This book was great but I read it after I'd already read Smart Women Finish Rich. Smart Couples basically said to do the same thing but do it as a team. Nothing earth shattering. Still good advice.

Perhaps my expectations for this book were unreasonably high. I found it educational, but I was hoping for something a little more applicable. If I went to one of Bach's seminars, I get the feeling I would have been able to better apply the lessons and tools contained in the book.

Excellent read and one I want to give as a present this year to all my favorite couples. It is a plan similar to other's O respect in many aspects and clearly defines each step and every option available to your specific needs and wants. Since I borrowed the book from my man, the first step for me is to purchase the book so I can have my own copy and start implementing the program. It is a book I envision referencing almost weekly and then quarterly as I embark on this new journey. So happy I read this.

After recently seeing a financial planner she suggested I read this book. It was a great educational book and helped me perceive my finances under a new light. Took the information seriously and we are currently making better financial choices.

Smart Financial Planning Puts Values First And Stuff Second

In SMART COUPLES FINISH RICH, author David Bach first explains the purpose of the updated edition. He explains that many things have changed—including tax law, investment options, and technology; he wanted to update that information.

Of course, the book has lots of financial saving/planning tips, but I thought the best part of this book was something else entirely—the question of WHY you are saving money. Bach argues that you need to figure out the things you value the most, then use your money toward that end. He explains: “When you understand your values, you tend to live the life you really want almost automatically.”

For couples who say they can’t really save, the author has a funny idea called, “The Couples’ Latte Factor.” Bach insists that the savings problem is rarely the income; rather, it’s the spending. If you add up the cost of the morning latte, you will likely find that you could be saving money after all.

The author suggests an important exercise called “The Smart Couples’ Seven-Day Financial Challenge.” It’s a pretty basic concept, and not really anything new, but it’s still a good idea: “Get a small pad and track your expenses for the next seven days.” If you don’t know where you money is going, how can you save anything?

The author has an entire chapter devoted to common financial mistakes. For example, start tracking your expenses, and don’t try to time the stock market, He also cites the common blunder of not taking advantage of your company 401(k): “If you do just one thing today after finishing this chapter, please let it be that you contact your benefits department to make sure you are truly maximizing your contributions to your 401( k).”

So all in all, I found SMART COUPLES FINISH RICH to be a well-written, solid book. The author writes very well, and comes across as a wise counselor. It’s true, the financial suggestions are mostly pretty standard, but they’re still good advice.

I thought the most valuable suggestion in the entire book was to first figure out what in life you value as a couple, and then let those values drive your money decisions. Smart idea—I’ve never thought about it that way.

Advance Review Copy courtesy of the publisher.

David Bach’s “Smart Couples Finish Rich” is a more challenging read than other personal finance books that I’ve read, but perhaps one of the most educational for me. Bach approaches couples’ finance from a place of genuine concern for marriages. He encourages couples to set aside time to talk, really talk, about finances before issues arise from them.
I appreciate his “be, do, have” approach - deciding what your values are, what you need to do to aid those values, and then what you have matters. His foundation for Smart Couples is the values of the couple.
Bach thoroughly explains retirement planning/accounts and investing options, which I found to be very helpful. I expect I will be referring back to this book frequently throughout life.

A lot of repetition from "The Automatic Millionaire", but some things worth reading and thinking about. Motivated more than ever to max out our IRAs this year and save for our "dream basket". I think David Bach is onto something!

I have not read the first book, but I really enjoyed this version! It had some very interesting & helpful! Money is one of the top reasons for divorce. I like how this book can help you work together with your money.

Love it so far. It is really sparking great conversation between Richard and I regarding our attitudes towards money, and how we both value money in our lives. Looking forward to really hitting the "meat" of the book.

I was leery of this book since it sounded suspiciously like a self help book. However, it actually helped me immensely. My family is weird about money and so I had a lot of hangups about it when my husband and I first got married. Reading this book honestly changed my life because it made me assess some of my values regarding finances and it helped me understand where our money was going and how we should be saving it. I'm really glad I read it when I was only 22. As a result I encouraged my husband to enroll in his 401K plan at work and I contributed to an IRA at my job. At 24 we actually have a pretty solid chunk of money saved for retirement that we certainly would not have saved on our own.

Some is repetitive of other finance books, but still worth the read. I feel as though the more I hear some things the more I realize that it truly is solid advice. I also really like his focus on values. Not something I thought was linked to my finances, but he makes some good points as to why they should go hand in hand.

My husband wanted me to read this book. There were a lot of things I already knew, and a lot of things that didn't really pertain to our situation. I did really like his emphasis on the fact that there are more important things than money in this life, and we should spend our time focusing on its' quality instead of trying to acquire "things" or "stuff." We are the kind of people that could figure out where to cut out all the little things - like eating out or seeing movies, spending more on gifts than we had budgeted... Once we do that I know we'd see a huge difference.
I love his idea of sitting down early with your spouse to discover the things that you BOTH want out of life, and making sure you have the same goals. I think my husband and I have always had the same vision of how we want our life to be after retirement, but now I'm going to make sure!