Book review: Wealth Can't Wait by David Osborn

[Nathan Gesner]

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.