Balance: How to Invest and Spend for Happiness, Health, and Wealth

If you are starting out investing, this book has great advice all the way through :)

...if everyone read Balance. This book is extraordinary. Last night, I brought it to bed to read just a few pages--I didn't put it down. Walking the fine line between personal finance, self-empowerment, wellness, and superb storytelling is no easy task. Many authors have failed. But, Mr. Hallam proves Balance is an apt title. He walks this line with a grace and conviction that put me at ease while engaging in tough but worthy topics. Balance seamlessly alternates between money, relationships, health, and living with purpose, and does so with a storyteller's panache. Admitedly, this book reinforced many of my own beliefs. Mr. Hallam and I see the world similarly. Though, we don't see it identically and this is the true magic in these pages.Balance challenged me, pushed me, and helped me recognize ways in which I act against my self-interests and happiness. Mr. Hallam's true gift is doing so through empathy and support, not critical judgment, as only a teacher can. By asking "Why?" and guiding me through my journey for answers, Mr. Hallam helped me forge a new understanding of holistic happiness, one that transcends finance, health, experiences, and relationships--a new understanding of balance. In Balance, Mr. Hallam's years of clearly walking the walk are on full display in a confident yet humble style. I highly recommend this eye-opening and mind-opening journey.

Managing money and then using that money to enrich one's life is about money mechanics AND mindset. Andrew Hallam's latest book "Balance" brings deep wisdom and financial strategy alongside great storytelling and humor. His book gives us new insights about money, mindset, and how to live a full life. His writing is witty and accessible and I highly recommend this book. If you are looking for a book that brings into focus the purpose of personal finance beyond just making money, this book is for you. Nicely done Mr. Hallum - thank you!

Now that I've been retired for 3 years, I have a good perspective on what a person actually needs to retire and live well. This book tells you everything you need to have a happy life pre-retirement, as well as a comfortable life in retirement.Most conventional retirement books say to save a ton of money; you need more than you could possibly save in your lifetime, you need more than a million dollars despite the fact that only a tiny fraction of Americans will ever become millionaires. Yet, people retire, happily, non-millionaires, every single day. This disparity always distressed me. Why must I choose to have either a happy life, or a happy retirement? Why can't a person have both??I have a master's degree in business, and I did my own calculations and came to my own conclusions before I retired, which are remarkably similar to Andrew's. The reinforcement is very comforting, and I'm relieved to know that I won't have to go back to work because I made some glaring error.I do wish this book had been available before I retired, however, I would not yet have this good perspective to give you if it had. You can save yourself a lot of grief from reading conventional retirement books, you can do it with just this one. If you are retired, like me you can make some small tweaks to optimize your own portfolio, set it and forget it.I did make and execute some minor investment decisions as a result of reading this book. I am confident about the investments I made, and in only a few short days have already made more than this book cost me. I'm pretty sure almost anyone can say this, regardless of where you are in your trek of life, so there's no good reason for you to NOT buy it.Enjoy!

I have been inspired by Andrew's approach to life and investing since we first met as international teaching colleagues. As with his previous books, his financial advice centers on longterm investing and index funds for a comfortable retirement. Achieving that means recognizing that "you can anything you want, but just not everything you want". In his latest book, Balance, Andrew shares a broader view of achieving success in life. He is skillful storyteller articulating universal truths about life, health, happiness, and financial security with practical advice. His is a true teacher and a great place to start or continue with your financial literacy. This book is a pleasurable and affirming read suitable for middle school through adult. Well done, Andrew!

This is the best investment/retirement/finance book I have read! And I have read many of them. Mr. Hallam’s newest work helps you invest in yourself, your finances, your world. His writing is clear and concise and many times very amusing. I appreciate how Mr. Hallam starts and finishes most every chapter with an anecdote, a parable if you will, that brings the story/lesson to a conclusion. Each chapter ends with bullet points of the main ideas. This work is great for people, like me in their mid-60’s and especially for younger people. I just bought a copy each for my two twenty-something nephews.

I loved many parts of of this book. The last chapter threw me off a bit. The theme that we should spend on what we care about was great.

I picked up Mr. Hallam's "Millionaire Teacher" a few months ago and it was a joy to read. It clarified so many things and helped me get a grip on my finances. This book pretty much summaries the passive investing aspect to just 3 chapters (avoid active mutual funds, buy low fee index funds, look at long investment timeline of 20 years or more). However, I was pleasantly surprised by how much more I learned from the book aside from investing. The author makes one rethink their spending habits and emphasizes the concept of hedonic adaptation. There is also valuable material on socially responsible investing (SRI) and how to care for the planet. No matter where you are in life - young investor, new parents, retiree, etc., this book is sure to benefit you in personal growth (finance included).

Walked away with 3-4 good takeaways and that’s good enough. Andrew got me back to reading and that’s great - learnt so much with both this and millionaire expat

I've read Millionaire Teacher, by Andrew Hallam and acted on it, (it removed my fears of investing), but I think this book is a better place to start as it talks about finances, but also what "having enough " (money) can do to support your life looking at different ways to live - and avoiding the traps of "keeping up with the Jones" and looking at what really matters. I highly recommend it. I'm going to buy it for my brother thus Christmas!

I was impressed by The Millioner Teacher and had high expectations for this new book. However, whilst the first half of the book has some interesting insight, the second half is just a repetition in short of his first book. Also, in the first part sometimes it seems he just personal episodes to share and no data to back his views. Many problems and solutions presented here apply mostly on US situations and people. Could have been much better.

This book came at just the right moment for me, as I am finally trying to get my long term finances in order as well as contemplating bigger life questions! I loved the philosophical part about money being only a part of what it means to be successful and all of the examples from interesting people in different parts of the world. I enjoyed Andrews informal and friendly writing style, very different to other finance books. This book certainly gave me a wide range of perspectives and possibilities and left me feeling optimistic about my financial future. I definitely recommend this book to everyone.