AN INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A must-have guide to optimizing your life for wealth and success, from bestselling author, NYU professor, and cohost of the Pivot podcast Scott Galloway.
Today’s workers have more opportunities and mobility than any generation before. They also face unprecedented challenges, including inflation, labor and housing shortages, and climate volatility. Even the notion of retirement is undergoing a profound rethink, as our lifespans extend and our relationship with work evolves. In this environment, the tried-and-true financial advice our parents followed is no longer enough. It’s time for a new playbook.
In The Algebra of Wealth, Scott Galloway lays bare the rules of financial success in today’s economy. In his characteristic unvarnished, no-BS style, he explains what you need to know in order to better your chances for economic security no matter what. You’ll learn:
- How to find and follow your talent, not your passion, when making career decisions
- How to ride and optimize big economic waves (hard truth: market dynamics always trump individual achievement)
- What small steps you can take that pay big returns later, including diversification and tax planning
- How stoicism can help you minimize spending and develop better financial habits
Brimming with wise, game-changing advice from one of the world’s most popular business school professors, The Algebra of Wealth offers a powerful framework for making the most of what opportunities come your way.
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vmetzo –
I wish I had read this when I was younger. Although I started retirement savings early, the abstract concept of capital and putting it to work would have hedged my bets while pursuing “passion” careers. The two were not as mutually exclusive as my Gen X thinking assumed. Going to get copies for my boys. I hope they read them. The truth of time for money is simple but profound. Figuring out your “monthly burn” at a young age, saving, and putting capital to work to hedge that time for money trade off is an elegant solution.
Mike –
The Algebra of Wealth, written by Scott Galloway and published in 2024, provides a strategy for saving money and investing smartly. The author does not recommend one investment type over another but presents the basics on the most common forms of investment (e.g., stocks, funds, bonds, real estate, etc.) and gives readers the pros and cons of each type based on factors such as income level, age, and the like.
The hardcover version of the book has just under 260 pages of substantive text, with a few pages of notes and an index following that. The author’s advice is good but definitely tailored for a beginner. The younger you are, the more helpful the advice in the book is likely to be. But there is helpful information (such as using your time wisely) that will benefit people who are in their 40s and 50s who are closer to the end of their working lives than the beginning. Ultimately, the book does have some good advice and points. Some of the information may be too basic for some people, depending on your level of financial knowledge, but most readers will likely find helpful information even if they already know some of what the author discusses.
Elliot –
I like the author and appreciate his stance on certain topics. However, for a book that is nearly 300 pages long, there is relatively little utility. There are a few snippets of useful information, but overall the book lacks pedagogical structure and does not present as a formula for financial security as the title might suggest. If it were more concise I might have a rated it higher, but it reads like a book where the author is being paid by the word, or at least enjoys hearing himself talk. If time is my most valuable asset, then just get to the point.
The buckle arrived broken. –
I will give a copy to nieces and nephews. I wish I had read this as a senior in high school or in college. What a great book to guide you to a successful You!
mc –
Scott, makes it simple to understand. he takes complex topics and provides illuminating examples. Great advice, especially for 20 – 30 year olds who are in the early innings of their professional careers.
Chuck McKinnon –
A month before this book was published, I sequestered my kids for a weekend and gave them a “Here’s how the world really works” Dad-talk, so I was very much in the right headspace for this book when it came out. It’s a perfect sequel to the groundwork I had just coincidentally laid with my kids.
Everything you need to understand in order to secure your financial future is in here. Note that I didn’t say “Everything you need to know,” because you can go much deeper on each of the topics Scott covers. What it gives you, in one place, is the high-level view of all of the important topics. Having this book as a younger man would have knocked probably five years off the timeline for me to cobble together a similar understanding from multiple sources.
I’m buying a copy for each of my kids and will be encouraging them to read it. Thanks Scott, for writing this.
Karl –
Genuinely great book as a high level overview of business, the economy and personal finance. After listening to the audiobook I bought the hard cover for my wife to read. Regardless of your goals, the practical advice and experience shared should prove helpful and a value far greater than the time and money you invest in the book.
RPH in DC –
There is so much good advice packed into this one book, that it’s difficult to summarize. The most important idea is that “wealth” encompasses much more than material security, though that is certainly the basic necessity for a good life. Galloway writes about the importance of character, integrity, self-knowledge, and compassion for oneself and others, as being fundamental to wealth. His “formula” for wealth comprises four areas: Stoicism, Focus, Time, and Diversification.
Stoicism: “…is about living an intentional, temperate life in and out of work. It’s about saving money, for sure, but also developing strong character and connecting with a community.”
Focus: “…is primarily about earning an income.
Time: “…is your most important asset. It starts an ends with an understanding of the most powerful force in the universe: compound interest.”
Diversification: “…personal finance questions, a road map for making sound investment decisions and for being an educated participant in the financial marketplace.”
Galloway writes about each of these areas in simple, clear terms. In addition to terrific graphs and charts to illustrate concepts, he liberally intersperses events and stories from his own life, which really bring home the importance of the concept and how it operates in real life.
His book is also inspiring, as he discusses, in a pretty matter-of-fact (i.e., not self-pitying) way, his childhood of relative poverty, raised by his single mother and his difficult relationship with his father. He also talks about the lessons he’s learned along the way, in business, finance and as a father, son, friend and citizen.
The book teaches so much, and at the same time is engaging, funny and is really hard to put down.
I can’t remember the last time I so enjoyed reading a book about personal finance.
Murray D. Feller –
Clear, concise and easy to understand financial advice directed toward developing wealth.
Alex Weber –
The book is okay but I don’t think it was written for me. It reads as though he wrote it for his son or a student, and I can respect that. Some ideas are slightly fresh but mostly reiterated from other personal finance books.
There is a book trend these days to fill in space with stories or long-winded anecdotes. Galloway doesn’t do that. He gets to the point and I like that. It reads like he put together a slide deck presentation and then had someone turn it into a book.
There’s something I don’t like about his writing voice though. He comes across as though he knows everything under the sun. He is persuasive though and he gives good arguments for what he thinks.
But regardless, I’d recommend it to a fresh graduate who doesn’t know much about personal finance.
Eliud Zavala –
Hasta ahora, el mejor libro de Scott.
Joris Akkermans –
Bought it for my son after watching morning Joe, as a little extra present for finishing his masters. My younger son started reading it and didn’t put it down much. A lot of good long term guidance and easy tips. Great present for people that are just ready to accept the knowledge.