Get Money: Live the Life You Want, Not Just the Life You Can Afford

Personal-finance writer Wong provides thorough if uninspired advice for college graduates entering the world of work and money—and for their worried parents. Having grown up broke, Wong speaks eloquently about how intricately a person’s financial and emotional life are interconnected; the emotions involved, and not just the finances, must be managed in order to make any progress. Many people, she writes, just don’t understand how money really works, which explains why so many Americans live paycheck to paycheck. Getting control over one’s money ups the motivation to save, get out of debt, and stick to a budget; to that end, she walks readers through the basics of setting financial goals and writing a budget, developing a frugal mind-set, figuring out the intricacies of credit and taxes, paying off debt, and investing retirement dollars. Wong shines in her encouraging direction to figure out financial priorities to accomplish personal goals, but the financial information itself is fairly stale in both style and execution. This combination results in a sturdy but overfamiliar approach to a much-covered subject. (Mar.)