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The Index Card  By  cover art

The Index Card

By: Helaine Olen, Harold Pollack
Narrated by: Helaine Olen, Harold Pollack
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Publisher's summary

TV analysts and money managers would have you believe your finances are enormously complicated, and if you don't follow their guidance, you'll end up in the poorhouse. They're wrong. When University of Chicago professor Harold Pollack interviewed Helaine Olen, an award-winning financial journalist and the author of the best-selling Pound Foolish, he made an off­hand suggestion: Everything you need to know about managing your money could fit on an index card. To prove his point, he grabbed a 4" x 6" card, scribbled down a list of rules, and posted a picture of the card online. The post went viral. Now Pollack teams up with Olen to explain why the 10 simple rules of the index card outperform more complicated financial strategies. In this audiobook is an easy-to-follow action plan that works in good times and bad, giving you the tools, knowledge, and confidence to seize control of your financial life.

©2016 Helaine Olen and Harold Pollack (P)2016 Gildan Media LLC

Critic reviews

"The most important financial advice is stunningly simple and fits on an index card. The newbie investor will not find a better guide to personal finance." (Burton G. Malkiel, author of A Random Walk Down Wall Street)

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Getting your personal finance right? Start here.

I had the kindle version of this book, but just couldn't sit down to plow through it. Buying the audiobook made it much easier to plow through it and absorb the info. I'll use the Kindle version as a reference.

This is book is fantastic. It goes beyond the eponymous index card to give you actionable information on how to actually execute the ten steps. This is really important. But it also avoids getting bogged down in too many details.

Start here, finish implementing the plan, and then decide if you want to enhance it with something more sophisticated.

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4 people found this helpful

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Sound, practical Advice

The best strategies in personal finance are most often rooted in simplicity and common sense. Investors, experienced or inexperienced, can certainly benefit from the truths spoken in this concise and easy listen.

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4 people found this helpful

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Worth Reading - - Practical

This is a practical, relatively concise treatment of how to deal with life. Recommended reading for all.

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3 people found this helpful

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Is this worth your time ?

If you want to make sense of your financial state or how to get there especially if all it is new to you - then don't miss out.

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Great book! Gets to the point

Great advice and easy to follow along with. (Except the the insurance part but I dont think there is a way to make insurance simple.) Also mentions PDFs, which I believe is on the author's website (?) for reference which is cool to come back to. Great to listen to on the train ride home. Highly recommend for the very useful advice.

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Mixed bag

I think some sections are great and others are too simplistic. Emergency fund, mortgage, and real estate sections A+, investing maybe a B, Insurance P&C I give an A, life insurance is way, way too simplistic. For those who can't get to the big cash bonanza, some amount of final expense insurance makes sense, I also believe that you over emphasis IRA's, as the net withdrawals could be subject to unknown taxes. I think sometimes a well thought out indexed annuity with the right protection can yield to a better after tax outcome.

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Happy student

Remarkable read, and cadence! Best teacher & great book for learning, teaching others and for monitoring one’s success in overall finance-life.

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Economic Education required to graduate ALL school

Pragmatically Essential Financial subject matter, needed by All American Citizens, effectively presented simply and concisely!

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A MUST READ!

This book has complete opened my eyes to the world of finance. As a 30+ year old who hasn’t really been very intentional about money, I feel it’s given me a good foundation to start leading a better life.

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Everyone should read this book.

this is the best personal finance book written for a modern audience available. make sure you buy it and give it to a friend when you are done.

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