How To Be Rich & Happy On Your Income:

Wealth Dynamics International Publishing (1998)

Written by Hans Jakobi

Australia

Review 4 Stars – Excellent Book

How the blurb describes the book:

Wake up and take control of your finances!

Love it or hate it ... you can’t live without it. Money just happens to play a major role in all our lives. And yes, there is more to life than money, but it’s also undesirable that things go better with money – that’s just the way it is. Some of life’s greatest enjoyments and most of life’s greatest disappointments stem from your decisions about money.

Anyone, regardless of their occupation, education, or upbringing, can accumulate more money than they would ever need. This book reveals how you can develop a wealthy mindset, instil prosperous attitudes, and apply proven practical skills to create wealth.

A practical, easy to read everyday guide to mastering money.

“You teach people correct wealth success principles; how to have more balance and control in their life, how to have more time with family and how to live life with a passion. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate this book a 12 plus”

-          Wright Thurston, President, International Success Group Inc.

“This book is packed with powerful, practical and easy to understand tools to live a richer and happier life on your present income. What’s more, this book shows you how to increase your current income and how to build real wealth.”

-          Anne Hartley, Best Selling Author of Financially Free, Debt Free and The Psychology of Money

“A practical easy to read, nuts and bolts book.  I particularly like the section on relationships and also how to teach your children about money. This is a useful, positive and profitable book to read.”

-          Cyndi Kaplan, Author of the best selling book There is lipstick in my briefcase.

About the author: Hans Jakobi has a mission. He is dedicated to teaching ordinary people how to take control of their finances and build wealth. Hans teaches that you are the only person you should trust with your money.

He is a Chartered Accountant with a degree in Economics and Accounting. After applying his knowledge to building a million dollar investment portfolio himself, he now teaches the key to achieving financial independence. He says that you have reached financial independence when you no longer have to work for money because your money now works for you. He is the author of several bestselling books, Wealth Talk audio programmes, and audio cassettes, learning systems including the Super Secrets to Wealth.

Never let anyone tell you it can’t be done, when you know in your heart it can.

Mr Home Budget’s Review: OK, I have a confesion to make. Ever since I start my journey from hopeless home budgeter to Mr Home Budget, I have been reading books to further my budgeting skills. This book, How to be rich and happy on your income has been sitting on my shelf, literally for eight years. God knows how I came to own it. However, each time I came to read it there was always a different book, which was more important or higher on my list to read. The only reason why I read it for this review was because I had run my book list right down to the last book. This one!

Why I didn’t want to read this book remains a mystery to me. Some books we as individuals are drawn to and some we are not! Firstly, I would like to make a public apology to the author Hans Jakobi. This book was great; it was better than great. I should have read it 8 years ago. My advice is people need to read this book.

Now you might have already looked at the review and seen a four out of five. If this book is so good why not give it the full marks. Well, it’s not without its problems. However, it was the closest to a five without being a five as a four mark could get.

The book talks in a non-technical way about money and more importantly, mindset about creating money. But don’t think it’s about meditating and wishing money into your life. It’s about the practical day to day things you should be doing right now to increase your wealth. It uses real stories, facts, statistics, quotes, and the author’s life experiences to prove a point.

Hans Jakobi learned about wealth from his dad who came to Australia with less than $2 in his pocket. His Dad set up a publishing company worth many millions. It even earned him the name, the “ethnic Murdoch”.

Some of the more interesting paragraphs throughout this book included, “One of the most basic laws governing true financial success is to love people and use money, not the other way around.”

There was a different story which really caught my eye in this book. “Wilma Rudolph was born prematurely – the twenty of 22 children to a very poor family. When she was four, she had double pneumonia and scarlet fever that left her paralysed in her left leg. She had to wear an iron brace. The doctors told her she would never walk again, but her mother told her she could do anything she wanted. At the age of nine, Wilma took off the leg brace and started to walk. It took her four years to develop a rhythmic stride. Then she decided she would like to be the greatest runner in the world. Can you imagine someone who couldn’t even walk properly, seeing themselves as being the greatest runner in the world? To most of us it would be impossible, but not to Wilma’s mum. At 13, Wilma started running. She came last. She entered every race in high school and still came last. Eventually though, the day came when she won. From then on she won every race she entered. And then in the 1960 Olympic Games, the impossible happened, Wilma not only won, she set a record as the first woman ever to win three gold medals.”

OK I would like to go off the topic of the book review here for a second. Many people come to me expecting a quick fix for their home budget. They are often deep in debt or have no savings. Sometimes they can be disappointed at how long it takes to turn their money situation around. You need to remember, like the Wilma Rudolph story, there are no microwave answers. You need to take time and build momentum to get started. She had every disadantage you could think of. However, she managed to keep her end goal in mind. You must attack your budget and goals the same way!

Also Hans Jakobi talks about living within your means. Live on below your wage instead of over it. Don’t think you are above certain things, which he illustrates in this personal story. “I know a man who lost all his money when his business failed.  He was aged 45 at the time. It’s not pleasant and in fact, I imagine it could be downright demoralising.

If he had been prepared to start again he could have saved and bought another home again and built on that, but paid a high rent to live in the same area where he had previously lived because he refused to lower his standards. He worked two jobs just to keep up an image, drove a car that was more than he could afford and sent his children to private schools. He was always waiting for his ship to come in. He just knew one day he would make it big.

At one time I suggested to this man that he could rent in a cheaper area not far from his home so that he could save a deposit to buy a low cost investment property and build on that. The area I suggested he move to is not far from where he lives and is certainly very pleasant, but he replied, “I would not lower myself. I would rather die first.”

By retirement age, this man’s net worth was zero and he had to continue working at a job that he disliked. All because he thought he had to live up to an image. Eventually there will come a day when this man won’t be able to work anymore, and then the prospects for him and his family look grim. This is false pride and no-one can help him until he is prepared to help himself.”

This is an extremely powerful book. It will get you to think and change your attitude towards your home budget. Pick up a copy now.

Pros

Great stories and ideas to change your views.

The book is easy to read and the author makes his point very well.

The subjects are short, sharp, and shiny and you won’t get bored.

Cons

The book and author are not known better.