Book review of “How to worry less about money”, by John Armstrong

I came across the book “How to worry less about money”, by John Armstrong, when I visited my local library, which I hadn’t visited for some time due to the corona-virus.

The book is part of “The School of Life” series, which includes life-changing books on topics such as self-knowledge, relationships, sociability, work, and leisure.

Therefore, it becomes obvious that the book written by John Armstrong on how to worry less about money is expected to adopt a perspective that follows the general theme of “The School of Life” series.

This means that the book is written in a social and philosophical context that is aimed at boosting self-knowledge, rather than showing ways, through which, someone can solve their money problems, for example, by getting rich.

In fact, the author is adamant on this right from the beginning of the book, and keeps stressing this point throughout the book.

What is the main idea of the book?

As far as I have understood from reading the book, the main idea is that money is important in life, because people see it like that.

This applies to other things in life, as well, to which, people attach more importance than they should.

Although money is believed to be essential in the modern world, it is only a means of transaction; nothing more and nothing less than that.

If people understand this fundamental function of money, they will be able to get rid of a big part of their money-related worries.

Of course, this is different from having access to more, or living with less, money, and has nothing to do with solving someone’s financial problems.

Actually, the author clearly points out that, if a person acknowledges that there are other things in life apart from money, this acknowledgment will not help that person to pay an outstanding bill.

Why do people believe that money is so important?

According to the author, people believe that money is so important, as they try to mask their real worries, fears, and concerns that are caused by other things and in other areas in life that are not related to money.

This is the main reason why money won’t, and can’t, solve all problems in life, and, as the author puts it, it is also the reason why rich people still have problems after they get rich, and in spite of many of them having access to ridiculous amounts of money.

Of course, poor people face totally different problems than rich people.

My own question: Can you ignore the fight for survival?

There are millions of poor people in the world who live below the poverty line and even live in hunger, and I don’t think that these people have an option to see money in a different light and stop worrying about it, and this is because they simply struggle to survive another day.

Even cents can make a real difference in the life of those people.

Although the author may seem to have missed this point, since the whole discussion in the book is about the objective, rather than subjective, value of money, very poor people can only have a subjective view of money, because more money means, for example, more food to them, which is extremely vital for their livelihood.

However, even this case proves the author’s argument to an extent.

At the end of the day, when you see people living in absolute destitute and hunger, then you realize the real value of money; you also realize that the “sentimental” value that people attach to money is actually fake.

I think that the author would agree with me on that, and based on the fact that he is a philosopher, his perspective and approach are fully justified.

After all, the purpose of the book is not to discuss social inequality and poverty, but rather whether the money-related worries of people are real, or not.

Of course, this takes a certain living standard for granted.

On the other hand, if the author was an economist, this discussion would be very different.

My verdict

Armstrong’s book made me think, and I believe that, in this way, the author achieved his goal.

The vivid examples presented in the book helped me draw mental pictures, which is something that I desperately needed, i.e. mental stimulation.

On top of that, I came to realize that the behavior and attitude of people around me have ulterior motives that I couldn’t see before.

The book also helped me to understand that my own behavior and attitude towards money is determined by seemingly irrelevant factors, and this understanding allowed me to adopt a fresh perspective, which, as the author argues, will hopefully make me worry less about money and care more about more valuable things in life.

Sources and further reading:

How to Worry Less about Money by John Armstrong-Goodreads

Subjective Theory of Value: Definition, History, Examples

How to Worry Less About Money: 5 Lessons from the Book