5 comments about Jim Cramer's Stay Mad for Life: Get Rich, Stay Rich (Make Your Kids Even Richer).

1. Do your research. Just recently Cramer told a viewer two days before Bearn Stearns Crash "Keep your money in Bear" then two days later the stock plunged to $2.00. Review his "Cramer vs. Cramer" picks on CNBC... Down, Down. Look at his work as a fund manager during the time of the internet bust. Recommending buys and managing a fund into the ground.
   
   Be MAD for life if you lose money. Read the classic "Intellegent Investor" written in the 40's the advice is sound and good for the market today.



2. At last, Jim Cramer has written a book for real people. The other ones were useful, but this one finally addresses the issues that affect retired investors, non-millionaires and others who are not out simply to make a fast buck off the market. I recommend this highly to anyone seeking some good basic advice with the Cramer touch.



3. I think this book is very informative but I think he can get the point across in a more direct way. It is a little long winded but again very informative!!!



4. Jim Cramer is crazy, but he is also very smart. I like that he explains much of his insight and also gives explicit picks rather than broad ideas on how to invest. He also covers many different bases, such as mutual funds, IRAs, 401(k)s, health care, credit cards and stuff like that. It is good because I imagine that most people in the country do not know how to save money, where to put it when they do save it and what to do when they have saved up a good amount. This will at least get them started on the right path, which I think is commendable. It is hard to get people interested in financials, but Cramer does a fairly good job at it. He is also a pretty good writer.



5. Jim's latest book has some really good advice packaged in an entertaining way (like his Mad Money show). This is a great book (starter book) for young adults and teens. It is a great way to introduce personal finance to those who never have had to do it before. I bought the book for my just out of college sister. I thought it would be more useful than the Dr Seus book "Oh, The places you'll go"

5 comments about Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets.

1. I'm stunned. People are still making the same mistake--intelligent people, at that. The mistake? They contradict themselves in boldface statements and are proud of it. Nassim Nicholas Taleb makes the mistake throughout "Fooled By Randomness" and what's worse, he loves himself for it. Taleb's general theory is that everything is simply random (to some degree)--especially equities trading--and "nothing can be accepted with certainty." Sure, there is some aspect of randomness at the subatomic level and there is seemingly randomness throughout our worldview, but to say that "nothing can be accepted with certainty" means that even that statement can't be accepted with certainty, which presents an instant contradiction and causes the argument to self-destruct like a Mission Impossible tape.
   
   The self-professed skeptic Taleb doesn't think his idea self destructs however, he is simply content to have realized that there aren't gifted traders, just lucky ones. Traders are fooled by the randomness in the markets, according to Taleb, and think they're good at what they do, until they blow up (lose everything beyond expectation). Taleb admits he's one of these fools, but if that's so, and the market is unpredictable, then the only reason he hasn't blown up (if he hasn't) is because he's lucky and doesn't have any wisdom to impart. So why are we reading his book? What information does he have that would be helpful to us beyond, "it's a coin toss?"
   
   It turns out that Taleb does actually have wisdom to impart. Once the reader gets past the hypocritical class warfare diatribe in the first half of the book, "Fooled" gets good. The author delves into the Kahneman & Tverski studies about how arbitrary anchors influence our estimates and the two systems of reasoning among other interesting studies.
   
   I admit that Taleb's book was great mental fodder for my forthcoming book, but if you're not interested in analyzing self-defeating mentalities, there are much better books to consider including Economics in One Lesson: The Shortest and Surest Way to Understand Basic Economics and my book, How to Take Advantage of the People Who Are Trying to Take Advantage of You: 50 Ways to Capitalize on the System.



2. This book is one of a kind. It is a thought-provoking essay that presents the author's philosophical views on randomness, which originates from his long-time experience as a trader and from his vast knowledge of the western philosophical tradition.
   
   I think the book is wonderfully written, although I understand some reviewers' comments about the arrogant style. There is actually some self-sufficiency in Taleb's writing, but I think it actually gives the book a very special ironic and personal touch: you can feel there is an author there, he is not trying to be neutral. I ended up loving it and asking for more. I have also read The Black Swan, but I must say that Fooled by Randomness is the first I read and the one that caused me the greatest impact.



3. 
   Certain parts of the book are enjoyable and a good reminder of how emotions skew rational thinking. Furthermore, the authors explanation of probability versus expectation is also written in a pretty entertaining manner.
   
   Basically, he is saying that majority of traders trade strategies where probability of making small amounts everyday is high and the probability of a catastrophic loss is much smaller ... and that, they eventually blow up. What is insane about this author is that, he implies this in multiple places, he is trading where others blow up (loose money most of the time and make it big on a few occasions). How is this any scientific and rational? given just as those traders cannot foresee that they will blow up, this literally over developed author/trader type cannot tell he will make money because a big event will happen tomorrow and his bet is on the right side. This author probably has option positions out there betting on aliens will invade 20,000 years from now. Too bad, he won't be around to see the outcome.
   
   Another point, he is quite popular right now, in various magazines, articles, people seeking his advice... However, this is also ex-post. If a credit sequeeze hadn't happened in the last year or so, he would not get the same attention he is getting now. I wonder if he is thinking about that sometimes. This reflects his trading style, this is a brief moment in his life, where he hit the jackpot. He will probably ride this as long as he can. I don't think his book will leave serious mark, because he does not even come close to answering any of the fundamental questions he is debating. Also, at places in his book he is discussing technical terms like ergodicity. I don't think he fully understands the meaning but he tries to find some verbal explanation for it based on everyday experiences. Sometimes, mathematical concepts may not have a direct translation in life. They are abstract. He does not discuss "stationarity" at the same level for example, and even if he did readers would have little to gain from his explanation.



4. I managed to read the entire book (which means its an easy read and decent enough. I will not go so far as to say its worthless, as I say its a 'decent' book). So, here's my bottom line. Each chapter has the same unfounded examples-- Taleb casually mentions someone did something and concludes 'see, its random'. He does this over and over again. Fortunately, he concludes the book by acknowledging he's as dumb as the rest of us. His thesis does seem to have 1 definitive source of proof: by random chance many, many people (including me) have been fooled into buying this random book. Maybe his 2nd book, Black Swan, is an improved version-- I would suggest (randomly, since I haven't read it) to just start with Black Swan.



5. Wow, what a tough book to read and try to follow the author's line of thought!
   
   I guess the author's main point of the book is to take a different viewpoint of risk. For example, Black Swan events (10 sigma +) do occur and try to always understand the probabilities involved with any issue.
   
   One chapter is dedicated to criticizing the book The Millionaire Next Door by Stanley. The author claims having a lot of millionaires to study is a product of extraordinary times, e.g. the 1982-2000 Bull Market. The author claims there would have been fewer millionaires to study if the time period was the Bear Market of 1968-1982.
   
   Although the author might be right in there were fewer millionaires by number in the early 1980's versus the 1990's, he is dead wrong about the percent of millionaires depending on the stock markets. Pareto, the Italian economist, found that only 10% to 20% of the population owned 80% to 90% of the wealth in Italy and England in the late 1800's and early 1900's. In fact, in the U.S. today, about 10% of the population owns 90% of the wealth. I'm surprised the author is not aware of the Power Law and Pareto's 80:20 Rule as a subset of the Power Law. Based upon Pareto's work in the late 1800's which still holds true in the 21st Century, Stanley's Wealth Accumulators have always existed.
   
   Stanley's finding that millionaires lived below their means and invested the difference is no big secret per Charles Dickens (1812-1870) in his 1849 David Copperfield, "Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pound ought and six, result misery."
   
   The author also argues that Stanley's studies suffered from survivorship bias. He argues that if Stanley had included all the people who saved and invested in losing investments, the net worth of his average millionaire would have been cut in half. I hate to let the author in on another secret that has been around for 2,000 years: don't put all your eggs into one basket as elegantly said in the Talmud, "Let every man divide his money into three parts, and invest a third in land, a third in business, and a third let him keep in reserve." I disagree with the author saying that all investors ignored this age-old advice to diversify their investments.......and therefore drive Stanley's average millionaire's net worth down by 50%.
   
   I do agree that survivorship bias is an important item. When comparing actively managed mutual funds to passively managed index funds, one should always remember that only the "survivor" actively managed funds still exist. If the actively managed mutual funds that died or were taken over were included in the numbers, passively managed index funds would be the actively managed by a higher margin.
   
   I found Mauboussin's book, More Than You Know, to be much easier to read and much more thought provoking than this book. If you are interested in actionable behavior you can take as an investor to overcome behavioral finance tendencies, I recommend Pompian's book, Behavioral Finance and Wealth Management.
   
   See other great books about investing below:
   
   Index Mutual Funds: How to Simplify Your Financial Life and Beat the Pro's
   The Richest Man in Babylon
   Bogle on Mutual Funds: New Perspectives for the Intelligent Investor
   The Millionaire Next Door
   The Four Pillars of Investing: Lessons for Building a Winning Portfolio
   A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing, Ninth Edition
   The Coffeehouse Investor: How to Build Wealth, Ignore Wall Street, and Get On With Your Life
   The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing

5 comments about The Neatest Little Guide to Stock Market Investing.

1. I borrowed a copy of this book from my local library and liked it so much that I bought one.
   
   Easy to read, logical reasoning, and complete coverage of the subject.



2. I read a lot of books, but I seem to only write reviews/comments on the super good one's or the time-n-money waster's. This book is a 5 star and nothing less. My new high-liter is about dry because I went crazy marking everything that I thought would be valuable to reference later on. Basic? Yes, this book is very basic and gives basic info and ideas. But sometimes it's good to go back to the basics to recheck and make sure you're headed in the direction that you intended to go in the first place. It's easy to get side-tracked and even lost at times in this insane market. Jason Kelly knows what he's talking about and with his simple permanent portfolio suggestions, you'll finally be able to keep a cool head when others panic; and they panic every day, win or lose. With his simple "long-term" strategy you'll still be able to trade on the side if that suits your fancy. But with the knowledge gained in this book you'll more likely have a better chance at picking winners yourself instead of relying on the media to tell you what the hottest thing on the street is, and by then you're already too late.
   
   For 10 bucks you can't go wrong!



3. The material is very practical and it is easy to use the analysis tools described by the author.



4. Very good insights and explanations, I also enjoyed the section with the different strategies used by well known investors and analysts.



5. This is a great guide that enables the reader to gather information and enter the complex world of investing in an intelligent, precise manner. The book takes you step by step and introduces strategies to create a permanent portfolio that all investors should possess before one ventures into the more volatile world of individual stock investing. I especially appreciated the blueprint Mr. Kelly has devised for the investor to research companies and compare 20 individual stocks for eventual analysis of data, and purchase of stocks. He adds humor and wit and has created an enjoyable, informative guide for the investor. I highly recommend this guide.

5 comments about Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies.

1. What Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff have done is important. It's a well-written framework for understanding, tapping and ultimately transforming yourself and your organization through the groundswell. At times funny, at times heart-wrenching (in a business book?), Groundswell also provides thoughtful analysis of audience behaviors and ROI.
   
   For anyone new to social media, part one on understanding the groundswell is the best primer I've come across. You get the three critical pieces of the puzzle in three easy chapters...
   
   1. An explanation of why the groundswell is happening right now, thanks to the intersection of people, technology and economics.
   
   2. An honest description of the most prevalent, mainstream groundswell technologies, including how they threaten institutional power.
   
   3. An explanation of Forrester's social technographics, a demographic analysis capable of segmenting your audience according to a ladder of participation in social technologies.
   
   From this foundation, Li and Bernoff outline different strategies for tapping into the groundswell--listening, talking, energizing, supporting and embracing--using case studies and stories from groundswell participants. If you're into social media, many of these case studies will be familiar. Still, the framework that Li and Bernoff provide is useful in gleaning a deeper understanding of the forces at work.
   
   The Achilles heal? Like pretty much every other book on this subject, Groundswell focuses exclusively on corporate participation in social media. In the association world, our motivations and ultimate strategy will have some pronounced differences. But again, this book provides the framework to start (or re-start) a dialogue around social media for any association.



2. 
   What Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff characterize as "the groundswell" is "a social trend in which people use technologies to get the things they need from each other instead of from companies. If you're in a company, this is a challenge...[This trend] has created s permanent, long-lasting shift in the way the world works. This book exists to help companies deal with the trend, [begin italics] regardless of how the individual technology pieces change [end italics]."More specifically, Li and Bernoff respond to questions such as these:
   
   What unique threats does the groundswell pose?
   How to turn it to competitive advantage, "like a jujitsu master"?
   What are its component technologies?
   What is The Social Technologies Profile and what does it offer?
   What is the four-step POST process for creating strategies?
   What are the five primary objectives for a groundswell strategy?
   How to create customers who are evangelists for you?
   How to establish and support relationships between and among your customers?
   How can the same trends that empower customers also empower employees?
   
   Throughout their narrative, drawing upon a wealth of data accumulated by Forrester Research as well as their own studies, Li and Bernoff include a number of real-world examples - in the form of mini-case studies -- that demonstrate key points. They offer lessons to be learned from Mini USA, the American arm of BMW's Mini Cooper brand (how to listen through brand monitoring, Pages 89-93), Ernst & Young (how to communicate in social networks, Pages 104-106), Hewlett-Packard (how to communicate with customers through blogging, Pages 108-112), eBags (how to energize with customer ratings and reviews, Pages134-140), Constant Contact (how to energize by creating a community, Pages 140-145), the Lego Group (how to energize an existing community, Pages 145-147), and BearingPoint (how to use a wiki to reassure clients, Pages 165-168). Granted, not all of these lessons are directly relevant to a reader's own organization. However, they help to create a context for each key point as well as a frame of reference for what Li and Bernoff describe as a "permanent, long-lasting shift in the way the world works."
   
   They conclude this brilliant book by offering some advice, not on what to do but on how to be: ever-mindful that the groundswell is about person-to-person activity, a good listener, patient, opportunistic, flexible, collaborative, and humble. Guided and informed by the information and counsel provided by Li and Bernoff, readers will be able to formulate and then execute strategies to achieve a competitive advantage. "You'll be able to build on your successes, both with customers and within your own company. And then, as the groundswell rises and becomes ubiquitous, you will be ready."
   
   Those who share my high regard for this volume are urged to check out Rob Cross and Andrew Parker's The Hidden Power of Networks: Understanding How Work Really Gets Done in Organizations. Also Gary Hamel's The Future of Management (with Bill Breen) and Ram Charan's Leaders At All Levels as well as Enterprise Architecture as Strategy: Creating a Foundation for Business Execution co-authored by Jeanne Ross, Peter Weill, and David Robertson, Richard Ogle's Smart World: Breakthrough Creativity and the New Science of Ideas, and Global Brain co-authored by Satish Nambisan and Mohanbir Sawhney.



3. As an author of another primer on social media, I have to tell you this book is impressive. It's statistical support and timely case studies are fantastic. Well done, and a great tribute to Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff's social media theory.
   
   My only detraction was excessive use of new nomenclature, which is a Forrester thing. Newcomers may find this to be extra hard given the already industry specific nomenclature within the social online industry. That being said, this is a 5 star effort and a must read for anyone thinking about social media.



4. You can find more about the actual contents and valuable details about this book in other reviews, what I would like to to add is :
   
   - This book is a great example of writing a business book by telling a story. It's flow is fantastic, I finished it in 3 days when my average time for a business book is 3 months
   
   - This book is full of real world case studies, in different domains, unfortunately most of them outside Europe, describing different needs but perfectly attached to the 5 basic elements of Groundswell strategy : Listening, Talking, Energizing, Self-Supporting, Embracing
   
   - This book gives an excellent and walkable path in defining and executing social media strategies with things you can immediately add in your own efforts, and it worked for me
   
   - I liked also the chapter about the issues you are going to face trying to talk about all these things inside your organization or your client's organization. I think this is one of the biggest issues right now in social media space, especially in places where social media awareness among mainstream business people is low, Greece where I live and work being one of them
   
   - I liked the notes at the end of the book. It could be another short book itself. Detailed with great links and additional information, a real treasure
   
   - Finally I like the way these people are managing the promotion of their book, using all the techniques they are evangelizing inside the book, blogging, twitter, video, slideshare decks, you name it. [...]
   
   A real gem for your social media bookshelf.
   
   Panos Kontopoulos | [...]



5. It seems only natural to blog (see my blog at thinkingfaster.typepad.com) about a book like Groundswell, a book recently published by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff from Forrester Research. After all, the book is about the growing importance of social networking applications - blogs being a big part of that phenomenon.
   
   Li and Bernoff define the Groundswell as a spontaneous movement of people using online tools to connect, take charge of their own experience and get what they need - from each other instead of from companies. The book looks at the nascent and growing power of informal communication networks using social networking tools - blogs especially, but also social networks and virtual worlds, wikis, online forums, ratings and reviews, tagging and rss feeds. If you've been online lately, you've used one or more of these tools and techniques. What Li and Bernoff are interested in is how these tools and techniques create a completely new dialog between:
   
   * A company and its customers
   * The employees within a company
   * Customer to customer beyond the scope or control of a company
   * Individuals with shared interests
   
   All of this done on the fly, with little centralized control.
   
   The book breaks out into a number of sections. Early in the book, the authors review why the groundswell is taking off and how to participate, and they identify the "tools" - blogs, wikis and so on - that drive the groundswell. Then they introduce the Social Technographic profile, which is meant to provide profiling on how a segment of the population is participating in the groundswell using these tools. Once this platform is built, the authors then look at how to:
   
   * Listen to the groundswell - gain insights from what is written
   * Talk to the groundswell - using blogs and communities
   * Energize the groundswell - charging up your best online customers
   * Embracing the groundswell - including customers as collaborators
   
   Finally, the book looks at a couple of examples of firms that have plunged in head first to gain advantage interacting with these tools and working closely with customers and prospects through the groundswell.
   
   What I like about this book
   
   What's great about this book is that if you and your team know very little about the emerging set of online networking, collaboration and communication tools, the book provides an excellent primer early on, describing what each tool is, how it is used and its benefits. The book is full of excellent examples of firms that have used these tools to advance the interaction between themselves and their customers and prospects.
   
   What I'm skeptical about
   
   The book seems to approach everything from a perspective of "What can the groundswell do for my company?" As a blogger, I tend to think that the "groundswell" - if that's what we are to be called now - expects honest communication and open dialog. The Groundswell to me seems to be more about Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park in London, where anyone with an opinion can bring a soapbox and say what they want to say. If your message is interesting or vital, you'll draw a crowd and grow a network. Many people writing and listening in the "groundswell" are quick to distinguish between "honest" opinion and perspective and "marketing" or PR. I think Groundswell doesn't spend enough time making distinctions between these points. A poorly managed online presence will be quickly sniffed out - especially one where a firm intends to "use" the groundswell for a marketing advantage. It's important to "give" to the groundswell as much as you plan to "get" from it.
   
   This book accurately portrays what any group - a commercial entity, a non-profit, even a government agency - could do leveraging the groundswell. The tools are the easy part - what's hard is opening up to the dialog. Can your organization bear the criticism and questions about its products and services, as well as bask in the positive glow of good feedback?
   
   I was a little disappointed in the wrap up. The authors demonstrate throughout the book deep knowledge of the current state of the groundswell. But as industry analysts and forecasters of future trends, they spend disappointingly little time on the future of the groundswell. Given that almost all of these tools (blogs, wikis, tagging, RSS Feeds) are disaggregated services offered by very small companies or as open source or freeware, what is going to happen? Will we see a consolidation of these tools into some sort of "ERP" for the groundswell? Will I need to turn to del.ici.ous for tagging and Blogger for Blogging and PBWiki for my Wiki, or will these combine? What are larger firms to do that may have concerns about disaggregated, third party solutions run by very small firms that may not be able to demonstrate longevity or the ability to manage critical, sensitive communication links to customers? Given that the two authors make their living as industry analysts, I would have expected a much more detailed look at potential future scenarios.
   
   Conclusion
   
   This book is great if you are just starting out as a "newby" trying to understand how to join the online conversation. Whether you want to tag and aggregate or find interesting feeds or information, or want to actively contribute through ratings, feedback or by blogging, or create an entirely new social network, this book has great advice for you.

5 comments about The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing. A Book of Practical Counsel (Revised Edition).

1. Graham's viewpoint is based on Amrican stock market, but very useful in emerging markets too. Though rarely heard in Taiwan, Mr. Graham has inspired me in making smart investment in the local stock market. I, for the last two years, have been going over this book and surprisingly find how insightful Graham are in looking at the basic human nature in the market. Attitude, rather than the principles of choosing stocks, is what I think Graham contribute to me in making my own investment. My incestment is growing, no matter how hard the time has been. Fear for the inexplicable stock market is the core of this book and is the most precious part. Ch.8 and Ch20, as Warren Buffett recommended, are those most worthy of reading, and they make me and my portfolio stronger every day, even in bear market. Discussions on mutual fund (CH9) keeps me away from losing money. Principles on how to choose stocks generate real money for me. I am not reading this book to be second Warren, I am reading it to be a rich long-term investor, which I am now feeling more possible than before I read it.



2. I feel retarded reading this book.
   
   Seriously, I know a good deal more than the average about the market...but I am not a savvy investor. I would not advise people like me to get too into this book. Maybe start with a Motley Fool book or Peter Lynch.
   
   I really really enjoy the footnotes by Jason, and also the commentary in between chapters, it speaks in a much more reader friendly tone.
   
   Obviously this is "The Book on Investing" so maybe I'll re-read it later in hopes of getting more out of it.



3. An all time classic from Mr. Benjamin Graham, and still relevant to this day. If you think it is an outdated stuff, I humbly request you to think again. I have read quite a lot of books on investment and none I found come closer to this one, whether you consider the philosophy or the practical implementation.
   
   You may not believe me, and I am not asking you to do so. I am only requesting you to read this book once before you start investing, then go ahead in the world of investing.
   
   When you think you have made somekind of mistake in investing, go back and read the book again, and I can say 99% of time you will find something in this book which if you have followed, would have avoided the mistake. It's a personal experience.



4. This is the first book written on the subject of describing/detailing life cycles of stocks/mutual funds and really getting into the detail so its all understood.



5. This book has some great chapters that can be used to create a good stock screen to purchase value stocks. One point in this book that I found very valuable is this: No matter if you are in a bull market or not always keep at least 30% of your funds in cash or bonds. This at least saves some of your cash if the market turns around and heads lower. Think of the Nov 2007 to March 2008 downturn. Many people fully invested in at least stock founds in 401ks (that did not sell) lost up to 20%. How long will it take the old "buy and hold" to recover from that?
   
   [...]

5 comments about Stop the 401(k) Rip-off!: Eliminate Costly Hidden Fees to Improve Your Life.

1. Hidden fees are a drag on your wealth accumulation and retirement goals. To have a better and richer retirement, read this book. Share it with your boss and your H/R department. Don't accept over priced 401(k)'s -- fight back!



2. As David points out in his book, employees should know about the fees and conflicts of interest regarding the investment choices in their 401(k) plans. There continues to be a lack of education for participants with regard to the investment assets within qualified retirement plans. It's not easy for people to know about potential conflicts of interest pertaining to the investment options available through 401(k) plans.
   
   Readers of this book can make more informed decisions about the investment options selected when they know how to evaluate, among other things, the disclosures mutual fund companies provide about their fees and conflicts of interest.
   
   Another logical solution to the lack of information about 401(k)'s and other qualified plans is for people to augment their education by reading books such as David's or by obtaining specific investment advice provided by a qualified fiduciary advisor.
   
   I recommend this book which should help people better understand the financial products they are invested in and the services they receive in order for them to reach their retirement objectives.
   
   Bill Griffith, Jr., CFP / Author of Securing a Retirement Income for Life



3. I am surprised that the book got so many five star reviews. There is nothing mentioned in the book that a somewhat experienced investor will not know. I am all for bringing light to anything about investing though.



4. What an incredible book! So many people invest in retirement programs. So many companies offer these programs. Sadly, very few people or companies negotiate well or know where to start. I found this book very helpful and a special discovery to the process of reviewing a company's retirement plan.



5. My name is Matthew Hutcheson. I'm an independent pension fiduciary, and have studied retirement plan economics for over fifteen years. Every American worker with a 401(k) (or a 403(b)/457 for that matter) should put this book on the top of their reading list. The information contained in this book could be worth many thousands of extra retirement dollars to you down the road. Mr. Loeper should be congratulated on one of the most important and practical retirement books of the decade.

5 comments about How to Win Friends & Influence People.

1. "How to Win Friends and Influence People" is the definitive self-help book. Whether you're trying to make friends, improve your sales closing ratio or persuade others to your way of thinking, this is the preeminent book for learning how to do so. Many books that have followed used this as their template.
   
   To win friends and influence people:
   
   1. Never criticize, condemn or complain.
   2. Always show your sincere appreciation.
   3. Talk in terms of what others want and how they can achieve their goals.
   4. Show genuine interest (not false flattery) in what others have to say.
   5. Smile.
   6. Remember people's names.
   7. Listen closely to what others have to say and encourage them to tell you more.
   8. Make others feel important and acknowledge what they have to offer. Avoid the urge to "one-up" the other guy.
   9. The only way to win an argument is to avoid it.
   10. Never directly tell someone they're wrong. It will raise their defenses and inhibit their objectivity.
   11. Welcome disagreements as opportunities to understand one another.
   12. Try to look at things from the other's point of view.
   
   There are approximately thirty chapters/rules for winning friends and influencing people. The above are just a few.
   
   If more people in the world understood and used these techniques, we'd all be so much better off.



2. How To Win Friends... is a must read for anyone wanting to improve their communication skills among friends, family, relatives, work associates, customers, or anyone on this earth. It will change your life. The principles of communicating are all written out and defined through examples, results, and explanations. They are so practical and so easy to understand. Immediately after reading this book I started putting the principles into action. I am amazed at not only the positive changes I am seeing coming from people I am coming into contact with, but also the positive attitude it has brought me about being around and communicating with other people every day of my life. I will go as far as saying, "if you never read this book, you are going to miss half of your life and never know it." So do yourself and everyone you communicate with for the rest of your life a favor, read it as many times as you have to in order to master the principles it teaches. The best book I have ever read.



3. I think anyone who decides to read Dale Carnegie's book, "How to Win Friends and Influence People" will not regret it and it will be very beneficial to them. My first thought was this was going to be a dry self-help book that would take forever to finish. I was seriously wrong - I guess I judged the book by its cover. The book was very easy to read and flowed nicely. It's a great book to learn from and improve your social skills. He talked about how to deal with people, how to get people to think your way, and how to get people to like you. He talks about so many principles and techniques that are common sense, but you would not realize them until you are told them. For example, he talked about not criticizing others because by doing that will not get people to like you or to get them to do something for you. It will only make them despise you and not be cooperative - makes sense! Also, he talked about simple gestures to make people like you. Simple as smiling at a person, showing that you are interested in them and what they have to say, and just making a person feel important. He explains that people want to feel important and feel appreciated - that people crave that feeling more than anything. I liked that Carnegie talked about his own mistakes and experiences. He even talked about his friends / acquaintances, and even famous, powerful people and how they learned to change their ways when dealing with others and on how to understand and communicate more efficiently with others. One other thing that I really liked was that the book was written in the 30's and all the principles and techniques Carnegie described can still be applied over 70 years later. This is a good book to check out!



4. This book will help you in living a better life for yourself and for the people around you. not only will it help you in your business life but also your personal. i hope anyone interested in bettering themselves should read it.



5. This book was written almost 80 years ago, yet so much of it holds true today. I purchased the Kindle version of this book and I must say, the lookup function on the Kindle aided me greatly in understanding the book--a lot of the words in this book are words of my grandparents and great grandparents.
   
   I read this book on the way up to job interviews and it aided me greatly--I know I made more of a splash with my job interviewers than I would have without reading this book. I've avoided some conflicts and gotten my way in my personal life as a result of things gleaned from this book. There is nothing profound in this book that I didn't already know, but the examples used in making the authors points are very easy to understand. This book should be a must-read book in high school and college--the world would be a better place.
   
   I recommend this book without hesitation.

5 comments about Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money--That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!.

1. I personally found the book repetitive in style. The key concepts were actually interesting and worded simply enough for me (a person who is not very knowledgeable about economics and financial matters) to grasp. Because the stories about the lessons were put very simply, the book was not a difficult read, but some of the underlying concepts, as in the ideas beneath the simple words, were a little harder for me to understand. Part of the reason that I find it hard to accept some of what Kiyosaki talks about is that I see people around me falling into the pattern of the rat-race but I can't really understand how wanting to play it "safe", in terms of avoiding sudden financial crashes, is necessarily a bad thing. I'm not sure if I like the idea of letting investments run their course in hopes that they bring in money because of the insecurity I attach to investing money in different businesses, stocks, etc.



2. I was assigned to read this book for a class, and while it does make you think about money and how you will prepare for the future, that is about where the positive attributes end.
   
   The book overall feels like more of an inspirational speech than an educational supplement. The lack of fact and teaching makes the advice to invest in real estate and start up companies quite insane, as these are both very good ways to lose a lot of money very fast, and Kiyosaki seems completely blind to that aspect of things, stopping short by acknowledging that "more is learned from failure than success" and then failing to give any negative examples throughout the entire book (I mean if every real estate investment turned into an $80,000 profit in less than a month, don't you think more people would be on that?).
   
   On top of that you have the masturbatory title that makes it sound like there is a grand secret poor parents don't know, when in interviews, Kiyosaki has all but confirmed "rich dad" to be a figure from his imagination.
   
   The only REAL advice gathered from this book is to spend within your means and start preparing for the future early (as the most powerful factor of any investment is time), but honestly... who didn't know that?
   
   This book should be avoided in favor of a text that actually imparts knowledge unto the reader, instead of a bundle of feel good financial fiction.



3. This is the first book that I read that showed me the difference between how the rich look at money, investing and life style vs. the rest of the population. Though lots of effort and hard work I have been able to implement many of the ideas in the book; I am always looking for ways to increase my cash flow.



4. The book does inspire, but much of it is just fantasy. If it was that easy to make money, there would be a lot more people out there. The book offers dangerous advice. BEWARE. It is not worth reading.



5. This book is very informative and I feel very well written. It has been very beneficial for me and I have used the many tips to advance myself.
   I can't wait to read the rest of Robert Kiyosaki's books

5 comments about The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable.

1. This is an excellent analysis of the limitations and flaws in
   our thought processes about reconstruction of the past and predictions of the future.Once you see them with the help of Taleb,you're better
   prepared to understand the world of events that occur around us.
   He even has suggestions as to how to reduce those limitations.
   Not always an easy read but fascinating.....



2. For all the interesting stories, Black Swans has essentially the same message as Taleb's earlier book "Fooled By Randomness"; market prices do not follow a bell curve, and instead have a lot more unexpected extreme events. That said, most investment-related books tend not to linger on this issue, so Taleb is providing a reminder of something critical in markets. His style does come across arrogant, and judging by the bibliography (as well as the main text), he does want to show the world he is widely read. The stories are fun, but at times they are tangential to his thesis. The problem with reading his book is that it leaves one thinking that all investment returns come from chance. I find Mandelbrot's ideas of "gray swans" more appealing in that respect as it hints at the possibility of some skill. Taleb says he is a fan of Mandelbrot, so it would have been nice for him to explore this idea more. The book may not be the most inspiring for those involved in markets (we're all rolling dice), but a much needed reminder of the role of chance.



3. Ha! My clever title has nothing to do with my review (or does it?). Anyway, I found this book quite challenging. As I've said in other reviews, I am quite the layman when it comes to statistics and probability. But I think I got the gist of Taleb's concepts: we rely on flawed notions to make decisions or to view the world: the ludic fallacy; the narrative fallacy; the confirmation bias, etc. Foolish men (I don't think there is even one instance of a woman being mentioned, as either one who gets Taleb's thinking or doesn't) in expensive suits push on us a Bell curve from the world of Mediocristan, giving a false sense of security (and depriving us of potential big wins) in a brave new world where Black Swans - those improbable incidents for which we are impecabbly unprepared - have hugely significant impacts on our lives.
   
   Taleb's is a mind deeply immersed in many disciplines. For those of us who spent our time in college waiting for Thursday to start partying, the subjects can be a bit challenging: philosophy, economics, financial analysis. But if you want to stretch your mind, take the challenge. There are profound and significant insights and learnings. Can I describe them to you succinctly? No. It will probably take me a few re-reads to fully grasp it all. Nevertheless, it's worth the plunge. In any event, I will forever be skeptical about any information backed up by statistical analysis.



4. So, you wondered why the "guru" wasn't all that good. Taleb explains - in clear and entertaing terms - why you should "make up your own" mind. I look at things "differently" now - I tend to be skeptical anyway - but I feel better about my decisions. I am encouraging others to get the book or at least make an effort to find out about "the other sides of statistics!" And the concept of a "Black Swan" is fantastic !!
   A good read !! Marty Dowling



5. Taleb claims the book 'practically wrote itself;' what he really means, is that he just lifted some ideas from old philosophers and let Word do the rest.
   
   The Black Swan provides an interested reader with important insights, no doubt, but they are nothing new. Indeed, possibly the most frustrating aspect of this book is how vainglorious its author is. He claims he felt 'vindicated' on Black Monday ... How? All Taleb has done is taken others ideas and repackaged them. While he was correct to believe them in the first place, there is little of the author in the book. Worse still, the author disregards his own rules. Early in the book Taleb claims that with respect to foreign affairs, the best answer is, "I don't know," (because there are so many unknowns it's best not to assume them away). A little while later, however, he goes on a tirade against the use of the phfrase "Hardened by the Gulag." Taleb claims that the Gulag did not harden the mobbsters, instead it simply selected teh most physically fit (because all others would die), who were also the most aggresive to begin with. Notwithstanding this latter assumption, he also implicitly assumes no psychological component was present; a clear violation of his 'don't assume' policy. While this is relatively minor (although extremely aggrivating given Taleb's hubris and constant patronization) it is a clear example of Taleb's consistent lack of vision. Moreover, he constantly uses inappropriate and verbose language (indeed, it seems the Taleb wasn't honest at the beginning, and instead it was the book, PLUS Word's thesaurus who wrote The Black Swan).
   
   Readers, I implore you, save yourself some money: get some Russel, Hume, and Bacon out from your local library and bookmark an online thesaurus. Whenever you think you may want to read The Black Swan, just take any sentence from the above philosophers, pick AT LEAST TWO words and use the thesaurus to find their synonyms and from those, pick the largest everytime and replace the origional word. Now you will be, for all intents and purposes, reading the Black Swan.

5 comments about Multi-Family Millions: How Anyone Can Reposition Apartments for Big Profits.

1. Most real estate books put me to sleep. This one kept me awake and taking
   notes about the opportunities I now see in my local area.



2. If someone had a great idea on how to make money why would they tell everyone about it? Why not just got put your idea into practice and make all the money yourself? Because the author of this book is the nicest guy in history? I think it is because he can make more money selling you a bad idea than he can make exploiting the idea itself. That would mean the idea is not very good. Conclusion: Don't buy this book.
   
   Another thing to note. All the other reviewers for this book that gave it four stars. Click on their names. They never reviewed a book before this one. Seem slightly suspicious? It does to me.
   
   Run a search on Google for the title of this book. Find any sites that give a review? Find anything that would indicate how this book leapt to #1 on Amazon? Was the book discussed on any TV shows or on NPR or anywhere else? I didn't find anything.
   
   Better yet, run a search on Google for the author of the book. That is where I found the interesting things.
   
   Also go read the review for his other book: Emerging Real Estate Markets: How to Find and Profit from Up-and-Coming Areas
   
   Here is what a reviewer had to say about that book:
   Although the book discusses emerging markets (local markets on the upswing) this is standard advice given in any real estate book. It's not like the whole book specializes on that topic. The book focuses on multi-unit apartment buildings.
   
   More accurate title: Decent book on investing in multi-unit apartments and lots of plugs for my website and products.



3. Thanks for the great advice, I am looking for a career change and was looking to get into real estate and this book and Mr Instability convinced me to give it a try!



4. Since repositioning (rehabbing)a property can be a very risky investment opportunity, this book was able to provide me with the insight and the inspiration to do one myself. The author takes a good common sense approach that is easy to understand. This is a must read for anybody wanting to get the maximum value out of their real estate investment and minimize your risks. Thank you Mr. Lindahl!



5. This is another great book by a real estate investor who practices what he preaches. This book is easy to read and very informative. Repositioning apartment complexes is a sure way to retirement. This book explains the concepts and principles to becoming very successful in yet another powerful investment strategy. An excellent addition to a anyone's personal library.