The Single Best Investment By Lowell Miller

August 29th, 2008 — Book Review 

If you have ever wanted to get into investing, but you weren’t sure where to start, there are thousands of books out there that will get you started. But they are not all created equal. From sky high hope crushers to real world advice, you’ll have plenty of topics to go over. The Single Best Investment by Lowell Miller proclaims to help you decide which investment is the most important one, but can it live up to the title? Let’s find out!

While the book is very well written, we didn’t find that it covered anything really new. Which is not a problem in and of itself, unless you are expecting the book to contain earth shattering information that will make you a millionaire overnight. Basically, the premise is that your best investment is in stocks that are highly rated and have big payouts. You don’t really need to be an economics major to figure that one out, but there is a lot of merit to the actual discussion about these investments.

Dividends are a terrific means of creating multiple streams of income and who doesn’t like having extra money coming in? If you’ve got the money and the ability to find these stocks, then they are a solid way of making more money. There is still a good amount of risk involved, but by taking the time to research the stock carefully, you can limit this. No investment is fool-proof, but you can make a lot of money with these stocks.

He does provide some great advice on how to determine the overall quality of stock and what you need to look for if you are interested in this type of investment. Again, pretty basic stuff but useful to some. We did like the chapter on knowing when to sell and found that this was probably the best section in the book, especially for those new to investing.

Overall, we found that the book contained some pretty good advice. It is best suited towards those that are just getting started in the investment world, or for those that already have money and need to learn how to make more quickly. It won’t do much good for those that are still trying to save money, but in this case, leveraging may be the best answer.

We recommend this book to those that need to learn about how stocks work and the market in general. Pros won’t find much to learn here, since much of the information is basic and already well covered or known. That doesn’t make it a bad book, just one that needs a specific kind of reader. It’s not the worst book ever written on investments, but it’s not the best either. It holds that good middle ground where it’s just enough to make you want to read it and some readers will take away a good amount of information and advice they can put to use. For that, we give it a recommend.

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3 Ways to Weather Economic Cycles

May 20th, 2008 — Debt, Diversification, Income Streams, Leverage, Money, Personal Finance, Wealth 

Constant State of FluxThe economy is in a state of constant flux. If one industry is doing well, you can bet another is suffering. While it can be difficult to weather any cycle, there are techniques that you can use to ensure that you stay on top no matter what happens. Here are just a few of the most proven ways to keep making money, no matter what state the economy is in.

1. Leveraging Debt -

The proper use of debt is one of the best ways to increase your income and have the stability you need to weather any cycle. Whether it’s a personal cycle, or a global one, if you are making more money from several different avenues, you’ll be prepared for no matter what happens. If you’re relying on only one paycheck, you’re at a much greater risk of losing everything if something should go wrong.

2. Multiple Streams of Income -

Why have just one source of income when you could have several. Let’s look at this on a personal level first, and then a global level. Let’s say that you have one paycheck coming in from a job you’ve held for years. It’s been a secure job, but today you wake up to find out that you’ve been downsized without warning. Even if you have severance pay, it’s going to take time to find a new job. Since you were only relying on that one stream of income, you’re suddenly at risk for losing everything you own, or at the very least, drastically reducing your savings.

On a global level, let’s say that you’ve had one investment that has been returning nicely for the past few years. Today you wake up to find that the bottom dropped out, the company went bankrupt and all of that stock you were counting on has evaporated. This has spelled disaster for numerous investors all over the world.

Now, let’s say that in addition to that one job or that one stock, you had several streams of income coming in every month. Suddenly, it’s not so earth shattering if one of them fails. You’ve got the benefit of having numerous different forms of income that will keep you above water.

3. Diversity -

There is nothing worse than putting all of your eggs in one basket and hoping for the best. It may work for a little while, but no economy is stable enough to keep performing at the same level for a hundred years. Using the same examples as above, it just makes more sense to spread your risks around. You won’t be running the chance that you’re going to be ruined if one of them fails. Smart investors always diversify and smart business owners usually have more than one way of making money.

It’s the smart way to do business. If you’re not diversified, now is the time to take a hard look at your stocks or holdings and determine how best to start. You can always ask for the help of a financial planner if you’re short on diversification ideas.

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