Audiobook Review – The Simple Path to Wealth by J.L. Collins (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Non-Fiction/Finance
Length: 6 hours and 38 minutes
Publisher: Audible Studios
Release Date: June 27, 2017
ASIN: B0725RFDPY
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Audiobook from Audible.com
Rating: 4/5 stars

“This book grew out of a series of letters to my daughter concerning various things – mostly about money and investing – she was not yet quite ready to hear.

Since money is the single most powerful tool we have for navigating this complex world we’ve created, understanding it is critical.

“But Dad,” she once said, “I know money is important. I just don’t want to spend my life thinking about it.” This was eye-opening. I love this stuff. But most people have better things to do with their precious time. Bridges to build, diseases to cure, treaties to negotiate, mountains to climb, technologies to create, children to teach, businesses to run.

Unfortunately, benign neglect of things financial leaves you open to the charlatans of the financial world. The people who make investing endlessly complex, because if it can be made complex it becomes more profitable for them, more expensive for us, and we are forced into their waiting arms.

Here’s an important truth: Complex investments exist only to profit those who create and sell them. Not only are they more costly to the investor, they are less effective.

The simple approach I created for her and present now to you is not only easy to understand and implement, it is more powerful than any other.”

This was a good read about working towards financial independence and striving towards that goal in a very simple way. It focuses a lot of doing this through Vanguard Index funds. However, I also really liked some of the chapters that go through how other savings plans work (IRAs, 401Ks, HSAs).

This book is narrated by the author and he does a good job reading it, I have no complaints about the narration.

My only complaint is that I feel like this book is really geared towards someone who is just starting on their financial journey. There’s a lot of info in here I would love to make sure my son knows when he gets into his 20’s (his 12 right now and we talk about investing and saving some already).

I felt like there was less info on how to deal with getting to the point of financial independence when you’ve already made some blunders and are in your 40’s (like I am). Unfortunately, some of the ideas presented here seem a bit like pipe dream when you are already as invested in your life style and savings scheme as I am.

Still, even with the above being said I learned some good things from this book. It’s definitely urging me to take a closer look at the financial fees and structure of all of the investments I already have and to reconsider some of the ways my portfolio is invested. I really loved the part on HSAs, we’ve been talking about starting to max out our HSA each year and now I am convinced that’s a good idea.

Overall this is a great read for everyone. I would recommend for those who are interested in becoming financially independent or to those who are just interested in investing strategies for becoming more financially independent.