I'm all right Jack keep your hands off of my stack.
Dominguez and Robin spend a lot of time helping you see where your money's going - whether you're spending it or Uncle Sam is helping himself to it. There are many, many hints on how to cut down expenses, how to pay down debts, and how to end up with more money left over at the end of the month. They're practical, too - they come right out and say that people usually go on a strict "money diet" the first month, only to binge on the spending equivalent of chocolates the next month. That's where those chapters on what money really is and isn't come in handy; objectifying money helps make it easier to look at what you're doing with it, and sensibly.
Money, it's a hit.
Don't give me that do goody good b#llsh*t.
Um, well, some of us professional do-gooders might not call it bull. But anyway. Dominguez and Robin hit their 60's Hippie Stride in one section about giving back. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for giving back to the world, the environment - heck, I got a master's degree in social work, and if that ain't about helping others, I don't know what is. But this goes a little beyond the mainstream idea of giving back. Of course, this might be the main appeal to some readers. Dominguez and Robin take it to the extreme, imagining a world where everyone thinks about money as they do and economic problems are solved by universal frugality, productivity rises because of how people feel about their jobs (now that money is mentally separated from job), volunteerism runs rampant... all the people living live in peace... whoops, that was Lennon. Well, it would be really nice to see that happen some day but I would be satisfied with having my own finances in order to a point where I could retire at 45. (And it is feasible, with this book's plan.)
Money, it's a crime.
Share it fairly but don't take a slice of my pie.
No part of their plan involves any illegal activity or transactions of any type. Or pie. Unless that's how you make your living. Actually, the hardest thing they ask you to do is to meticulously track all the money you spend every day.
Money, so they say
Is the root of all evil today.
But if you ask for a raise it's no surprise that they're giving none away.
Actually, it's the love of money that's the root of all evil, and Dominguez and Robin will get you to look at money as a tool and as a representation of life energy expended instead of a friend, a present, a security blanket, a symbol of power, or however else you think of money. And nope, no one's giving money to you, but if you don't actively think about what you want to do with your money, you're giving it away to everyone else. Check out the book and see if the clouds part and the angels sing for you too.
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For those who absolutely, positively think a book review is unacceptable without them, the stats are listed below.
Your Money or Your Life
Authors: Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin
First Published 1992 by Penguin Books, on acid-free 40% post-consumer-waste recycled paper, 337 pages.
No animals were harmed in the writing of this review, but I am starting to question what in the world Buffy and Astro are doing to contribute to the financial state of this household. Lazy bums.
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This review is the twenty-fifth installment of "Around My House in 28 Days," my response to the challenge leveled by amykhar. The challenge is to post one review every day for the whole month of February. Well, at least it's a short month. I'm starting at my door and going counter-clockwise around the house, reviewing whatever's in sight (and on this site). So far it's been the bathroom, then the kitchen, then the living room, the great outdoors, and now back in the bedroom...
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