Author: Rob Bennett

ASIN: B000K90200

Rob Bennett, author of Passion Saving: The Path to Plentiful Free Time and Soul-Satisfying Work takes issue with the conventional approach to saving or as he terms it, “sacrifice saving.” He adopts an approach to looking at money management in a way that will motivate you to save and receive short term benefits rather than to wait until you retire to reap the benefits of saving.

According to Bennett, the most common and widely accepted approach to saving focuses on providing for the most basic and universal (and, thus, boring) saving need, the need to finance an old-age retirement. On the other hand, his method or as he terms it, “passion saving,” is saving used to improve the pleasure of life in ways as stimulating as the ways in which Luxury Spending (or Passion Spending) enhances the enjoyment of life. Saving is not about self-denial, as most of us seem to believe, but rather it is about making your money work for you in order to live a richer, fuller and freer life.

Bennett points out that saving is not difficult to do, but rather it is the way that most of us go about saving that is difficult and boring. We don’t consider the immediate benefits of saving because it has been drummed into us that saving is to finance our old-age retirement rather than to permit us to become financially independent. It is important to understand that money saved generates income. It is like your silent partner who earns money for you and who helps you diminish the extent to which you need to produce income from working. Moreover, as Bennett maintains, it is essential to grasp the principle that effective money management is a process whereby we relate money decisions to the things we want our money to do for us. Consequently, if you integrate your life and money goals, saving begins to make sense. It is not how much we earn that will determine our financial well-being, but rather it is how we allocate whatever amount we earn to achieve the most rewarding mixture of goods and services obtained by spending, and the freedom and opportunity that results from saving.

Bennett’s “passion saving” method may not be new, however, it still merits attention, as it underscores that our present day money management practices haven’t changed to keep up with the transformation that has taken place in the economy in which the money to be managed is being earned. As he points out, the “sacrifice method” does not make sense in this new environment.

Personally, I have to agree with Bennett, as I have practiced the “passion spending” method for over forty years with excellent results.  Bennett may not be a licensed financial planner, which he does not profess to be, however, his advice is sound and he has a great deal more “horse sense” than many of the so called “experts” in the field of money management.

Money management books are often dull and uninspiring however Bennett avoids this with a snappy, entertaining prose style bolstered by sound and level-headed advice.However, one shortcoming of the book is that it should have included brief sum-ups at the end of each chapter and perhaps including a question and answer exercise. Notwithstanding this deficiency, Bennett does provide at the end of the book a very helpful comprehensive glossary of the more important terms in presenting his ideas.

The above review was contibuted by: NORM GOLDMAN:  Retired Title Attorney: Editor & Publisher of Bookpleasures. Here are  Norm Goldman's Reviews       

To read Norm's Interview with Rob Bennett CLICK HERE