Portfolios of the Poor : How the World ’s Poor Live on $2 a Day

Abstract

Portfolios of the Poor is a book based on the research done in three countries on how the world’s poor live on $ 2 a day. It has seven chapters in which the poor are presented as they try actively to fight poverty despite the challenges they face in their cash flow management. To meet their basic needs they rely on their little income and thus they survive by managing well this low income. In managing their money, they suffer lack of financial tools (4). What they earn is not enough to cater for all their needs but so they do not assume that manna will fall from heaven when spending. Money management is so important to the poor because of the low value and uncertainty of their income. The unpredictable ups and downs of income are also an important part of what it is to be poor and this brings challenges to the poor (29).