In this age of information, the problem is, well, there is too much information. You can run a Google search about almost anything and come up with a million websites offering guidance. And not all of this is accurate or based on fact. This matter becomes worse when it comes to financial topics. If you follow the wrong information, you can potentially lose all your wealth. This is where books like the ‘Broke Millennial’ by Erin Lowry come in handy.

So, who is Erin Lowry? Other than being the author of the book Broke Millennial, she is also the founder of the website brokemillennial.com. She also has successfully published two other books titled Broke Millennial Takes on Investing and Broke Millennial Talks Money. Erin is an author, a speaker, a finance consultant, and a self-proclaimed personal finance expert.

Erin Lowry popularized the tagline ‘Stop Scraping by and Get Your Financial Life Together’ through her book the Broke Millennial. From this tagline itself, it should be clear that this book aims to lay the fundamentals for a successful financial journey.

What is the ‘Broke Millenial’ Book About?

In a nutshell, the Broke Millennial is about resetting your mindset to take that first step into being financially confident. If finances and its jargon scare you, this book will help you ease into the subject. The best part about the book is that, Erin Lowry speaks from her own experiences most of the time. So, she was in the shoes of a broke millennial (mind you, the book was published in 2017) once, or at least she understood how it felt like.

When Erin Lowry wrote Broke Millenial, she was not a stranger to personal finance. In fact, her feet had been dipped in finances since she was a kid by her parents, especially her father. But none of this really prepared her for the financial storm that hit her, and all of us, in our 20s.

Erin Lowry often uses a humorous undertone to get her points across. It feels as if we are reading a novel based on her life, but, in the process, we get to learn that personal finance is not that hard of a mountain to climb. This book is not a read from the start to the finish. You can jump into different chapters that touch on different aspects of personal finance. In fact, the author encourages the reader to take a questionnaire and suggests certain chapters of the book based on the answers.

Here are some chapters in the book so you know what you are getting into;

• Budgeting basics
• Banking basics
• Credit reports
• Handling credit cards
• Student loans
• Debt
• Personal finance in your relationships
• Negotiating salary
• Investing 101
• Retirement 101
• Mortgages

That is a pretty well-rounded intro into the world of personal finance.

In essence, this book is not about the life of a broke millennial. But rather, how you escape the mentality that you cannot handle your finances by yourself as a young millennial. Having the correct mindset is everything!

Who is the ‘Broke Millennial’ Book for?

If the chapters of the book above did not convince you, keep reading. ‘Broke Millennial’ is written keeping the beginners in mind. This book, I believe, is aimed at training the untrained mind to become financially savvy. If you already have a financial itch in your body, this book might just be a little too basic.

Having said that, there could also be a chapter in this book that can benefit you immensely. For example, the chapter on salary negotiations really did put a new perspective on the otherwise grudging task for me. Now, do not expect some magic formula that you can use to kick in your boss’s door tomorrow and 10x your salary. The book rather encourages you to see your self-worth demand what you deserve and settle for nothing less.

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Buy ‘Broke Millennial’ book on Amazon

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Another interesting chapter was ‘Getting financially naked with your partner,’ a guide on how to have ‘THE talk’ with your partner. No, it’s not about sex. It’s about who manages what finances of the relationship. In your twenties, this might come in real handy when money is tight and yet you want to live with your partner. Hint: there is no easy way around this. Just have the talk when things start getting serious!

Another thing the ‘Broke Millennial’ book does very well is being a dictionary for financial jargon. Erin has a knack for breaking down the meanings of rather complex financial terms and how they function in very simple terms. For example, Erin Lowry breaks down Mutual Funds as “You combine your purchasing power with other investors to buy into a specific portfolio–aka a group of stocks or bonds, or stocks and bonds all bundled together. No, you don’t know these other people. This way, you can use a small amount of money to buy into the market and diversify your exposure.”

How simple was that?!

Broke Millennial could have something for everybody. It will lay the foundation to take the first few steps into financial literacy and your personal finance journey. After the first few steps, you have to turn to another source of knowledge.

Let us hear your opinions about Broke Millennial and how it helped you in the comments below.