
Title : Invest in Yourself: Six Secrets to a Rich Life
Author : Marc Eisenson
Rating : 5 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Comments on Invest In Yourself
I had just made a bad decision in the stock market when I started to read Invest in Yourself. The book provided me with so many strategies to improve my financial life that I saw how to make up for my mistake in a hurry.
I like the fact that this book shows you how to break the bondage to a paycheck that so many of us suffer. That dead end job isn't a necessity, it's a choice, and there are powerful alternative strategies.
This book is loaded with financial information, techniques and stories, but it's really a book about happiness. About what gives lasting satisfaction. Thus, it transcends information and provides wisdom. I am grateful to have read it.

Title : The Bond Book
Author : Annette Thau
Rating : 5 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Highly Recommended!
This is an accessible introduction to bonds by a financial professional whose first book - as unlikely as it may seem - was a study of Max Jacob, the French poet. The literary background of the author, Annette Thau, may account for her book's clear, easy-to-read style. Most authors who write about bonds tend to get lost in the complex mathematics and specialized jargon of the bond markets. Not Annette Thau. Whether you are an individual investor trying to balance your portfolio with bonds, or a student of finance looking for a more lucid explanation of the subject than you can find in your textbooks, we highly recommend this book to you.

Title : You're Fifty - Now What?
Author : Charles R. Schwab
Rating : 5 Stars out of 5.
Summary : The Best Book on Financial Planning for the Over 46 Age Set
My biggest complaint about most books on financial planning is that they try to cover everyone with one approach. Mr. Schwab's book is a pleasant exception to this rule. By at least focusing on those of around middle years (46 through 56), he can be more specific and make the information more relevant to each reader. Naturally, I would like to see future books be even more focused than this one, but Mr. Schwab has certainly moved in the right direction.
I found this book to be vastly superior to 52 Weeks to Financial Fitness by Marshall Loeb, which was also written for people in this age category.
Mr. Schwab's profits as author from this book are all being donated to the Charles Schwab Corporation Foundation to provide for the needs of seniors.
The book is divided into two parts: First, planning for the rest of your life; and second, getting organized to implement that plan.
The planning section is very well done because it covers materials at a level of perspective that goes from the needs of most beginners to handling the needs of all but the most sophisticated people. Fundamentals are covered in sidebars so as not to clutter-up the main text for those who do not need the information. The subjects covered include how much money you will need in total, determining the value of what you have available, estimating the gap between your needs and resources, understanding how to think about asset allocation in your investment funds, establishing the proper cash flow to match your needs, and readjusting your investment mix over time.
Each section is clearly written and provides formats to make it easier for you to assemble and think about your information. I was particularly pleased to see Mr. Schwab challenge some conventional wisdom about financial planning. Many people use a rule of thumb that you will need 70% of your preretirement income. In practice, many people find that they spend more than that because some costs go up more rapidly than inflation, like medical care, or they take on new interests. Mr. Schwab suggests 90%. I think even that may not be conservative enough. I think a better assumption is to have the percentage grow over time, slowly. Eventually, it will probably exceed 100%.
In addition, many people will tell you to plan on spending 6% of your assets each year after you have to start drawing on them. Mr. Schwab wisely suggests that 3-4% will be more appropriate for most people. I liked that advice very much.
The advice on investing is much more conservative than you would expect from someone who heads an on-line brokerage house. But appropriately so. He suggests you stay in common stocks as long as possible, because you may well live much longer than you think. But he has all but 10% of your portfolio in either no-load index funds or conservative bond and cash positions. If you skip the idea of owning any individual stocks, the advice is quite appropriate for the average person. It also has you reducing your exposure to stocks over time, as the years appraoch when you will need the income. So even if stocks stop performing well (as some warn) in the next few years, you will be relatively safe.
Part II of the book gets you into deciding whether you need a financial advisor or not, and how to select and work with one. It also looks at the most important questions about insurance, estate planning (get thee to a lawyer), and how to handle your donations so they bring you the most satisfaction and least after-tax cost.
The book has several other nice qualities. It emphasizes the rest of your life as being the "second half" rather than the downhill slide or some other negative concept. In sports, we all know that the winners are usually those who play the second half the best. Also, at half-time, the coach often makes adjustments that lead to winning performance. It is a very nice metaphor for financial planning at this stage in life. "What do I want for the second half of my life?" is the key question posed in the beginning of the book for you to consider.
I also liked the optimism of the book. Rather than focusing on the fear that people have about outliving their money, the book emphasizes the potential for good things to happen. You may live longer, and think of all the good things that could follow. "Anything is possible" was my favorite line from the book, which followed examples of wonderful accomplishments by seniors of advanced years.
Unless you already have been through this exercise recently with a financial advisor, I suggest that you get the book and use the exercises.
Further, I suggest you take even more time to think through the possibilities that the post child-rearing and tuition years may offer you. It's almost like getting to start over again, but with much more in the way of resources and wisdom.
Look for and find the best choices!

Title : The Old Fool's Retirement Guide
Author : Rob Davies
Rating : 2 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Disappointing book from an excellent stable
The 'Motley Fool' series is a really excellent one. For the first time reader of their works this book will provide something, indeed much, of interest. However, compared to their other books (and I have read them all) this is a disappointment. There is little which is new in this book and the retirement sections of, for example, the Motley Fool UK Investment guide, are actually more informative. The authors of Motley Fool really must decide on a standard version of thier investment philosophy and develop this, rather than simply repeat it in several differnet ways.
The book really cant make up its mind whether it is for those saving for old age, or already in it and trying to decide how best to take their income. It tries to do both and falls short on both counts, but particularly the latter. There is little or no discussion of many things -such as bonds or zeros - if only to dismiss them. These are (albeit briefly) explored in the Motley Fool UK Investment Guide - where the section on 'Hermiones old age' was very informative. If ths present book could have used this as a starting point we could have learned much more.
Likewise, there is little consideration of those already in their forties but with little or no investment. The book all to often assumes you are in the early stages of a career or at the end of it.
Buy this book if you are a first timer to the Motley Fool - otherwise stick with the UK Investment Guide and wait for the second edition of Old Age.......

Title : Get a Life: You Don't Need a Million to Retire Well
Author : Ralph Warner
Rating : 4 Stars out of 5.
Summary : A common sense approach to planning for retirement.
This book should be required reading for people in their 30's and 40's. It emphasizes keeping active, having a wide variety of interests, and developing friends of all ages. It's a good antidote to all those financial planners who try to make you feel guilty about not having "X" millions of dollars invested so they can make commissions off your money. A good gift for middle age yuppies.

Title : Rich Dad's Retire Young, Retire Rich: How to Get Rich and Stay Rich Forever! (Rich Dad's Advisors Series)
Author : Robert T. Kiyosaki
Rating : 5 Stars out of 5.
Summary : The best "Rich Dad" yet!
I would recommend every book in Robert Kiyosaki's "Rich Dad" series to anyone, but this book is the best yet! Kiyosaki's writing style has settled down, and he has organised his thoughts into a clear, logical book, that, at long last, carries clear guidance on many of the topics that he has addressed in previous books.
"More of the same"? well, yes, there is some repetition there, but since no author can expect every reader to read all his books in sequence there will always be a need to re-state the main principles. In any case, I don't see repetition of this kind as being anything but beneficial, as ultimately it helps to reinforce the message in my own mind.
This book talks a great deal about leverage; all kinds of leverage; ways to improve your ability to create personal wealth. This book will help you to realise that your dreams ARE achievable and help you to organise your mind to achieve those dreams.
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Title : Cashing in on the American Dream: How to Retire at 35
Author : Paul Terhorst
Rating : 5 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Fifteen Years Later, They're Still Retired
This book, along with Your Money or Your Life, changed our lives. By following the advice outlined in these two books, we were able to quit our jobs in our forties and pursue other interests. We have been free of the daily grind for over four years now, thanks in part to Paul Terhorst, Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez (authors of YMOYL).
In a conversational style, Terhorst explains how he realized his job was sapping the life out of him, and how he used his skills as an accountant to devise a plan that would enable him to retire at 39 years of age. Unfortunately, the specific financial advice he gives (invest in high-yield certificates of deposit) is no longer possible. But number-crunching is not the most important message that Terhorst has.
Cashing in on the American Dream advocates a no-nonsense approach to determining just what you want in life. Do you want to be free of working for others? Then it might mean giving up your car and dinners out. But it doesn't have to mean giving up what you really love (or need). Terhorst and his wife, Vicki, have been retired almost twenty years now and have spent much of it traveling the world. They have health insurance abroad, because it's cheaper than U.S. insurance (where we still have no national health insurance), and better.
The Terhorsts have their own website and I like to check in on them once or twice a year. The fact that they have made their plan work all these years is more important than any advice they have. Cashing in on The American Dream is an inspiring book. If they could do it, why can't you?