Summary and Reviews of Fortune In Your Cookies by Meena Cheng

Book Summary

Combines the sensuality found in food with the stoic subject of money, creating a uniquely enchanting and informative personal finance book that can be described as Chocolat meets Wall Street.

Fortune in Your Cookies combines the sensuality found in food with the stoic subject of money, creating a uniquely enchanting and informative personal finance book that can be described as Chocolat meets Wall Street.

Who would have guessed that the secret to great wealth is ensconced in a simple beef stew? What financial wisdom can you find in a crawfish? Do you find yourself fumbling in the kitchen as you do in life? And how would eating sushi help you get out and stay out of debt?

Certified Financial Planner, CPA and culinary aficionado, Meena Cheng, seamlessly and logically weaves together timeless cooking principles and money management techniques to show how readers can create great wealth the same way great dishes are created in the kitchen.

Using a combination of food metaphors, delicious recipes and witty dialogues, Cheng uses her 20-year financial experience to talk about the everyday financial hurdles her readers may encounter, challenges their "can't do" beliefs and offers practical solutions to help them overcome these obstacles.

Fortune In Your Cookies has been featured in many newspapers, and on radio and TV stations nationwide, including CNBC.

• Learn how the principles embodied in making Cherries Jubilee can help you avoid fumbling through life.


• Discover the secret ingredient to great wealth that is encapsulated in the Million Dollar Beef Stew.


• While watching the ten-course dinner extravaganza unfold, learn how blissful your life could become if only you could take care of yourself as well as the restaurant takes care of its servers.


• At the sushi bar, find out how the only way to break away from debt is to have a fundamental shift of your mindset and recognize that the obstacles to your financial freedom may all be in your head.


• Seeing how much of the shell we throw away before getting to the edible tail of the crawfish reminds us how much taxes are taken out from our paychecks and the importance to minimize our income taxes.


• When the ingredients are superb and the seasonings are balanced, neither fancy skills nor chichi steps are needed to cook up a delightful meal. Learn how this philosophy of simplicity and balance is also the cornerstone to successful investing.


• Few of us expect our homes to burn down by leaving an egg on the stove too long, yet they happen. To protect those we love, we need to plan for the unexpected.


• An unusual dish for an unusual time, find out what it is in the chapter on gifting and estate planning.


• When a marriage comes to an end and the financial pie needs to be divided, how do you reach a divorce agreement that is fair and equitable?

Fortune in Your Cookies will take you on a journey to discover some of the most profound financial wisdom ensconced in everyday eating, and put you on a path to become financially independent.