• Pound Foolish

  • Exposing the Dark Side of the Personal Finance Industry
  • By: Helaine Olen
  • Narrated by: Lyn Landon
  • Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (218 ratings)

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Pound Foolish  By  cover art

Pound Foolish

By: Helaine Olen
Narrated by: Lyn Landon
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Publisher's summary

If you've ever bought a personal finance book, watched a TV show about stock picking, listened to a radio show about getting out of debt, or attended a seminar to help you plan for your retirement, you've probably heard some version of these quotes:

"What's keeping you from being rich? In most cases, it is simply a lack of belief." (Suze Orman, The Courage to Be Rich)

"Are you latte-ing away your financial future?" (David Bach, Smart Women Finish Rich)

"I know you're capable of picking winning stocks and holding on to them." (Jim Cramer, Mad Money)

They're common refrains among personal finance gurus. There's just one problem: Those and many similar statements are false. For the past few decades, Americans have spent billions of dollars on personal finance products. As salaries have stagnated and companies have cut back on benefits, we've taken matters into our own hands, embracing the can-do attitude that if we're smart enough, we can overcome even daunting financial obstacles. But that's not true.

In this meticulously reported and shocking audiobook, journalist and former financial columnist Helaine Olen goes behind the curtain of the personal finance industry to expose the myths, contradictions, and outright lies it has perpetuated. She shows how an industry that started as a response to the Great Depression morphed into a behemoth that thrives by selling us products and services that offer little if any help. Olen calls out some of the biggest names in the business, revealing how even the most respected gurus have engaged in dubious, even deceitful, practices - from accepting payments from banks and corporations in exchange for promoting certain prod­ucts to blaming the victims of economic catastrophe for their own financial misfortune.

Pound Foolish also disproves many myths about spending and saving. Weaving together original reporting, interviews with experts, and studies from disciplines ranging from behavioral economics to retirement planning, Pound Foolish is a compassionate and compelling audibook that will change the way we think and talk about our money.

©2012 Helaine Olen (P)2013 Gildan Media LLC

Critic reviews

"It's rare to come across a realistic and readable book about personal finance. Most are laden with rosy promises, followed by acronyms and turgid advice. Helaine Olen, a freelance journalist, offers an exception with Pound Foolish.... It's a take-no-prisoners examination of the ways she says we have been scared, misled or bamboozled by those purporting to help us achieve financial security." ( The New York Times)

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What listeners say about Pound Foolish

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

The dark side of my industry

I read a review of this book in one of the financial magazines I receive as a CPA and Certified Financial Planner. I was intrigued by the expose and had to learn more. As a "fee-only" planner, I have my own jaded view of the financial industry. Ms. Olen started studying brokerages and so-called financial planners with zero financial knowledge, which makes it even more interesting that she was able to go so far in her research and understanding of the industry.

Pound Foolish is a book that anyone who uses a broker, buys life insurance or annuities, or who is interested in finding a "financial planner" should read. Why the quote marks? Because most of the people who call themselves "planners" or "advisers" are sales wolves in sheep's clothing.

Ms. Olen hit the right notes for 80% of the book, but I beg to differ with the last 20% that we are all the same (which is the reason for the 4-star rating). While I can totally understand her disenchantment with the overall industry, there are some white knights (mostly fee-only planners and financial LIFE planners). Just know that they make up maybe 5% of the total number of "advisers", maybe less. Why? Because commissions are SO much more lucrative. Typical "advisers" in this industry are trained in sales almost exclusively to the point of crowding out any education about how to truly help their clients. This is why it is so easy for consumers to fall prey to them. Sad.

Use this book as a starting point, then seek out planners who are members of NAPFA and/or the Kinder Institute. Also find a "professional" who is willing to SIGN A STATEMENT that they are a fiduciary. You'll thank me later!

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21 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

The Mispronunciations Are Indeed Distracting

This book was reasonably entertaining. I agree, however, that the narrator did a poor job. An entire chapter of the book is devoted to Suze Orman, yet the narrator continually mispronounces the woman's name as "Sooze" rather than "Susie." The chapter in question is 45 minutes long, so for me the error was maddening.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Narrator should verify pronunciations

It took me about 5 references to Suze Orman as SOOZE instead of Suzy, before the mispronunciation began to grate on my nerves. I am surprised that this was wasn't caught before publishing. Sadly, Ms. Orman's name does happen to come up in a book about personal finance. However, it was a great story and written well, so I would definitely recommend the written version.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Exceeded my expectations

Would you consider the audio edition of Pound Foolish to be better than the print version?

This book was a great listen. The author spoke clearly and at a good pace. After listening I didn't feel like I needed to read the print version to pick up on anything I might have missed.

What did you like best about this story?

I liked the amount of detail uncovered. The story flowed well and was organized into themes: television, books, targeting woman, real-estate hustlers, and the issue with financial literacy. After reading other reviews I was a bit concerned that the author's views would be preached to me. The first and last chapters contained that but the meat was just fine.

What does Lyn Landon bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I like her reading style, it was easy to follow.

Any additional comments?

I think Ms. Olen did a fine job. I feel like she laid it on thick with the intentional or unintentional insinuation that the consumers of the personal finance complex are innocent (in many cases greed overcame them as well). However, Ms. Olen's book softened my hardline stance against those who remain at the bottom of the income scale. I gave the book 5 stars because I wanted to get from this book exactly what I received. A hard nosed look into the personal finance culture. This author's bias is clearly against the complex but she does not ram it into your eardrums, except for the first and last chapter. To Ms. Olen's credit, she lets the listener's know where she stands and attempts to be evenhanded overall.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Sooz?

Any additional comments?

Honestly, how can a producer not check the pronunciation of an admittedly confusing looking name before publishing an audiobook? It is clear the narrator never watched a single episode of the Suze Orman show, not did anybody involved with this audiobook publication. The author is probably furious knowing that her work is being represented that way.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Narrator needs training!

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The book itself is interesting, although the conclusion (in the final "what is to be done?" chapter) is pretty lame. Talking alone won't do nearly enough to solve the real problems that the author examines.

How could the performance have been better?

The performer was really pretty inept. She mispronounced a number of words--not just the French words to which the author seems unfortunately overly fond, but basic English words, such as "reputable." Often, too, the performer gets the stress on the wrong syllable. Very annoying.

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    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Half way through the book couldn't finish it

Just a bunch of stories of people getting scammed by the people in the finance industry, no conclusion or any advice whatsoever

What a huge waste of time

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Worst financial book ever

As someone who reads an extensive amount of material in regards to finance and money, and as the owner of a CPA firm, I was dismayed at how poorly this book was written.

I have absorbed a lot of material from people she unfairly criticizes in this book, which is very one-sided and highly opinionated. Most of the “evidence” provided is anecdotal sob stories. Also, her only solutions mentioned are to “have honest conversations” about our money and for the government to step in. Sorry for not having a spoiler alert.

This book is basically socialist propaganda disguised as a conversation about finances. I’m wondering if this was written under Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s pen name.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Important message, unfortunate delivery

One by one, Helaine Olen picks apart the hypocrisy, exploitation, and holier-than-thou sham of the personal finance industry. I found this book incredibly eye-opening and well written. At times, the things I learned made me feel sick. This book's message is something that should be spread far and wide.

Unfortunately, this book's reach is, after reading several reviews, being limited by the narrator. The narrator was not a professional, simply put. It was an amateur performance. The only upside I got from it was that if I ever one day decide to go into voice work, I will refer to this book to look for what *not* to do. It felt like the entire time she was swallowing her words, poorly researched pronunciation of names, the unusual pronunciation of English words (succinct = sucksinct?), and an overall tone of voice that, to me, sounded like a high school English student's turn to read the book out loud.

Helaine, if you're reading this, PLEASE have your audiobook re-recorded by a professional.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

One of the best books on personal finance

For every 10 crappy Audible books, you get one like this: concise, informative, and well narrated. We all like to believe that we are in control, that when things go well financially it's because of our great insight and skill, and tha when things go bad for others, it's because of their greed and stupidity. This book clearly lays out the other forces at work: brokers, salesmen, Wall Street and other conmen successfully getting their hands into our pockets while having you take the blame when things inevitably go bad -- just whent they run away with your cash. The conclusion of the book is how the only remedy for our economic woes is to break with the current wage stagnation, and true political change.

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