You Are a Badass at Making Money by Jen Sincero: A Review

📖 What is You Are a Badass at Making Money about?🔗

At its core, this is a book about your relationship with money, not money itself. Jen Sincero's argument is simple: most of us are held back by a scarcity mindset and deep-seated limiting beliefs about what we deserve, what's possible, and whether wanting more money makes us a bad person. Fix the mindset, she says, and the money follows. It's a follow-up to her bestseller You Are a Badass, narrowing the focus to wealth, and it draws on her own story of going from broke and directionless in her 40s to a financially successful author and speaker. That personal candour is one of the book's genuine strengths.

The approach leans heavily into what you might call law-of-attraction-adjacent thinking: lots of talk about universal energy, getting clear on what you want, visualising outcomes, and taking bold action to signal your intentions to the universe. It sits somewhere between self-help and manifestation, with a healthy dose of "stop making excuses." To be clear, this is explicitly a mindset book: there's no budgeting framework, no investing chapter, no discussion of compound interest. Go in expecting a motivational read about changing how you think and feel about money, and you'll get exactly that.

⚖️ Strengths and weaknesses🔗

👤 Who should read it, and who should skip it?🔗

🔍 What do critics say?🔗

Critical reception is genuinely mixed, and it's worth knowing that going in. Sceptical reviewers have likened it to a try-hard version of The Secret, capturing something real: the book's relentless positivity can tip into exhausting. On the more favourable side, mainstream outlets have described it as a cheerful manifesto on removing the obstacles between you and the income you want, and an accessible read for anyone looking to hit the restart button on their finances, which is probably the fairest take. The honest summary: if you're sympathetic to mindset-first approaches, you'll find plenty to like; if you're sceptical of that framing, the book will confirm your scepticism pretty quickly.

💬 What do readers say?🔗

On Goodreads it holds around 3.9 out of 5, well-liked but not universally loved, and the reviews reflect a real split. Supporters say the book shifted something for them: they felt motivated, less ashamed about wanting money, and more willing to act on income goals. Critics call it derivative, a repackaged version of The Secret, and readers who find the manifestation framing thin tend to come away frustrated.

🇦🇺 The Australian angle🔗

The mindset content is universal: limiting beliefs about money, scarcity thinking and the psychological barriers to earning more are not uniquely American problems. Our piece on money scripts covers similar territory with a bit more structure. But here's the thing, there is zero Australia-specific financial content in this book. No superannuation, no ETFs, no ATO, no ASIC, no franking credits, no First Home Super Saver Scheme. Sincero's world is entirely American, and the practical examples reflect that.

If you're an Australian trying to build actual wealth, you'll need to pair this book with real resources, starting with something as simple as setting actual financial goals. One moment worth flagging: Sincero describes hiring a life coach on credit as a pivotal turning point. It worked out for her, but it's not a strategy we'd suggest anyone replicate without very careful thought about their own situation, especially with high-interest debt like a personal loan or credit card. This book is not a substitute for a real financial plan, think of it as the warm-up, not the workout. For the practical Australian foundations, our Barefoot Investor review is the natural companion, and for a more grounded take on the psychology of money, our Psychology of Money review is the stronger read.

💰 The verdict🔗

If you have genuine psychological blocks around money, yes, read it: it's a fun, fast read that makes a real case for treating money as a neutral tool rather than a moral test, and Sincero's honesty about her own story gives it credibility. But go in with clear eyes. This is a mindset book, not a finance book: it won't teach you how to invest, budget, or build long-term wealth in any practical sense, the law-of-attraction framing will put some readers off entirely, and the repetitiveness means the second half covers ground the first half already did. For Australian readers, pair it with evidence-based resources if you actually want to move the needle. The mindset shift can be a useful first step, it's just not the whole staircase. Our rating: 3.5 out of 5.

❓ Frequently asked questions🔗