4 comments about The Ten Truths of Wealth Creation.

1. As a retired person, I am concerned about making our nest egg last both our lifetimes. The Ten Truths Of Wealth Creation is beautifully written and has chapter after chapter of easy to understand financial and quality of life information. Chapters covering the risks of Index funds, your own personal bank, real estate and making sense of insurance, particularly hit home with me. This book is excellent for those just starting out in life and also for retired persons like me. I wish I had a text like this before I retired; it would have saved me a lot of money and emotional turmoil. I have already started taking Mr. Girourd's advice. I highly recommend the book.



2. Girouard "nailed it" All financial progress starts with each of us taking ownership of our dreams ( Life Goals). Keep an open mind...what you read will not be what your stockbroker or insurance agent told you! Regardless of your net worth you can learn and with action, benefit from The Ten Truths of Wealth Creation



3. John Girouard has created an indispensable tool for consumers to both learn the truths of wealth creation and also provide a roadmap for financial success and prosperity. The Ten Truths of Wealth Creation should be required reading for all Financial Planners before they are allowed to practice.



4. This book is an eye opening experience. Every person planning for retirement should read this book. Girouard's lessons are easy to read and he makes complicated concepts simple to understand. His ideas are not what I have learned in school, instead, they are much more "real world" friendly. Thanks, for writing this book!

5 comments about Play The Real-Life Money Game With Your Teen.

1. As I delved further and further into this book I began to wish I could turn the calendar back on my three children, now 20 somethings, and put this into practice. There are definitely skills to be learned from this book that any age person who is interested in getting a handle on their money and learning how to manage it can utilize. The worksheets are useful, the explanations are clear and I suspect that parents who put this into practice with their teens will learn right along with them. The rewards for all involved will be lifelong. The book is sturdy enough to handle lots of thumbing through and to survive trips to the copy center to duplicate the worksheets. The index is a big plus and the highlighted boxes in the text summarizing major points help reinforce the learning. I would recommend to any parent to put this game into practice!



2. I would have never believed that talking to your kids about money could really be fun. But this book really does make it simple and entertaining. We thought it was easy to use although when we first received it it seemed a little daunting.
   It was well worth the effort and we really did have fun and learned a lot.



3. This book was a treat to read, in that it answers so many of my questions and concerns about how to teach my kids financial planning and responsibility and how to teach them to understand the value of money. I feel like I have a plan now and know how to go forward. All I had before was a general sense of knowing this topic is important and that it is my job to teach my kids this because no one else will. The author affirms these feelings, then sets out to teach me how to help my kids to become responsible money managers. This is such an important topic and the author presents it in a very readable, practical, and understanding manner. She makes it all seem doable!



4. A friend told me about this book and I'm so glad she did. Experience counts in this informative resource; I appreciate that the author is both a professional but also a "real-life" mom! As I work through the book with my sons, it also serves as a refresher for me of solid money management principles and healthy fiscal habits. Yet another life skill I want my sons to have before they are out on their own.



5. "Play The Real-Life Money Game with Your Teen" is a very insightful and educational book. As both a parent and a working professional I enjoyed this book because it provides great financial information not only for teenagers but also adults. I highly recommend this book as an important tool to develop life-essential skill sets for the young and the experienced. This book is easy to understand and organized clearly to teach the basics of money management. It's a must read for teens and for parents!

No comments about INTERNAL REVENUE CODE: Income, Estate, Gift, Employment and Excise Taxes, (Summer 2008 Edition) (Two Volume Set).

5 comments about The Brainwashing of the American Investor: The book that Wall Street does not want you to read!.

1. There are money-making opportunities in the financial markets, but the first thing an investor should do is ignore much of what comes out of "Wall Street." The investor should especially ignore the phone call from the new MBA at a brokerage firm pushing some hot new stock that is supposedly "about to take off." The stock is being pushed because of the size of the commission on any purchases. If the stock is so wonderful, does the broker have it in his or her own portfolio? Next week, some other stock will be "about to take off." The investor can also expect a call from a broker saying that their mutual funds or municipal bonds perform much better than what the investor is in now. How about a switch? More transactions equals more commissions. Wall Street does not do anything for free. Even if something sounds "no fee" or "no-load," the brokerage will get its fee somewhere.
   
   The investor should certainly keep up with the business news, but do not spend hours and hours every day at it; that will not leave any time for actual trading. Go through the Sunday paper and come up with a list of buying possibilities. These are May Buy stocks, as opposed to Will Buy. Just some basic information is needed about each stock, like its 52-week high/low and yesterday's close. If a stock is down at least 20% from its 52-week high (not 19.5%), move it onto your Will Buy list. When choosing a broker, is it really worth going through several minutes of Press 1 and Press 2, before you reach a human, while the price of your stock goes in the wrong direction, all to save a few dollars on the commission? Pay the extra commission, and choose a broker where a human really is just a phone call away.
   
   It is easy to buy a stock, but much harder to know when to sell it. If your stock rises from 20% to 10% below its 52-week high, sell it. Do not get greedy, and wait for it to rise just one more point; it may never come. There will be other opportunities. Besides, a double digit profit in the stock market is nothing to scoff at. On the other hand, if your stock continues to slide into oblivion, know when to cut your losses. There will be other stocks.
   
   This book seems to be much easier to understand than the stock trading "systems" advertised on TV and in the Business section of the local book store. The experienced investor may kick themselves, realizing the money they have given to Wall Street, for little or no reason. It is also recommended for novice investors, and even non-investors (like yours truly).



2. As I write this (11-27-2007), the markets are getting ready to open after closing down the previous day. The Dow Jones industrial average has fallen nearly 240 points and the headline in the local paper is screaming "Wall Street suffers another big hit." Serious-faced announcers on cable-TV are saying the Dow is down 10.03 percent from its mid-October closing high, officially putting the blue chip index past the 10 percent threshold that signifies a correction.
   
   For Steven R. Selengut, author of The Brainwashing of the American Investor, corrections such as this are as welcome as rallies. The market, he points out, is just doing what the market has always done.
   
   "Here is some advice that you just won't hear on CNBC or read in The Journal," he writes in this revised edition of an earlier book bearing the same name. "It is based on one incredibly simple market fact: There has never been a market correction that has not succumbed to yet another rally. So when the doom and gloom noise becomes deafening, get yourself out there and party."
   
   When the markets move into a correction, Selengut's investment strategy already has investors sitting on a pile of cash -- accumulated profits taken on stocks as the market rallied -- plus cash thrown off from fixed-income securities. As the NYSE-traded stocks he follows move down 20 percent or more, he moves back into them and waits for a 10 percent profit to cash out and then look for another opportunity to repeat the process.
   
   Even better, for skittish investors such as me, Selengut's unique "Working Capital Model" reduces the emotional factor by taking the emphasis off market value and focusing on growth of working capital, defined as the total cost basis of the securities and cash in the portfolio. As long as working capital is increasing, market value is irrelevant.
   
   As a recent retiree, I appreciate this conservative approach to growing working capital. I implemented and followed the trading strategy myself for about a year and a half before turning my account over to Sanco Services, an investment management company founded and operated by Selengut. The Working Capital Model worked the way it was presented. My only reason for turning the account over to Sanco was to be sure that my financial assets would be handled in such a way that my wife would not have to worry about an adequate income in the event that I was no longer able to manage the assets myself.
   
   The Brainwashing of the American Investor is a book I wish I had been able to read 30 years ago. Those of you who still have years of investing ahead of you would do well to buy this book and read it thoroughly two or three times. It will save you a lifetime of mistakes that come from following conventional wisdom.
   
   This is the book that Wall Street does not want you to read.



3. Steve Selengut's "Brainwashing of the American Investory" is an eye-opening and intelligent book,which at once offers an analysis of the investment industry and a smart and practical guide to non-professional investors. Selengut is wary of the conventional wisdom of investing professionals, who appear to have abandoned the tried and true principles of investment, in favor of super-hype,organizatioanl conformity, and greed.
   Selengut's back-to--basics approach builds on his critique of the Wall Street hypsters and their bandwagon mentalities. Instead, he serves up a clear set of economic princples, mixed with sound commonsensical advice.
   The book is simply a gem for someone who is not an investment professiional. We are reminded that one can make money by buying low and selling higher, but importantly, not infinitely higher, since avoiding greed is one of Selengut's most sagacious homilies: " sell too soon." This implies knowledgeable trading, which the book helps one do, but also encourages taking the non-Wall Stree advice of personal investment advisors. The ant-greed model is not however, against making money, but it urges us to do so by taking reasonable profits in a planful way. The Selegut method does require discipline and patience, since it is not a get-rich quick scheme, but one of gradual building of what he calls " working capital" by attentively riding the inevitable market, wave-like pattern of rising and falling prices. The author just does not link our expectations to these waves. Instead, he describes how to benefit from the ups and downs,which requires not only having a plan, but sticking to it. The author's basic ideas of quality, diversity and interest are clearly explicated and very persuasive. That alone is worth the price of the book, which you can deduct from your current working capital: alot more efficient and less pretentious than the new-style, old-time, economic self-help books that tell you how to get rich quick.
   Great book.
   Professor Philip Wexler, Jerusalem, Israel



4. I've read a bunch of books on investing and money management, and this is the best, BY FAR!!!!! It's so good, and refreshing, that I've read it twice.



5. This book is very well written, and the logic and analysis seem sound. I'm sure this is an excellent strategy for range bound markets which need a sound trading strategy. It probably is not as good in bull markets because you'll have a very small selection universe, and stocks left behind in a bull market usually deserve to be left behind.
   
   The real danger is a bear market. You'll have many good stocks to choose from and will quickly fill your portfolio. Then you'll have the displeasure of watching your equity constantly decline. Your working capital won't decline, but it no longer has any rational relation to the value of your account. If you're young and can wait it out, you'll probably do okay, but older investors won't be able to handle the draw down. Being fully invested with no hedge during a bear market is very painful.
   
   If you have a defensive strategy for bear markets, this book can be useful once the bear hibernates. You must beware of the bear; unfortunately, this book won't protect you from becoming bear food.

5 comments about What Wall Street Doesn't Want You to Know: How You Can Build Real Wealth Investing in Index Funds.

1. Some interesting points, but his claim about the efficiency of the market being always reflected in the stock price and there being "no evidence" to the contrary is garbage. He uses the 90's to show how Warren Buffet did not beat the market. But the 90's were an irrational bubble fueled by dot.com stock madness. When Yahoo stock was peaking, to justify that price, within 20 years Yahoo itself would have had to equal 1/3 of the entire U.S. economy!! There was NO WAY that Yahoo was not going to fall in price at one point, as it eventually did. Its price was hardly "efficient" at its peak. The market can be beat, and Lynch and Buffet have done it. And Buffet is famous for his patience in waiting A LONG TIME for his investments to pay off (which belies the ten year #). But most people do not have Lynch's and Buffet's minds and THAT's the reason most people should invest in index funds. And that's why Buffet himself recommends the average person invest in index funds. 60% of the US population is overweight. The average American lacks discipline. THAT'S why the average person should invest in index funds. His conclusion is correct for the average person, but not all of his reasoning.



2. Investors should recall that a 1990 Nobel Prize was awarded to three financial economists whose ideas helped legitimize what is known as 'modern portfolio theory' (MPT). MPT points to an investment strategy that author Larry E. Swedroe says is at variance with the interests and advice of the popular financial establishment (hence Swedroe's contentious title). For followers of MPT, stock and bond market prices represent, very efficiently, all that is known and expected by investors of a security. There is no evidence that markets systematically misprice securities. So, the market prices securities to their value. Markets work. A corollary is that no individual money manager will be able to consistently know more than the market. Wall Street's managed (active) efforts to exploit perceived market pricing inefficiencies fall short. Active managers are undone by higher fees and the taxes that trading profits generate. This is Swedroe's main argument with Wall Street. Stock selection does not work consistently or economically. Active management is flawed by its underestimation of market efficiency and its operating expenses. Bottom line: Money managers don't beat the indexes. Swedroe quotes Benjamin Graham, an icon for stock-pickers, near the end of his career apparently siding with the market efficiency school. Indeed academic research supports the idea that the most important factor in market returns is not stock selection but exposure to key asset classes (e.g., large or small company stocks, "growth" or "value" stocks, international or domestic stocks). Swedroe argues for passively 'managed' index mutual funds and exchange traded funds (ETF) on the basis of their lower expenses and the market's efficiency. Investors should have a globally diversified portfolio of "low correlating" assets because of the unpredictability of certain asset classes moving in and out of favor. Investors seeking greater returns may find them with small capitalization and "value" stocks. Swedroe identifies a key tenet of MPT in Chapter 10, namely, how diversification works to increase the average compound return of individual investments within the portfolio. A little more detail might have been useful in this section. WHAT WALL STREET DOESN'T WANT YOU TO KNOW is a helpful if somewhat repetitive introduction to the basic ideas of modern portfolio theory. The author revisits this material even more persuasively in his later book, RATIONAL INVESTING IN IRRATIONAL TIMES.



3. Not for those who are active fund managers. The author makes quite a logical, compelling case to invest in his style. The main thrust is passive managed over active managed funds. He goes through statistics that support his position, and attacks publications who don't support. Like a lot of financial books, it gets a bit bogged in numbers at times, but overall the flow is excellent. It changed my investment approach.



4. Buy this book...you will make money if you follow the advise to go with index funds...skip the brokers and money managers...they are salespeople trying to hack out a living.



5. Pre-2000 meltdown, I had control of $75k in an IRA. I watched and believed I could join all those people making so much before the Internet bubble burst. After the burst, my bubble dropped all the way down to $42k. Man, am I a great investor or what? Then, I read this book. Sold all the stock that was left, allocated into a "risky" portfolio of Index Funds ( I went a little deeper with the small cap value and international funds). Less than 7 years later and after many great nights of being able to sleep, north of $155k and counting. No trading costs. I rebalanced once. Now, if I only had put the original $75k in Index Funds instead of all that wonderful Internet stuff....lesson learned the hard way. Read this book, digest it and implement its investing advice..

5 comments about More Loyal Customers: 21 Real World Lessons to Keep Your Customers Coming Back.

1. This is not just a "how to" book, it's a book that explains why it works and how it works. The stories Kevin Stirtz tells share his experience and his successes thereby making him an expert in his field.
   
   The couple of hours it takes to read this book makes it worth the while. This is a must read for anyone wanting loyal customers.



2. This is a handbook that should be on every managers desk. There are so many good points in this little book, that you should read it every six months. Implement the directives and work on the areas in your organization that are most in need of correction... wait awhile and do it all over again. You can use this book as an outline to successful management of anyone in your company (including yourself) that has contact with customers or clients.
   Stirtz hits a home run with this one!



3. What I like about this book is it's practical - you can read it today and employ ideas in your own business tomorrow. So many books of this type are heavy on strategy, but light on tactical ideas to improve service. Kevin strikes a nice balance between the two.
   
   This is a nice book to read, hold onto, and reference. It makes you think.



4. This book is an easy read for people with limited time. You can get through it in less than an hour. There are enough examples in the book that you can easily see how things should work and then figure out how to apply the techniques in your own life. If a book gives me an idea I can really use, its a bargain. This one passes that test.



5. Kevin Stirtz has delivered an excellent and reliable resource. His list of "Remarkable Service Tips" is a true, practical guide for getting results!

2 comments about Frameworks for IT Management: An Introduction.

1. Not quite what I was expecting and the analysis of AS8015 is little more than restating that standard. However, it's still a very useful guide to help see the forest through the trees. The standardised presentation of each framework is particularly useful for comparing and contrasting.



2. I don't want to ignore your request for a review, but I cannot review this purchase. I was asked to purchase this book for two different people here at work, for job-related needs. However, I have not read the book. I really can't rate this but my response won't go thru without a rating, so I chose the middle of the scoring.

5 comments about How to be a Billionaire: Proven Strategies from the Titans of Wealth.

1. This is a terrific book & I highly recommend it to aspiring business moguls of all ages. Though the title and the cover are a tad "over the top," the substance delivers. This is a thorough analysis of some of the more common strategies used in achieving great riches. Throughout the book, the author introduces us to a dozen or so most accomplished businessmen in history. Specifically, we learn of what is it that they actually did that helped them achieve great success in - arguably - the most competitive field of human endeavors - accumulating great wealth. The book is well balanced as business strategy descriptions seamlessly intertwine with historical and biographical insights. Martin Frdson, a terrific writer, is one of the very few people who could pull it off. A bit of context here is in order: Martin Fridson is a very accomplished guy. With an undergrad in history and an MBA (both from Harvard), he gives the reader a unique vantage point on combining both history and business strategy. Specifically, Mr. Fridson is one of the biggest authorities in the field of high-yield bonds (a.k.a. junk bonds) - and has been for a long time. High-yield world is often a treacherous mine-field dominated by marginal companies with weak balance sheets. Stories of great deals and disastrous failures are abound. Mr Fridson has seen many fortunes both created and lost and he brings this balanced perspective to the readers of this great book.



2. This book, more than any other book on creating wealth, spells it out. If you want a get rich quick plan - sorry - this book is about the slow and steady! Can you say Tortoise and the Hare? Just like everyone else, I was taught to get a good education, get a job and live happily ever after until reaching retirement - get my gold watch and the company will take care of me. Hah! The truth is, the old ways don't work. The people who are profiled in this book were all successful in their own way.
   
   I believe that if you model yourself after a successful person you will be successful. That's not new. What's new is to follow in the footsteps of one of these giants and success will be yours!



3. I came across this book at my local library and after reading it, brought a copy and been re-reading it for the last year. With Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich, it is my blueprint to my personal goals of amassing one billions dollars.
   
   Though much of the information is pretty tough to understand at first, with much persistence and open-mindedness, this book has motivated me more than ever with every page I turn.
   
   What can I say? Get the book and see for yourself.
   
   Definitely worth more than its flashy gold cover.



4. I was quite amused how some locals bought the book hoping the author's would enlight them with something realistic. The book is not for the general public and most of the solutions are basic financial management. I didn't bother buying the book since it was available at my local library. For those wanting inspiration to make a business, go for it and read this book.



5. This book does not tell the common man how to become a billionaire (or even millionaire for that matter) by any stretch of the imagination. This is a history/narrative of how some of the biggest (and in many cases LUCKIEST) billionaires today got where they are. The Warren Buffets, Bill Gates, Rockefellers, etc. If you want to know the history of how these "greats" got that way - then this book is for you. If you want to get rich - don't bother. If you're already a multi millionaire and want to get richer, this book may be useful as well.

4 comments about The Top 10 Everyday Tools for Daily Problem Solving-Strategic Thinking Handbook #1.

1. A fantastic guide for everyday use. A definite must have for anyone, especially those of us in a leadership role, as all ten tips apply to any kind of problem solving, whether they are organizational or personal.



2. These "Top 10" Tools really are the best I have ever seen to actually use Systems Thinking in a clear and simple way on a daily basis. These Tools are something everyone should and can learn quickly--I would use it for every single employee in my organization.



3. I don't follow handbooks very well. However, the guides and worksheets made it simple for me to use this new Strategic Thinking Approach. For anyone who was taught to solve problems as they came along without any real understanding of where they were coming from, this new concept of "working backwards" and viewing things as a "whole" is somewhat intimidating but made more sense as I read on. This new idea has definitely changed how I look at everything, not just solving conflicts.



4. I don't follow handbooks very well. However, the guides and worksheets made it simple for me to use this new Strategic Thinking Approach. For anyone who was taught to solve problems as they came along without any real understanding of where they were coming from, this new concept of "working backwards" and viewing things as a "whole" is somewhat intimidating but made more sense as I read on. This new idea has definitely changed how I look at everything, not just solving conflicts.

3 comments about Korean Business Etiquette: The Cultural Values And Attitudes That Make Up The Korean Business Personality.

1. Very good book. I work in a Korean Co. Very usefull points. Great opportunity to know in theory what I faced in practical reality. Lots of things are clearer now...! A very good book for starters in Korean culture interface. Covers from general aspects to details of daily situations. Easy to read. Subjects and capters ordered very well. A must-have-book for those who intend to work in Korea or in Korean Companies abroad. I strongly recommend. AV.



2. This is a "must read" for Westerners unfamiliar with Korean business culture. It is well written in short, easily absorbed chapters. Mr. De Mente does a great job introducing Korean culture, and explaining how that culture is manifest in the workplace. There is an emphasis on recommendations for Westerners living and working long term in Korea. It also works well for Sales and Procurement professionals.



3. While this book is clearly aimed at a specific demographic, as someone who works in a typically non-business-related field (teaching) this book still has much utility.
   
   Although, it doesn't get 5 stars due to the fact that I feel that the author poses more questions than answers. Each chapter is broken into small topics (such as bowing, drinking, or gift-giving) that comprise of several paragraphs. At the end of each paragraph, he seems to rush the proper response to these situations - leaving the reader thinking..."Great, so what exactly should I do in that situation now?"
   
   Having said that, and aside from his blatantly unashamed advertising for his other books, its a great read for those who plan to do anything that requires working with Korean.