Save Now or Die Trying: Achieving Long-Term Wealth in Your 20s and 30s

This book was very easy to read and encouraging. Even though things are tough financially right now, the book is inspiring because it teaches you how to prepare for the future. I definitely recommend this book for young people.

Great book! It is an easy read and full of hard facts presented in a chummy sort of way that does not scare you away. It's really difficult to list all the good things about this book; there are so many. I really liked the recommendations about what to do with pay rises and knowing your own weaknesses. Only two minor criticisms: The first edition contains five times more typos than it should (e.g., "Adjusted Growth Income"), but they are really obvious when you see them, and not really a bother. I am sure that Bruno will correct them all for the second edition. I think Bruno gives the misleading impression in the text (e.g., p46) that contributing to a 401K increases your take home pay. I think Bruno should be more explicit that compared to doing nothing, contributing to a 401K *decreases* your take home pay. It is only when *compared to contributing on an after-tax basis* that the 401K increases your relative take home pay (as shown clearly in his Table 5.1). I suggest Bruno add a third column of numbers to Table 5.1 (p45) showing what happens if you contribute nothing: take home pay = $36,500 (higher than the other two contribution scenarios). He could then tell you why contributing nothing is a bad idea. I am very happy to have read this book, and I plan to read it again ASAP to cement it all in my head.

Bruno makes an important point that none of us should forget: "No one will take care of your retirement except you." We live longer, and expenses for things such as health care, medication and insurance continue to increase, it's important that we think about retirement now. Who knows where Social Security will be in 20 or 30 years from now? The good news is that Bruno has a straightforward strategy to help out.

Bruno lays everything out on the line in his book. He is completely honest, even addressing his own mistakes in his investing, and comes off as a good buddy with great advice. Without being too preachy, he makes it very clear that our generation needs to take action in securing our financial futures. Bruno does a fantastic job of explaining investment options while giving his opinion on which options work for different people. After reading the book, I have already taken action toward securing my retirement by participating in a more agressive 401k and opening up a Roth IRA. Thanks Mark.

As a Baby Boomer of a certain age, I flipped through this to get the mind-set of the generation which will fund the pyramid scheme of my Social Security. Good news for us if those in their 20s and 30s read this book. It is filled with amusing anecdotes of the author's friends, from the worker bees to the grasshoppers, and solutions for each. Even the charts are readable. If a kid has a copy of Bruno's book together with Carnegie's How to Win Friends, etc., he will be ahead of the game.