
Title : Basic Investing Guide for the New Investor: Start Investing for Your Retirement with as Little as $50 Per Month
Author : Alfred V. Scillitani
Rating : 5 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Overcoming Important Misconceptions of Young Investors
This book is aimed at the young person who will be starting a first full-time job in the next year. I have graded it for its appropriateness for that audience.
Stock investing is treated now in families like sex education was conducted in the fifties. People try to avoid any reference to this delicate subject.
As a parent, you can spend over $100,000 to send your child to a private college or $50,000 for a public one. In neither place will your child pick up the basic information to make her or him financially literate about doing long-term stock investing.
Or your child may not go to or finish college, and potentially have less income as a result. Investing becomes even more important in this situation.
What's worse, regardless of what educational or vocational route these capable young people take, they will have picked up misconceptions that will discourage him or her from getting started. This book can remedy that problem, by helping your daughter or son (or grandson or granddaughter) realize that they should begin investing as soon as they have enough income to save some ($50 or so) money every month.
If you are a young person just starting your career, chances are that you are handicapped by lack of information, and misconceptions about what you should be doing. Ordering this book today is a simple, effective step towards overcoming that situation.
This book effectively addresses these misconceptions:
(1) It doesn't matter much when you start (Actually, starting young is the biggest advantage any investor has)
(2) You need thousands of dollars to get started (Some investments can be started with $25, and putting in small amounts regularly makes you more money than larger amounts less often)
(3) It's too complicated for a young person to understand (Most of what you need to know is covered in less than 50 pages in this book, with not that many words on a page. If you can pass algebra and high school English, you will have no trouble with this material.)
(4) It takes too much time to get started (You should be able to take the right steps after spending less than 15 hours over a period of two months or so.)
But taking action counts for a lot in investments (as in other areas). So I suggest that you be sure the young adults in your family know this information. You can get a copy and teach them yourself, or you can simply give each person their own. Ask them what they have done about the information from time to time, and praise any actions they take to get information, start saving, or begin investing.
If you are a young person, every month you delay starting investing is costing you hundreds of dollars over your lifetime. Can you afford to waste that much money?
I think this book will make the most sense if read after Rich Dad, Poor Dad. After reading this book, I suggest that John Bogle's Common Sense About Mutual Funds be read to deepen and widen the interest that Basic Investing Guide for the New Investor will stimulate. If you already feel motivated to invest and do not have the misconceptions I mentioned above, you may already be ready for Bogle.
May your money and your children's money be saved and invested in ways to create much financial security for your children and grandchildren!
As a parent, consider that giving this book is a lot cheaper than providing any other form of education, or providing on-going financial security for the next two generations. It's a great investment for you, as well.
As a young person, consider that investing your money well is a lot less work than taking on a second job for most of your life to increase your income. This is important to creating time and balance in your life to enjoy your family and relationships.
Get started as soon as possible!

Title : The Bond Book
Author : Annette Thau
Rating : 5 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Straightforward and Clear
I really liked this book. It was well written and organized clearly. Everyone is crazy about stocks, so not much is really known about bonds. I read another book on bonds and still was unsure. This book was different. It was clear and thorough on all types of bond issues and offers clear warning on risks. Bonds are not as safe as I thought - if you think they are, definitely read this book. Many good ideas on setting up safe portfolios that will do well over time.

Title : The Automatic Millionaire: A Powerful One-Step Plan to Live and Finish Rich
Author : David Bach
Rating : 2 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Hmmm
This book would suit beginners in finance. It got confusing with amounts been shown in $ then £ and sometimes both. Would have appreciated it more if all amounts was converted to £ and not the mixture contained. Even the web site suggested for forecasting is in $. Two stars given for information contained for beginners.

Title : Have a Healthy and Happy Retirement
Author : Michael Apple
Rating : 5 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Do you want to make the most of new opportunities?
One of the greatest changes to have taken place over the last years is the attitude to retirement and ageing. No longer do the older generation creep along as Old Age Pensioners. Instead we see Seniors enjoying their freedom, better health, and with a little luck and planning, a comfortable lifestyle.
Dr Michael Apple, a GP who is also a writer, has brought all this together in his latest book. He urges anyone approaching retirement to think positively about what it will mean, and to seize with both hands the opportunities which are there. He advises us not to let this major change in life catch up on us without some planning, since he points out that in retirement we are viewed in a different light not only by others but by ourselves as well. He explains how some of the relationships we have will change, and how and why even our children may look at us differently.
So, read this book to find out about how to make the most of your opportunities - browse through it - and you will find out all you need to know about moving from a fixed daily routine to using your time more freely. He acknowledges that poor health or a disability may be a factor to contend with, and gives good advice about how to cope with some of these problems.
His sound recommendations are: keep healthy physically and emotionally, look at how ageing affects the body and the mind, make sure you are safe, care for your appearance, and maybe even reassess your sex life.
If you need further help, then the list of information and resources in the book will point you in the direction you seek.

Title : Rich Dad's Retire Young, Retire Rich: How to Get Rich Quickly and Stay Rich Forever! (Rich Dad)
Author : Robert T. Kiyosaki
Rating : 1 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Perpetual Motion Machine
The search for easy wealth is akin to the search for the "perpetual motion machine". It doesn't exist and this book also fails to deliver. Much of the advice deals with the USA only and the tax advice does not apply to the UK. Anyway if everyone took up the advice and reduced their payment of taxes governments would collapse; but then they wouldn't - the tax goal posts would be moved. I was unimpressed by the advice which could have been written on three pages, the rest being a repetitious mantra of this imaginary "rich dad" anecdotes.
My advice on the first step to being wealthy is save your money and do not buy this book

Title : Wall Street on a Shoestring: Financial Success for Just Five Dollars a Day
Author : Clare La Plante
Rating : 4 Stars out of 5.
Summary : FINALLY, a book for now-small, future-big investors!
Clare's crystal-clear writing style helps the novice investor make sense of it all. A way to START NOW, with pocket change. Great book!
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Title : The Golden Door to Retirement and Living in Costa Rica: A Guide to Inexpensive Living in a Peaceful Tropical Paradise
Author : Cristobal Howard
Rating : 4 Stars out of 5.
Summary : The content was great; I dropped a star for the editing.
I breezed through the book in an afternoon/evening and found it to be extremely informative and accurate based on my limited ten day stay in Costa Rica. The author presents both sides for those considering relocating to CR. It is a wonderful place to visit which motivated me to inquire what it might be like to live there.