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How Much Is Enough? Harness the Power of Your Money Story--And Change Your Life
by Pamela York Klainer, Ed D., 336 pp., Basic Books

If you want to know about financial planning you might want to look for another resource. Dr. Pamela York Klainer is not so interested in how you might plan for wealth as she is in what she calls "your money story." Deeply rooted in how we make choices regarding money from career choices, to spending habits, to lifestyle is a fundamental money story. This story-your story--- that tells a compelling tale regarding how you view yourself in relation to money and how much you need to make in order to answer that question : how much is enough?.

As a successful person, you already know about how to get and succeed at a job, you know the value of a 401K, and you probably understand that to a large degree money equals power. But, what you may not know is how much you are motivated by your own money story that began in your youth as you observed the relationship your parents did or didn't have with respect to money. You get to co-create this book as each main idea comes with a couple of scenarios for you to explore and key questions that may lead you deeper into understanding your own money story. In fact, as she closes her book you begin to open your own as the last five pages are an outline for your own "money autobiography." Rather than answer the question how much is enough? You are left with a total of 30+ provocative questions that will inevitably lead you to a higher level of self awareness, some degree of discomfort, and a desire for further conversation.

Klainer's writing style is free flowing and conversational, you almost feel as if you are joining her at a near by coffee shop having your favorite latte enjoying the conversation immensely until she begins to ask you questions. Yes, pointedly in the midst of easy going dialogue she cuts to the chase and asks the questions no one else will. The good news is she is willing to go through the process with you, not merely letting you sink with the weight of the awareness. She puts her own life right out there disclosing how much she paid for her Jaguar, personal experience in the Peace Corps, lessons learned from business decisions gone sour, and personal tensions caused by her own exploration of her money story.

While most of the time she shares personal information generously and in great detail, there were a couple of instances where she pulled back from self-disclosure and spoke in generalities, not in specifics. The strongest example of this is the section in Chapter Seven called Big Money and Bad Actors. Klainer defines a "bad actor" as "an amoral individual who provides the container for everyone's hopes." She gives the impression that she was taken advantage of in a business deal that went sour, but does not give enough detail for the reader to gain clarity on the situation and learn from how she was led to trust the individual and what she has since done to avoid subsequent "bad actors"-or we might say bad apples.

A very compelling section of the book is in Chapter 5 where Klainer offers a distinction among the roles that people play both personally and professionally. The roles she calls provider and organizer roles. Throughout history there have been those who go out and "win the prize" while others maintain a stable environment. In the home setting the provider works to acquire a paycheck to "pay " for things, while the organizer cooks, cleans, and maintains the household. In the work setting the provider is the sales agent acquiring clients to "pay" for things while the organizer provides customer service support. Whether at home or in business these roles pose a dilemma because one can be quantified and thus valued at a higher level. "In almost any system-work or family-providers get more recognition, more status, have more influence over outcomes, have a wider range of options, and exercise much more power" She then further explains that organizers get paid less not because their work is not as valuable, but "because it is much harder to figure out how to value it."

While creating a thoughtful and clear picture of the dilemma, Klainer doesn't offer suggestions on how better quantify the contributions of the organizer role something that would be as valuable for individuals as it would for corporate strategists. She does, however, explain that it would benefit both roles to incorporate some of the behaviors of each role in order to create optimal scenarios for fulfillment.

Ayn Rand would approve of the existential quality of the writing as Klainer is absolutely non judgmental about how people should use their money: "making money isn't bad, tainted, something that needs to be balanced out by less venal pursuits, or a topic to be shielded from polite conversation." She acknowledges that money carries with it meaning and allows you, the reader to "figure out who and where you are in relations to others and in relation to their own aspirations." She is also frank with respect to the fact that people do use money as power and the fact that "there is no cheap grace to be had dealing with the 'right, wrong and relative' of money." You be the judge of your ethics.

Perhaps the strongest attribute of the book is the examples of thoughtful, intimate conversations Klainer has had with a diverse population of clients. Over the past years she has been a financial coach, helping successful people understand their own personal money story and come to terms with the invaluable equation:

Money + Success = Happiness.

What we learn through several personal glimpse of people ranging in age from 22 to 70+, professions ranging from part-time volunteer work to CEO's of major corporations earning solid six figure incomes, nationalities from Panama to India is the fact that money + success doesn't always equal happiness. Sometimes people need to acquire money and success to free themselves up to explore the question of happiness. In Klainer's terms, "happiness is letting yourself have what you most long for and letting that be enough." While there is reference to the psychological aspects of money, I was surprised there was not reference to Maslow's hierarchy of need which also has a great deal to do with the exploration of that equation. Nevertheless, the meaning is clear, one has to dig deeply into their own personal money narrative to understand what truly motivates their relationship with money, success, and happiness. They are concentric circles to some degree that need overlap and shading. While there is so much more to share, my recommendation is that you read this book, take the challenge for self exploration, and find meaningful ways to share your abundance.