I'm counting The Complete Idiot's Guide to Managing Your Money (4th Edition) as a “book that scares you” for my yet-unfinished 50 Book Challenge. Anything math scares me, and finances scare me lately in a personal way.





I love Idiot's Guide books. They give great overviews of virtually any subject, making them easy to understand and giving references to learn in more depth if we so desire.

My biggest issue with this book is that, as 4th edition (and apparently most current incarnation?), it's still over ten years out of date. Copyright on this is 2005, and I'm reading at the end of 2016. Still, it was full of great info, and I really feel like I learned a lot about personal finances. While the rates and everything probably aren't current today, the basics are still sound and definitions are clear and helpful.

I skimmed a few chapters that didn't pertain to me or seemed like they were too outdated to invest myself in. Overall, though, I think this book was a great help, and I've started working on some financial goals thanks to the knowledge I gained here. I would recommend it for people who, like me, know nothing about finances. If you're more familiar with these concepts already, you'll probably want a more current resource. I hope they update this soon.