"With a little humor and lightness, financial matters become easier to understand"
Becoming brilliant with money doesn't have to be boring or complicated. The m&k columnist Olga Miler has published a book with Beobachter-Edition that offers tangible tips on how to actively shape financial independence. m&k Werbewoche.ch spoke to the author.
Only 27% of men and 18% of women rate their financial knowledge as good, although financial books are a dime a dozen. But these are usually very theoretical and contain abstract charts.
This is where "Rich, Richer... me!" on. The practice-oriented guide aims to convey necessary and indispensable basic knowledge about money in an accessible and humorous way. The book was written by independent financial expert Olga Miler, who is also featured in every print edition of m&k writes a column about money. The trenchant illustrations are by Baden-based illustrator Illumueller. Anna Kohler from m&k advertisingweek.ch spoke to the author about her guide.
m&k Werbewoche.ch: Olga Miler, you have just published your book "Rich, Richer... me". Is it a guide to becoming a millionaire?
Olga Miler: No book or financial app is a guaranteed guide to a million, no matter what they promise! I hope that my book will enrich people in a variety of ways: with motivation to deal with their own finances, with the drawings that will hopefully bring a smile to their faces. But above all with practical tips that can be implemented immediately and with simple explanations that should save you a long search on the Internet. Since I've been working on the book, we've also been talking about money much more often in the family.
What made you decide to write the book?
I have been writing the blog "Money Talks" for five years on Watson and I teach and talk about money every day. In order to somehow understand all these rather complicated concepts myself and make them understandable to other people, I am always looking for analogies, images or situations from everyday life - and have found that with a little humor and lightness, all financial matters are not only more fun, but also much easier to understand for everyone. So about three years ago, I came up with the idea of creating a completely different financial book. With little text, meaningful pictures and analogies - and of course with practical tips. The idea lay around for a while until last summer, when the opportunity arose to put it into practice thanks to Sarah Berndt from Beobachter-Verlag.
How is the book structured?
The book covers the 33 essential financial concepts we should all know - from money mindset and how to start investing to retirement planning, part-time work and digital finance. Each chapter includes a brief explanation and practical tips for implementation. The whole thing is accompanied by pointed drawings by Dani Müllerthat are taken directly from everyday life.
Who would you like to address with this book?
The book is aimed at anyone who wants to make more of their finances with practical tips. I hope that it will also inspire many young people to enjoy dealing with their own finances and to start investing as early as possible. The book is suitable for people aged 15 and over.
With your company SmartPurse, you coach people in money matters. Who benefits from your coaching?
Everyone who takes part benefits from our coaching. The majority are women, but of course everyone is welcome! We discuss very practical money issues, look at different tools, discuss ideas and new trends, invite different experts and, together with the independent financial platform "Payoff", do a product check and price comparison so that people can save on fees.
Money is an emotional topic. Society doesn't talk much about it. What is your advice?
Talk about money as much as possible, especially with children and partners. As nobody knows everything about money, you can't make a fool of yourself. Talking about money has many advantages - and you also get to know each other better. I very much hope that practical money knowledge will find its way into the school curriculum as soon as possible, as is the case in Denmark, for example.
In your m&k column, you give tips on money matters. Can you tell us your top three?
First and foremost, you should look at your own finances, regularly remove unnecessary money guzzlers from your budget and also take a look at your pension fund from time to time. In addition, you should not only save, but also invest - no matter how small the amount you have on hand. Regularity is the key here. Where possible, you should also invest with passive funds such as index funds or exchange-traded funds (ETFs). This saves a lot on fees compared to active funds
The book "Rich, Richer... Me!" can be bought in any major bookshop, such as Orell Füssli, Lüthi or Exlibris, or ordered directly from Beobachter-Verlag.