Business Money Books

What a terrific guide through the obstacles of life's financial hiways and biways! Written succinctly, intelligently and humorously--this book is a must have for women of all ages who are recognize the importance of understanding how to handle and plan our finances to achieve our life's goals--- while also getting us through the occassional bump in the road or traffic snarls that affect our money issues. Easy read and great maps/questionnaires help to keep us on track while having fun too! A man is not a plan -- and small steps lead to big success are positive themes throughout.

Mystified by money? Using a crystal ball to plan your retirement? Burdened with credit card debt? Lacking health insurance? Budgetless? With humor, charts, user-friendly quizzes, and common sense, this book will prod you into taking the small steps needed to get a grip on money. Your money. Earning it, keeping it, growing it. You'll find the scoop on a broad range of financial topics, sprinkled with quotes from the likes of Confucius, Dear Abby, Mark Twain, and Erma Bombeck. Discover ways to put brains and muscle into your personal money management. I found each chapter to be clear, motivating, specific. A great gift.

Flipped through this book looking for tips on getting out of debt and realized it would help me with all of my money issues. (In fact it made me aware that I had more money issues than I thought I did.) Thanks for a good solid guide that I can understand! These authors should do seminars too.

This book has a wealth of information from getting out of debt to amassing a personal fortune. It's easy to read format helps the reader access topics of personal interest quickly and effortlessly. Get this book if you need to take control of your finances or if you know someone who would benefit from financial help and support. It makes a great gift for the women in your life from mothers and daughters and sisters too.

This is a personal finance book you'll actually ENJOY reading!
It doesn't contain any get-rich-quick schemes, nor does it offer any unrealistic promises or guarantees.

What it does do is help you identify your own "money type" (how you use money in general), and then gives simple lessons on how to best improve what needs improving.

Easy? Not exactly. As I said, there are no quick-fixes offered here. The lessons take time and effort. But if you do them, they're sure to work, because they're based on good sense, and an understanding of how women relate to money issues.

Reviewer: Linda Painchaud

I read Jim Jorgensen's book and found it very enlightning! It is written so everyone can understand it and can make money by following his nine points to building wealth. The best part about this book is it takes a conservative and sensible view of investing! Anyone can make money by following Jorgensen's advise, no matter how much money you have to invest!!!

This is a very simple book, as the other reviews have indicated. I liked it so much that I bought it for my collection of business and finance books. It is a keeper book that I highly recommend. Don't depend on Social Security... build your nest egg, at any age. NOW is a good time!!!

This book was a great tool for me in my financial planning. I found this book to be informative, well written and not restricted to one audience. I am in the early stages of planning my future financial needs and this book was an awesome guide.
This book is a great investment for anyone!

Sara and I have struggled with financial planning particularly as a result of the recent market turmoil. The Jorgensens' book has served as a much needed guide to managing our money. It emphasizes the basics and is understandable. Unlike other investment books which fail to encompass the whole picture, this book is complete and thorough. We would recommend it to anyone interested in taking a proactive role in managing their money.

Jim Jorgensen wrote a book that everyone can understand and best of all, can profit from his sound advise. His advise is conservative and makes so much sense. His steps to getting rich are concise and easy to follow. I am working on enriching my wealth with his advise!

This book was amazing! I loved now I get a good allowance and am very happy Mrs. Nathan could write such a master peice! This book rocks you should read it too!

As a Certified Financial Planner(tm) practitioner, I am always looking for good books to recommend to clients and to people who come to my workshops on how to get their assets in gear. "Overcoming Underearning" is one that will be high on my recommended list.

I have been in practice for more than 20 years and have learned that 80% of how people handle money is emotional and only about 20% is rational or well thought out. Stanny's book has a goldmine of ideas on how to uncover the emotional issues that are holding you back and gradually change your ratio so more of your decisions can be rational and less emotional.

Throughout the book she gives writing exercises with structured questions to help the reader get to the root of their underearning dynamics. I can't tell you how impressed I am with her lists and with her questions. There is no doubt that she has "been there, done that" and that she is armed with powerful insights from the many workshop clients she has worked with. She knows her stuff!

The book is exceptionally well written and well edited. It flows well, is easy to read, and very compelling. The power of the book is in the journaling exercises and the follow up ideas she provides. If you want to earn more, do these exercises and I think it will blow you away.

I was impressed that even though I'm already a high earner and very good with my own money that I picked up quite a few great ideas that will benefit me personally. Kudos, Ms Stanny!

Jan Dahlin Geiger, CFP®, Author of "Get Your Assets in Gear! Smart Money Strategies Get Your Assets in Gear! Smart Money Strategies

The key to a successful business or career starts with one's personal relationship with success and money. As a business and career coach I often recommend Overcoming Underearning as a must read for my clients. Having a prosperous money mindset helps professionals and business owners demand value for the value they provide, getting the money they deserve.

Debora McLaughlin

Business and Executive Coach

www.opendoorcoaching.com

Barbara Stanny's OVERCOMING UNDEREARNING: A FIVE-STEP PLAN TO A RICHER LIFE defines 'underearners' as those who earn less than their potential - then offers a blend of workbook and study guide to overcome this. Case histories form men and women who increased income and made more free time in the process supplement inspirational stories that emphasize the inner psychology of achievement resistance and how to overcome it.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

By delving into your long-held attitudes about money, "Overcoming Underearning" can help you develop a new outlook about how you handle your finances and how you value your time and effort.

This book is based on the actual workshops by Barbara Stanny, and contains extensive worksheets and exercises to help you get to your core beliefs about money and what it means to you. By taking the time to work through the exercises, the insights gained will stick in your brain and prod you to think about what you want from your life. From there, you can begin to create an action plan to help you start achieving the earning power that you deserve.

Yes, going through this book requires effort on your part, but by putting into practice what you learn, I truly believe that you can begin to achieve a financial stability that you haven't known before. While the title focuses on increasing what you earn, this book has the potential to transform your life in all areas. It's a must read if you really want to get ahead in life.

If you are frustrated by a sense that you're selling yourself short in business situations due to a lack of the right tools or right self-concept, this book deftly addresses these challenges and gives excellent exercises to help you improve these areas.

I picked this up at the library, but expect I will purchase it for permanent use. I wasn't particularly drawn during my scan of the book (table of contents, recommendations etc.), but somehow would get a pang when I replaced it on the library shelf. So, checked it out and stayed up till 3 a.m. reading it! Still have about 1/4 of the book to go, but I really got a lot out of it.
I consider myself pretty tough in my evaluations of self-help type literature, I have read my share of it. I want it to say something new, offer substance and make sense. There's a lot of rigorous and innovative thought behind what Ms. Stanny says, and it is presented in a way that reached me.

Her resource/additional reading section at the end is concise and seems carefully considered, and she explains why she has chosen each resource well. I especially found helpful her list comparing the differences between "dawdlers" and "doers".

The author of this book makes keeping track of your money with Money 2004 easy to understand. It tells you how to set up your account, pay bills online, and even create monthly reports. There's even a part on tracking your investments, planning for the future, and preparing for tax time. I recommend this book to anyone who has Money 2004!

I have been using Microsoft Money to manage my finances and portfolio since 1999. I thought I knew how to use it until I began reading this book. Mr. Weverka has shown me how little I really new about the capabilities and ease of use of this excellent program. It is written so that ordinary people such as myself can easily understand it, with touches of humor to lighten the tedium. Thank you, Peter Weverka!

Well written style, similiar to a Wade Cook book. Also similiar to a Wade Cook book Mr. Witt presents various rolling stock/option hype strategies, but never actually tells you how on earth to find these magical equities. I have searched far and wide and used a wide array of screening and technical charting tools and Only 1 in every 500 or so stocks I look at could be called a rolling stock. Another thing to note, many rolling stocks you will find are linked to hard commodities such as gold, silver and copper. If it's a sideways economy with some volatility just play an index option on Gold. At the end of the day, it's a good theory, but without a way to test the theory aside from a few paisley charts in his book, this is essentially worth less than the cost of shipping.


I suppose that the Wade Cook team could have had practical Telechart screening strategies set up to find these, but you would have had to pay $xx,000 to get into one of their seminars, which is where all these guys made their real paychecks.

I wasn't very impressed with this book. I've read many of the major books in the market and have been trading for quite some time and I found that I didn't get anything substantial out of this one. maybe a good book if your just starting out but not for anyone that has traded over 6 months. Pretty much all he talks about is buying stocks under ten dollars and setting limit orders. And the amount of time he devotes to Wade Cook is irritating. Ok yea its obvious who your mentor is but you don't have to quote him on every bloody page and then put the titles of every one of his books in the appendix including the books that he wrote that has nothing to do with stocks. Wow maybe I'm really not impressed with this book.

Well I bought this book back in the day as well and what can I say. It started me off to the best investing strategy that I work with to this day. When I first joined the military I had no idea of what stocks were but I wanted to start up a roth ira and I knew from reading here and there that mutual funds underperformed to stocks. I was young and I wanted to see if I could beat the market. Well after reading this and investing just a grand in roth, two years later with no additional investing I was able to achieve $25,000. Thats right $1000 + 2 years = $25,000. Thanks Witt.

P.S. My first roller was KRY

This book may help you, trader better!

When do you buy? When do you sell?
Mainly focus under $5 stocks.
90% of the stock player's loose money since they have no idea which way a stock will roll next.
They are too emotional to get in a trade at a top and are afraid to enter at the bottom.
This book will explain what to look for and when is the right time to enter a trade and exit a trade.

It has been over 5 years since I found and read this book. After reading it, I opened an on-line trading account, started following the guidelines in the book (the first part, not Options), and made money. I went on to read other books and trade using other methods. I believe it is working for me because I learned this method first. Now I have run into this listing on Amazon and would like to say it was a great book that opened up a whole world for me, by giving me a safe entry into trading and a method to fall back on in difficult markets. Read this book, read between the lines as well, and add this method to your investment repertoire! I thought since the book is older now, you'd like to read my review, 'cause I am still using what I learned from this book today.

This books talks about multiple ways to earn income, ultimately leading to the goal of financial freedom. Having multiple streams of income is smart because it's risky to rely on one source when it could be taken away from you at any time, leaving you in the dust. Not only does the author talk about multiple streams, but if you are an employee, he talks about bringing value to your position. Keeping track of your finances and making every dollar count is also discussed. The idea is to create lifelong streams of income. The author also suggests to add at least one new income stream a year. What fantastic advice, which will ultimately lead to financial freedom. Wonderful book!!

This book sky rocketed my career and my investment
IQ. It is well written,entertaining, as well as informative. It is one of the best books I've read on business.

J. Wilson
LI, New York

This book is EXCELLENT! Very easy read with good clear explanations of ways to make money and make money work for you. It will change your perspective on finacial security.

Robert Allen hits the nail on the head here. I have 14 different streams of income in my business and it's the single reason for my continued success over 13 multi-million dollar years. Highly recommended!

This book has no shortage of practical ideas for creating other streams of cashflow.

I found the beginning of the book to be very reasonable. One pieice of advice I thought was honest and realistic is that you will rarely beat the stock market, so pick a mutual fund that tracks the S&P 500, sink some cash into it, and don't look at it again for 30 years, counting on the natural growth of the market to give you a return. You can take smaller amounts of money and apply them more aggressively elsewhere.

After that sound advice, however, Allen gets into more aggressive stock and investment strategies such as options. It is interesting to read about the approach and worth considering if you have set a small percentage of your portfolio aside for aggressive investments.

One thing about the book that made me cringe - and I see this in other places like "Money" magazine - is the fact that the author seems to regard the entire value of your house as part of your net worth regardless of how much you owe on it. A more honest approach to real estate investment is given by Kiyosaki's "Rich Dad" books, which point out, quite astutely, that any money you owe is a liability and therefore only the equity in your house is part of your assets. What you owe counts against you.

In Robert Allen's book, there are memorable quotes scattered on each page that are worth remembering. One of them says something to the effect of "if you think nobody cares about you, just miss a couple of mortgage payments." That is exactly the point. Your debt on your house is a ball and chain until you are free of that debt, it counts against your net worth. Most home owners are net negative, at least for a few years, before their equity and investments bring them past break even. As long as you owe that debt, the house isn't yours. It seems to me that Allen is glazing over that fact; I am certain he knows better.

Nonetheless, Allen describes how buying a home in a good neighborhood can give you a good return on your down payment, but it seems to me that he neglects the amount of interest you paid out of pocket during the time you carried the mortgage. Do the amoritzation schedule... if you buy an undervalued house with a reasonable appreciation rate, you could conceivably turn your down payment into a reasonable return within the first few years of ownership. However, over time the curve gradually dips below zero and stays negative until you reach a critical point where more of your monthly payment counts towards the principle and the appreciation of your home is starting to beat the interest. For most homes and interest rates, you only profit at the sale within a short inital period, or considerably farther down the road. And for anyone that has bought a home that isn't brand new, they know that the invisible costs of home ownership are significant - every paint bucket, lawn mower belt, nail, hammer, and vacuum cleaner quickly adds up. Your home is a forced savings account, but it has fees. Allen happily tells you that your house is your greatest investment, but conveniently forgets the small stuff.

Another thing that this book (and many others) fails to address is the following:

1. Rental properties require renters
2. Owning property for less than 2 years may stick you with capital gains taxes
3. Not every transaction is a winner. Nobody writes about the losers 'cause it won't sell books

Listing these items seems unnecessary but in the tens of books I've read on this subject, it seems to me that nobody wants to admit the dirty work. I haven't quite found the honest book on this subject that admits the dirty work and addresses the best way to handle it.

Finally, regarding a more detailed approach to the specific *tax* consequences (and advantages) to investing, check out Kiyosaki's "Real Estate Tax Advantages" book. It goes into more detail than Allen. Allen, however, offers more detail on tax leins.

Understanding the essence of Lou's Client Creator model and implementing it in your business, allows you to gain 'trusted advisor' status with your clients. He walks you through the process of developing your own style/script so that you can be the first class version of yourself rather than a second rate version of another successful sales representative.

If you are serious about bringing value to your clients and learning what matters most to them, read this book.

It's highly recommended for clients of Battson Coaching who are selling products or services.

Absolutely essential reading for the new school salesperson. Sales trainer, Cassara, makes the point we need to be authentic people providing value to those we sell. The value is not so much the product or service we offer which is often a commodity from the marketplace's stanpoint, but is our unique positive character traits which will align with client needs. The book contains worksheets designed to identify qualities in us that customers will find attractive and build conidence in ourselves knowing we are really helping others. Overlook the too cute acronyms for the excersises and worksheets.

This is a hands on guide to your career. I am brand new in the business and found it to be extremely helpful. It is almost like having a veteran agent/rep. sitting in your back pocket ready to give you all the advice, tips, and lessons you need at a moments notice. He give you the tools necessary to succeed and do well in this extremely difficult business. At the end of every chapter is a lesson for you to think through and work on. I loved it! You're not just reading the words, but you are actually putting those words into action and taking that first step towards building your practice. I loved it, I love Lou Cassara (I heard him speak once), and I think you will love it as well. :)

Lou Cassara is by far one of the best producers in the financial security industry. Just like he handles his clients, he has come through for the rest of us with this truly powerfull book that will give you not only the resources, but the insight necessary to create new and better relationships with your clients, friends and families on a very caring and intimate level. After reading this book and developing what Lou calls your Personal Value Statement, I imediately saw results in the conduct and content of the conversations I was having with EVERY single indivudual I came in contact with. This book is about much more than what might apear to be on the surface. I truly believe that if you apply the deep wealth of clear information into your life, you will be a much happier, effective, and caring individual. As Stephan Covey would put it, I have had a major paradigm shift after reading the book and completing its excercises just once. I plan on studying the book many times over, and strongly reccomend that if you are having trouble identifying in your relationships that you need to read this book. It will help you pick up priceless advice you will get NO WHERE else. I hope you all enjoy this book as much as I have, and a sincere thanks to Lou and all the work he has put into this book, it is truly a life impacting work.

Edward K.

I sort of have a hobby of reading personal finance books and I have read plenty of them. There's even one out there on zen and personal finance. But Michelle's advice, while it is basic, is what a lot of people need. She is practical and aware of the financial missteps that all too many people make, especially those young and just starting out. No, this isn't Ben Graham's book or anything written by or about Warren Buffett. What it is is good, basic advice on money management so people can eventually have the funds to invest in the stock market and maybe then start reading Ben Graham. I gave this book to my daughter who is not very sensible yet about money, and Michelle's clear and down to earth way of speaking seemed to finally get through to her, where I had been unsuccessful.

This book is a fine introduction to personal finance. If you already know the basics, then this probably isn't for you. The author lost me when she starting quoting the Bible though. If you are a conservative Christian, run, don't walk to pick up this book that I found at Walmart (how telling). If you don't want someone moralizing to you about marriage in a finance book, maybe you should look elsewhere.

If you're a right wing Christian, and a money novice, you'll probably love this book. However, I wish I'd spent my money on a different couples' finance book.

Don't be fooled by the hip title and cool cover. There are a few nuggets of decent financial advice in here, but you have to wade through Singletary's Dark Ages social-conservative propaganda and Bible verses to get to it, and it's really annoying if you're not so inclined.

Even more troublesome is the fact that some of her money advice seems to be based on her right-wing "values" rather than on sound financial reasoning. (For example, I learned from Michelle's book that couples who maintain separate checking accounts are just keeping open an easy "out" for a future divorce. Thanks, Michelle, for your opinion, but I'd prefer to know the financial and logistical pros and cons of separate or joined or partially joined finances.)

Michelle Singletary is a columnist for The Washington Post. She started "The Color of Money" column in March 1997. In 2003, she published her first book, 7 Money Mantras For A Richer Life: How To Live Well With The Money You Have. The paperback of the book was retitled, Spend Well, Live Rich. Her second book, Your Money and Your Man: How You and Prince Charming Can Spend Well and Live Rich, was released Jan. 31, 2006, both published by Random House.

As always, I found Michelle Singletary's writing style pleasant to read and easy to understand. If the reader has little or no prior knowledge of finances, especially with regards to marriage, than this might be a good first start. However, if the reader already has a library of basic financial books, this one is a little redundant.

In this her third book, she divided her advice into sections that help at different stages: dating, marriage, when children arrive, divorce)--and learning to talk about money with someone you intend to marry--and finding your "money compatibility." Fighting over money is still the number one problem in most marriages.

I did find her decade-by-decade list of money milestones to be very interesting and useful. Be aware that this book is filled with Bible quotes and is very conservative. For instance, Singletary suggests that having separate bank accounts is leaving a way out of marriage--instead of simply stating the pros and cons of separate vs. combined incomes.

This is a wide-ranging book, covering everything from dating, planning the wedding, marriage, children, straight through to divorce or separation. Unfortunately, there was nothing in this book that I hadn't read in several other books, with the exception of the money milestones, which while not new, were put together in an interesting way.

In conclusion, if you are looking for a basic book of finances for those with a conservative, religious point-of-view who are considering or newly married, this book might be helpful. If, however, you have already read several basic finance books, this book might not have much that is new.

Armchair Interview says: If you've read no other book about money and relationships, this has good info for you.

I bought this book, with the interest of hearing the author's thoughts on being financially responsible. I was quite excited to learn some common-sense approaches to handling my money well. However, I returned the book after stumbling across numerous references to ultra-conservative organizations, and reading the author's tirade about how children should only be raised by both a loving mother and father.
The financial info was decent, at best. But, it was completely eclipsed by the author's thinly-veiled messages about Christianity, the greatness of the church, and how healthy kids can only be raised by both a mother and father. And, that was all within the first 20 pages!
What does any of that have to do with financial tips and advice?!