How to Ruin Your Financial Life (Book Review)

Ben Stein’s latest book offers a different, destructive take on one’s personal finances. How to Ruin Your Financial Life contains over fifty popular ways people sabotage their financial lives.

With each lesson taking no more than a couple of minutes, the book is a quick read. It’s also a funny book; Ben’s trademarked dry humor abounds, reaching Saharan levels as he explains why and how you should ruin your financial life.

Each rule is designed to shock readers from their complacency. Although most of the rules might sound like bad ideas, Ben assures us that things will be different for us. So, you see, there really is no reason to be afraid.

Now while we might not spend as much as we want, bravely going into debt (rule 6) and we probably don’t believe that we are not responsible for our financial well-being (rule 16), we still might be making a few of the mistakes described.

If you do see a little of yourself in this book, changing your financial habits should be a little easier after reading about the company you keep.