Business Money Books

This book has fantastic financial advice. It teaches us how to make smarter financial decisions and how to be accountable for every dollar we earn. What made this a fantastic book for me was that is also had some wonderful advise for relationships. I learned a great deal about life reading this book. I would definately recommend this book to anyone who could benefit from sound financial and relationship advice. (who couldn't)

Mary Hunt makes a practical and compelling case to show why couples should want to debt-proof their marriages, and then she provides a nice set of practical tools and principles to make that debt-proof goal attainable and realistic. This is a solid, sensible and staightforward book. Mary's expertise and honesty, tempered with her strong sense of faith and a bit of fun, makes for a very helpful and readable book.

Reviewed by Stephen Bloom, Christian attorney and author of The Believer's Guide to Legal Issues.

The information was very helpful, and I have passed on copies to my married children. It is a little hard to get past the folksy style of writing.

When it comes to financial matters, do you find that you and your spouse speak a different language? Is one of you a spender, the other a saver? Would your marriage be stronger if you could somehow work as a team to manage your finances and get out of debt?

Notice that I didn't ask if your marriage would be stronger if you had more money. Mary Hunt aptly notes that money problems are about more than a lack of money. Money problems are the result of conflicting attitudes and habits, and indicate just how well you and your spouse communicate and combine the two.

Debt-Proof Your Marriage is written in three parts. Part 1 explains the relationship side of the equation, enabling you to prepare the groundwork for financial harmony. Part 2 gets into the numbers, starting off with six debt-proof principles that are powerful and easy to understand. Part 3 provides resources to help you apply parts 1 and 2.

All of this is written from a Biblical perspective, from someone who has walked the walk. Both frank and friendly, this is a sound message that will improve both your pocketbook and your marriage.

Larry Hehn, author of Get the Prize: Nine Keys for a Life of Victory

Something has happened to Mary Hunt since her 1999 publication on Debt-Free Living. Or perhaps it's happened to her editor. Or perhaps a ghost writer has slipped into her life.

Regardless, the same passion and good sense is now expressed with a pleasant and flowing presentation that makes her medicine all the more bearable to the debt-laden patient.

Simply put, this lady can write!

Mary Hunt's book about finances in marriage sparkles. She has taken conventional wisdom about marriage, gender differences, and biblical teaching about a generous Creator and woven it together with her trademark 10-10-80 approach to managing money (give 10%, save 10%, spend 80%). Revell has helped out by packaging a supremely attractive book (the colors, the spacing, the flawless editing ...) at a decent price.

A major first section sports the title 'Get Your Relationship Ready for Financial Harmony'. Hunt's own story reveals that she knows how taxing financial stress and indebtedness often are on a marriage, so she's chosen to invest significant pages reminding her readers of some basic gender patterns and communication skills. You'll get a little bit of 'Men are from Mars, Women from Venus ...' language in this section, but always winsomely packaged and with an awareness of how individuals vary.

Then it's on to 'How to Debt-Proof Your Marriage', ten short chapters that present material Hunt has developed and presented elsewhere since the 1992 launch of her 'Cheapskate' business.

A third section ('Unique Solutions for Common Dilemmas') is almost an extended set of appendices, each valuable for reference or inspiration.

As a reader of a fair amount of material on debt and its effects on individuals and families, I have gravitated to Mary Hunt's work as the steady best. Debt-Proof Your Marriage is her high watermark thus far.

Restaurateurs depend on the fact that we all have to eat, and we choose the restaurants that provide us what we want at prices we find attractive. Simple, huh? Far from it. This handy book provides the technical and financial materials that you will need if you are actively planning, dreaming about, or wondered about opening an eatery. I urge you to read this book before you commit yourself or your money to anything specific.

Roger Fields is a CPA who has also opened successful restaurants, sold them, and closed a couple that didn't live up to expectations. His being a numbers guy is very helpful, because most restaurant people come at it from the food and aesthetic side of things. However, this is much more than a numbers book. I don't want to scare you off. The point is, you do need to think about the numbers because the better you get at them, the easier it will be to understand what you need to tweak and measure to give your major investment the best opportunity for success.

The book's 15 chapters are divided into three parts. The first part is "Dreaming for Success" and gives you the basics on evaluating your idea for the restaurant and how to see if you dream has a chance in the real world before you fork over your life's savings. The second part takes up 6 chapters and about half of the book. It is on "Developing the Details" and takes you through the down to earth factors such as menu construction, the practical side of ambiance, what you are going to provide on the table, the bar, and staffing.

The third part is "Down to Business" and provides four chapters on getting the money to open your eatery (from scratch, buying a closed operation, or buying one that is already working), what you need to understand about getting the business open, how to let people know about it in a way that they want to check you out, and what you need to know about opening day and the months and years afterwards.

This book is also interesting for folks like me who never plan on opening a restaurant but want to know what really goes on in those places we enjoy eating at and what it takes to make them work. The book is very practically written with clear language and almost no numbers. However, it is about business and if you are going to be in business, this is material you really have to know. This is a great handbook for you and will help you support your dreams and ambitions with a practical structure.

This book is a comprehensive manual for starting and operating your own restaurant, all the while being succesful. Having been in the restaurant business for about 11 years now, I have never found such a complete resource. Fields points to many key factors that are necessary to consider at every step of the process. The read is very easy and entertaining. It is accesible to the business-novice and anyone who might be curious as to what it takes to start your own succesful establishment!! Five Stars!

This book contains 100 short essays of the author's insights of how to be more productive, successful, and happy in the areas of personal finance and business. To the extent of being thought-provoking and useful, I think the book is pretty effective.

My one quibble is that the title of the book gave me the impression that the content would be extremely relevant to money matters and maybe only half of it is. In other words, much of the advice given --while valuable-- can really be applied in all areas of your life, not just money. This fact doesn't make the advice bad, but be prepared to read more about life philosophy rather than specific money tips.

Though I've had a copy for a few years, it is still the only book I always keep on my desk, where I can pick it up, open it to any page and uplift my mind a little.

Probably since I've been on my own without the security of regular employment, my life is more like a work in progress than a secure routine.

I guess I survive and sometimes thrive despite the insecurity because of take the time to become aware of the creative possibilities that surround me, and then to take actions to at least attempt to bring them to fruition, while usually being appreciated and pleasingly remunerated.

"Don't Sweat the Small Stuff About Money" has proven invaluable since it is always handy to remind me that so much of life is wonderful and rewarding!

For me there really is a sort of spiritual aura to living ths way, but unlike more metaphysical tomes, the buck stops with the individual. There's nothing more rewarding than living as a creative work in progress. Try it, you'll like it!

"Don't Sweat The Small Stuff" By Richard Carlson, PH.D (printed in the United States. Published by Hyperion, 77 W. 66th Street, New York, New York 10023-6298 (previously published as 'Don't Worry, Make Money').

This book is a non-fictional, self help/motivational book.
The main theme of the book is how to live a life that is more productive, wealthy and carefree. It consists of one hundred short chapters, each with its' own philosophy like 'Be willing to change' or 'Remind yourself that your life isn't your enemy, but your thinking can be'.
Richard Carlson has created a whole series of "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff" books. When you read one, continue and read them all, they all go hand in hand. He is a frequent guest on many National Television and Radio programs. He lectures many enthusiastic audiences, both in the United States and Internationally. Recently, he was featured on PBS in a special about his don't sweat philosophy. He has paired up with his wife Kristine Karlson to write 'Don't Sweat the Small Stuff in Love'. What a great idea!
Don't Sweat The Small Stuff About Money" covers everything from getting rid of fear, anger and stress by providing practical solutions. In these one-hundred short chapters, Richard Carlson motivates his audience with his own philosophies on life and money combined.
The "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff" series of books all have a philosophy with each chapter. I find it motivating to learn different strategies on how to deal with life and its' problems. I love receiving constructive criticism, and there are lots in this book! My favorite chapter in the book was "Give, Give, Give". In this chapter he states that "giving is its' own reward". I am a firm believer in giving whenever possible. I believe this is the only way things will come back your way. Overall, I would say the book was instructive, memorable and inspiring.
The book greatly affected the way I budget my money, and the way I deal with not having a lot. He taught me that you don't have to be rich to live an abundant life.
I would certainly recommend this book to any college/university student, as most of us are struggling to get by! It enlightens you as you read, as it helps to know you are not alone in the money struggle. Great book!

I gave up reading Richard Carlson's "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff About Money" (formerly titled "Don't Worry, Make Money"), but only because I have other books that I'd rather be reading right now. Carlson's book consists of 100 short sermons about getting along in life, and it's all good stuff. Most of the lessons are obvious from their titles: Express Your Gratitude Toward Others; Think BIG!; Ask for What You Want; Charge What You Are Worth; Think About Purple Snowflakes; etc. Each is backed up with an anecdote and a bit of explanation. (OK, "Purple Snowflakes" is about being different when you need to get someone's attention -- such as taping your message to a football and mailing that, to make sure your letter will be noticed and opened.) I particularly liked Lesson 15, "Remind Yourself that Your Life Begins Now," in which Carlson points out that a ship's wake does not power or steer the vessel. We have momentum, of course -- and other constraints -- but it's up to us to decide each day in which direction to steer. If this sort of thing inspires you, Carlson's bibliography of 29 similar positive-thinking book may be of use. Or look for his other six Don't Sweat the Small Stuff titles. Good advice, all of it. The more seriously you take it, the more it will benefit you.

This book has been incredibly useful. I now recommend it to everyone for personal and business uses. The insight it provides is unmistakebly worth every penny and the gas to go and get it!

Who says you have to spend [...] and go to a credit repair service. This book is a GREAT resource for people wanting to have a better understanding of "how" the credit system is designed and how you can help yourself if you just apply the time. Another GREAT book about credit repair can be found at www.BestCreditLife.com.

This books flows very easily for the credit novice. I recommend it to anyone looking to understand how your financial decisions will eventually catch up to you...

Steve Bucci has written a must read book about Credit. He does it in a clear helpful manner. I believe that this book could be used for students learning all about the world of Credit.

Having been a Credit Manager at Princeton I found that young people had no concept of what credit is all about. These young people had to learn the subject of Credit the hard way. But had they been in a course where Credit Repair Kit was the textbook, they would have learned all the levels of credit and therefore not suffered the consequences of Bad Credit.

I salute you Steve Bucci for providing the book that will help all folks on the long journey of obtaining good credit.

This was a wonderful book full of lots of details on how credit works. There are lots of tips on how to improve one's credit and a good discussion of budgeting, identity theft, and dealing with collectors.

I'd recommend this to anyone who needs help with their finances.

As a financial planner and co-author of Making Bread: The Ultimate Financial Guide for Women Who Need Dough, I recommend this book for every college student. They need to know how to use credit wisely and this book will help them understand how it can be done. More importantly, students will learn what happens when they abuse credit. Few, if any, understand how bad credit will affect their future ability to borrow money. Money management should be a required course for college students. It is not, and they go into the adult world as financial illiterates. This book will open their eyes to what can happen.

Elizabeth Lewin

Just finished reading Mike Collin's book and have to say he did a great job! I wish it had been available when I first started inventing. It would have saved me a lot of hardship and time. It is filled with great insight and common sense tools that every Inventor can use.
I have read a number of other Inventor help type books and always felt that they just didn't give the reader any useful information. Mike's hit the nail on the head with great information and personal experiences, not only by himself, but other Inventors. This book is a winner!

This book provides a practical roadmap for everyday inventors seeking to cash in on their ideas. It has just the right combination of helpful information, business strategy, real life stories and inspiration to get that idea off the shelf and moving toward making you money.

Mike Collins shares numerous, invaluable experiences that illustrate the path from "an idea", which is inherent, to creating something tangible and realistic that has an apparent market value. This book will encourage and engage the passion of anyone considering moving forward with an innovative venture.

This book is great in helping everyone realize that they have some special "idea" or interest that could be the potential for something greater. You don't have to have invented something for this book to be helpful. Collins walks you through a process of helping you determine what your million-dollar idea could be.

My introduction title says it all. Never have I read a book with as much hands on, useable information as I've read in this book. Other enterpreneural books are laden with too much "pop psychology speaking optimism, keeping your chin up, never taking no for an answer". This is the first book I've read that contained information that I could acutally use, nearly on every page. Great job Mike. Please put out another one. I'll be the first at the bookstore.

i found the book to interesting ideas...i have read Mr. Goodmsan's other books and find him to be able to explain his concepts in a manner anyone could understand and find his books an easy read,...unlike like a textbook would be

I heard the author on a local radio show promoting this book, and with his background, thought it would be good. I was disappointed to find many of the same old ideas. How long do we have to hear about property tax sales and below market real estate? Many of the chapters are things you've been reading about for the past 30 years and is on every late night, get rich quick, these people did it, infomercial. The real problem I had is that nothing is in depth and you really need more and better in depth books to know what you want to do to really get into any of these ideas. It was helpful with some suggestions, but a lot more research and detail needed. The author does give a lot of links to other sources.

This new book comes at an excellent time, given the volatility uncertainty, and unpredictability of the stock market.It is clearly written, easy to understand, and offers very useful and practical strategies for weathering the financial turbulence of today.

Fast Profits in Hard Times well worth the money. It highlights ten successful strategies for wealth accumulation that work in rising or falling economic conditions. By wealth accumulation I mean money earned on investments. You still need seed money to start the process, of course.

Everyone knows it's easy to make money on investments when the stock market is bullish. Buy low and sell high. Even the worst mutual fund manager can't help but look like a star under this scenario. But what do you do when the bears come out? How do you generate a healthy return when stocks are dropping? This book helps answer these nagging questions.

The text is less than 250 pages, so it's an easy read. The style of writing is direct; it's like Jordan E. Goodman is sitting across the table from you in a conference room. There are ample call-outs and highlights to make sure you catch and remember the most important points of each of the ten chapters.

My favorite chapters are the ones on high-yield equities, dividend reinvestment programs (DRIPs), bonds and the mysterious foreign exchange. The chapter on stock options is solid, but I think it underemphasizes the risk associated with these leveraged investments. A summary chapter at the end of the book on risk vs. return is something I longed for. Also I found the chapters on tax liens and below-market-value real estate and trusts to be a bit too timely. It seems like everyone is pushing these vehicles nowadays in the foreclosure-rich environment. But make no mistake; the chapters are well-written and chock-full of information.

I'm still chuckling about the chapter on investing in vending machines.

Armchair Interviews says: For the novice investor, Fast Profits in Hard Times is a goldmine with ten solid veins. For experienced investors, there are some good tidbits.

This dude knows his street slang! I was sorta worried when I found out he was a Canadian cop...Mathers covers pretty much every racket and how it launders the proceeds...He is a pretty funny writer as well..I felt like I was sitting down with an old cop having a beer....If you always wanted to know about how money is laundered...This book does it in a funny way...

I've had a curiosity about money laundering for many years. I've heard about it on the news. It is often a shadowy subject, involving complex financial transactions and foreign intrigue. Here is a book that finally explains the subject to laypersons in a way that is accessible.

Mathers does an excellent job of explaining this subject to a layperson. He explains the various schemes, how they are executed, and how the criminals get caught. The explanations are backed up by examples from Mathers' long career in law enforcement. Most books about money laundering are intended for law enforcement personnel, so the authors assume some familiarity. Mathers' book is the first primer on the subject for laypersons. The jargon used by criminals and law enforcement are clearly explained as well, so those wanting to read further on the topic won't be bewildered by more advanced texts.

This is a great introduction for non-law enforcement persons to learn about money laundering. A great jumping off point.

Showing how Organized Crime uses real estate transactions to launder large amounts of cash, this volume presents the clearest explanation yet of the Republican "Ownership Society" as the premier money laundering tool of the very rich and very criminal.

The future reader should not be naive to think that this will be a book that teaches you how to launder money. Is a great book that shows the problems that crime causes to our everyday life. Chris Mathers reflects his style and way of thinking in this book, it will bring the reader down to the earth and teaches about things we all should know, it has good humor . Even if you upset that this book does not give out big secrets about police work and crime tricks , you should still read it ... it will make you see things that is not easy to see.

The book is aimed at those who legitimately handle large amounts of money. It doesn't have to be 'their' money, any supervision of cash will do. This includes bank tellers, small business owners, and corporate executives. Since they all 'handle' money, they all risk 'being nice' and going to jail for their troubles.

Mathers tries to shares some street smarts. The book doesn't try to 'explain' money laundering as much as put you 'inside' the process. The look and feel is given first priority. Thus, the author spends a lot of time toying with the lingo. You will learn about 'backstops' (a false history), 'beards' (intermediaries), 'bottoms' (what you owe), 'busting a cap' (discharge a bullet), 'Diming out' (informing), 'Dry conspiracy' (cop talk for an arrest with no contraband), 'juice' (interest rate), 'pooch' (fellow with no respect) and 'playing for shape' (willing to kill to curry favor). Mathers constantly belittles the intelligence of the crooks. Crime is easy, but getting away with it for long is difficult.

Along these lines, Mathers works hard to debunk popular perceptions. First, Hollywood doesn't do a good job of familiarizing us with 'real' crooks. Crooks don't look like Hollywood gangsters, they look like Joe average. Second, the crooks don't need high tech tricks to pull off their capers. All they need is a little, apparently harmless cooperation. For example, Mather describes the 'muffin man' method. The muffin man simply offers his bank teller a muffin every time he visits the bank. After giving away $5 worth of muffins, the recipient bank teller is likely to bend a rule. That bent rule may launder $100,000 in cash ($10,000+ profit to the crook). Additionally, it is all that is needed to put the teller in jail.

Mather makes his points by relentlessly bringing the reader down to the gutter level. Half the message is just the lingo and description of the terrain. Learn how to talk prison lingo, how to survive standing in line with a bunch of crooks, and most important, how a silly, everyday mistake can put you behind bars.

This is a book about avoiding the mistakes that have put many an otherwise innocent person in jail. Read and learn!

Now in an updated and expanded second edition, The Complete Idiot's Guide To Making Money With Rental Properties by the collaborative team of Brian F. Edwards, Casey Edwards, and Susannah Craig-Edwards is a no-nonsense guidebook to all aspects of the business of renting property. Including easy-to-follow advice on basic landlord-tenant rights and responsibilities, how to handle routine maintenance and emergency repairs, completing credit and reference checks on potential tenants, how to deal with difficult tenants and evictions, basic accounting principles, and much more, The Complete Idiot's Guide To Making Money With Rental Properties distinguishes itself with the accessibility of its advice - presenting must-know informations in terms the lay reader can readily grasp. An absolute must-read and must-have for any would-be landlord, and packed cover to cover with useful information even for those with years of experience renting out properties.

This is really an excellent book for those coaches who are serious about building their business. If you are a coach or new to coaching you soon find out that being a great coach is irrelevant if you don't have people to coach and you won't have people to coach if you don't know how to marketing your business and retain clients. This book is really a step by step guide to setting up a coaching business and it is presented logically. If you are looking for coaching theory or new ways to really help clients this book isn't for you. If you think coaching is an effortless way to make a living, this book is a reality check. If you are committed to taking the required actions to make you a financially successful coach, this is a must read.

There are plenty of casual guides on the market on how to coach various sports; but few take the more detailed approach of showing how to build a thriving coaching business, even though some 30,000 coaches have entered the profession in the past five years. There's lots of competition in coaching and so few find themselves able to earn a living wage: that's where The Business And Practice Of Coaching: Finding Your Niche, Making Money, And Attracting Ideal Clients comes in. Chapters are written by two veteran business coaches which provide exercises, tips, and plans to help coaches succeed, from drawing links between community needs and coaching to refining skills to attract public attention and targeting a profitable niche market. Any who desire to coach professionally must have The Business And Practice Of Coaching at hand.

There are plenty of casual guides on the market on how to coach various sports; but few take the more detailed approach of showing how to build a thriving coaching business, even though some 30,000 coaches have entered the profession in the past five years. There's lots of competition in coaching and so few find themselves able to earn a living wage: that's where The Business And Practice Of Coaching: Finding Your Niche, Making Money, And Attracting Ideal Clients comes in. Chapters are written by two veteran business coaches which provide exercises, tips, and plans to help coaches succeed, from drawing links between community needs and coaching to refining skills to attract public attention and targeting a profitable niche market. Any who desire to coach professionally must have The Business And Practice Of Coaching at hand.

I liked this book. I'm glad I purchased it. There really are not that many books available at present on "the business" of coaching. The other one I have, that I'm about to review, is Four Steps to Building a Profitable Coaching Practice (ISBN: 0595296602) which was written in 2003.

I'd say the instant book does a good job of describing the coaching field outside of the sports realm. It talks about whether many of its participants make a reasonable living (they don't), and it talks about the various fields or backgrounds coaches come from (therapy practitioners and consultants). It tries to be helpful in explaining how to be a successful coach from both a coaching perspective and from a business perspective. There are 17 chapters included:

1. Coaching: Trend or Fad?
2. The Differences Among Coaching, Therapy, and Consulting
3. Becoming a Great Coach
4. Four Questions to Your Perfect Fit
5. From Specialty to Niche
6. Attracting Ideal Clients
7. The Coach as Entrepreneur
8. Business and Your Emotional Intelligence
9. Why Good Coaches Go Broke
10. Staying Safe and Legal
11. Executive and Leadership Coaching
12. Business Coaching
13. Skills Coaching
14. Career Coaching
15. Life Coaching
16. Wellness Coaching
17. Creativity, Relationship, and Spiritual Coaching

My favorite chapters were 2, 5, 12, and 13. I am in the process of putting together a business plan for an online coaching business that will compete directly with many law firms, accounting firms, and fiduciary departments in banks. As a result, Chapter 2 was of particular interest to me because it compared coaching to counseling (legal counseling). Coaching that crosses the line into legal counseling can be construed as the unauthorized practice of law which is regulated on a state by state basis. I can't say that I thought the book did a particularly good job of explaining the difference, but it was better than most articles on the subject I have read.

The book explains that only about 10% of professional coaches gross six figures in a given year. That is not a very good statistic. But I suspect the success rate is so low because most coaches are not very knowledgeable about starting and running a business so it is profitable. The authors in this book attempt to explain how the 90% could make more money by including chapters 5, 6, 7, and 9. And I thought these four chapters had some good content. But I think the reader would have benefited more if the book had instead covered in detail the importance of having a sound written business plan, and how to go about writing a sound business plan. The book did not do this. At least I didn't see it.

If you are looking for a book to tell you how to be successful as a professional coach, then I don't think this book is for you. However, if you are looking for a book that will cover many of the issues you need to consider if you want to have your own coaching business, then you'll get a lot from this book. 4 stars!

There are plenty of casual guides on the market on how to coach various sports; but few take the more detailed approach of showing how to build a thriving coaching business, even though some 30,000 coaches have entered the profession in the past five years. There's lots of competition in coaching and so few find themselves able to earn a living wage: that's where The Business And Practice Of Coaching: Finding Your Niche, Making Money, And Attracting Ideal Clients comes in. Chapters are written by two veteran business coaches which provide exercises, tips, and plans to help coaches succeed, from drawing links between community needs and coaching to refining skills to attract public attention and targeting a profitable niche market. Any who desire to coach professionally must have The Business And Practice Of Coaching at hand.