Archive for Investing & Retirement

Book Review: The Smartest Retirement Book You’ll Ever Read by Daniel R. Solin

September 26, 2012 / / 11 comments

The Smartest Retirement Book
Sometimes when it comes to financial advice, you don’t want a lot of fluff. You just want someone to tell you like it is – straight and to the point. Not a whole bunch of “maybe this, maybe that”. That aspect is what I loved about the Smartest Retirement Book You’ll Ever Read by Daniel R. Solin – definitive and conscience advice!

So far I’ve already written two separate posts highlighting pieces of advice in this book. But there’s actually a lot more to it. Solin has JAMMED PACKED this book full of useful knowledge. The information it contains could be appreciated by both newbies as well as intermediate/advanced investors. Here’s some of the more important tidbits you can take away from The Smartest Retirement Book:

 

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Book Review: “Dividends Still Don’t Lie” by Kelley Wright

July 11, 2012 / / 8 comments

If non-fiction books had sequels, this would be one of them. Over almost 20 years after the release of the original classic “Dividends Don’t Lie” by Geraldine Weiss, author Kelley Wright breathes life into the subject once again with his version “Dividends Still Don’t Lie: The Truth About Investing in Blue Chip Stocks and Winning in the Stock Market“.

The main theme of the book is that a stock’s dividend yield is the best indicator of its value and ultimately the right time to buy. Building upon “The Dividend-Yield Theory” presented in the first book, Kelley reviews and updates this theory using new and recent data. The book then goes on to explain how this theory can be applied by individual investors.

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Book Reivew: “Stop Acting Rich: …And Start Living Like a Real Millionaire” by Dr. Thomas J. Stanley

October 6, 2011 / / No comments

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Think all rich people drink fancy wine and drive luxury cars? How about the inverse – that everyone who lives in an expensive home or wears a Swiss watch is a millionaire? You’d be very surprised to learn that most “true millionaires” are nothing like this.

In his latest book “Stop Acting Rich: …And Start Living Like a Real Millionaire”, Dr. Thomas Stanley further explores the subject of what makes a millionaire. Similar to his previous books “The Millionaire Next Door” and “The Millionaire Mind”, he uses data from thousands of surveys from real people on various aspects of spending and saving habits. The results are presented throughout this book to demonstrate the true identity of millionaire habits.

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Book Review: “Higher Returns from Safe Investments” by Marvin Appel

September 27, 2011 / / No comments

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This isn’t another book of “buy a bunch of stocks, hold them for 30 years, and hope for the best” type of investment advice. “Higher Returns from Safe Investments: Using Bonds, Stocks, and Options to Generate Lifetime Income” by Marvin Appel delivers an alternative perspective on the risks and returns from other types of investments; namely bonds. However, he doesn’t just stop there. The book also covers a broad range of other under-appreciated investments such as high-dividend stocks, preferred stocks, and covered call options.

I’ll be the first to admit: There is nothing sexy about reading a book about bonds. But after experiencing the evaporation of money during the Great Recession of 2008, I think a book with this sort of title deserves its due time.

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Book Review: “The Little Book of Big Dividends” by Charles B. Carlson

September 9, 2011 / / 5 comments

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If you think that putting your money into bonds or CD’s is the only way to hedge against the roller-coaster ride of the stock market, think again! Author Charles Carlson demonstrates that an age old benefit of owning stocks called “dividends” can be used to create a stream of income and protect against market conditions.

Right now if you asking yourself “what is a dividend?”, then this is the right book for you. “The Little Book of Big Dividends” is a great introduction for anyone looking to get acquainted with dividends and how they relate to stocks. The material is easy to read and it is not overly equation-heavy (except for the Appendix) or preachy on risky investments. In fact, Carlson’s advice is very modest and follows the lines of most conventional teaching.

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Book Review: “The Big Secret for the Small Investor” by Joel Greenblatt

August 31, 2011 / / No comments
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Personality. Sarcasm. Normally I don’t use entertaining words to describe personal finance books, but this one embodies those qualities.

In this very brief read by Joel Greenblatt (an investment company owner and professor at the Columbia Business School), Greenblatt colorfully lays out his arguments and foundation for his two part (A and B) investment plan which he refers to as his “Big Secret”.

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Book Review: “Your Money Ratios: 8 Simple Tools for Financial Security at Every Stage in Life” by Charles Farrell

August 24, 2011 / / No comments
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Most financial books tell you come up with a retirement goal and to save towards it. Period. But have you ever wondered if you were on the right track? At 30, how much should I have saved for retirement? What about 40, 50, etc? What about debt, savings, etc.? Where do I stack up against my peers?

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