financial Books

[[ASIN:1601451253 LIFE AFTER WORK: Redefining Retirement - A step-by-step guide to balancing your life and achieving bliss in the Wisdom Years] is a "must read" for people thinking about retirement or even those who have been retired for a few years. I have been giving this book to family, friends and former colleagues, encouraging them (and their spouses) to read it. The feedback has been very rewarding. I have been retired for several years myself and thought I had it all figured out. Than I ran onto "Life After Work" and it opened my eyes to issues that I hadn't "figured out" after all. Even if retirement for you is off in the future sometime, this book can also alter your thinking about life "during" work.

When I made the decision to retire after 34 years with my employer, I focused primarily on the financial side; "Can I afford to retire without working?"
Once that question was resolved with a resounding "Yes"; I asked myself "What am I going to do everyday in retirement". I didn't have a plan other than knowing that I wouldn't have to make the 3-4 hour round trip commute to Los Angeles everyday. Yes, I made a things-to-do-list, but life is more than task assignments. And, I knew that - that alone would not be fulfilling.
Then, I had the opportunity to read "Life after Work" (about 30 days before my actual retirement date), and it helped to put everything into perspective. I no longer had (in retirement): Purpose, a Structure / routine, Power, Authority or a title, People surrounding me all day long.
Reading this book helped me to gain insight and to develop a focus on "Me, my family and my friends" as my priority. Step by step, every emotion that I was feeling was discussed in such a way - that I thought this book was written specifically for me or anyone else that just thought - that everyday is about work. It's been about two months since I retired. I am now focused, enjoying retirement and am happy. I did set a goal to "Relax" for the first several months to develop my purpose for the next third of my life. Not sure I would have achieved a confident approach to a happy retirement as quickly, if I had not read & implemented the approach in "Life after Work".
I strongly recommend that you invest a little time, a few dollars and educate yourself on how to deal with all the unknowns as you transition to retirement.

Had I read "Life After Work" when I retired 7 years ago, the road to a happy retirement would have been with fewer bumps and bruises along the way. A successful retirement doesn't just happen. It requires thoughtful self examination and adjustment of priorities. Doug Fletcher provides a concise and practical guide in that regard. This book is an excellent resource for the struggling retiree or anyone considering retirement in the near future.

J. Tom Cooper (gktemugen@aol.com), a book reviewer for a radio network,

The author of this book shows how well she not only knows copyright law, but knows how to communicate with writers who don't have a legal background. The accompanying CD has a multitude of useful forms for contracts, copyright and trademarks. Authors and publishers alike will find this book essential in their business endeavors. The writing is clear, understandable, accurate and extremely helpful in explaining a complex subject in lay terms.

This book is a great addition to any library or office. I use it in my law practice for quick and easy reference. If you own the 2003 edition, this one has been updated and is much easier to read.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I think it does a wonderful job of describing the law and legal issues that an author should know about if they are going to take full advantage of their work product. Knowing the information contained in this book will most assuredly help a small business owner who creates publications to market her company and/or to provide herself with credibility. Definitely a must read for any infopreneur, too!

The book includes the following chapters:

1. From Writer to Literary Entrepreneur
2. Copyright
3. Copyright Registration of Online Works
4. Fair Use, Permissions, & Work Made for Hire
5. When Someone Violates Your Copyright
6. Other Legal Issues to Consider
7. Trademark
8. The Anatomy of a Trademark Application
9. Trademarks on the Internet
10. A Brief History of Intellectual Property Law
11. Pending Legislation Affecting Authors
12. Contracts Basics
13. The Publishing Agreement
14. Other Important Agreements

My favorite parts of the book were chapters 2, 4, 7, and 10. I'm glad chapters 3, 8, and 12-14 were included, too. I also enjoyed poking around the Net to learn a bit about the author. I only did this because of the way the author wrote her book. She included herself as part of the book's content. She is a somewhat young attorney who has an athletic background and clearly a drive to be a successful entrepreneur. The world would be a better place if there were more women like her.

I would have enjoyed the book more if it had not been ALL law. For example, while it is true that an author gets substantial protection from registering her copyright so she can sue and get damages. Most writings don't merit filing for such protection. I think it should have been pointed out that some writings don't really need the full range of protection, while others certainly do. If I write a 10-page ebook that helps me market my Web site. Do I really care if someone steals that from me? Probably not. But if I write a 170-page booklet that I sell at my seminars and workshops, then I better register my copyright because some real effort went into that publication and my seminars need it for credibility. I'd be at a loss if someone stole it. Things like this could have been included in the instant book being reviewed to make it better. 5 stars!

A part of AMG Publishers' 'Following God' series, "Living A Balanced Financial Life" by financial planning and personal finance management expert Deborah Nayrocker is a compilation of a twelve-week program of specific lessons that approach money management from a distinctively Christian perspective. "Living A Balanced Financial Life" deftly addresses such questions and issues as why some people can go through live with minimal financial concerns, while others are enmeshed in a constant struggle to make ends meet; how we can be protected from indebtedness and enjoy a good live on even on modest incomes by adhering to God's commands as laid out in the Bible, especially the parables and teaching of Jesus. In short, how we can become better, more effective, more efficient, more successful managers of our financial resources through being more observant Christians. "Living A Balanced Financial Life" begins with lessons on our being stewards entrusted by God with what we have, to the choices we can make avoid needless debt, to establishing our life goals, our handling of money, credit, and savings; to becoming content with what we have as believing Christians and contented stewards of God's largesse. Every Christian, regardless of their denominational affiliation, who is struggling with money management issues, should give a careful and considered reading to "Living A Balanced Financial Life".

I thouroughly enjoyed "Living a Balanced Financial Life". It shows the wisdom of God's Word and how it brings blessing to a person's life. I appreciate the personal application at the end of each chapter. There are alot of practical and educational information that would help someone with their finances. A few of those are guidelines for establishing a workable budget, how to use a credit card wisely and also the dangers of using a credit card. I would highly recommend the book which is written in a workbook format. It would be great for personal use or in a group setting.

Using the same format as the "Following God Christian Living Series," Deborah Nayrocker has written this twelve lesson guide for "Living a Balanced Financial Life." The book uses an interactive study format which points the reader to God's Word in ways that help them apply these truths personally.

The lessons follow a plan for devotional study five days each week and covers topics including: stewardship, debt, virtues, God's will, life goals, handling money, getting our finances in order, borrowing and credit, saving and planning for future needs, as well as exploring the riches we have as Christians.

Each chapter is carefully planned with instruction, suggested Bible readings, thought provoking questions, ideas for prayer and a page for personal notes. I particularly appreciated the emphasis of the side bars highlighting key scripture passages related to the study material and the extensive end notes provided within the chapters.

The studies are based on the parables of Jesus, as well as other Old and New Testament stories that help the reader discover what God's word has to say about personal finances. This is an ideal study for personal or group use, as a small group Bible study, or an Adult Sunday school class.

The book was well thought out.It was extremely organized,a quick read with useful information.The author put's in writing what we have heard before but never act upon.I have already put to use some of her idea's and have saved money.

First time author, Doris Spears, shares her insight on living the better life without sacrificing quality. For either the savvy investor or cost conscience consumer, Ms. Spears, provides tips from buying clothes to cars, from dining out to traveling the world and from investment strategies to real estate purchases. Don't let the small price fool you, this book has something for eveyone. Buying this book is your first step towards Living Better for Less!

This book brings us back to simple but very basic ideas. If you handle things once at the right time, it saves you time money and energy. I like the fact that it's written simply- it's an easy read but very effective. I even gave one to two of my daughters who are 18 and 20. It's never too early to start out right. My thanks to the author for bringing us back to basics!

this book covers just about every financial topic there is. a must have for sure!

An excellent book that covers all the financial bases for personal finances. Great for anyone, from college to retired, single or married. This single book cuts through all the confusion and gives clear, to the point advice on selecting stocks, building IRAs, taxes, insurance, health care, etc.

My only concern is that the book was written in 1996 and some of the information could be dated. Still, it is good solid fundemental advice. Anyone following the guidelines and sticks to them will achieve the financial independence they are looking for.

Absolute route to money power.

I like the way this book is designed to go straight to your immediate interests.

Shows you how to eliminate fifty percent of your business and personal worries.

This is definitely a prescription for curing emotional upsets as in financial worries.!

This book is dedicated to all of you guys out there who think they do not need it.!

This book is purposefully light on math compared to typical Ph.D.-level microeconomics/asset pricing books and more advanced topics aren't developed in detail. Still, the essentials are there and this book does a fantastic job of linking together concepts and explaining the foundational material. It also serves as a nice review book. Excellent job Mr. Lengwiler (I hope that you write more books!).

In my quest to read as many books on financial economics as possible, I came across this one from Lengwiler. I have a relatively modest math background, so I appreciate Lengwiler's approach. The book is heavy on intuition, rarely resorting to econ-math jargon (though without warning, it occasionally does so). For me, this has been a valuable supplement not only to LeRoy and Werner Principles of Financial Economics but also to Mas-Colell, Whinston, and Green's Microeconomic Theory. It offers straightforward explanations of mathematical concepts in ways that are often missing from the canonical texts.

This is not meant to be a textbook though there are some exercises following each chapter. The book is very easy to read and must be read as an uptodate introduction to General Equilibrium models and asset pricing as used in Financial Economics, Macro Economics etc. The ideas are developed without resorting to anything more than undergraduate level Linear Algebra, Optimization and Microeconomics. Reading this book has helped to put into perspective the financial economic theory learned over several courses and levels. The book should be compulsory reading for Graduate and Doctoral students.

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With the economy finally reviving around the world, many companies will begin to make capital expenditures in new capacity, new capabilities, added hardware and software, and development of new products. Having spent the last five years spending as little money as possible, many of these companies will not be rigorous enough in checking out their choices. Professor Kursh's book is an essential resource for any company that is not very good at evaluating and managing such investments.

The normal process behind making investments involves an advocate who spends a lot of time massaging the numbers so that the investment can be justified . . . and answering an occasional question about why the investment is or is not a good idea. Much more needs to be done. Anyone who reads and applies Professor Kursh's book can expect to avoid bad investments, spend less on good ones, and get the results they want faster.

The book describes a process that begins with a preliminary analysis to see if it's even worth spending time on the opportunity, then proceeds through an assessment of the business impact of making the decision to go forward, examines risks and how to handle them, looks carefully into what must be done for successful execution and how to be sure that will follow, and ends with a look at how to manage the implementation and its aftermath. I know of no other business book that looks at this full gamut of important issues. This book will be like gold in the hands of those who propose and run investment projects.

Professor Kursh makes many references to popular business books like Good to Great and Execution as reference points for his futher development of the issues raised in those books. He then gives the reader excellent questions to ask and lots of examples of how to do the examination. At the end of each section, there is also a detailed example that is developed throughout the book as a continuity reference.

The book ends with an excellent appendix that describes the various financial measures that need to be examined in order to follow this process. Even someone who is not familiar with accounting will be able to use this appendix to do a better microeconomic analysis of investments.

Professor Kursh has a lot of experience in the software industry, and the book is worth its price just for his many examples of how to avoid making mistakes in adding new software . . . something that more and more companies are doing and having problems with.

Not every investment will require the full analysis described in the book, but for critical applications the full monty will make sense. This book will be most valuable in the small organization where a small group of managers or entrepreneurs need to make "bet the company" investments and do not have a lot of other people to help test their thinking.

I was especially pleased to see that Professor Kursh explained the many ways that a project can get off track and how to determine whether to get it back on track . . . or to simply stop where you are.

The book is written in simple language with simple examples. The ideas behind the language and examples are very sophisticated and profound. Seldom have I seen a book that brings such sophisticated thinking in an accessible way to beginning managers. Very nice job, Professor Kursh!

This book would make an excellent text for undergraduate business students and M.B.A. candidates as well.

After you finish this book, think about what investments you have been avoiding because you were concerned about the risks they present. Then use this book to help you sort through them.

As someone who does not have a great deal of experience in making investment decisions, I found this book extremely valuable and easy to follow. The guidelines to implementing strategy are straight-forward and explained in a manner that I can not only grasp, but find relevant to the decisions I am making today. Great choice for someone looking to be more involved in investment decision-making.

The best parts of this book are (a) a very clear description of a number of control methods which can be used in practice; (b) very useful survey of macroeconomic models which can be used in practice. The application on India is very useful for deleopmnent planners and researchers. There are many books on useless methods which in practice can not work, but this book is a very exception. Every methods explained here are original and work in practice.

The best parts of this book are (a) a very clear description of a number of control methods which can be used in practice; (b) very useful survey of macroeconomic models which can be used in practice. The application on India is very useful for deleopmnent planners and researchers. There are many books on useless methods which in practice can not work, but this book is a very exception. Every methods explained here are original and work in practice.

The book consists of the following chapters: 1. India's Economic Scene and the Behaviours of the Monetary-Financial Instruments; 2. Methods of Optimal Control; 3. Recent Advances in Macroeconomic Policy Analysis ands the Analytical Structure of the Control Model 4. Estimation and Analysis of the Model 5. Analysis of the Result of the Control System.

This book saved [me]so many times in my Monetary Theory Class. I would have to say that this book is a little more advanced than your typical intermediate economics book. One should have a fairly good understanding of algebra and calculus (derivatives and integrals) to understand this book as there are a lot of equations. But that is also what makes it so cool! What I found particularly interesting was the chapter on Episodes in U.S. Monetary History. Although it was not required that we read this book for our class, my professor had said that anyone considering attending graduate school should read this book because they would benefit immensely from it. He said a lot of what this book covers will set up the framework to understanding more advanced level courses in economics at the graduate level.

I wish that this book were still in print. I am an economics student and have found it most useful in my study of monetary economics. It has clear explanations and discussions. It is much more useful and comprehendable than either Walsh, "monetary Theory and Policy" or Goodhart's "money, information, and uncertainty." While one may prefer another book for covering open economy monetary this book is fantastic for the rest of monetary.

This book covers the basics of monetary economics very well

In this age of commercials and silicone implants, it becomes very difficult to tell the difference between fact and fiction. Of course, the one thing we can all agree on, is that money is desirable and valuable. We spend lots of energy getting it and spending it. But very few of us ever ponder its intrinsic value or its authenticity. If we were to fail the cashier's ink marker test for real money we would feel betrayed by whoever passed this damn bill off to us as the real thing.
in his book The Monetary Elite vs. Gold's Honest Discipline, LoCascio shows how the integrtiy of our money has been tampered with. His expose is so shockingly cogent that it is a wonder that there is no outrcry against the outrages perpetraded on us all. Step by step, he exposes the powerful monetary elite. Think about it, if it's true that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, then how would it be possible for those who have the power to create money and value not to have made choices which are favorable to them and not necessarily fair and equitable to all.
This highly alarming but important expose though factual, reads like a real page turner. It opened my mind to something that seems so obvious once i saw it through the perspective of LoCascio's knowledge of the subject.
He paints a convincing picture of how the monetary system is a global Ponzi scheme run by and for the benefit of the monetary elite (bankers, and the people they love to lend to) The title hints at how this works; Since the dollar's not worth its weight in gold anymore, the banking system creates new money at will, nothing stops the monetary elite from rigging the system. That's how they get more from the proverbial pie than they contribute.
When things go wrong (Depression, recession, slow down, etc) he shows how their "fixes" address the effects rather than the causes. Using a narcotics analogy, he shows that successive needles in the arm virtually guarantee eventual collapse.
I loved his interesting thought experiment patterened after the movie "Tading Places" where Dan Akroyd (Winthrop) the wealthy young investment banker is forced to trade places with Eddie Murphy (Valentine) the homeless guy.
His analogy of bankers and parasites is reason enough for me to have read the book.

If you want to know everything about current banking system and its inherent flaws, this is the book for you. It describes everything you want to know and need to know in order for you to protect yourself.

In this sequel to his excellent _Special Privilege_, which I've also reviewed, financial planner and consultant Vince LoCascio hopes to show us why returning to a gold standard would be a sound monetary policy.

Originally inspired by Murray Rothbard's writings on monetary policy (particularly _The Mystery of Banking_), LoCascio has now followed up on his earlier work by more thoroughly investigating the Austrian School. In consequence he's peppered his sequel with references to e.g. Ludwig von Mises and Carl Menger. In fact, at several points (notably the definition of the 'money supply'), LoCascio now relies on specifically Austrian insights.

The essential proposition here is that the jiggery-pokery currently performed by the 'monetary elite' (which LoCascio explained in _Special Privilege_ and explains here in even more depth) would be impossible in a monetary system in which the 'dollar' was defined as a certain weight of gold and banks didn't enjoy special legal protection. There's nothing magical about gold, of course; it's just one of several metals that have always emerged as media of exchange whenever free markets have been allowed to work. Strictly speaking, a properly managed paper currency would do the job just as well. But paper currency doesn't carry any powerful incentive to proper management; in terms of 'honest discipline,' gold's got it all over the fiat currency we use now.

As in LoCascio's earlier book, the 'special privilege' of the banking elite under current U.S. law is sixfold: the power to create money out of thin air; special protection of assets; liability protection; bailout schemes; funny accounting; and secrecy. These privileges combine to create and protect a monetary cartel that, even when it's working 'correctly,' tends to foster heavy inflation (in 1970 this book would have listed for about one-tenth of its current price), and moreover is rife with opportunities for fraud.

LoCascio's explanations of these problems are clear and lucid; moreover, his history of the fractional reserve banking system probably has some new things to offer even those who are already fairly well-read on this subject. In short, it's a well-written and well-argued book that could succeed in taking this argument to a wider audience. And since there's probably a whole new generation out there who isn't yet familiar with the gold standard and the reasons for returning to it, LoCascio's book could also be a 'gateway' to the earlier literature on this subject.

(By the way, something went wrong with the page numbering in the table of contents; by the end of the book, the TOC is off by three pages. Just an FYI, and something to correct in future editions.)