Review: Broke Millennial

I’ve been really into personal finance lately (See my review of The Simple Path to Wealth). I started with creating a budget and then slowly worked my way up to tackling my 401(k) and opening a Roth IRA. Not sure what either of those are? No problem! Broke Millennial by Erin Lowry provides the perfect solution to your money fears, questions, and woes. Lowry, a millennial herself, started with her popular blog of the same name. The book breaks down everything millennials need to know about money, ranging from budgeting to investing to asking for a raise when you deserve one.

What I Liked

I liked the millennial focus. It’s not often that discussions about money are written specifically for my age group, and in a way that isn’t condescending.The advice given also feels actionable, which is important, because money can be scary and overwhelming.

Lowry notes at the beginning that this is a book to be scanned, which I appreciated knowing up front. I actually skipped quite a few chapters because I already felt well informed and didn’t need to spend the extra time on them. This makes the book a great shelf resource — what applies now might not in six months or two years.

What I Didn’t Like

Having read a few other personal finance books and blogs, Broke Millennial is a bit basic. Because it’s a jack-of-all-trades kind of book, there isn’t much room to get into the nitty gritty specifics you might expect or want. If you’re someone who’s just getting started with personal finance, this book is a great introduction. You just might need some additional reading to really get the answers you need to make decisions about your money.

The only other thing was the amount of slang used. I’m not sure the writing style will age well. A lot of #hashtags were used.

Overall

Overall, I recommend this book to all millenials (even though generations don’t actually exist). Whether you already know a lot about personal finance, or are just beginning to figure out that student loans are slowly killing you in your sleep, Broke Millennial will offer some advice or information you can use.