Review: “Debt Free For Life” by David Bach

I got this book during the holiday season as one of my “start the year right” books.  This was my chosen start the year right book for finance.

I’ve always been a fan of David Bach.  I even have a signed copy of “The Automatic Millionaire” in my bookshelf from when he did a book signing in the Wall St. Borders in NYC.  I found a lot value in his finish rich books, and have read all of them (yes, even “Smart Women Finish Rich”).

Anyway, back to the book.

The book was a quick read.  I was able to finish it in a weekend (while watching my two boys, which is not an easy task by itself).  It helped having read prior David Bach books.  Overall it was an “ok” book, more like a refresher for all the other David Bach / Finish Rich books, updates to reinforce the concepts in his prior books for the current times.

Unfortunately, there were a couple of things that bothered me about this book.  It saddens me but I feel like I have to point them out.

First, the book really felt like a large promotion for Equifax’s Debt Wise product.  I have no problems with product placement as it’s all over movies, TV shows, music and books now but having an entire chapter dedicated to Debt Wise was just too much for me.  Being in the technology industry, I have a ton of “How To” books for various software and website services.  If I needed to learn about Debt Wise I would’ve just bought a how-to book for Debt Wise.  I’m sorry but the excessive amount of promotion for Debt Wise actually turned me away from exploring it.  My good old spreadsheets work just fine and they’re free.

The other part of the book that bothered me is the chapter on “Time-Barred Debt”.  I just have a large part in my heart that “if I borrowed it, I’ll pay if back”.  With sub-section titles such as “Just Because You Still Owe It, Doesn’t Mean They Can Collect It”, it just left a lump in my chest… it just didn’t sit well at all.  I found a tough time going through that chapter, but I sat through it because I still wanted to get educated on what this concept is about, what the legal implications are and how anyone can use it.  I learned a lot from that chapter despite the discomfort.

I apologize for the negative feedback but if you’re a “Finish Rich” series fan, I’d still recommend this book as a refresher.  My favorite though is still “The Automatic Millionaire Homeowner”.