
Title : The New Golden Door to Retirement and Living in Costa Rica: A Guide to Inexpensive Living, Making Money and Finding Love in a Peaceful Tropical Paradise
Author : Christopher Howard
Rating : 1 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Great book--if you lack common sense
This book is great if are planning on traveling to Costa Rica as a tourist for a short amount of time; however, it really does not emcompass the complexity of moving or investing in a foreign country. Don't be fooled--this book lacks substinative information on starting a business in Costa Rica, other than the overarching message that "Not everything in the States will work in Costa Rica." Oh, really? My other favorite section was "How to Find a Nice Girl." After "interviewing hundreds of quality Costa Rican women" the author managed to whittle through the unrespectable, poor, uneducated women who were only after him for his money and find a nice girl. I guess the real shame is that he wasn't able to complete this process through a mail-order catalog.

Title : Invest Like Warren Buffett, Live Like Jimmy Buffett: A Money Manual for Those Who Haven't Won the Lottery
Author : Luki Vail
Rating : 3 Stars out of 5.
Summary : This is a fun beginning book to investing for your future.
Don't look for a Joe Merchant within these pages.Look more to how to obtain your free pass to the lifestyle you dream about. It all boils down to, "If you want it, start now!" Following your dream is great but you have to pay yourself, FIRST.

Title : You've Earned It, Don't Lose It: Mistakes You Can't Afford to Make When You Retire
Author : Suze Orman
Rating : 5 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Every woman's book on pitfalls in planning: Read this FIRST!
I grabbed this book on impulse, knowing that I have a bad track record with money management subjects. I thought it would be laying around gathering dust for awhile...
Was I surprised when I started reading the first page and then plowed right through it in 1-1/2 nights! So easy to read and understand. (The Wall St. Journal series, with all their glitzy colored pictures couldn't do what Suze did with her real-life stories as examples.) Maybe it's the woman's touch, but she got through to me. The whole picture of retirement issues and planning became clear.
I highly recommend this as a first book for financial planning -- it's NOT JUST ABOUT RETIREMENT, it's more about protecting women by arming them with vital information... every woman should READ THIS BOOK BEFORE MAKING ANOTHER DECISION involving money (or before someone makes one for her).

Title : Celebration
Author : Harry Crews
Rating : 4 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Not one of his best, but a page-turner.
I just finished Harry Crews's _Celebration_. It's a Crews Cruise (TM) freak show, complete with stump-humpin', granny-drownin', Turkey suckin' good ole bad ole boys and girls, which incidentally answers the zen koan "What should you do if you meet the Buddha on the road and she offers to have outrageous sex with you?"

Title : Bankroll Your Future: Retirement with Help from Uncle Sam: How Government Perks and Policies Can Help You Preserve Your Income, Your Healthc
Author : Ellen Hoffman
Rating : 5 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Great book! Easy to understand, no-nonsense financial tips.
I enjoyed this book a great deal. Finally, an easy-to-follow guideline for those of us who might be overwhelmed by our future financial affairs. I bought copies for several friends.

Title : How to Retire Rich: Time-Tested Strategies to Beat the Market and Retire in Style
Author : James P. O'Shaughnessy
Rating : 2 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Started good, but then...
I don't know how to take this book. On the positive side, it offers seemingly reasonable investment strategies for inexperienced investors. At worst, the strategies are thought provoking. At best, they may be providing strategies that will make alot of people retire rich. On the negative side, I am skeptical of the author's intentions of writing this book. He sells mutual funds that implement the strategies (which is not necessarily a bad thing), but the funds have yearly fees of 1.5% each! That is very high for a passive fund. Why so high? All of a sudden, I want to stop reading. Finally, the book didn't teach me 250+ pages of info. It may be good for the new investor, but for one like me that has read a few books (but not done alot yet), it didn't offer alot of new insight. (I just can't get that 1.5% out of my head...)

Title : You've Earned It, Don't Lose It: Mistakes You Can't Afford to Make When You Retire
Author : Suze Orman
Rating : 4 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Excellent book
People spend their entire lifetimes working to amass wealth, but forget about protecting it. I bump into people every day who still think a will is enough---ENT! I also recommend Financial Self Defense and More Wealth without Risk by Givens. Suze's book is newer, but Givens offers techniques that work well with the information in this book.