
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 : Rich Dad's Prophecy
Author : Sharon L. Lechter
Rating : 4 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Building your ship or your castle? You choose. But do build
This is a wake up call to anyone still thinking that learning the investment game is optional. It is NOT!
This is a very useful addition to the Rich Dad's series mainly because it helps screw in concepts from the first book Rich Dad Poor Dad, the second one The Cash Flow Quadrant and the third one Guide to Investing.
I see each one as a lecture. And there is a constant build up helping to shape and focus the mind of newbies in the world of professional investment.

Title : Still Here: Embracing Aging, Changing and Dying
Author : Ram Dass
Rating : 5 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Fierce grace
I have been fortunate enough to meet Ram Dass on two occasions including a five day meditation retreat. This book distills the experiences of a lifetime of searching for spiritual meaning. It is probably not the best introduction to him, but it will help anyone facing their "midlife crisis" or having to deal with experiences that confront you with your mortality. Will you "flunk the test" when it is time to leave your body behind?
It's worth keeping an eye out for the DVD "Fierce Grace" (from USA)which is a fine 90 minute documentary with interviews with Ram Dass before and as he manages his life after his stroke - as well as some excellent historical footage from his life in the sixties.
Namaste.

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 (New Golden Door to Retirement and Living in Costa Rica)
Author : Christopher Howard
Rating : 5 Stars out of 5.
Summary : "This Books is my Right Hand"
This book is my Right Hand, as manager of the Residents Association of Costa Rica (ARCR), I have found that newcomers sometimes seem to know more about Costa Rica than people living here just because they read this excellent book.

Title : Rich Dad's Retire Young, Retire Rich: How to Get Rich Quickly and Stay Rich Forever! (Rich Dad)
Author : Robert T. Kiyosaki
Rating : 5 Stars out of 5.
Summary : More great ideas, more great context - huge value for money
This fourth book in the main series follows through the logical progression from 'taking care of your business' to retiring and doing what you want to do full time. Some people in the UK may find Robert Kiyosaki's American enthusiasm and repetitive writing style a bit hard to take - just stick with it and realise that making money is something that Americans do better then us! Others may say that you 'can't do those things here' - may I suggest to them that they need new advisors as I have not had any problems in implementing these ideas. I would read 'Rich Dad Poor Dad' and 'Cashflow Quadrant' before this book - could be a bit much at once otherwise.
The big gain from this, as with all the books, is the sense of challenge and attitude that comes across. Combined with the specific ideas for action and areas to think about Robert is able to lead you towards acheiving your financial goals, whatever they are.
Retiring before 45 is a dream that most us share, but few think is possible. I would rate these four books as being of equal value in helping me to be on track to reach this goal (despite having started at 31 years old), as my MBA. The MBA tells me how, Rich Dad helps me think of why, when and what.
The true value of these books is really demonstrated by their life expectancy on my book shelf at home. I have leant a number of copies of Rich Dad Poor Dad to friends and family, none of which have ever been returned! Since then my sister is now starting her own company and writing a book and friends have made some very profitable moves into property investment. None of these people, including myself, talked about such things before reading Robert's books.
Buy this book. Read it. then hide it and re-read it every few months - if you don't you will probably find that it disappears and those close to you start to have more money in their pockets!
A real delight.

Title : Rich Dad's Prophecy
Author : Sharon L. Lechter
Rating : 4 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Building your ship or your castle? You choose. But do build
This is a wake up call to anyone still thinking that learning the investment game is optional. It is NOT!
This is a very useful addition to the Rich Dad's series mainly because it helps screw in concepts from the first book Rich Dad Poor Dad, the second one The Cash Flow Quadrant and the third one Guide to Investing.
I see each one as a lecture. And there is a constant build up helping to shape and focus the mind of newbies in the world of professional investment.