Pound Foolish

Exposing the Dark Side of the Personal Finance Industry

By: Helaine Olen

Narrated by: Lyn Landon

If you've ever bought a personal finance book, watched a TV show about stock picking, listened to a radio show about getting out of debt, or attended a seminar to help you plan for your retirement, you've probably heard some version of these quotes:

"What's keeping you from being rich? In most cases, it is simply a lack of belief." (Suze Orman, The Courage to Be Rich)

"Are you latte-ing away your financial future?" (David Bach, Smart Women Finish Rich)

"I know you're capable of picking winning stocks and holding on to them." (Jim Cramer, Mad Money)

They're common refrains among personal finance gurus. There's just one problem: Those and many similar statements are false. For the past few decades, Americans have spent billions of dollars on personal finance products. As salaries have stagnated and companies have cut back on benefits, we've taken matters into our own hands, embracing the can-do attitude that if we're smart enough, we can overcome even daunting financial obstacles. But that's not true.

In this meticulously reported and shocking audiobook, journalist and former financial columnist Helaine Olen goes behind the curtain of the personal finance industry to expose the myths, contradictions, and outright lies it has perpetuated. She shows how an industry that started as a response to the Great Depression morphed into a behemoth that thrives by selling us products and services that offer little if any help. Olen calls out some of the biggest names in the business, revealing how even the most respected gurus have engaged in dubious, even deceitful, practices - from accepting payments from banks and corporations in exchange for promoting certain prod­ucts to blaming the victims of economic catastrophe for their own financial misfortune.

Pound Foolish also disproves many myths about spending and saving. Weaving together original reporting, interviews with experts, and studies from disciplines ranging from behavioral economics to retirement planning, Pound Foolish is a compassionate and compelling audibook that will change the way we think and talk about our money.

©2012 Helaine Olen (P)2013 Gildan Media LLC

Critic reviews

"It's rare to come across a realistic and readable book about personal finance. Most are laden with rosy promises, followed by acronyms and turgid advice. Helaine Olen, a freelance journalist, offers an exception with Pound Foolish.... It's a take-no-prisoners examination of the ways she says we have been scared, misled or bamboozled by those purporting to help us achieve financial security." ( The New York Times)

One of the best books on personal finance

For every 10 crappy Audible books, you get one like this: concise, informative, and well narrated. We all like to believe that we are in control, that when things go well financially it's because of our great insight and skill, and tha when things go bad for others, it's because of their greed and stupidity. This book clearly lays out the other forces at work: brokers, salesmen, Wall Street and other conmen successfully getting their hands into our pockets while having you take the blame when things inevitably go bad -- just whent they run away with your cash. The conclusion of the book is how the only remedy for our economic woes is to break with the current wage stagnation, and true political change.

Good Review of the Personal Finance Idustry

What made the experience of listening to Pound Foolish the most enjoyable?

In general, the book seemed to be well written and document the pit falls of the personal finance industry well. In general I liked the criticisms of the financial gurus and have had similar feelings in my subconscious that she gelled into words.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I am conservative and bought this book because of a Piece that Helaine wrote on Dave Ramsey in Pacific Standard that I thought was BS, but needed to know more about her thought process to dismiss it. Personally, I think that he has done a great job of getting a bunch of people to pay attention to their situation and take steps to make it better. Her work in this book seemed to acknowledge that people can make choices to better and worse their individual situations, but most gurus miss the fact that a minimum wage worker is not going to make it no matter how well they budget.

I am glad that I took the time to listen to the book. While I don't agree with everything she stated, I do feel that I have learned some interesting things specifically about the mutual fund industry that is helpful.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Lyn Landon?

Anyone who knew how to pronounce Suze Orman ... Being as it is critical of Suze's work, I feel that the publisher owes Suze the decency of pronouncing her name correctly in the audio.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The linking of the financial education movement to financial institutions was brilliant. I have never thought to think that why are the same people that are lobbying congress to make our financial future murky and impossible to understand the same ones that say financial literacy will save the day...


As she said if they believe that the solution to the financial problem is for consumers to understand what they are doing, then the most obvious thing to do is to write simple contracts and sales material that disclose the fees and risks in common English.

Any additional comments?

I hated the diatribe on women investors and wonder if she could have put that part in a separate book for readers that are interested in that stuff.

The Mispronunciations Are Indeed Distracting

This book was reasonably entertaining. I agree, however, that the narrator did a poor job. An entire chapter of the book is devoted to Suze Orman, yet the narrator continually mispronounces the woman's name as "Sooze" rather than "Susie." The chapter in question is 45 minutes long, so for me the error was maddening.

Great book. Amateur performance.

Excellent content. Excellent book. However, there is no excuse for mispronouncing the names of famous people. It takes 30 seconds to look it up. I cringed every time she mispronounced "Suze Orman" and "Bernie Madoff".

Narrator needs training!

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The book itself is interesting, although the conclusion (in the final "what is to be done?" chapter) is pretty lame. Talking alone won't do nearly enough to solve the real problems that the author examines.

How could the performance have been better?

The performer was really pretty inept. She mispronounced a number of words--not just the French words to which the author seems unfortunately overly fond, but basic English words, such as "reputable." Often, too, the performer gets the stress on the wrong syllable. Very annoying.

My suspicion about the industry confirmed

I often smelled dishonesty in the personal finance industry ads. This book tells me that the reality is much worse than I had imagined. The author's arguments seem backed by well-researched information and credible, and I could tell that she is honest, as she herself was once a financial columnist. I wished that she could provide some concrete recommendations to fix the problem, but pointing out all the problems is a very good start. The narrator could have done better though - she did not sound she had rehearsed at all. But overall, I highly recommend this book.

Everything About Money - No Bull

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. It dispells all the garbage that tv and radio personalities spew and puts things in perspective in a no nonsense way.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The author - She really drove home the value of money and understanding how it works and how it fails.

What about Lyn Landon’s performance did you like?

She was not dramatic but to the point. Pleasant to listen to. Held my attention at all times. Not an easy thing to do.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Yes. It did both.

Any additional comments?

If you want to know where and how to get your advice about money this is a must. She tears down some of the best known personalities on the subject but in a polished way. I like many of them and will continue to watch and listen. However the book is an eye opener and I will be watching and listening with keener sense. I will read this book again. Very thought provoking.

Good "read" but lacks ending

What did you love best about Pound Foolish?

Great down to earth review of various "investments". The author does approach this from the right angle giving a full in depth history of various techniques and personal fiance personas.

Any additional comments?

The author does proceed to critique pretty much all of the known investment methods including the individuals that are peddling them however does not offer any alternatives that would in her eyes be more viable. As a result the book lacks a proper closure and ends with pretty much a negative review of most widely available ways to invest and save. It leaves the reader empty handed after after they listened how they are a sucker for investing in anything listed. But don't worry, just go out and buy another "latte" as the world is against you anyway and you will not be able to build wealth anyway.

Some decent advice, but mostly just a smear job.

Picked up a couple small nuggets to think about, but mainly was just a hit job on the financial industry as a whole.

Important message, unfortunate delivery

One by one, Helaine Olen picks apart the hypocrisy, exploitation, and holier-than-thou sham of the personal finance industry. I found this book incredibly eye-opening and well written. At times, the things I learned made me feel sick. This book's message is something that should be spread far and wide.

Unfortunately, this book's reach is, after reading several reviews, being limited by the narrator. The narrator was not a professional, simply put. It was an amateur performance. The only upside I got from it was that if I ever one day decide to go into voice work, I will refer to this book to look for what *not* to do. It felt like the entire time she was swallowing her words, poorly researched pronunciation of names, the unusual pronunciation of English words (succinct = sucksinct?), and an overall tone of voice that, to me, sounded like a high school English student's turn to read the book out loud.

Helaine, if you're reading this, PLEASE have your audiobook re-recorded by a professional.