From Publishers Weekly
Gallen, a financial consultant, believes that readers can extricate themselves from financial difficulty by first understanding their attitudes toward money. He talks about his own money issues: having grown up in a house where money was very important, he learned about envy at an early age. After he began working, he spent his salary on luxury items, though he couldn't comfortably afford them. Finally, by coming to understand why he felt compelled to spend and what the purchases were intended to substitute, Gallen was able to take charge of his finances. He identifies different personality types, including overspenders; those who accumulate lots of money but refuse to spend it; and workaholics. Gallen gives real-life examples of the money-challenged. For example, Kelly grew up in the lap of luxury and can't hold onto a job; Bob earns a decent living but lives in a cheap basement apartment and only buys gifts for his family under duress. After explaining the psychologies of these and other types, Gallen offers unoriginal but sensible and helpful suggestions on changing financial habits. People must learn to track expenses, follow a spending plan and deal with creditors. While easy to follow, some of the information is cursory. Agent, William Clark. (Jan.)Forecast: Those with serious debt problems would be better served by books focusing exclusively on credit, rather than this mix of practical advice and pop psychology. Then again, in today's consumption-driven market, money guides that emphasize their self-help aspects have the potential for big sales.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Book Description
Do you feel out of control with money? Are you in trouble with debt? Constantly worrying about cash or stuck in a pattern of earning less than you deserve? Do you work longer and more intensely than you should? Or have you fallen into an obsession with your savings, investments, or retirement? If you have, you are not alone.
There is a new epidemic afoot, the ascendant addiction of our times -- to money and debt. As we end the longest economic expansion in our history, there are more people in trouble with debt than ever before. Bankruptcies have increased to unprecedented highs -- four million personal bankruptcies in the past three years -- a staggering rate of one bankruptcy for every forty families. Americans now owe more than $650 billion to credit card companies, an average of $11,000 per family. Never before have so many people reported feeling bad about their relationship with money and expressed a helplessness about regaining control of their financial lives.What's going on? We all have an intense relationship with money. We instill it will all sorts of powers -- some of which it has, most of which it doesn't. The idea that money can solve our problems may not be true, but it can be apersistent illusion. Since what we seek in money is not what is really missing, what we find in money is never enough.Ron Gallen has been a pioneer in financial counseling and addiction recovery and in these pages he offers help for people dealing with recurrent money problems -- and gets to the heart of the issues fueling their self-defeating patterns. The Money Trap is the first book to describe the differing types of money disorders in detail and outlines a comprehensive recovery plan. Breaking long-standing financial patterns is hard, especially when they are driven by deeper needs. Applying time-tested theories of addiction, Gallen sets forth an integrated method for changing the destructive actions while healing the underlying feelings. The Money Trap outlinespractical actions for stopping the self-destructive cycle, establishing a livable financial structure, and enjoyingan abundant, balanced life.
