November 13th, 2008 — Book Review, Money, Personal Finance, Wealth
With all of the hype surrounding Robert T. Kiyosaki’s book, Rich Dad Poor Dad, I fully expected a life changing read that would open new horizons and unlock the mysteries of the wealthy. What I got was a nice little parable with very little actual advice and a whole lot of pep talk. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with getting people fired up about making money, it won’t do them much good if they can’t put the advice into action right away.
My main complaint with this book is that the techniques mentioned in it are really only useful for those who are in their early 20’s and willing to go the long haul when it comes to making money. I think the majority of readers are those who are already established and need to find a way to get more money for retirement or as a way to break free from their dreary jobs. Most of the focus appears to be on ways to make money that are already well known.
We all know that taking money and putting it into high interest bearing accounts will pay off eventually. We all know that the wealthy usually have many assets. What we don’t know is how they get them, how they keep them and how they keep their money rolling in. You don’t play high stakes poker with interest. You have got to be willing to get out there and put your money on the table and take that chance at winning the pot.
While this book is a great resource for teenagers and those just starting out in life, I really can’t recommend it to those who are looking for a path on the way to becoming wealthy. It’s already pretty much an accepted fact that watching your money and living frugally is a good way to save and amass wealth. But how you do get that wealth in the first place?
In order to get money, you’ve got to have money. For most of us, who don’t have a rich dad, that either means waiting for 20 years to have a savings account that we can actually work with, or it means taking that chance and leveraging debt in a smart way. This book was very anti-debt, which is a good thing for some people, especially if they are caught up in bad debt. However, it did not address good debt appropriately enough and the benefits that it can bring if managed correctly.
Most of the rich got that way by leveraging their debt when they first started out. It’s one thing to be born wealthy, but somewhere along the line in that family, somebody had to take that risk that would eventually pay off to secure the futures of their descendants. Leveraging debt to make money is the oldest method of finding financial freedom. I wish the book had gone into more detail on this premise instead of focusing on what most people already know.
Related Articles
Related Stores
October 24th, 2008 — Book Review, Goal, Money, Personal Finance
This fascinating book by a popular financial journalist and a college professor may not be the newest book on the shelf, and it may not have the most hype, but by far, it is one of the most interesting personal finance books we have ever read. This book goes where not many do – into the human psyche – to determine why we develop certain spending habits, and how to break them before they break us.
The main premise of this book is that even the smartest people, the ones that should know better, really don’t when it comes to money. By taking a look at behavioral studies, the two authors came to the conclusion that some of our spending habits are so ingrained that unless you get to the root of the behavior, you’ll never be able to make much of a difference in your personal finances.
This was an interesting take on a subject that has been beaten to death. Why do we spend so much? Because in many cases, we have trained ourselves to do it. By breaking free of this behavioral cycle, the authors assert that we can start to manage our money more effectively and begin to see real changes in how we look at money, and how we treat it.
Truly a fascinating read that offers some hard hitting advice. Every single chapter contains a wealth of information, from how mental accounting can trip you up, to how overconfidence can bring about your financial ruin. Read this book more than once, and take the time to really think about each chapter and the lessons contained herein. Most will be able to spot similar behaviors and the results may be pretty shocking. Even if you thought you were a personal finance whiz, you may change your mind after reading this book.
We recommend this book to anyone interested about personal finance and particularly to those that haven’t yet been able to figure out where they are going wrong with their finances. The little case studies make it easy to spot where you may be tripping up, and the action plans are very easy to follow. While some beginners may get a little lost, overall, the book is simple to read and offers some truly remarkable advice that hits home, regardless of your financial situation.
Whether you are rich or poor, financial stable or drowning in debt, this book is a very beneficial read. Unlike many in the genre, it is not terribly dry and uninteresting. Instead, it produces stories, case studies and real world examples of money mistakes and then provides the reader with the solution they need to preempt that bad behavior and change things. By far, in our opinion, one of the best books written on personal finance and one that should be read by anyone that needs to start managing their finances properly.
Related Articles
Related Stores
June 20th, 2008 — Book Review
There has been a lot of hype surrounding Douglas Andrew’s book, Missed Fortune 101. Many people gushed that it unlocked the secrets to becoming a millionaire, so I went into the book with high hopes. I was pretty disappointed to discover that much of the advice is already well known and let’s face it, a bit on the mundane side. We all know it’s important to have a 401K, but few of us have the potential to turn that into a million dollars.
While the book does serve as a useful guide for those that are just starting out, it kind of defeats the purpose and the target audience. The title itself leads readers to believe it’s written for those of us that are past the starting years and facing the ugly truths of retirement planning. Unless you have absolutely no concept of financial planning, I’m afraid this book will be a bit of a disappointment.
It is well written and the author does have a lot of enthusiasm, which is helpful considering some of the mundane advice that is doled out. Quite honestly, I felt that the author focused far too much on taxation and although I acknowledge that understanding tax law and avoiding overtaxation is important, it’s certainly not going to turn you into a millionaire. You may save a few thousand here or there, but it’s not the silver bullet that the hype built up. That said, there are a few good tips on how to avoid having your savings funds taxed into oblivion, but again, it seems as though the author was missing the point.
My main issue with the book is that it encourages readers to leverage the money from their homes into “special funds.” Finally, it’s revealed that these “special funds” are nothing more than investment grade life insurance policies. Personally, I believe it’s a bad idea to encourage people to endanger their homes with this type of investment, and quite honestly, the returns are not that good to warrant that kind of commitment.
The author encourages readers to build up as much mortgage debt as possible – which may have sounded good at the time, but as the latest news has proven, was really bad advice. Although he did discuss leveraging that into the investments mentioned above, it’s just not a sound enough premise to warrant anyone rushing out to adopt it. In fact, I worry that readers who took this advice to heart may be facing foreclosure right now.
Overall, while the book was well written, it fell horribly, horribly short of its promise. Perhaps if it had a different title, I would have come away with more praise. As it is, the hype is nothing more than that – empty hype that will get you no closer to realizing your dreams of financial independence. In that vein, it’s really not worth your time and there are far better books that cover the basics of dealing with taxes and finding ways to invest your money.
Related Articles
Related Stores
