The Index Card

The Index Card

“THE MOST NOTABLE PERSONAL FINANCE WRITING OF 2013 . . . WAS A HANDWRITTEN 4 × 6 INDEX CARD.”  —MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE

TV analysts and money managers would have you believe your finances are enormously complicated, and if you don’t follow their guidance, you’ll end up in the poorhouse.
 
They’re wrong.
 
When University of Chicago professor Harold Pollack interviewed Helaine Olen, an award-winning financial journalist and the author of the bestselling Pound Foolish, he made an off­hand suggestion: everything you need to know about managing your money could fit on an index card. To prove his point, he grabbed a 4″ x 6″ card, scribbled down a list of rules, and posted a picture of the card online. The post went viral.
 
Now, Pollack teams up with Olen to explain why the ten simple rules of the index card outperform more complicated financial strategies. Inside is an easy-to-follow action plan that works in good times and bad, giving you the tools, knowledge, and confidence to seize control of your financial life.


About author(s)
HAROLD POLLACK is the Helen Ross Professor of Social Service Admin­istration at the Univer­sity of Chicago, where he researches health and urban policy concerns and is a nonresident fellow at the Century Foundation. He writes regu­larly for the Washington Post, Politico, Atlantic Monthly, healthinsurance.org, and other publications.

HELAINE OLEN is a free­lance journalist whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Slate, Salon, Forbes, Business­Week, and elsewhere. She wrote and edited the popu­lar Money Makeover series in the Los Angeles Times. She lives in New York City with her family. Follow her on Twitter at @helaineolen.

Alternative names:

• ISBN The Index Card