Douglas Andrew’s book targets the baby boomer generation and tries to convince them that it is not too late to become a millionaire and avoid living on soup kitchen handouts to survive retirement. That’s a pretty tall order and a lot of authors have failed at this exact same premise. While Andrew’s book is well written and contains some good advice, there is just not enough here to make it stand out from the other books in this overcrowded field.

The first part of the book is dedicated to the art of financial planning and if you can wade through it to get to the parts you really want to read – bravo. Personally, he spent far too much time covering this area and it started to feel a bit like filler halfway through. With a catchy title, most readers are going to want the goods pretty quickly and forcing them to sit through half a book of financial planning advice is not a good idea if you want them to stay connected.

He constantly stresses frugality and the importance of not consuming. Well – good luck with that. We all have to consume, and if we didn’t the economy would implode. I’m certainly not saying we should all throw caution to the wind and spend every last dime, but over-frugality doesn’t make much sense either. It’s the happy medium that counts when it comes to managing your finances, not the extremes.

Once he does finally get to the point, you’re treated to advice that you should rip your money out of its nice safe little IRA and throw it into life insurance investments. It doesn’t take long to wonder whether the author has a vested interest in this since the tone of the book shifts to a full on sales pitch. While life insurance investments can be useful, it’s certainly not a good idea to go blow your entire IRA on them. Another disturbing point is the fact that he acknowledges that tax laws for life insurance investments “may” be changing and he “thinks” that if you invest now, you’ll be grandfathered in.

I’m sorry but “think” is not enough to get me to cash in my IRA, thank you very much. While he does include some figures to illustrate his points, in my opinion, this is simply far too much to ask of any reader. In addition, while he did cover the importance of annuities, and other safe investments, there was no attention paid to the importance of having more than one source of income.

Baby boomers are being phased out rapidly from companies all across the country and many are finding that financial ruin is looming after being laid off. There is also a lack of advice on how to leverage debt (which is vital for readers that may not have plush savings accounts) to create more income for retirement.

The book failed on many fronts, and honestly, I cannot recommend it to anyone.

Originally posted 2008-11-15 04:39:11. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Related Posts

• Review: Nine Steps to Financial Freedom By Suze Orman When it comes to personal finance, there are few experts out there that are as popular as Suze Orman. She has helped thousands of people get their finances under control through her efforts on her radio show and through her books. Her no-nonsense, common sense approach appeals to many and......
• Sunday Money Madness: Bootacular Edition Happy early Halloween! Welcome to yet another edition of the Sunday Money Madness Roundup. I hope you enjoy the posts presented below. Start browsing! Debt | Debt Leveraging: What Happens to a Joint Mortgage if One Partner Declares Themselves Bankrupt asks Debt Free Advice. Financial Wellness Project writes 5 questions......
• Protecting Your Investments In Times of Economic Crisis The United States economy is currently experiencing a serious financial shake up. No one really understands just how deep or how far reaching the damage is going to be, but what we do know is that there is going to be damage, and that we are going to be at......
• Organize Your Personal Finances in No Time by Debbie Stanley If nothing else, the state of the economy has shown that millions of people don’t have a good grasp of how to manage their personal finances. There are hundreds of books written every year on the subject and yet, this concept still seems to elude many. Some books are either......
• Review of the Richest Man in Babylon This is probably one of the most commonly used books by those who are looking to create wealth. It first came onto the scene in 1926, and shot to fame during the Great Depression as the desperate populace looked for a way out of poverty. While this book does raise......

Related Websites

• Review of Dr Shapiro's Guide to Picture Perfect Weight Loss Tomorrow is a holiday, which is why you are reading a book review today. I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend. Enjoy the fireworks and BBQs! Dr. Shapiro's book The Guide to Picture Perfect Weight Loss combines several interesting factors into one plan to help readers lose weight. While you......
• Book Review - Undercover Economist I just read The Undercover Economist: Exposing Why the Rich Are Rich, the Poor Are Poor--and Why You Can Never Buy a Decent Used Car! by Tim Harford.Its an incredibly good book that explains every economics [like whether coffee shops make a profit and how grocery stores gouge you]. However......
• Eating for Life By Bill Phillips This book made Bob Phillips a household name and we thought it was a good idea to revisit this book and see how it compares to the latest diet books on the market. While we are deluged with new titles every month, it’s always nice to go back to an......
• Yes, You Can Still Retire Comfortably! - A Book Review I read a lot in the areas of personal finance.  As a baby boomer, I make sure to include large doses of reading in retirement planning.  Regardless of your age, you should do the same.  I recently finished reading "Yes, You Can Still Retire Comfortably!" which was authored by Ben......
• Book Review: The Ascent of Money Niall Ferguson is not your typical economic commentator.  He’s not an economist, or journalist, or even a guy with an MBA.  He’s a historian; a historian with a largely business oriented interest and research, but a historian nonetheless. In 2008 he wrote a book called The Ascent of Money.  I......

Online Stores

• Banking, Insurance Advertising Collectibles

If you liked this article, vote for it on del.icio.us and stumbleupon.


Categories:

Book Review

Tags:

baby boomer, baby boomer generation, catchy title, caution to the wind, douglas andrew, extremes, financial planning, frugality, good advice, half a book, happy medium, insurance investments, last dime, life insurance, managing your finances, millionaire, premise, sales pitch, soup kitchen, vested interest