Book Review - Bulding Wealth in a Paycheck to Paycheck World

Building Wealth in a Paycheck to Paycheck World was published in 2005. Written by Paul Petillo, who was working as a meat manager for a large northwest grocery chain at the time, this book is 184 pages of general advice ranging from debt reduction, insurance needs to investment vehicles and beyond. The language is clear and the writing is relatively simple. There are a lot of good terms and concepts that are explained satisfactorily through the use of examples of 'people' that Mr. Petillio knows.

In my opinion, this book is difficult to evaluate as a financial resource for someone who is trying to increase their financial literacy. It is very well organized and technical jargon is left out or explained, so most people with a high school diploma should be able to read through it with little problem. However, if a person is looking for material to give them a handle on resolving some of their financial issues, there is not much here to assist them.

Many of the topics are just too big to be resolved in 187 pages, let alone the average 19 pages in a chapter. A good discussion of investment vehicles just cannot be done in one chapter, nor can a good evaluation for a person's insurance needs.

Additionally, I found the title of the book to be misleading. After finishing the book, I didn't think there were many hints for a person living paycheck to paycheck to even begin building marginal wealth. I felt that the title was misleading and that the book should have been published under a different title.

As an introduction to the concepts of wealth building in general, I felt there was a lot of very good information, especially for a person who has not had much of an introduction to the topic. I would recommend that people who are facing their need for a financial strategy for the very first time give this book a thorough read before making an appointment with a professional Financial Planner.

If you are looking for something that will give you a more 'hands on' approach, I'd reccommend most any of the myriad of other financial strategy books by the likes of Suze Orman, Robert Kiyosaki, Dave Ramsey,et al...