Gail Vaz-Oxlade’s latest foray into the crowded world of financial planning books is A Woman of Independent Means, a financial guide for the neophyte. According to Vaz-Oxlade, women have specific needs when it comes to financial planning, “After all, women are more likely than men to experience reductions in income due to divorce, widowhood, and disability.” Although this statement is true, the pitfalls lie in how to address the potential knowledge gap. Vaz-Oxlade attempts to handle this by covering the vast majority of financial planning topics in a rather cursory manner and by adapting them to a distinctly female point of view. This is not a bad thing, and the author is generally successful in the exercise of pointing out areas in which the reader may be weak, allowing the opportunity for further action. The book covers such diverse topics as cash management, spending and credit, taxes, wills, retirement issues and such other life events as divorce, inheritances, job loss, and aging parents.

Vaz-Oxlade is a contributor to Chatelaine magazine and the writing style here tends to be geared toward that audience. When discussing some steps to financial freedom she notes, “What are you fears? Do you worry that you won’t have enough when you grow old and [as a result] end up a bag lady?” When handling job loss and the resulting anger, she suggests “Meditate. Kickbox. Talk, talk, talk.” Her guiding principal for obtaining financial freedom is telesis, which she defines as the “deliberate, purposeful utilization of the process of nature and society to obtain particular goals.” It may work for her, but I haven’t been able to find mention of it in other books on investment and money management.