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I have to say that I love The Finish Rich Dictionary by David Bach. Now I haven’t read the entire thing yet (it’s not meant to be read cover to cover at all) but I can tell that it’s going to be something I refer to again and again. I’ve already referred to it several times in just the past couple of days.

I was initially skeptical about agreeing to consider reviewing a dictionary (after all, I thought, what is there to write about a book full of definitions?) but it turns out I was wrong. There’s plenty to write about this book.

For one thing, it talks about two topics that are of great interest to me: money and words. Words are powerful, and learning the language of money is powerful indeed. It breaks down barriers and makes things understandable. As Bach says in the introduction,

“…I’ve seen firsthand that most people think they need some sort of special break to succeed in investing — a stock tip or an insider opportunity. It’s not true. What you need is to know the words that are used to explain money. Money has its own language, and the sooner you learn the basic vocabulary, the better your chance to live and finish rich.”

Once you understand the language of money, finances are less intimidating. It’s also easier to consider doing things that will improve your financial health, and to understand the options available when you being learning about them. After all, a lot of finance-related things can read like alphabet soup.

Since the book is a dictionary, it’s laid out with alphabetized sections containing Canadian and American financial terms from ABM (a “Canadian automated banking machine”) to zero coupon bond (a “bond that is issued at a deep discount to its face value but pays no interest”.)

Pronunciation, syllables, parts of speech, and sometimes origins and examples are given as well. Information and tips like “The top ten money mistakes people make” and “How to plan for retirement” are interspersed between the dictionary sections.

I originally thought this book would make a nice giveaway, since I don’t keep very many books, but I’m going to keep it and consider the $12.95 cover price as income. I rarely buy books at all, but I would have bought this one because it is right up my alley and it’ll be great to refer to.