Rating: 
Summary: I loved it!
Review: I found this book to be everything a personal finance guide should be: accurate, comprehensive, friendly and extremely readable. Kudos, once again, to Jean Chatzky who should have been a school teacher. The book really kept my attention, not to mention the cover photo...
Rating:
Summary: Great Book Jean!
Review: I have enjoyed watching Jean Chatsky on TV and have all of her books, although this one is my favorite.Jean writes in a way that appears as though she is sitting right there and talking to you like your best friend. I also enjoy the audio version of this book and will play it while going about my household duties or in the car while picking up the kids. Talking Money is very possibly the best personal finance book out there. I also recommend Jean Chatsky's newest book, "You Don't Have to Be Rich" and any other book by Chatsky that you can get your hands on. Chatsky is the best!
Rating:
Summary: A Must Own for Solid Financial Advice
Review: I have enjoyed watching Jean Chatzky on the Today Show for years. In fact, I worked with her on the show and have seen first hand how she prepares for her weekly segments. Believe me, it is not as easy as Jean makes it appear! This book deserves a spot on your bookshelf as it is a great daily reference guide to the world of personal finance. What I like best about the book is unlike other financial-oriented publications, it is not boring and is loaded with Jean's witty personality. Jean has a knack for making complicated financial information simple to understand. My only question is: When is she releasing her next book? I am truly looking forward to it!
Rating:
Summary: Credit card helper
Review: I owe far too much on my credit cards. Me and my husband read Jean's column in USA Today all the time, so when I heard she had a book I went to the store and flipped through it right away. I bought the book for the "debt relief" plans in chapter two, but I found myself reading on and on. The book makes sense and I really like the friendly advice she gives in each section. I know this will help me and I think it will help other people too. Also, it is very easy to understand. I really recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: I am a big fan
Review: I regularly read Jean's weekend column in USA Today. This book is as delicious as the snippets I get every week. I was happy to find that Jean was able to bring it all together in one effective volume. I've been cutting out her columns for months; this book will save me tons of scissor work. I did skip a chapter or two, and the index could have been a little better. The sections I did need were well-written, extremely well-researched, and quite enjoyable. Bravo!
Rating:
Summary: The only book worth buying!
Review: I think this is a terrific book! I, too, have always enjoyed Jean's commentaries on the "Today Show" and in Money magazine. But you need this book so you can refer to her good advice again and again--I know I'm going to refer to it often! And there's a lot of great advice here that's totally new. Knowing how to talk to your aging parents about family financial issues, for example, is one of the issues this book handles really sensitively and well. To be honest, some investing topics can be just too complex or too blah if you don't have someone to explain them in plain English. That's what Jean does best on TV and I was thrilled when I opened this book and found out that she "translated" so well to print! Even subjects like insurance and real estate were totally understandable and even enjoyable, and it seems to be loaded with useful little ideas--minor things you can do to achieve big savings or make your money work more productively! Maybe all of this is a little too fundamental for people who do nothing but invest all day long, but for the rest of us I think Jean's book will be really helpful and a breath of fresh air. Also, she seems like "one of us"--not some talking head.
Rating: 
Summary: Why Pay For Old Advice and Destroy Trees?
Review: I've seen Ms. Chatzky on the Today show for years and years so I thought this book would be fresh and original. Gosh was I mistaken. This book contains nothing but the same old information that she's been eagerly sharing free of charge for years and years. (You can get the archives of these previous talks on Money magazine and the Today show's web sites for free!) She contrasts herself to Suze Orman who has also run out of fresh material. Unless these women can come up with something to add to the conversation they should stop writing books.
Rating:
Summary: Shallow And It's All About The Author
Review: If only the author and her publisher had spent even half as much time thinking about the content as they obviously did about marketing and publicity strategies, this could have been a good book but it is not. Throughout this ecocentric tome we are enlightened by comments like "this really bugs me." Does anyone really care what bugs Jean Chatzky? I bought this book hoping to find solid and well-researched money advice and tips not so that some over-hyped author could indulge her petty views. Only one professional book reviewer has even bothered touching this book and they called it "boilerplate." Jean spends time contrasting herself to Suze Orman. Truth be told they are both cut from the same cloth. They each put their own financial interests ahead of the readers'. That is a pity since it is readers who are spending our hard-earned money and limited time on their books. If "the love of money is the root of all evil," Jean and Suze should think long and hard about their contributions to society as they continue to enlarge their personal empires by selling this nonsense to unsuspecting book buyers, especially women who need all the unbiased and useful help that we can get.
Rating:
Summary: Too Superficial
Review: If this book is supposed to get us up to speed on important financial decisions then why does it spend so little time on very important topics (only 1 1/2 pages on bonds and less than 2 pages on mutual funds)? We need to invest to have money as we get older or to send our kids to college but this book has no more substance than a thin pamphlet. After reading almost half of this book I feel like I now know less than I knew when I bought it. This book had potential but it totally misses the mark because you walk away with almost no usable information. What a waste.
Rating:
Summary: Less Than Meets The Eye
Review: If you already own at least one personal finance book then this mediocre one will not tell you anything you haven't already seen, heard or read. If you're looking to buy your first money book, then skip this one. It only gives a generalized overview of important topics and will leave you wondering "What steps should I follow to take charge of my finances?" Go with one of the classics instead, such as Andrew Tobias's "The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need" or Jane Bryant Quinn's "Making the Most of Your Money." "Talking Money" is just a lot of hot air.
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