Sources: Personal Finance: An Encyclopedia of Modern Money Management
Personal Finance: An Encyclopedia of Modern Money Management. Ed. by Barbara Friedberg. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood, 2015. 403 pages. acid free $89 (ISBN: 978-1-4408-3031-0) E-book available (978-1-4408-3032-7), call for pricing.
This single-volume reference offers access to overviews of financial ideas and concepts, key events, and business figures that have shaped modern personal finance and money management. The editor, Barbara Friedberg, the author of How to Get Rich: Without Winning the Lottery and Invest and Beat the Pros—Create and Manage a Successful Investment Portfolio and founder of the popular website BarbaraFriedbergPersonalFinance.com, has compiled an invaluable and easy-to-use reference to increase financial literacy and independence among American citizens across different age brackets and life stages, especially young adults who are handling personal finances and making financial decisions for the first time.
There are approximately 125 entries ranging from 1,000 to 2,000 words. Eighty-eight topical overviews explain financial ideas and concepts and are organized alphabetically by topic. Each article is signed at the end. In fact, Barbara Friedberg contributed many entries as evidenced from the signings. Other entries were written by nineteen different writers from a diverse cross-section of academia and practicing professionals.
Entries are subdivided into relevant subtopics. Subheadings in boldface delineate the different subtopics. Often, articles discuss the advantages and benefits of different financial tools, as well as the risks and disadvantages. Readers are encouraged to see related cross-referencing and further reading sections listed at the end of each article.
Other strengths of this reference are that economic and financial topics, such as derivatives, hedge funds, inflation, and short sales, which are often deemed complex for laypersons, are explained in easy to understand language. Many entries supply information about common financial interactions, such as acquiring a first credit card, buying insurance, understanding credit scores, renting apartments, or buying first homes. Many entries address aspects of financial planning, such as saving for retirement or choosing financial advisors. Moreover, many of these overviews would often be challenging to locate by other methods.
Seventeen articles are furnished about events that shaped the current economic and financial outlook. The years range from the 1930s (The Great Depression) to the years 2011–12 (The European Debt Crisis). Interestingly, the Iraq War is given its own article coverage, because the costs incurred by the United States government in funding this war had a lasting effect on the American financial outlook. Only twenty articles for people who have impacted personal finance are provided, including entries for the three last presidents: William Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. Interestingly, five entries are about influential women: Christine Lagarde, Mary Schapiro, Muriel Siebert, Elizabeth Warren, and Janet Yellen.
After the Table of Contents, the reference offers a Guide to Related Topics that categorizes article entries by twelve topics: Banking, Business, Consumers, Debt and Credit, Economics, Finance, Government, Insurance, Investing, Legal, Real Estate and Retirement. The reference is complemented by a glossary of more than two hundred words and an Index for ease of use.
As discussed both in the preface and introduction, many Americans are suffering catastrophic financial losses, are incurring rising debt and saving less, and have less disposable income that impacts their quality of life. Individuals can use this book to increase their financial knowledge and to avoid the mistakes others have made. Therefore, this reference is recommended for all academic and public library business collections.—Caroline Geck, Independent Scholar, Somerset, New Jersey