Introduction Books - Page 12

Parlay Your IRA into a Family Fortune: 3 EASY STEPS for creating a lifetime supply of tax-deferred, even tax-free, wealth for you and your family

Ed Slott

Amazon Price: $10.88 List Price: $16.00 Not yet published By: Penguin (Non-Classics)

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Investing -> Introduction
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Personal Finance -> Financial Planning
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Personal Finance -> Retirement Planning

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Good IRA Reference, but Stretch IRA Wildly Overhyped 3 out of 5 stars.
13 of 16 people found this review helpful.

This is both a very good and very bad book. Slott is a CPA and his bio indicates that he specializes in IRA law and estate planning. The retirement column in the Wall St. Journal uses him as an IRA expert. If you've seen Slott on PBS, you know he is also a pitchman and showman. This book is a mixture of expert IRA info and advice and wild overselling.

On the plus side:
This book is full of IRA information and good IRA advice presented in a very readable manner. I made dozens of notes in the front cover while reading this book. An excellent IRA reference. And I think the book does a service by pointing out that the IRA code has (sort of) a loophole that allows the 'effective' taxes paid on the IRA to be greatly reduced if the IRA is passed on to younger family members who should (Slott recommends) only take out the minimum annually over their lifetimes. Slott calls this the 'stretch' IRA.

On the negative side:
Your IRA can grow into a FAMILY FORTUNE, he screams, with pages of tables showing a 100 thousand IRA growing to millions (in one case to nearly 300 million if left to grow into well into the 21 century!). Nonsense, what about the time value of money? Slott never heard of it (or pretends he never heard of it). The reality, of course, is that if your income tax rate is, say, 33% then when you withdraw IRA funds you lose 1/3rd of it to taxes. The best that even a perfect tax strategy can do is recover this 1/3rd. Nice, but hardly a fortune.

Slott provides a useful check list of features an IRA contract should have. You would think that maybe he would read the IRA contracts of top IRA providers (like Fidelity, Vanguard) and tell us how they stack up? Nope, that's our job, not his.

Convert to a Roth IRA and your money will grow TAX FREE he screams. Slott's very positive on Roth IRA's, too positive. I worked through a Roth conversion example and find that the extra shielding that a Roth IRA allows can boost your after-tax returns a little. (Calculation details are in 'Roth Primer' section of the 'Charity' essay on my home page.) I calculate in a 6% market environment that Roth IRA will yield 6% vs an after tax yield for a traditional IRA of approx 5.4%, or an extra 0.6%/yr investment gain. However, there can be a serious downside to doing a Roth conversion that Slott doesn't mention. A large Roth conversion will likely be taxed at a much higher incremental income tax rate than normal minimum withdrawals, and since Roth has only a tiny yield advantage over a traditional IRA it could easily take a decade or more just to get even.

Editorial Review:

“America ’s IRA expert”(Mutual Funds magazine) Ed Slott shows readers how to make the most out of their retirement plans.

• Achieve unlimited tax-free income after retirement and keep assets in the family
• Protect retirement funds from creditors, divorce, bankruptcy, lawsuits, or other problems that could expose it to loss
• Use a Roth IRA to build a tax-free fortune Slott’s three-step strategy cuts through the tax laws and provides simple, easy-to-follow instructions for managing IRAs and other retirement income.

Understanding Wall Street

Jeffrey Little, Jeffrey Little

Amazon Price: $10.17 List Price: $14.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: McGraw-Hill Amazon Marketplace: 47 new & used starting at $5.98

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Industries & Professions -> Accounting -> General
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Industries & Professions -> Accounting -> General AAS
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Investing -> Introduction

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 25 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

One of history's top-selling investment guides--800,000 copies sold!--is now updated for a new generation of investors

.

Praise for previous editions of Understanding Wall Street:

.

"One of those rare publications that delivers exactly what it promises . . .consistently good."

.

--Barron's

.

"Among the best for the novice investor."

.

--Los Angeles Times

.

"A good practical education on the stock market."

.

--Business Opportunities Digest

.

Over the past quarter century, Understanding Wall Street has helped investors at every level understand exactly how the stock market works, and how they can build strong portfolios while limiting their exposure to risk. Now completely updated to help investors prosper in the new, no-limits market environment, the "little green book" includes:.

.
• Two all-new chapters, updated charts and graphs, and nearly 40 percent updated, revised, or new material .
• Strategies for uncovering valuable investment information on the Internet .
• Analysis and explanation of the recent market crash, and how to avoid similar disasters.

.

.

The Love Languages of God

Gary Chapman

Amazon Price: $13.25 List Price: $16.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Northfield Publishing Amazon Marketplace: 19 new & used starting at $5.36

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Investing -> Introduction
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Investing -> General
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Investing -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

The Five Love Languages of Children 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

An excellent resouce for discovering your child's motiovational code. I would highly recommend it to any parent or grandparent who is passionate about the emotional and social development of their child.

Editorial Review:

Make the 'love connection' with Almighty GodThis is the book Gary Chapman was born to write...the one Chapman title EVERYONE should read, Christian and non-Christian alike. The best-selling author of The Five Love Languages books, Dr. Chapman says, 'The purpose of this book is to help people enjoy living, and have peace about dying. To love and be loved, what could be more important?'Once you discover your primary love language in human relationships, you can assume that will also be your primary love language in your relationship with God. Whether we are speaking to God or He is speaking to us -- we are feeling God's love and presence strongest in one particular way! By teaching readers to tap into divine love, Chapmen helps them relate to God in a way that will totally revolutionize their will to love one another.

Getting Started in Currency Trading: Winning in Today's Hottest Marketplace (Getting Started In.....)

Michael Duane Archer

Amazon Price: $13.57 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Wiley Amazon Marketplace: 48 new & used starting at $10.99

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Finance -> Foreign Exchange
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Industries & Professions -> Accounting -> General
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Industries & Professions -> Accounting -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 37 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

While the Foreign Exchange (FOREX) market can be a very profitable place, you must have a firm understanding of how to operate within this environment if you intend on achieving any success. That's why you need Getting Started in Currency Trading, Second Edition. This reliable resource-written for both newcomers and those with some FOREX experience-puts trading world currencies in perspective, and shows you exactly what it takes to make it in this field. Topics include:

• The rapidly expanding and evolving online trading marketplace for spot currencies, generally referred to as retail FOREX
• The process of initiating and liquidating a live market order
• The advantages and disadvantages of fundamental and technical analysis
• The wealth of FOREX products and services now available from third-party vendors
• The psychology of trading and the stresses that may accompany this endeavor
• Advanced strategies such as options, exotics, and arbitrage

Investing Online for Dummies, 5th Edition

Kathleen Sindell

List Price: $24.99 By: For Dummies Amazon Marketplace: 65 new & used starting at $0.99

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Industries & Professions -> Accounting -> General
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Industries & Professions -> Accounting -> General AAS
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Industries & Professions -> E-commerce -> Online Trading

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 29 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Everybody talks about it—how much you can save , and earn, when you start an online investment program. If you’ve decided you’re ready to find out what all the excitement’s about, you’re in luck. Investing Online For Dummies has been completely revised and updated with the latest tools, Web sites, rule changes, and tips that can make online investing easy and profitable.

To be a successful online investor, you need to know your way around the Web and you also need to understand something about investments. Investing Online For Dummies can help you make sound financial decisions by:

• Outlining basic investment fundamentals
• Explaining how stock options work and helping you determine the value of your employee stock option plan
• Pointing out costly traps and ways to avoid them
• Directing you to resources that provide information you need and helping you make sense of it
• Showing you how to use the Internet to become a savvy investor

This 5^th edition of Investing Online For Dummies provides clear instructions and ample illustrations, taking you from the basics of online investing to making your own online stock transactions to purchasing bonds online. A few of the things you’ll discover:

• What’s important in an online brokerage and how to locate one that meets your needs
• How to find Internet resources that help you select mutual funds
• How to use stock online screens to find investment candidates that will move you toward your financial goals
• Where to look for direct stock purchase and ShareBuilder plans that let you invest online for as little as $25 a month
• How Internet tools can help you analyze and choose stocks and bonds
• The secrets to paying the lowest commissions when trading online

There’s so much information available on the Internet that you can easily feel overwhelmed. Investing Online For Dummies leads you through that maze, showing you how to get started, what you really need to know, where to go online to find it, and how to get the process underway. When it comes to choosing which cruise to take to celebrate your success, however, you’re on your own!

Stikky Stock Charts: Learn The 8 Major Stock Chart Patterns Used By Professionals And How To Interpret Them To Trade Smart--in OSne Hour, Guaranteed (Stikky)

Laurence Holt

Amazon Price: $9.60 List Price: $12.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Laurence Holt Books Amazon Marketplace: 37 new & used starting at $6.38

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Investing -> Introduction
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Investing -> Stocks
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Personal Finance -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 26 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Excellent book for those starting out 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I have been investing for a short amount of time, but I am new to chart-reading and all the trading fundamentals. This book was a great place to start and I really loved the presentation of it as well. Cheap too.

This is just the beginning... 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

What can a stock chart tell you? Well, it can tell you what masses of people are thinking... and what they might do next. If you think that might help you with your investing or trading, then this book is a cheap and easy to understand introduction for you. I read it through several times until I could just look at a chart and pick out some major patterns.

The book gives you clear examples of typical chart patterns and what they mean. It also has examples where YOU draw the lines and make the interpretations. Don't skip over that part. Physically drawing on paper has a way of ingraining something into your mind more than clicking buttons on a computer screen or just skimming through pages, for the same reason some people take notes in class and never look at them again.

Certainly, this book is aimed at people who know little to nothing about the subject, like other Stikky books, so don't expect any deep revelations here. But for the new or casually curious investor, I would highly recommend it!

Editorial Review:

Stikky Stock Charts teaches the reader how to discern the best times to get in and out of investments, read a chart in seconds, forecast the most likely next move for a stock, and understand how market professionals work. Illustrations are featured on every page in addition to two separate learning sequences and an epilogue to prevent "my brain is full" syndrome. A comprehensive section of resources is included. This innovative guide is based on a special patented learning method for making complex information "stick" in the brain — in less than one hour.

Behavioral Finance and Wealth Management: How to Build Optimal Portfolios That Account for Investor Biases (Wiley Finance)

Michael M. Pompian

Amazon Price: $37.80 List Price: $60.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Wiley Amazon Marketplace: 34 new & used starting at $32.59

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Industries & Professions -> Accounting -> General
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Industries & Professions -> Accounting -> General AAS
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Investing -> Introduction

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Great Practical Book on Behavioral Finance 5 out of 5 stars.
19 of 21 people found this review helpful.

I first read this book, and then a few weeks later read Jason Zweig's Your Money and Your Brain.

Pompian's book wins hands down from a practical viewpoint......how you can use behavioral finance findings as an investor or investment advisor. Pompian lists all 20 common biases, and then gives examples of how to deal with them. I also enjoyed his section on using Briggs Myers test results coupled with behavioral finance principles.....to develop better financial plans which fit people better.

Zweig's book is a fascinating read.......but when I got done......my question was.....How to I apply these behavioral finance findings to my investments or my client's financial plans? I would have to re-read Zweig's book......and develop the practical uses myself from his book.

It is interesting that Zweig's book at $17 has an Amazon sales rank of 2,075......and Pompian's book at $38 is only ranked 38,940. I have always enjoyed reading Zweig's columns in Money magazine. It is interesting to see where future research is headed in Zweig's book.......but in my opinion; you get more practical advice (or value) for the dollar from Pompian's book than Zweig's book.

To compliment this book.....I would suggest a couple good books on index fund investing and asset allocation.


Index Mutual Funds: How to Simplify Your Financial Life and Beat the Pro's
The Richest Man in Babylon
Bogle on Mutual Funds: New Perspectives for the Intelligent Investor
The Millionaire Next Door
The Four Pillars of Investing: Lessons for Building a Winning Portfolio
A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing, Ninth Edition
The Coffeehouse Investor: How to Build Wealth, Ignore Wall Street, and Get On With Your Life
The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing

Editorial Review:

"Pompian is handing you the magic book, the one that reveals your behavioral flaws and shows you how to avoid them. The tricks to success are here. Read and do not stop until you are one of very few magicians."
—Arnold S. Wood, President and Chief Executive Officer, Martingale Asset Management

Fear and greed drive markets, as well as good and bad investment decision-making. In Behavioral Finance and Wealth Management, financial expert Michael Pompian shows you, whether you're an investor or a financial advisor, how to make better investment decisions by employing behavioral finance research. Pompian takes a practical approach to the science of behavioral finance and puts it to use in the real world. He reveals 20 of the most prominent individual investor biases and helps you properly modify your asset allocation decisions based on the latest research on behavioral anomalies of individual investors.

The Wall Street Journal. Complete Personal Finance Guidebook (The Wall Street Journal Guidebooks)

Jeff D. Opdyke

Amazon Price: $10.17 List Price: $14.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Three Rivers Press Amazon Marketplace: 55 new & used starting at $5.85

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Investing -> Introduction
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Personal Finance -> General
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Personal Finance -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 19 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

From America’s most authoritative source: the quintessential primer on understanding and managing your money

Money courses through just about every corner of our lives and has an impact on the way we live today and how we’ll be able to live in the future. Understanding your money, and getting it to work for you, has never been more important than it is today, as more and more of us are called upon to manage every aspect of our financial lives, from managing day-to-day living expenses to planning a college savings fund and, ultimately, retirement. From The Wall Street Journal, the most trusted name in financial and money matters, this indispensable book takes the mystery out of personal finance. Start with the basics, learn how they work, and you’ll become a better steward of your own money, today and in the future. Consider The Wall Street Journal Complete Personal Finance Guidebook your cheat sheet to the finances of your life. This book will help you:

• Understand the nuts and bolts of managing your money: banking, investing, borrowing, insurance, credit cards, taxes, and more

• Establish realistic budgets and savings plans

• Develop an investment strategy that makes sense for you

• Make the right financial decisions about real estate

• Plan for retirement intelligently


Also available—the companion to this guidebook: The Wall Street Journal Personal Finance Workbook, by Jeff D. Opdyke

Get your financial life in order with help from The Wall Street Journal. Look for:

• The Wall Street Journal Complete Money and Investing Guidebook

• The Wall Street Journal Complete Identity Theft Guidebook

• The Wall Street Journal Complete Real Estate Investing Guidebook

Financial Shenanigans: How to Detect Accounting Gimmicks & Fraud in Financial Reports, Second Edition

Howard M. Schilit

Amazon Price: $23.07 List Price: $34.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: McGraw-Hill Amazon Marketplace: 76 new & used starting at $12.77

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Industries & Professions -> Accounting -> Financial
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Industries & Professions -> Accounting -> General
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Industries & Professions -> Accounting -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 36 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Learn about accounting legerdemain 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

The great thing about this book: not only will you learn about accounting prestidigitation from the world's expert in this subject (Schilit's forensic accounting firm, the CFRA, is used by hedge funds worldwide to find problem companies), you can actually learn pretty much all there is to know about corporate accounting and financial statements. I found his explanations tremendously lucid; easily understood by an intelligent person who can add, subtract, multiply and divide. What is more; he made accounting not only accessible, but also somewhat exciting; not an adjective that generally describes accounting. He makes finding the cheating companies a jolly detective game of "spot the weasel!"

Who should read this? If you are a serious investor; someone who treats investments like something other than gambling, this is an absolute must. I'm not talking about speculators; you can speculate well without this stuff (though you can speculate better with it), but for investors you can't afford to be without it. This will teach you how to read a company statement, and a 10-k. Even those who have a more casual interest in investing or business will likely find this an amusing and rewarding read.

Editorial Review:

Techniques to uncover and avoid accounting frauds and scams Inflated profits . . . Suspicious write-offs . . . Shifted expenses . . . These and other dubious financial maneuvers have taken on a contemporary twist as companies pull out the stops in seeking to satisfy Wall Street. Financial Shenanigans pulls back the curtain on the current climate of accounting fraud. It presents tools that anyone who is potentially affected by misleading business valuations­­from investors and lenders to managers and auditors­­can use to research and read financial reports, and to identify early warning signs of a company's problems. A bestseller in its first edition, Financial Shenanigans has been thoroughly updated for today's marketplace. New chapters, data, and research reveal contemporary "shenanigans" that have been known to fool even veteran researchers.

A Message to Garcia

Fra Elbert Hubbard

Amazon Price: $12.76 List Price: $15.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Kessinger Publishing, LLC Amazon Marketplace: 26 new & used starting at $4.33

Buy at Amazon.com

Browse similar items by category:
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Business Life -> Motivation & Self-Improvement
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Job Hunting & Careers -> General
Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Job Hunting & Careers -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 37 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Simple Message - make it happen 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

This book is a classic. When I reported to my first assignment as a young Army officer, my company commander had me read this book. I am glad that he did. It is short and to the point. The message of "make it happen" really resonated with me then, and it still does.

I recently purchased the book and am having my colleagues at work read it. Most had never heard of it, and appreciated the content. Therefore, I recommend it is a quick read and reminder that the world is in desperate need of people who spend less time complaining, pondering, posturing, posing, back-stabbing, you name it....but actually get things done.

Download for free 1 out of 5 stars.
1 of 3 people found this review helpful.

This is an open source essay and you can download it for free from the internet. Do not buy this.

Great read for your staff... 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

If you are a manager, make sure your staff reads this (but provide context, it can be misinterpreted!). If you are staff, make sure you take the message to Garcia by reading "A Message to Garcia". Easy, half hour read that is worth re-reading every once in a while.

Editorial Review:

A marvelous story about a man who, "Went it alone and got it done." Translated into all languages, this story has become a model for success. The hero is the man who does his work...who carries the message to Garcia. Originally published in 1898.