Product Description
FROM THE BACK COVER: Are you caught up in the financial thinking of the last century? That's when we learned to buy a home and pay it off as quickly as possible. It made sense in the conditions that existed back then. It doesn't make sense today. How would you like to: 1) Safely leverage and compound assets you didn't realize you had? 2) Become your own bank and build family wealth? 3) Pile up stock market gains, but never take the losses? 4) Lock-in a rich, secure and carefree retirement? 5) Transform the IRS into your wealth-building partner? 6) Create real wealth, empowering you to help others? 7) Get to your existing retirement funds with little or no taxes? 8) Leave a fortune to your heirs? STOP SITTING ON YOUR ASSETS make these strategies crystal clear -- and you can apply them with security and ease. If you own a home, you owe it to yourself to know about today's new reality: You are sitting on a potential fortune that can safely and confidently be put to work to build a massively abundant financial future. A future so rich that -- before STOP SITTING ON YOUR ASSETS -- could have only existed in your dreams.
Customer Reviews:
Home Owner Beware.......2007-10-17
This will be short. I have already wasted enough time ready the book (actually I stopped reading in Chapter 9) At first, I thought the examples were funny and than I realized there may be people reading this book that actually are taking notes. This is intended for those few. Seek out the help of a Professional Financial Advisor. This book should come with a warning label.
don't waste your money on this book or its strategy.......2007-10-05
First of all, the author has enough material for a magazine article at best and she has padded and stretched it into a book. That makes for an annoying read.
Secondly, her math is deceitful. She says to borrow the equity from your home at 8% and put that money to work getting an 8% return and you will end up with a huge pile of money. What about the payments? Oh, yeah. She subtracts those as a lump sum at the end from your pile of money. Everyone knows the payments have to made every month so if you're borrowing at 8% and getting an 8% return you're simply going to break even. If you're as smart as a fifth grader you know that math calculations have to be performed in the correct order or you'll get the wrong answer. She also gives an example of someone who could pay cash for a house but takes out a mortgage anyway and invests the money. She conveniently ignores the fact that the person could simply pay cash for the house and then invest what they would have made in payments each month and that money would grow to almost the same amount as her "safety fund"
The third problem with this strategy is that the only way to get this 8% tax free, totally safe return is to buy a questionable insurance product that she or her friends will be happy to sell you. Then you'll have the IRS looking over your shoulder.
I'm not a big fan of a mortgage free house for a number of reasons but if you're going to harvest equity and invest it, you'd better know what you're doing. For the average person it's way too risky.
Start saving some money by NOT buying this book.
This book has been done before, called Missed Fortune 101.......2007-09-22
Sad to see people trying to ride the coattails of another book and rip it off so blatantly. The orignal book called Missed Fortune 101 introduces the world to these strategies. Well Stop Sitting comes in and basically changes a word here and a word there to try and be different. For example Missed Fortune 101 talks about "going down the highway of life with one foot on the gas and one on the brake" Ms. Snow talks about going down the highway with 4 flat tires and a broken windshield...Come on!
Read Missed Fortune 101 Missed Fortune 101: A Starter Kit to Becoming a Millionaireto read the real story first, Read Stop Sitting for a rehash, if you like that kind of stuff...
I know I'm gonna write a book called Elbib and have it start out with a guy named Aaron and a girl named Emily who live in the jungle, then get kicked out of the jungle for eating the forbidden vegetable...
Looking for answers.......2007-08-19
I, too, was in awe after reading this book. The ideas are presented in a simple, easy to understand way, and it seems to me to be very logical. I'm no financial genius, rather a former math teacher and the numbers seem to work on paper. But, really, after the awe has worn off and reality hits, what's the catch? This seems too easy. If this idea has been in existance for several years, then why hasn't it caught on with the "masses?" Why don't more financial advisors recommend this? Is there something I'm missing or does it really work that simply and just nobody knows about it? Somebody....give me the real scoop!
Very, Very dangerous book.......2007-08-02
As I began to read this book, my first challenge was to get over the unearned arrogance of the author. Marion Snow may have a "scientific mind" and have a little experience in the mortgage industry selling people mortgages, but she is no financial planner.
The book is absolutely full of errors and misrepresentations of how some very complex financial products work. She literally demonizes financial planning professionals who have spent years of their lives helping clients and studying the ever changing landscape of both financial planning, estate planning, as well as the Internal Revenue Code.
Some of her VERY dangerous errors are as follows:
First, nearly all of her calculations discuss saving taxes at a 30 or 33% tax rate. While this sounds good, the average American is nowhere near the 33% tax bracket. The 33% tax bracket does not begin for most married Americans until they have over $195,000 of annual income.
Secondly, the insurance products that she describe do not function as she indicates. On page 110, she casually mentions that her insurance strategy will work as "long as you are careful not to deplete your cash value." She does not mention that the "tax advantaged policy loans" she advocates are 1)charged interest by the insurance company, and 2) taxable if the policy lapses in later years. Additionally, she neglects to mention that Universal life policies have increasing costs which will cause them to lapse using her strategy.
Third, all of her calculations are "assumed and hypothetical." They do not address real numbers. About halfway though the book she indicates she "got her insurance license" just to verify her findings. Unfortunately, an insurance license is viewed by most credentialed financial planners with the same reverence that training wheels are viewed by Olympic bicycle racers...
Fourth, her mortage strategies advocate taking illegal tax deductions - the tax deductions she describes are not allowable to the degree the advocates, in the tax brackets she uses as examples. The deductions "phase out" well before a taxpayer can use them to the degree she illustrates. Simply put - the numbers are INCORRECT.
Ms. Snow should spend a few years in school and learn what she is talking about - and a few more years working with real world financial clients -before being arrogant enough to throw stones at those who do.
She is flat wrong in many areas and will hurt a great many people who take her cutesy approach to financial planning seriously.
Jon - CFP, ChFC
Book Description
In today’s volatile financial environment, growing numbers of investors are looking to flee the stock market in search of safer ground. While the bond market has often been a “safe haven,” confusing new bonds and bond funds make it increasingly difficult for unfamiliar investors to choose the correct fixed income investments. The Bond Book provides investors with the information and tools they need to make bonds a comforting, important, and profitable component of their portfolios. Thoroughly revised, updated, and expanded from its bestselling first edition, this all-in-one sourcebook includes: *A new section on using the Internet to research, buy, and sell bonds *A new chapter devoted to increasingly popular foreign bonds *Detailed information on the inflation-linked Treasury bonds *Explanation of the new categories of bond funds *Tips on how to evaluate and buy bond funds
Customer Reviews:
A solid introduction.......2007-09-28
A great introduction to bonds and there place in a portfolio. The perfect place for the individual to start if they are considering purchasing individual bonds for their portfolio.
However, anyone looking for more in-depth information and strategies will likely be disappointed. Relatively little information about Zeros, TIPS and other products that are likely to be of interest. Start here, and then increase your knowledge with a title specific to your interests (i.e. municipal bonds, etc.).
God book but too general.......2007-01-04
I ordered this book for my business library. I enjoyed the book, but if you want more specifics on the methods of detailed bond calculations, I would recommend a good financial investments text book.
Primer on Fixed Income Products.......2005-09-09
Am nearly finished reading the 2nd printing of this excellent tutorial. Although I have been an avid buyer & seller of fixed income products for many years, the author did a superb job of furthering my mid-level expertise especially in the area of municipal bonds. Her plain language explanations were most welcome as opposed to the plethora of financial techno-babble tomes that share the bookshelf. 5 Stars without reservation.
Too Complicated.......2005-04-19
Thau over complicates her points. The book is too difficult to understand. I am an attorney who has been investing in stocks and bonds for over 10 years. This book is not appropriate for any level investor.
Highly Recommended!.......2004-12-22
This is an accessible introduction to bonds by a financial professional whose first book - as unlikely as it may seem - was a study of Max Jacob, the French poet. The literary background of the author, Annette Thau, may account for her book's clear, easy-to-read style. Most authors who write about bonds tend to get lost in the complex mathematics and specialized jargon of the bond markets. Not Annette Thau. Whether you are an individual investor trying to balance your portfolio with bonds, or a student of finance looking for a more lucid explanation of the subject than you can find in your textbooks, we highly recommend this book to you.
Book Description
The first book to close the perilous gaps in—and enhance the performance of—asset allocation
Asset allocation is one of today’s bestknown investment approaches. Problem is, its major precept—that a magic-number, fixed-percentage asset mix will provide superior results for investors who have dramatically different goals and needs—is scientifically unproven and fundamentally flawed.
Asset Dedication updates the asset allocation model, outlining a seven-step process designed to more effectively meet the real needs of real investors. Showing investors how to design low-risk portfolios that more accurately and successfully dedicate assets, this breakthrough book helps investors fill in the gaps inherent to asset allocation by demonstrating:
- Techniques for ascertaining the best asset mix by determining individual needs and goals
- How asset dedication provides superior protection against inflation and market risk
- Investing strategies for the three investment life phases—accumulation, distribution, and transfer
Customer Reviews:
Very good book, new ways to look at retirement planning.......2007-06-02
I was looking through the book section for books on asset allocation and stumbled across this book. This book is a new way to look at asset "dedication" (can't say allocation, that is taboo in this book) The jist of this book is to define a lump sum goal dollar amount for retirement. You'll use this lump sum in addition to what you think you'll receive annually from Social Security and pension and whatever else. You'll then use this total amount of money to determine an annual amount that you can withdraw and live comfortably with until the grim reaper shows up.
For example, you are 45, you have $100,000 saved in your 401K, you retire when you are 65. You determine that when you retire at 65 you'll need $40,000 per year after you receive $20,000 year from Social Security and $12,000 from your pension to live comfortably. You project that you will live until 90 years old. So, to acheive a $40,000 income stream from age 65 until 90, you will need $800,000 in your 401K when you hit 65 (This isn't the actual number, just a very rough estimate). When you hit 65, you'll use whatever portion of the $800,000 you saved to create a T-Bill ladder to ensure that you'll guarantee that $40,000/yr income stream for a predetermined horizon (say 10 years) and then place the remainder of your retirement money in stocks (for a hopefully better return). While you are receiving your bond income plus the principal from the annually maturing T-Bills, your stocks should be making an average of 10 - 12% over the same period. In a rolling horizon scenario, you annually roll the 10 year T-bills while slowly eroding your stock principal as necessary to maintain your desired, predetermined annual income of $40,000. If you did all the numbers right on the initial plan and you croak "on time as predicted (90yo in the example)" you should end up with zero $$$ or whatever amount you decided to leave for your heirs.
I gazed thru the book initially and thought it looked a little dry but the harder I looked at it, I found it was packed with great ideas and approaches to retirement I hadn't thought of such as "Once you reach your target retirement amount, don't let greed get the best of you, sell your stocks and take your target retirement amount that you luckily reached and start rolling it in T-Bill ladders" For example, if you hit $800,000 goal before age 65, say age 60, keep building your 401K account but lock in your "winnings" by T-Billing all $800,000 for safety from a market collapse at an inopportune time. Sounds simple but it is effective. There are a bunch of other interesting ideas that I found useful too.
This book isn't the holy grail but does have a lot of valuable info.
My apologies to the author if I didn't get the mechanics of the system exactly right....
Great Book .. Excellent ideas for retirement.......2006-01-29
This book is well written and really changes the way you think about asset allocation. The book shows in many ways how the traditional asset allocation model of x % bond funds, y % stock funds may not be the best way to allocate assets. Instead, using some basic math investors should consider a laddered portfolio of bonds so that the stock portion of the investor's portfolio has time to grow. This strategy overcomes the inevitable ups and downs of the stock market by increasing the holding period for the stocks.
The Best Personal Investment Strategy.......2005-08-04
This is the best personal investment book for people who are careful with their hard earned money. Asset Dedication principle addresses the needs for emergency funds, steady income and the opportunity to growth your wealth. Most importantly the investors are the one who set the benchmarks and the principle is being put into practice by a growing number of certified personal financial planners.
Huxley and Burns support the strategy with extensive research. They provide evidence to show how the asset allocation formulas used by brokerage houses provide inconsistent results at best and on average lag behind portfolio build with asset dedication. They explained clearly why active management usually hurts your investment. And they provide data to show how poorly the main brokerage houses did with their asset allocations during the 1990's.
Asset Dedication principle is simple and easy to understand. The book gives options for readers to achieve different financial goals. Best of all, the authors also introduce "Critical Path" concept for readers to manage their investments to make sure they are on target to reach their goals.
Those who want to do more research can visit the website that support the book (they can read more about market timing study and maximum sustainable withdrawals). People can test various scenarios for their own asset dedication strategies. It even has a simply Monte Carlo element.
I highly recommend this book to people who want to think for themselves and their families.
A simple but profound concept.......2005-05-24
I have begun using the Asset Dedication principles with my clients. It is easy for uneducated investors to understand the concepts. It provides for them the guareenteed security (using Treasury Bonds) that their income is provided for years ahead. The Asset Dedication website guides me in selecting an efficient bond ladder portfolio for each client's needs.
I look forward to using the "rolling" bond ladder in years ahead when interest rates are hopefully higher to create an even more efficient portfolio.
Client used to leave an appointment "hoping" that their selection of Bonds vs. Stocks proportions was appropriate. Now they walk away saying that they have a certain number of years of income set aside and are therefore comfortable with the volatility of the growth portion of their portfolios. They are comfortable because we have "bought time" which is an essential ingredient to growth.
A Must Read for Financial Success and Independence.......2005-05-03
Asset Dedication strikes a new note in personal financial planning. It makes sense that many brokers try to keep financial planning murky so that uninformed investors will buy their sales pitch and brokers continue to profit from the commissions. No doubt it will raise the hackles of many brokers who rely on investor ignorance to earn their living, and those with a vested interest in the status quo will no doubt take every opportunity to discredit the book. To the public, I urge you to read this book and learn it for yourself before solely relying on "professional's" advice.
Based on the principle of dedicated portfolios, which institutions have used for years, asset dedication provides a rationale for a specific allocation of funds to stocks, bonds and cash based on their time horizon. Enough bonds are purchased to provide a secure income stream over the horizon. For anyone who bothers to read past the first 30 pages, they will find that although a fixed horizon of, say, ten years, is one option, investors would likely be more comfortable with "rolling" horizons. In a rolling horizon plan, they buy a new bond at the end of each year (or so) to extend the stream of secured income another year (or so) and keep the horizon at a constant ten years. Even more compelling is the fact that when compared to the stale asset allocation formulas, the dedication strategy ends up beating portfolios with 70 percent or less in stocks most of the majority of time (back to 1926).
The chapters on the "critical path" are extremely informative. They explain how a person can monitor their portfolio to make sure it is on track to meet their goals without getting worried about market volatility. The fresh ideas and empirical evidence based on research in this book set it apart from the hundreds of tired asset allocation books that add little to what is already known. This book breaks new ground and may be only the first in a long line of new studies on asset dedication. It deserves its five star rating.
Book Description
Retire Early Sleep Well is a concise yet thorough guide to modern portfolio theory, asset allocation and retirement planning for young and old. This newly revised and expanded second edition provides updated information about asset and portfolio performance; and a substantially expanded discussion of asset allocation. Very popular in its first edition, Retire Early Sleep Well is widely recommended to both experienced and beginning investors of all ages. Its straight-to-the-point, plain english style distills complex topics into their essentials, and its practical advice is easy to follow.
Customer Reviews:
Lives Up To It's Name.......2007-09-06
This book absolutely lives up to it's name. In only 100 well-written pages it clearly presents the proven facts about how to invest in order to optimally decrease risk and increase return. I have a Master's degree in Financial Economics and it took me years to appreciate this important information. Every investor should read this short book. If you follow its guidance, then you too will be able to retire earlier and sleep better.
Book Description
"Vanguard has produced a reader friendly guide for retirees seeking to preserve and enhance their nest eggs. It's packed with sensible advice on all the pertinent subjects. This is a great book!"-Robert G. Hagstrom, Jr., Author, The Warren Buffet Way. For the 30 million (and ever-growing) Americans who are retired or nearing retirement, making the right investment decisions can mean the difference between ''living well" and merely "getting by". This book shows you how to: get the most from your savings, retirement plan, and Social Security; Select the right mix of investments; Increase your investment income without taking undue risks.
Average customer rating:
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Investing Retirement Assets
Manufacturer: Kaplan Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Public Finance
| Economics
| Business & Investing
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General
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ASIN: 079315281X |
Average customer rating:
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Investing Retirement Assets
Manufacturer: Dearborn Trade
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Public Finance
| Economics
| Business & Investing
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| Business & Investing
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Introduction
| Investing
| Business & Investing
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General
| Personal Finance
| Business & Investing
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Retirement Planning
| Personal Finance
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ASIN: 079313966X |
Book Description
I have been studying the subject of asset allocation the last few years. I have found asset allocation to be a fascinating subject because it combines the subject of rational financial planning with the sometimes irrational behaviors of people. I hope that my findings help people better understand the subject of asset allocation and how it can help them achieve their personal financial goals.
Books:
- Stop Sitting on Your Assets: How to Safely Leverage the Equity Trapped in Your Home and Transform It Into a Constant Flow of Wealth and Security
- Tax Havens Today: The Benefits and Pitfalls of Banking and Investing Offshore
- Tax Havens Today: The Benefits and Pitfalls of Banking and Investing Offshore
- Tax Havens Today: The Benefits and Pitfalls of Banking and Investing Offshore
- The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding
- The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding
- The Coffeehouse Investor: How to Build Wealth, Ignore Wall Street, and Get On With Your Life
- The Cost of Discipleship
- The Dutch Republic: Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall 1477-1806 (Oxford History of Early Modern Europe)
- The Fair Tax Book: Saying Goodbye to the Income Tax and the IRS
Books Index
Books Home
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