No Debt, No Sweat!: Catching Up, Getting Ahead, and Enjoying Life

Readers of Larry Burkett and Mary Hunt will find no new information in this personal finance guide for Christians, which is virtually indistinguishable from others already on bookshelves. However, Diggs (who leads marketing and finance seminars around the country) offers a reliable and comprehensive version of the traditional one-stop-shopping personal finance guide. He tackles the major issues that plague many Americans who are in debt, and spends some time analyzing the underlying spiritual reasons why they got that way. But the bulk of the book is taken up with practical topics: creating--and sticking to--a budget; being a shrewd car shopper (as a former car dealer, Diggs has some especially good tips here); buying insurance and a home; teaching kids about money; saving and investing; and retiring with dignity. Although there's nothing new under the sun, Diggs's guide is a sensible introduction to such concepts as dollar-cost averaging, 529 plans, adjustable-rate mortgages and no-load mutual funds.