"Pound Foolish" book review

[dude]

Over on The Billfold, this book is reviewed.  Here are a couple tidbits:

"Olen argues that the reason so many of us “can’t save enough” or find ourselves in debt or worry about how we’re going to pay for our retirement is because we’re trying to make small, individual choices within an uncontrollable financial system."

"It’s clear—and Olen does the math to prove it—that we aren’t in financial trouble because we’re drinking too many lattes or buying too many smartphones. We’re in financial trouble because the equations don’t work in our favor."

http://thebillfold.com/2014/07/the-billfold-book-club-discusses-helaine-olens-pound-foolish/#more-57483

The reviewer also does a little (flawed) retirement savings calculating. I responded, not surprisingly, with a link to MMM's "Shockingly Simple Math Behind Early Retirement"

[sheepstache]

Yeah I dislike this thing where so many "articles" are just a page-long introduction to a discussion in the comments.  I always get to the end of the "article" and start looking where to click for the next page of it but that's it.

I won't make the same mistake by responding to the article's points.  If and why savings rates have gone down from the 80s is a big question and deserves a thorough thought process.  Same for . . . whatever point she's trying to make about 401ks.

But I will say I agree with the point about not everyone getting rich from not buying lattes.  While small spending makes a big difference, a lot of people have already shot themselves in the foot by buying the wrong car or too much house too far from work or even getting the wrong degree.  Perhaps pop personal finance is too one-sided.  Hey, you can make a lot more money selling books to people telling them their problems have easy solutions.

Also the latte debate can derail discussions we should actually have about things individuals have less control over like catastrophic medical issues and whether and how we can work together as a government to improve the situation.

Looking, at the comments, it seems like others are making similar points.

[senecando]

...

But I will say I agree with the point about not everyone getting rich from not buying lattes.  While small spending makes a big difference, a lot of people have already shot themselves in the foot by buying the wrong car or too much house too far from work or even getting the wrong degree.  Perhaps pop personal finance is too one-sided.  Hey, you can make a lot more money selling books to people telling them their problems have easy solutions.

Also the latte debate can derail discussions we should actually have about things individuals have less control over like catastrophic medical issues and whether and how we can work together as a government to improve the situation.

...

I agree with the first paragraph I quoted. This has been Jacob's point from the beginning and I think it's right.

But the second paragraph. I've never quite understood this. Seems to me that we can have these conversations simultaneously and that we need both halves. We all know people without catastrophic medical bills and the like and with good incomes that are struggling. That the language of personal finance can be used to derail policy discussions isn't really a mark against personal finance at all. Tax clinics and preserving classes aren't accused of the same thing.