Business Money Books

It is refreshing to read a book that is written like a conversation and not like a textbook, yet one that contains the appropriate financial rigors.

If you want to catch up with modern banking and look at it from an analyst's view, this is your book. I enjoyed it very much and use it as a reference often

I have three of Larry's books. This guy is telling folks the very same things I have said all my life. I later went out and bought 40 copies of the three books I have read so when my friends start their whining I just hand them a copy and tell them to go read it. Maybe they have short term memory issues when I tell them so here is a copy of the same stuff I have preached about for years. GREAT STUFF!!!! Just a lot of the truth that people should take to heart. Grow up and start taking responsibility and STOP EITHER BLAMING THE WORLD OR LOOKING FOR A HAND OUT!!!!!!!!

The book is clear and direct, which is consistent with the advice given about how to be successful in business. Larry's style is entertaining, and all of his recommendations are grounded in his personal business experience. I found the book useful.

This is my favorite of Larry's because it gives me a need attitude adjustment whenever I read it.
He is very big on taking responsibility for your situation and remembering that you are employed to make your company profitable, not to be fulfilled or happy or challenged, even though it is good if those happen also, we cannot expect them.

Yes, he is a little harsh on some topics, and I would take some of it with a grain of salt, but he is like a coach that pushes you to do better.

The truth might hurt sometimes, but you are better off seeing the situation in full daylight instead of complaining and playing the victim.

I have also read his Shut Up, Stop Whining, and Get a Life: A Kick-Butt Approach to a Better Life which shares some of the attitude, but veers off onto his opinions which I just don't care to listen to.

Larry is very specific in his book about knowing your priorities. People are becoming more and more spectators instead of doing. People prefer looking busy instead of getting things done. It is a true reorientation of focus when he said: "It's not how many hours you put into the work, but how much work you put into the hours".

Yes- Larry Winget's book "It's Called Work for a Reason" is filled with sage advice about cultivating a good work ethic for yourself and your employees:

-always be on time
-work hard, work smart
-schedule priorites and organize your tasks around them (not the other way around), etc.

90% of all this, however, should be "no-brainers" for anyone who is motivated and seeks proactively to motivate their employees and colleagues. Nothing earth-shattering here that I could see.

If you find yourself in a bit of a rut and need a motivational work pep talk (or know someone who does) then this may be a great book to pick up and give a quick read. Otherwise, save your time and do what you know you need to do- like the sneaker commercial says "Just do it!" That is really the crux of this whole book...

What a great book! In today's difficult times, being a resilient person is probably one of the most important things we should develop and this book shows you how. I especially like that it is written in a clear cut manner with case study examples. This book will help anyone who has trouble bouncing back from life's adversities and teaches strategies to successfully handle stress. A most helpful and interesting read!

RESILIENCE AT WORK shows how to learn the core elements of hardiness that Salvadore Maddi identified in his classic research project at Illinois Bell Telephone twenty years ago. Maddi and Khoshaba explain that "the key to resilience is hardiness," and then show readers how to develop the three core hardiness attitudes:
* commitment
* control
* challenge

To these. they add two vital skills: transformational coping and social support.

RESILIENCE AT WORK reflects decades of practical experience teaching hardiness skills in corporate settings. Many real-life examples illustrate the points. A concluding chapter provides companies with guidelines for improving worker resiliency.

What a delightful read! I have been through the Hardiness Training as a student of the authors and am now trained to provide the program to others. This book is a wonderful guide on how to apply the techniques in the workplace; quite timely considering we're all in a world of constant change. The use of real-life examples of resilient and non-resilient individuals was very clever. A brilliantly written book and a truly wonderful legacy for Dr. Maddi and Dr. Khoshaba to give to the world!

The negative effects of stress have challenged people for a long, long time. For years, psychologists have endeavored to offer advice and assistance to those coping with personal and professional issues. For obvious reasons, many counselors, consultants, and trainers have focused on managing stress at work. Employers want smooth operations without the potential serious consequences of stress-induced problems. Careers have been destroyed by inabilities to deal with the ongoing changes in business.

I opened this book with an expectation that I might find some new secrets...perhaps a whole new approach to how workers-individually and collectively-could function much differently. What I found was another book on stress. Others may see some new ideas, but I've read a lot in this field so my expectations are probably higher than the average reader.

The text is organized to explain resilience-essentially having the inner strength to cope because you're doing a good job at managing change. The authors describe this as developing hardiness, the foundation of their Hardiness Institute. The book reports on a 12-year longitudinal study of employees at Illinois Bell Telephone. The stress of all the change over the years caused the departure or failure of two-thirds of the workers. The survivors practiced effective stress management techniques. The keys they promote include approaching change as a challenge, developing sound problem-solving strategies, resolving conflicts, and building commitment.

Readers will find an abundance of case studies that make points for the authors, teaching techniques and offering examples to stimulate thought.

Overall this book was OK. It presented the key information in money and banking and the authors often made it entertaining to read. However the one major flaw with the book is the lack of ANY math. I know that some books are marketed for a more mathematical approach and thus contain more advanced mathematics accordingly. However this book had so little math it was laughable. I recall one section where the authors said "this can be proven mathematically, but for now just take our word for it..."
NO, I won't take your word for it, because knowing the underlying principals is to truly understanding anything.

Principles of Money, Banking, and Financial Markets contains a great deal of information regarding economics in the United States. As a student, I find it to be poorly written. The authors/editors make constant reference throughout the text to other sections of the text. For example, we will discuss this in depth in chapter seven, but for now, lets reflect our continued study from chapter two and three. By doing so, we will be better prepared to read chapter eleven when we get to it. If the authors / editors left out the references and just left the actual information needed to learn the material, the student would be able to follow the material and perhaps understand the topic better. I am strongly encouraging our economics department to seek another text for future semesters.

The book is a good one. We enjoyed it and recommend it to others. The service was great too.

Needleman had some interesting stories but I didn't find the book all the helpful or entertaining. I had to read it for class and the only good part about the assignment was the class discussions, most of which had little to do with the actual book. I thought it had potential and I was excited about reading this book but ended up being dissappointed. It is a VERY easy book to read and you can fly through the pages. I ended up reading a lot and not really understanding or getting anything from what I just read.

I have to say I was very disappointed with this book. The author seemed to be reaching too often to come off as a wise academic and ended up surrounding a complex topic with stilted language and delivery that made the point be lost on the reader.

The writing style and tone is extremely pretentions and the recounting of the discussions with his students are dreadful. I continued to find myself wondering if the author was being serious and needing to focus on what he was trying to say. It was frustrating to continue to try to figure out what he was trying to say when he should have just been saying it.

Honestly, I don't think there is much new that this book is adding to any discourse on the nature of money. There seems to be little original thought and just the recounting of fairy tales, poems, myths, bible passages, etc., to convey the thesis of the book.

It should have been much clearer and could have been much better. The book also rambles and could have been 80 - 100 pages shorter.

In sum, don't waste your time. You'll get little out of this book b/c there's not much to get.

As a spiritual healer I have been recommending this book to clients for about ten years. The differences in their lives and their attitude to money have been simply amazing. Most of them have reported that they couldn't read this book quickly; their head would spin and they'd have to put the book down for several days while they thought about what they'd read. Soon after reading this book they began to make better choices in jobs and investments. It's not a logical change, it's a perception shift. Sometimes a book isn't just a book...sometimes it's a portal.

A rambling, self-important, name-dropping, and pretentious work that I forced myself to finish. The literary device of focusing on discussions with two fictional students during much of the book was annoying and an easy way to increase page count without requiring serious rigor. I have just started Galbraith's 'Money'; it seems much more robust, though admittedly of a slightly different focus.

I was given this book as a gift. It has many wonderful suggestions in it for everyday living. It's not like other books that just talk about concepts for saving money; it tells you ACTUAL THINGS TO DO to save money, with directions and shortcuts. I bought a copy for a friend from amazon.com and may order more later. Dynamic book!

This book is definitely worth buying. It is loaded with good information and has pages and pages of specific references (particularly cyber for those who love to spend time on computer). I had taken it from the library and liked it so much that I felt it needed to be a permanent part of my library. Thanks, Amazon!

This is a great book to those new to frugal living and has a few hints for the "oldtimers".

Bought this book look for a few financial tidbits we might be missing and there was probably enough to make it worthwhile. A lot of basics and tried and true methods are repeated in this book and just reemphasize that we are doing things 'right.' I like repeating these to my kids as we travel. If we are willing to do a little more work, could save a bit more money with some of her suggestions. I also have to chuckle at the repeated sales pitches in the book for newsletters and templates to help you save money...Overall, a good quick read that can save you some dough.

This book is basically a regurgitation of 3 or 4 other frugality books on the market, but nowhere near as good. All of her good tips are common sense; the book seems to be written for status-seeking people who have never even thought of saving money before.
She advises making price lists and coupon-clipping, and then admits that she doesn't do it herself because she doesn't have the patience or mathematical and organizational skills. She doesn't even mention the concept of buying generic, just how to get deals to maintain your sold-out branded image to the corporations.
What are her skills? Well, throughout the book she's really good at plugging financial planning websites that charge monthly fees (and we're trying to save money here?).
She gives a long, drawn-out plan for trading in cars until you trade up to a new one, and you keep paying the savings to yourself to save up for the next upgrade. Why not advocate driving a decent used car and keep the money as real savings for the future, emergencies, etc.?
She says to spend within 80% of your income, save 10%, and give 10% to charity. 10%??? Now, I'm not saying stingy is good (I currently give 2% of my income to charity), but at 10%, that could be a good payment on a high-interest credit card. Yah, she tells you to pay your bills, but then gives no advice on how to do that when you're spending 80% and giving 10% away. As far as I'm concerned, if I'm in debt, the money isn't really mine- it belongs to my creditors. So, who am I to give away over $100/month of their money to charity? I suppose if you make a 6-figure income, you could manage to do that and still pay down your bills. (and still buy brand names and new cars).
There is nothing new or enlightening in this book. Mary Hunt is a spoiled housewife who's husband supported her with a generous salary, and she drove cars like new BMWs, and had to have the best (read:most expensive and image-shallow) of everything. She finally learned to reel in her compulsion and find a few thrifty ways to still get everything brand-name she wants, and having read a few books she repeats tips from, she thinks that makes her a professional. Here's a good tip on saving money: don't waste it on this book. Instead, get "Your Money Or Your Life." Though it's a bit outdated on the purchase info., the principles are timeless and it will change your life.

I just graduated college and started a new job, and this book is helping me know exactly to handle my money!

Great book for everyone. It's written to the 25-30 year old, but it's great advise to all.

Farnoosh Torabi writes an easy reader with clever ideas and a fresh view. You should pick up this book for yourself, especially if you're a young adult or have teenagers entering college.

You're So Money is a great read if you are looking for inspiration to straighten out your personal finances, get rid of personal debt and restructure your spending habits. The book hits many areas in advice on how to shop for our everyday needs and wants as well as how to look for opportunities of making money outside our 8 to 5 jobs to achieve our 'good life' equation. Definite recommended buy! I enjoyed every chapter and its written for those of various ages struggling to have all aspects of their personal finances fall in place.

This book has some good tips and ideas, my favorite being to figure out what's important to you before you figure out how to budget your money. Sounds simple, but sometimes we get so caught up in paying off debts, saving and investing, that we forget to live in the moment. I've already made some changes based on her advice, by drastically cutting back on eating out and putting that money towards a trip to Europe next year (so much more rewarding than a few sushi dinners).
One annoyance - she says that renters are wasting their money and that everyone should be a homeowner. Then she proceeds to say that her parents paid for her condo. Who should I ask to help me, my deceased father or my mother who lives off $10,000 in Social security checks per year? Some of us have to do it on our own, and that means paying rent instead of drowning in mortgage payments. I think it's a huge mistake for young people to buy homes too soon. Rent isn't "wasting money", it's paying for a place to live.

Terry writes in a way that is easy to understand and provides advice that you can put into action. Money can be stressful for many people - The Savage Number will show you how to plan and reduce the fear around retirement planning. I appreciated all the resources and practical guidance in this book. This is a book that everyone should have in their financial planning library -

I have found this book to be very helpful for me and friends concerning retirement planning. It is easy to read, factual and provides good information. I have given several copies of this book to friends who are nearing retirement and I have yet to hear anything negative about the book. It doesn't answer all the questions about a very tough topic but it is a very good retirement planning tool to have.

Book publishers know a good thing when they see it. That explains why there is yet another book on Baby Boomer retirement planning. But, fear not, "Savage" isn't the description of a fierce retirement savings program that will bite you in the wallet; it's the name of the author: Terry Savage, a personal finance newspaper columnist. In this case, she seems to have linked many of her columns together to form a basic book for novice investors who are planning for retirement. While much of the content may seem very familiar to anyone who reads mainstream financial publications, having it in book form is convenient. We recommend Savage's nuts-and-bolts information to people who are just entering the workforce, novice investors, financial planners and human resource people concerned about issues affecting retirees. It is also a handy quick reference for questions about Medicare, reverse mortgages, long-term health insurance or estate planning. If you are on the verge of retirement, it's a good refresher, although you needed to know most of this some time ago.

I have purchased and read more than a dozen books resently on personal finance. Almost everyone will get something helpful out of this book. I would say for at least 80% of the Baby Boomers this should be a must read book. The link to Financial Engines is worth more that ten times the price of the book.

I also like All About Asset Allocation by Richard Ferri, and all of Ben Stein's books!

My plan is to retire in five years. I have been reading and studying several books to make sure that I am on the right track. I would recommend this book because it gives you a pretty clear picture of what you need to be considering prior to your actual retirement.

David and Tom Gardner are real heroes because they are helping people know more about the great opportunities they have by investing their money in the stock market. I recommend this book to any person who is trying to improve their game as well as people that dont have experience with stocks.
They tell you how stocks work they are not the kind of investment authors that say alot of "how great they are" but intstead they take you and teach you how stock work.

Keep on the good work.

This book dramatically changed how I invest with great results. This is not a book that encourages get-rich quick schemes or will tell you how to "trade" stocks. It will give you the building blocks to create a solid investment portfolio that, over the course of a lifetime will make you wealthy. If you know nothing about the stock market, but are considering moving into this realm or are just wondering if there isn't something better than your underperforming mutual fund THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU.

This book provides different viewpoints for investing, but mainly profiles their strategy: finding those diamonds in the rough. With chapters titled "maybe you should just buy mutual funds" and "maybe you should avoid mutual funds", this book builds up to their main focus: providing good suggestions on valuing companies (with the focus on small cap companies).

Having previously taken finance courses, I found this book as a good refresher. Written in a light hearted manner, this book was pleasing to read, rather than perusing old text books. As with any book, they showcase their views. I would recommend reading other books, not only to gain more knowledge of investing but to see other strategies.

Overall,a well-written, easy to follow, and a solid book for people who attain a basic knowledge about mutual funds and stocks. This book is a must read for people who are interested in learning, exploring and testing stock picking techniques and for people who believe in the importance of doing fundamental analysis (financial ratios,data,etc.)when selecting the right company to invest in. The book offers a useful eight-item checklist that investors most follow when choosing the best small cap growth stocks. Also offers the pertient ratios from balance sheet,income statement, and cash flow that investors need to pay careful attention to when picking the right small cap stocks. The Motley fool shows a reader another way to make a positive return on stocks which is perfectly set for investors who are only interested participating during the bear market. The book recommends them to short stocks. Shorting stocks is the complete opposite of buying stocks. In addition, the book provides an useful overview of how companies go public (IPO) to issue stocks to investors to raise money, how common people can either look for brokers, discount brokers, deep discount brokers, or directly purchase stocks from the company to avoid paying commissions to purchase stocks online, and etc.

However, not recommended book for readers who are technical investors because the book never delves into the subject of technical analysis but gives a short overview of why they dislike the method and should not be used when picking stocks. Moreover, not the right book for option and future investors because they have a little knowledge in this area.

In conclusion, if you want to know how to analyze company fundamentally, purchasing this book should help but be wary and skeptical about one chapter that discusses about dow dividend investment technique. The brothers give false hope to investors that anybody is guaranteed a 25.5% annual growth return for 20 years if they buy 2 of the second lowest and 1 of third,fourth, and fifith lowest price from 30 dow stocks or called foolish 2-2-3-4-5 approach. This might be true in the past 20 years but due to our unstable and unforeseeable economy in the future, a stock return of 25.5 % for 20 years is highly unlikely to happen. More likely situation we can experience is witnessing another stock market crash or seeing a rise of inflation 4 % every year making 25.5% return look a dismal 14%. The only aspect on their approach to Dow investment that I agree with is their claim about the safeness of dow stocks. Nobody can argue this claim since Dow stocks consist of 30 well-established companies which have been in business for a century and it would be hard picturing them filing bankruptcy.

Overall, I would give a 3.5 star to this book.

The Motley Fools, for a novice investor, can be a life changing experience. "The proof of the pudding is in the eating" and their savvy insights regarding investments have served me well. Their stock market insights are delivered with wit and wisdom, and I was actually sad when I turned the last page and realized I had finished the book. That's my personal criteria for a well written book, does it leave you wanting more. The Fools deliver.