‘What’s Your Move’ — a book review
A wise lady (Nicolette Mashile) once said “it isn’t how much you make, but how much you keep” — Page 30, that sets you apart from all the others. If you have read my two book reviews before, you know that I use a Book Review Template recommended by Ali Abdaal. This is not going to be any different.
How I discovered this book:
‘What’s Your Move’ was actually recommended to me by my brother, maybe two years back, but I was not so keen on reading it at the time (wish I could turn back the clock). So last year I started binge watching Nicolette’s YouTube videos and I liked her content, mostly because she’s hilarious and is a good storyteller, and obviously, her content is easily relatable because she includes how she handled money from the time she was a varsity student. So I enjoyed her YouTube videos too much that I actually wanted to read the book this time, so I made it my December 2022 read.
The book in 5 sentences or less:
‘What’s Your Move’ is a guide to managing money, handling debt, and ultimately building generational wealth. But, it is coupled with the author’s experiences with money, both good and bad experiences. It does NOT serve as a financial advise as it is strictly based on experience rather than advise from a certified financial advisor.
Impressions:
One of my December 2021 read was ‘The Richest Man in Babylon’, which I know that a lot of people have read it. What surprised me the most was how money rules never change. The same strategies that made the man in Babylon the richest, are still the same principles that this book emphasises on, but in a more simpler and relatable way. ‘What’s Your Move’ also dives into other concepts like lobola, black tax, mjolo (relationships), and ‘abantu bazothini (what will people say) syndrome’ which made me see these concepts in a different light.
Who should read it:
I think everyone that is trying to be better at handling their finances, or trying to get out of debt, or just wants to build generational wealth should read this book. Particularly, I think this book would be a great read for millenials and the Gen-Z population that are mostly controlled by social media standards and are constantly competing with their peers. In fact, I think all South Africans should read this book because who does not want to be rich and easily afford things? I mean, come on!
How the book changed me:
For me, ‘What’s Your Move’ made me re-evaluate my spending habits, and realised that there were times that I spent money unnecessarily; I realised some of my financial mistakes (I used to use my TFSA account as my emergency savings account — I know, please don’t judge me) that I still beat myself up for even today because I did not know any better at the time. With this reflection came the need to save as much money as I possibly can but in a more smarter way, i.e. with a goal attached to the money that I am saving.
My top 3 quotes from the book:
“…new money is dangerous when you don’t know how to act” — page 28.
“Where you spend most of your money is essentially where you are investing” — page 30.
“Instant gratification — the mother of all brokenness” — page 41. I will couple this quote with another one to complete it. “The practice of delayed gratification is, in fact, the secret to most money solutions” — page 48.
“The game of money is an individual sport, and it has to be played according to your needs and financial goals” — page 129.
“Investing isn’t a game of numbers but of psychology. One has to manage their emotions to be able to be successful in investing” — page 196.
“…no one can only save their way to wealth” — page 204.
“…the wealthier you make yourself out to be, the more you will become a target for others to drain even more of your money” — page 309.
“People love to demonise spending habits they don’t understand” — page 312.
“When you know better, you do better, you act better, and you choose better” — page 349.
In closing:
I know the quotes above are 9 instead of 3 as recommended by the template. I actually had 15, and did not know how to scale them down any further. But if there’s any quote i’d love for you to take from this review is the forth one and the seond last one. Your money decisions do not have to make sense to anyone but you and your needs. It’s called personal finances for this reason.
