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Friday, July 13, 2012

All the money in the world : what the happiest people know about getting and spending

by Laura Vanderkam       (Get the Book)
View full imageMoney is a powerful, complicated thing, and our beliefs about it-and behavior around it-are muddled, says Vanderkam (168 Hours). To become more mindful about our choices, she writes, we should explore the link between money and happiness, and use money to optimize our well-being and the well-being of people we care about. We need to stop thinking about money as something evil or soulless, or as a point of competition with others. Vanderkam explores the ways in which thinking more cogently about money's role in our lives can bring us peace, and asks: if you had all the money in the world-not literally, but all you wanted-what would you change about your life? She walks readers through rethinking retirement, eschewing keeping up with the Joneses, filling time with favorite activities, giving to charities, and, overall, figuring out how to create the life they want. Vanderkam's gracious, levelheaded polemic will give readers some much-needed sanity around this difficult topic; as she observes: "If money can't buy happiness, perhaps we're not spending it right." --Publishers Weekly