Book Review – The Meaningful Money Handbook. In this blog post, I review The Meaningful Money Handbook by Pete Matthew. This book includes important financial education and principals which are universal, yet the book also boasts specific financial information relevant to a U.K. audience. Personal finance is something we all have to manage, and if you’re not sure what you need to do to get started, improve or master your money, have a read of this review and consider purchasing this handbook – you won’t regret it!
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The Meaningful Money Handbook – Book Review
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Overview
Pete Matthew, a.k.a. the U.K.’s Dave Ramsey! I don’t know if he’d agree with this comparison but it’s definitely my view since reading The Meaningful Money Handbook. This book includes important financial education and principals which are universal, yet the book also boasts specific financial information relevant to a U.K. audience. This was very much appreciated, as Dave Ramsey loses my attention when he starts talking Roth IRA’s and 401K’s! I really liked that everything Pete discussed in the handbook resonated with me as a U.K. reader.
Introduction
Financial literacy isn’t something that is taught to us in school, which is why I think self-education is so important.
With this being said, one of the things that has really helped me so far on my journey to financial freedom is reading personal finance books and listening to podcasts.
I set myself the goal of reading 20 personal finance books in 2020, and this book, The Meaningful Money Handbook by Pete Matthew, was first on the list.
A couple of months ago I did a post on my Instagram talking about this book and my plans to read and review it. I was thrilled to receive a message from the author himself following this post, offering to send me a complimentary copy. Pete gave me the liberty to be completely honest with this book review and my intention is to do just this!
I was so excited to get stuck into this book as a friend recommended it to me and told me he’s the UK Dave Ramsey. I’m a huge Dave Ramsey fan, so I was completely sold when I heard this and couldn’t wait to get stuck in.
In this blog post, I will be sharing my thoughts and opinions on The Meaningful Money Handbook by Pete Matthew. I’ll share key takeaways from the book and give it a rating out of five. I hope you find this book review, interesting, informative and insightful.
About the Author
Pete Matthew is a Chartered Financial Planner and Managing Director of Jacksons Wealth Management in Penzance, UK. He provides an array of free resources online to help you get your personal finances in order. Additionally, Pete has a number of online courses that’ll help you master your money. Finally, if you require professional financial advice and one-on-one assistance with planning Pete is also able to assist with this.
Matthew’s goal when writing this book was to bring the message of simple financial planning to a wider audience. The book is actually an extension of his podcast which has been running since 2012. You can check out Pete’s Podcast, The Meaningful Money Personal Finance Podcast here.
The Meaningful Money Handbook is for anyone that wants to secure their families’ financial future, get out of debt and learn how to save and invest money.
A Brief Summary
Matthew believes that we can all secure our financial future by following three simple steps. These steps were the framework for this remarkable book;
- 1: Spend less money than you earn and clear debt.
- 2: Insure against disaster.
- 3: Build up your savings and invest them wisely.
Upon reading this book you’ll learn:
- How to get out of debt as quickly as possible.
- Techniques for good financial control, so you can avoid getting into debt again.
- The importance of insurance for laying down a foundation on which to build a solid financial plan, which isn’t washed away by an unexpected disaster.
- How to save and invest simply and efficiently so that you can work your way towards future financial freedom.
No matter what your starting position or how comfortable you are with terminology around money and investing, Pete Matthew’s calm, straightforward and jargon-free approach will appeal to you and help set you on the right financial path.
What I like about the book
The Meaningful Money Handbook by Pete Matthew was a very compelling read. Matthew left no stone unturned on the subject of personal finance. From budgeting and getting out of debt, to life insurance and investing, Matthew has it all covered in this compact handbook.
1. A fluff-free read
In less than 200 pages, Matthew managed to cover all bases on the topic of personal finance. Pete simplifies complicated topics and gets straight to the point in every chapter. Matthew is very matter-of-fact and straight to the point in his style of writing. On every topic he tells you everything you need to know and everything you need to do, this made the book easy to read, comprehend and take practical steps to improve my personal finances.
2. Excellent formatting
The handbook style in which the book was written made it easy to navigate and refer back to when revisiting topics. The paragraphs and chapters have clear headers which made it easy to navigate the book. It’s a great reference guide which I’ll be referring back to often.
3. Addresses taboo topics that nobody wants to talk about
How many books have you read that break down all the different life insurance options in a simplified and easy to understand way? I’ll wait… For me, this was definitely the first book I’ve encountered on the topic. It was a great conversation starter between my husband and I. Yes, we already have life insurance, however, reading this book forced us to look at whether the cover we have is actually relevant for our present family situation. We’d never even considered getting a will before reading this handbook. This book forced us to have this important conversation despite how morbid it might be. As much as death isn’t something we want to talk about, it’s something that’s totally unavoidable, so it’s important that should something happen to either one of us, the rest of the family is ok – at least financially anyway!
4. U.K. specific financial education
As a U.K. resident, I appreciate that Pete spoke on a lot of topics relevant to a U.K. audience. For example, he spoke about paying off student loans. Dave Ramsey talks about the importance of paying this off, so if you follow Dave Ramsey’s baby steps and live in the U.K. you may think you need to do this too. However, Pete breaks down the reasons we don’t need to prioroitse paying off student loans. Pete explains that the 1) interest rates are a lot lower in the U.K., 2) there’s a threshold you have to be earning over before you even start paying it off and 3) it’ll get written off after 30 years if you haven’t finished paying it off.
My rating
I really tried to be objective and find something that I didn’t like about the book. But in all honestly, I couldn’t think of a single thing I didn’t like about the book. For this reason, I have no choice but to rate The Meaningful Money Handbook a 5 out of 5.
Pete did an amazing job taking topics such as debt, loans, investing, wills, power of attorney, asset funds and much more, and making them comprehendible and actionable for the reader. In this guide, he really gives you all the tools you need to win with money. If you read everything you need to know and follow everything you need to do, I’m confident that you’ll have no choice but to master your money.
Summary
I think The Meaningful Money Handbook is a must-read for every adult. Personal finance is something we all have to manage, and if you’re not sure what you need to do to get started, improve or master your money, this handbook will definitely help you at whatever stage you’re at on your financial journey.
The meaningful money handbook is to date one of the best personal finance books I’ve read. The main reason for this is its simplicity and practicality. He tells you everything you need to know and everything you need to do. If you’re will to take the action suggested by Pete in this book, you’ll be able to transform your finances and ultimately your life.
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