Review: Money Rx by Joseph C. Newtz

★★★★

Money Rx: Your Prescription for Financial Success by Joseph C. Newtz provides a font of wisdom from a humble advisor.

Most books that promise to improve your life or give you expert advice tend to be self-aggrandizing and can even be condescending at times. On the other hand, there are books like Money Rx that are straightforward and refreshingly honest. This book doesn’t make any unrealistic promises, but it does break down various issues of financial management into elements that are easy to understand, even for a layperson.

Starting with a blunt account of who the author is, how he became involved in financial management, and some of his most fundamental advice, the book immediately has a different tone than other books touting financial advice. The conversational nature of the writing represents Joseph Newtz as a regular guy with a genuine desire to help other people. He admits to the many stumbling blocks that can lead to financial uncertainty, and even fesses up to his own weaknesses. A narrator with some self-awareness and humility is much more enjoyable to read, and a kinship develops between respected advisor and anonymous reader.

Many people think that they understand how the financial world operates, or at least, they have enough of a gist to make relatively intelligent financial decisions. Newtz takes readers back through history and explains how and why many of the policies and principles are currently in place that define the financial realm. He patiently walks through the basis of a sound investment plan and outlines what the average person’s goals should be. His basic tenets of improving your financial situation may seem simple or self-explanatory, but somehow his personal examples peppered throughout the text make these basic rules (e.g. make a budget, use debt wisely, etc.) seem more relevant and impactful.

Newtz moves through different aspects and actors related to financial standing and activity – including stockbrokers, inflation, interest rates, risk management and everything else that might be relevant to financial success. While the pace of the book is slow, it is densely packed with subtle advice and personal accounts from the author’s own experience.

Eventually, the tone of the book shifts to one that is more professional and informative, and this occurs at precisely the time when trust in the author has been firmly established. From there, the book moves into more complex and advanced strategies that readers should familiarize themselves with after getting past the basics. Again, the explanations are simplified and expressed in easy-to-understand terms, but there is no condescension in the writing. The author simply strips away all but the essentials for an average reader looking for sound advice.

At times, the casual flow of the writing can work against the credibility of the author, particularly with some syntactical choices and grammatical errors. That aside, the flow of the information is very intuitive, and the book is organized perfectly for a beginner who wants to start fresh and work slowly towards more expert approaches. Money Rx doesn’t make any guarantees on the profit or success that its advice will grant you, but this is an ideal primer for those who want to manage their money more effectively.

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