Review of Kimberly Palmer’s Generation Earn

I received a complimentary copy of Kimberly Palmer's new book Generation Earn.  It is subtitled “The Young Professional's Guide to Spending, Investing, and Giving Back.”  I would place my age group (late thirties) above the mean age of the typical person to whom she's addressing the book, but not outside of it.

The book is well-written.  The book has twelve chapters, and is compiled from many sources and numerous interviews with young professionals.  There is an extensive endnote section.  The main sections of the chapter largely describe the interviews she conducted, weaving them with the rest of her sources to express the topics of the chapters, which are:

1. The Joy of Spending
2. Job Juggling
3. The Upside of Debt
4. Investing for Smarties
5. Not Your Parents' Retirement
6. When Parents Are Landlords (or Tenants)
7. Lessons in Modern Frugality
8. Love, Rings, and Mortgages
9. Babies and Bank Accounts
10. Green Spending
11. The New Rules of Philanthropy
12. Nonprofit Dreamin'

Throughout each chapter there are several sidebars that contain more specific advice, which are good for readers who want actionable tips.  At the end of each chapter there are several questions for personal application of the material.

First, a couple of beefs.  Regarding her chapter on debt (Chapter 3) I'm more of a Larry Winget or Dave Ramsey kind of guy when it comes to debt, so I felt she could have taken a harder line on debt reduction than she did.  It was there, but ehhh.  On the opposite end, I felt there was far too much discussion in Chapter 8 on the financial issues of moving in with one's boyfriend/girlfriend.  Just because an activity is commonplace doesn't mean that it needs to be given credence.

Overall, though, the good points outweighed my beefs.  I did like that earning a second income in a different field was discussed (Chapter 2).  It's supremely important to have a fall-back position in case one's main gig doesn't work out.  A home business offers the greatest risk / reward, and what better time to start than when you don't absolutely have to?  The chapter on moving back in with relatives (Chapter 6) had a positive tone to it.  I have family members that are doing this.  For some the arrangement seems good for all concerned, and for others it's little more than one party enabling the other.  If I hadn't seen it work with some close relatives, I would have been hard-pressed to agree that coming back to the nest should be anything but failure, but it's not all bad.  Chapter 10 discusses what's really “green,” and what isn't.  Lastly, Chapter 12 was the first real discussion I'd seen that broaches the subject of creating a nonprofit organization.  Most people would know that they can write a check to their favorite charity, but might think that their very own 501(c)(3) would be out of reach.

Anyway, Generation Earn is a polished book with take-aways you probably haven't seen before.  I invite you to check it out!