Book review: Wealth Can't Wait by David Osborn

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Book review: Wealth Can't Wait by David Osborn

Nathan GesnerBusiness Member
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Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes

I learned about this book through Podcast 226. It was one of my favorite podcasts and I wrote a nice review of it and then immediately jumped to Amazon to buy his book.


Saying I was disappointed would be an understatement.

How can it possibly have so many 5-star reviews? It's literally filler. Big fonts, blank spaces, unnecessary repetition. It was tedious to read and took me 4x longer than it should have. I had to put it down several times and read something else before going back to try slogging through it once more.

I just chose a chapter at random to demonstrate. Chapter 10 starts with the title, "Taking Responsibility For Your Wealth." The title, in large font, is followed by a quote, in a different font and italicized, followed by empty space, followed by a paragraph that repeats the title, followed by a big, bold repeat of the title. The title is stated, used in a quote, used in the paragraph, and then stated in a big font again. It's probably used 10 times in just over four pages. Everything between is filler that says the same thing in different words. There are six big, empty spaces in just the first two pages. All this just to tell me I should take responsibility for my financial situation. Earth shattering! Every...single...chapter...is like this.

At the end of each chapter is a summary in case you failed to catch their key wisdom the first ten times. Then they provide a link to their web site for more information or "free" resources that apparently couldn't fit inside the book because they were busy cramming it with blank spaces, big fonts, and repetitious quotes. As an example, Chapter 10 includes a link for "two bonus stories" but you have to submit your email address and sign up for their email campaign. Then you read two stories that repeat what was already said in the book and adds nothing to the point.

The advice is generally sound but contains nothing new or earth-shattering. It could have been condensed to a few chapters with a few charts and the life audit form in back. If you insist on reading it, borrow it from the library and set aside an hour to skim and be done.

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  • Jeremy Roll
    Realtor · Olathe, KS · Member since 2017 · 37 posts · 13 votes
    9y

    Your review actually helped put words to my nebulous thoughts about the book, Wealth Can't Wait.

    My first ever BP podcast I listened to was show 226 with David Osborn. In that show he had so much energy and what he was saying seemed to make sense. I too bought his book back in June. It took me about a month or more to get through the whole thing. I agree that there was definitely a lot of filler and empty space and I was surprised at how many small chapters there were (that's not necessarily a bad thing). The quotes scattered throughout each chapter started to become distracting and I ended up not even reading them because they were only two lines away from the emboldened quote. While I was reading it I remember later in the day trying to tell my wife what I had learned and read. I couldn't even really remember anything specific and had to go back to the book and skim over it.

    After I finished the book I felt the same way. About a week later I went back over the contents page to see what I even read because I couldn't really remember. For a book title talking about wealth and with the idea that it was supposed to help you get there it didn't really give any specifics on how to do it per se. There was a lot of generalizations, have better thinking, have better habits, etc. I think those things in of themselves are good though. Scott Trench actually talked about this in Podcast 223 that many of the books that he's read on wealth, like Rich Dad, Poor Dad, don't really tell you how to get there, which is why he wrote Set for Life, which that statement alone is why I have his book on order. 

    I read Millionaire Teacher by Andrew Hallam 2 weeks ago and I'm still thinking and reviewing the things over in my head about what he discussed in that book. Nothing like that happened with Osborn's, sadly. No slam on David, maybe that book just wasn't for me. 

    I agree with your advice at the end.

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