UPDATE: The giveaway has now ended. Congrats to Sara Chi and Cindy for each winning an autographed copy. Thanks to all who entered.
Sandy Yong, of The Money Master Book is an award-winning author, keynote speaker, financial & real estate investor and content product manager.
After having invested in high-fee mutual funds, recommended by her financial advisor at a big bank, she decided to go the self-directed route. In addition to generating a successful self-directed financial portfolio, Sandy owns several Canadian income properties.
As a Keynote Speaker, she educates female millennials on how to invest in the stock market and in real estate. She simplifies the world of investing which, for many people, seems to be a confusing and complicated system. Understanding it may be intimidating to talk about money, Sandy is breaking the barrier and opening discussions so that people feel confident to overcome their fears about investing and take action to achieve their financial goals. Her goal is to inspire individuals to become self-made millionaires and realize that they can achieve financial independence.
The Money Master is a book that provides many tips and tricks on how to create wealth and learn about investing. It touches on some finance concepts that are specifically Canadian related such as TFSA (Tax-Free Savings Accounts) and RRSP (Registered Retirement Savings Plan), but the majority of the book has valuable advice that can be used by anyone in general.
Many of the concepts I was familiar with, but it’s always nice to have a refresher, especially those reminders such as stop comparing yourself to others. Everyone has different priorities and are in different circumstances – they may receive help from their family/they may have received a promotion/they may have no idea how to manage their money and maybe in deep debt! As the saying goes, you can’t judge a book by its cover.
When it comes to personal finance, many people are often confused and overwhelmed by the technical jargon and/or may find financial concepts quite dry. With this book, Sandy breaks it down into easy to digest pieces of information. The chapters are short, easy to read and have a quick checklist of action items that you can implement to get your closer to your financial goals.
Depending on where you are on your financial independence journey, this book has something for everyone.
CHAPTER BREAKDOWN
Below is a quick chapter breakdown of the book. As you can see, it covers a wide variety of topics – everything from habits and mindset to investing in real estate to starting your own business.
Chapter 1
Train Your Brain To Have a Millionaire Mindset
Chapter 2
Develop Healthy and Wealthy Habits
Chapter 3
How To Balance Today’s Needs with Tomorrow’s Wants
Chapter 4
How To Take Control of Your Financial Future
Chapter 5
What Women Have NEVER Been Told About Personal Finance
Chapter 6
The Inside Secrets to Protecting Your Wealth
Chapter 7
Words of Wisdom from Financial Experts
Chapter 8
Create Your Own Financial Portfolio and Have Money Work For You
Chapter 9
How To Earn Money in Real Estate
Chapter 10
Be Your Boss by Starting Your Own Business
In addition to simplifying the world of investing, Sandy has also interviewed financial industry expert Ellen Roseman and experts in other industries such as real estate and law.
With respect to the chapters, Chapters 1 and 2 resonated with me the most. People often have emotional ties or negative feelings toward money. They may consider talking about it to be taboo. We have misconceptions or come up with excuses as to why we can’t earn/save more money when really, mindset and developing good habits is what plays a huge role in it. This book can be used to help start those important discussions about money, especially with your significant other.
I liked the rich people vs poor people comparison. These are things that people can train themselves to think like this – such as rich people view things as an investment whereas poor people view things as an expense. Rich people focus more on the ROI (return of investment) on something vs how much will it cost them.
A couple of steps that everyone should look into is creating passive income and also creating several streams of income. The book lists a wide variety of ways you can do so, such as selling your skills or investing in the stock market.
Since this blog mainly focuses on entrepreneurship, I wanted to dive deeper into the final chapter – Chapter 10.
The beauty of entrepreneurship is that there is no one specific route to take. You can bootstrap the business or get funding. With people spending more time at home and researching for information/services and products online, there has never been a better time to start an online business.
Many businesses have done so through setting up a store on WordPress, Shopify or Etsy.
I may seem biased because I am a blogger and podcaster, but I really appreciate the fact that Sandy mentioned becoming a content creator, as this is a way to help attract more people to your business initially. Attracting potential customers/clients/visitors through the demonstration of your expertise/product knowledge can help get them into your email list and be part of your sales funnel.
It is understandable that some business owners may not have the time/patience to learn or to do all of the content creation, so they may look into outsourcing certain tasks. If you have developed certain skills, you may be of help to these business owners and can offer your skills on sites such as Upwork (mentioned in the book) and Toptal (not mentioned in the book).
Networking can also make the world of a difference with respect to building your business. Every entrepreneur knows how difficult it can be running a business, especially within the first few years. It’s important to focus on making the connection and developing those relationships. Think about the different ways you can help them/how can you provide value?
This is a handy starter book for people who have a hard time dealing with their feelings toward finances and are looking to make a change. However, there are some chapters that may interest the more seasoned finance enthusiasts such as advice from financial experts with respect to investing in areas such as cannabis or cryptocurrency. This book would also be a great read for people who are in high school, university or who have just graduated as they would have more time on their side to invest and grow their wealth.
What I really appreciated and I think future readers will appreciate is the mini checklist after each chapter. It provides steps or action items that you can implement to get your closer to your financial goals.
The content in this book can help readers take control of their financial future and live the life they deserve. Not everyone may have the habits or mindset in the beginning, but everyone has the potential to develop healthy wealth-building habits.
SOME KEY THINGS FROM THE BOOK WORTH MENTIONING
- Real estate as a way to build wealth and the options
- Handling social obligations (all those outings, weddings and showers can add up!)
- Teaching your children the value of money so that the future generation can be financially savvy
- Finding a mentor or accountability partner
- Creating specific goals, having a constant reminder of those goals so that you can take action
Overall, the reader will find that Sandy is very positive and encouraging and through her writing. It shows that not only has she done her research but she really wants you to take control of your finances and become educated when it comes to wealth and investing. After all, knowledge is power.
BOOK GIVEAWAY
I’m excited to announce that Sandy has generously donated a couple of books to give away to two lucky readers based in Canada and/or the U.S.! ** You need to log in first, in order to select the options below to enter the giveaway. We need your email to contact you if you won.**
P.S. Stay tuned for an upcoming podcast episode releasing Fall 2020 with Sandy as I chat with her about personal finance and how she took money matters into her own hands.
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