Planning Wealth

Amazon.com Review

If you had to summarize Fail-Safe Investing in three words, it would probably be these: Embrace the obvious. Look at your job, Browne advises. You get ahead because of your experience, education, and common sense. Your job is the reason you have money to invest in the first place. So the first of Browne’s 17 rules is, “Build Your Wealth upon Your Career.” Don’t jeopardize your career; it’s going to take many years of smart investing before your earnings will surpass what you earn at your day job–if they ever do.

The other rules aren’t quite as obvious, but equally simple. Browne explains the difference between investing (making a long-term plan and sticking with it) and speculating (betting that you can beat the overall market during a specific period). He shows how life savings are easily lost when you borrow money to invest rather than investing only the money you already have. Browne also suggests a portfolio that he says is the simplest and safest possible for continual, steady returns above inflation: an equal division among stocks, bonds, gold, and cash. That covers an investor in times of prosperity (stocks), inflation (gold), deflation (bonds), and recession (cash). While many investment analysts would undoubtedly gag if you presented them with a portfolio that consisted of a 50 percent investment in gold and cash, Browne nonetheless makes a compelling argument that such an allocation makes it easier to sleep at night. And common sense tells you there are worse things than a good night’s sleep. –Lou Schuler

In Rule the Freakin’ Markets, Parness uses visual aids and practice exercises to show online traders and investors how to:

- Practice responsible trading techniques that maximize reward and limit risk
- Avoid the “Seven Deadly Sins Plus Fear” that block success in the market
- Protect investments no matter what the market does
- Understand how market technology drives daily and cyclical market moves
- Avoid the pitfalls of trading in cyberspace
- Recover and learn from significant losses
- Strategize and anticipate, rather than overreact or freeze, when change occurs
- And finally, live full and satisfying lives as traders

With its lively tone and refreshing approach to trading and investing, Rule the Freakin’ Markets is an essential guide to profiting from today’s turbulent market.

Amazon.com Review

Those who can ignore the rather garish cover on this book will find a solid, straightforward guide to making winning trades in even the most bearish of markets. The author, who millions of insomniacs know through his middle-of-the-night infomercials, writes with a highly personal voice that some may find a bit grating, but his rags-to-riches story is compelling and needs to be told.

In a nutshell, Michael Parness went from living on a park bench in Brooklyn to a summa cum laude degree from Hunter College in New York City to founding a successful sports memorabilia company. After making $150,000 in that business, he followed his broker’s advice in 1998 and ended up losing virtually his entire nest egg. Since then, he has invested carefully after studying media reports and understanding “market psychology.” Now a broker-averse multimillionaire, he shares with readers a number of strategies that have worked for him in both bull and bear markets.

Augmented with exercises that truly help readers determine their own level of risk aversion, this guide shows online traders and, particularly, investment clubs exactly how market psychology drives daily and cyclical market moves. As Parness says, “I’m not mechanical, and I’m not good at figuring out technical stuff like computers or plumbing or chain saws, but I can figure out how things measure up in terms of probability. And probability is what trading is all about.”

A few too many ka-chingos and wowsas mar an otherwise informed writing style, but nevertheless the book offers some excellent insight into how the market actually works, and how one can make money using that insight. Those looking for a serious study of economic trends and forecasts may want to look elsewhere, but readers interested in a breezy, anecdotal read about market bubbles and bursts will be entertained and more than likely enlightened. –Charles Decker

Charles J. Givens’ Wealth Without Risk has become a classic in the field of financial self-help books for one simple reason: it works. His safe, legal, and proven approach has already started millions of Americans on the road to accumulating wealth through better strategies for personal finance, tax reduction, and investment. More Wealth Without Risk keeps you at the cutting edge of practical, easy-to-use financial techniques. Givens delivers more than 350 low-risk financial strategies — with special sections on protecting your credit and keeping the IRS’s hands out of your wallet — including how and why to:

* Get your next raise totally tax-free
* Make your vacations and trips tax-deductible
* Get your retirement-plan money tax- and penalty-free before age 59 1/2
* Use high-powered, little-known strategies for getting out of debt and rebuilding credit
* Get next year’s tax refund this year

And much, much more!

“Security analysis toward both better odds and higher long-term payoff: A readable, authoritative guide.”
–Professor Bill Baumol, New York University

“In reading this book, one is struck by the simplicity of the ideas and the dependence of the investor on his own understandings of reality as opposed to the myths on the street. The updated version of this 1979 classic incorporates all the modern financial engineering that has occurred as a product of the late 20th century, and the new methodologies refine your abilities to measure risk but don’t change the fundamentals of value. The updated version of The Aggressive Conservative Investor is very much a value-added proposition.”
–Sam Zell, Chairman, Equity Group Investment LLC

“I concur with those people who regard Marty Whitman as the ‘Dean of Value Investing.’ This book is a must-read for everyone interested in understanding the art of investing.”
–Melvin T. Stith, Dean, Whitman School of Management, Syracuse University

This no-holds-barred presentation of one of the most successful investment strategies of all time — value investing in distressed securities/companie — shows you how to analyze and evaluate stocks just like controlling owners. Based on the assumption that stock price rarely reflects real value, authors Whitman and Shubik use numerous case studies to present risk-minimizing methods that also provide high rewards. Still relevant today, this classic work includes a new introduction discussing the dramatic changes that have taken place in the value investing world since its first publication in 1979.

A revised and updated edition of an investment classic, The Only Guide to a Winning Investment Strategy You’ll Ever Need remains clear, understandable, and effective. This edition contains a new chapter comparing index funds, ETFs, and passive asset class funds, an expanded section on portfolio care and maintenance, the addition of Swedroe’s 15 Rules of Prudent Investing, and much more.

In clear language, Swedroe shows how the newer index mutual funds out-earn, out-perform, and out-compound the older funds, and how to select a balance “passive” portfolio for the long hail that will repay you many times over. This indispensable book also provides you with valuable information about:

- The efficiency of markets today
- The five factors that determine expected returns of a balanced equity and fixed income portfolio
- Important facts about volatility, return, and risk
- Six steps to building a diversified portfolio using Modern Portfolio Theory
- Implementing the winning strategy
- and more.

Let David Bach show you a whole new way to prosper—by going green

Internationally renowned financial expert and bestselling author David Bach has always urged readers to put their financial lives in line with their values. But what if your values are a cleaner and greener earth? Most people think that “going green” is an expensive choice they can’t afford. Bach is here to say that you can have both: a life in line with your green values and a million dollars in the bank.

Go Green, Live Rich outlines fifty ways to make your life, your home, your shopping, and your finances greener—and get rich trying. From driving the right car to making your home energy smart, Bach offers ways to improve the environment while you spend less, save more, earn more, and pay fewer taxes. Best of all, he shows you exactly how to take advantage of the “green wave” in personal finance without the difficult work of evaluating individual stocks. What’s more, he will get you thinking about a green business of your own so you can help the world along as it is changing for the better.

David Bach is on a mission to teach the world that you can live a great life by living a green life. With Go Green, Live Rich, you can live in line with your eco-values on the road to financial freedom.

This completely revised and updated, plain-English guide is packed with the latest information on choosing the best annuity for your retirement needs. You’ll find out exactly what annuities are, whether they’re the right financial vehicle for you, and which of the many annuity options might have your name on it. You’ll learn the ins and outs of using annuities to fund your retirement years, figure out whether to stress investments with insurance or insurance with investments, and find out how the right combination of annuities can help you squeeze more income out of your savings that any other financial tool. Discover how to:

• Identify the main types of annuities
• Weigh the pros and cons of annuities for yourself
• Minimize the complexity and cost of your annuity investment
• Figure out how much money to commit
• Avoid common annuity pitfalls
• Create an income you can’t outlive

The time to start securing your financial future is now. Annuities For Dummies, 3^rd Edition, gives you knowledge, insider tips, and expert advice you need to make your money do its best for you.

Praise for The Perfect Portfolio

“Today’s markets are rife with challenges that confound novice and professional investors alike. Thankfully, The Perfect Portfolio provides the type of ‘outside the box’ thinking that can enable individual investors to not only cope with these challenges but also to view them as profit-making opportunities.”
—Lynnette Khalfani-Cox, The Money Coach (from the Foreword)

To achieve long-term success in today’s market, you can’t place your faith totally in financial “experts” who are far too often salespeople first and objective advisers second. You must take personal control of your hard-earned savings and build a portfolio that gives you a realistic chance of earning returns that enable you to meet the investing goals you really want to achieve in life.

That’s why Leland Hevner—President of the National Association of Online Investors (naoi.org) and a longtime educator in the financial field—has created The Perfect Portfolio. This reliable resource outlines Hevner’s proven investment approach, known as the Perfect Portfolio Methodology (PPM), and shows you how to use it to thrive in today’s challenging market conditions.

Divided into three comprehensive parts, The Perfect Portfolio will enable you to:

• Build a powerful and efficient portfolio using nine asset classes instead of the traditional three

• Completely avoid the complexities of analyzing individual stocks and mutual funds

• Virtually eliminate company risk from your portfolio

• Use amazing new Web-based tools to enhance and automate your trading activities

• Easily design a portfolio that matches your investing style and thrives in any market condition

• And much more

This is not the stuff of your average investing book. The author is not simply putting a new “spin” on the outdated investing concepts being taught today. He is providing nothing less than a dramatically new portfolio design model and a revolutionary approach to the entire field of personal investing. And this bold challenge to the status quo is long overdue!

With The Perfect Portfolio as your guide, you will realize that investing does not need to be as complicated as the financial services industry would like you to believe. You will learn a simple methodology for building a portfolio that can produce incredible returns with minimal risk. You will be empowered to take personal control of your investments. It’s time to start your new life as a confident investor.

Like the sayings of the ancient Chinese philospher Lao-tzu, Warren Buffett’s worldly wisdom is deceptively simple and enormously powerful in application. In The Tao of Warren Buffett, Mary Buffett — author of three books on Warren Buffett’s investment methods — joins noted Buffettologist and international lecturer David Clark to bring you Warren Buffett’s smartest, funniest, and most memorable sayings with an eye toward revealing the life philosophy and the investment strategies that have made Warren Buffett, and the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway, so enormously wealthy.

Warren Buffett’s investment achievements are unparalleled. He owes his success to hard work, integrity, and that most elusive commodity of all, common sense. The quotations in this book exemplify Warren’s practical strategies and provide useful illustrations for every investor — large or small — and models everyone can follow. The quotes are culled from a variety of sources, including personal conversations, corporate reports, profiles, and interviews. The authors provide short explanations for each quote and use examples from Buffett’s own business transactions whenever possible to illustrate his words at work.

As Warren says:

“You should invest in a business that even a fool can run, because someday a fool will.”

“With enough inside information and a million dollars, you can go broke in a year.”

“No matter how great the talent or effort, some things just take time: You can’t produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant.”

“Our method is very simple. We just try to buy businesses with good-to-superb underlying economics run by honest and able people and buy them at sensible prices. That’s all I’m trying to do.”

The Tao of Warren Buffett inspires, amuses, sharpens the mind, and offers priceless investment savvy that anyone can take to the bank. This irresistibly browsable and entertaining book is destined to become a classic.

Now, in Bollinger on Bollinger Bands, Bollinger himself explains how to use this extraordinary technique to compare price and indicator action and make sound, sensible, and profitable trading decisions.

Concise, straightforward, and filled with instructive charts and graphs, this remarkable book will be essential reading for all serious traders, regardless of market. Bollinger includes his simple system for implementation, and techniques for combining bands and indicators.

With the proliferation of financial instruments, new areas of instability, and innovative capital market strategies, many economists and investors have lost sight of the fundamentals of the financial system—its strengths as well as its weaknesses. A Primer on Money, Banking, and Gold takes you back to the beginning and sorts out all the pieces.

Peter Bernstein skillfully addresses how and why commercial banks lend and invest, where money comes from, how it moves from hand to hand, and the critical role of interest rates. He explores the Federal Reserve System and the consequences of the Fed’s actions on the overall economy. But this book is not just about the past. Bernstein’s novel perspective on gold and the dollar is critical for today’s decision makers, as he provides extensive views on the future of money, banking, and gold in the world economy.

This illuminating story about the heart of our economic system is essential reading at a time when developments in finance are more important than ever.

The Only Official Guide to the #1 Personal Finance Software

Now you can manage your finances and assets with ease! Quicken 2009: The Official Guide is filled with insider tips and expert techniques for tracking your income, expenses, savings, transactions, investments, and much more.

Fully endorsed by Intuit, makers of Quicken, this official guide helps you save time and money by showing you how to maximize all of the software’s powerful capabilities-including new features and little-known tools. You’ll also get valuable guidance along with information about online resources to assist you in making smart financial decisions and planning for a secure future. 

• Customize Quicken for your preferences
• Track your cash flow
• Set up Online Account Services
• Automate transactions and tasks
• Reconcile checking, savings, and credit card accounts
• Track investments and optimize your portfolio
• Monitor assets and loans
• Manage household records
• Reduce debt, save money, and plan for retirement
• Simplify tax preparation and maximize deductions
• Get help and guidance from the new Sidebar feature