5 comments about The Five Rules for Successful Stock Investing: Morningstar's Guide to Building Wealth and Winning in the Market.

1. I really really like this book and keep going back to it. Mr. Dorsey has a knack for presenting what could be very confusing obtuse financial information and definitions into concise and simple manner without dumbing down the reader. The book has some simple rules that could be incorporated into a stock picking stategy. Combined with other books from william O'Neill and Peter Lynch, it just adds to what goes into picking a great stock. Isn't it wonderful that most of the information is available free on the net? I don't invest in stock recommendation services for the simple fact that I want to learn how to pick good stocks for myself without having to fall back on the crutch of someone else's opinion, cuz that's basically all it is, an opinion.



2. The book, "Five Rules for Successful Stock Investing," is an outstanding read.
   
   It covers ALL aspects of choosing equity investments (though stocks are the focus). Best of all, it takes a fairly complex subject and breaks it into digestible chunks. For example, the author goes through the process of reading financial statements (annual report and 10k), showing where the money appears and disappears without requiring a bachelor degree in accounting.
   
   Digestible chapters simple means that there is one idea which is developed for each section and not so much detail that it becomes a textbook exercise. (One does not lose the point of the discussion.)
   
   It is illustrated with examples of well known companies, with an explanation of why the best answer is not always the obvious answer.
   
   Finally, it is written in a style that is thoroughly readable.



3. This was a solid introduction to value investing. I especially appreciate that it takes the time to break out the nuances of different industries and how this impacts your investments. The approach outlined makes a lot of sense -- very logical. It makes me wonder why anyone would do it any other way.
   
   After losing money too frequently on poor investments in otherwise good companies, I decided that there had to be a better method to investing than what I had been following (which was my own ad-hoc approach). I purchased a handful of books on value investing and I would say that this was the best and most thorough of the group. Using the principles layed out in this book, I can tell exactly what I was doing wrong and have already seen an improvement in the investments I choose. Despite a market that is significantly down, I'm holding steady and now have a much more confidence that when the market picks up, I will be in the right place.



4. I have just recently entered into the world of investing, and this book has really helped me to have a much better understanding of what I'm doing. At first, I was more or less just picking companies (hey, I like this one, etc). Dorsey's book was very helpful and informative. It gives you a ton of suggestions on how to evaluate a company, and it guides you through the some of the hard-to-read financial reports.
   Before reading this book, I read Phil Town's Rule #1 book, and a lot of the basic principles are the same, but Dorsey's book actually explains the concepts to you. I cannot recommend Town's book.
   I would heartily recommend that everyone read this book before they begin investing. You will be glad you did.



5. Now, you can't breeze through this book like you would "One Up on Wall Street," but that's because this book covers a lot of accounting and financial concepts involved with companies. It's sort of a textbook on how to find good companies using various different financial metrics. Dorsey definitely knows his stuff, but in order to learn what he's teaching you, you've gotta pay rapt attention throughout the entire book and have pen in hand to highlight everything. I'm an engineer by profession, so I'm accustomed to working with math, etc., but getting into the accounting and financial terminology for most of 350 pages can be exhausting. The back half of the book is downright revolutionary in that it explores the different investment sectors (e.g. health care, retail, consumer products) and tells you how to analyze companies within those sectors.
   
   It might seem obvious that one should generally be wary of restaurant stocks because, hey, you eat at the Outback all the time and you see it's crowded all the time, so you should by the stock, right? Maybe. Dorsey explains it to you and you say, "Yeah, that makes sense." Any schlub can whistle on down, rent some space and start cooking meals for people. That's why the restaurant business is highly competitive, 'cause it's easy for competition to sprout up.
   
   You should definitely have a copy of this book if you're a serious investor, but don't think you're just gonna kick back on the beach and read it (unless, of course, you're not really serious about an education in investing).

5 comments about The Balanced Scorecard: Translating Strategy into Action.

1. 
   
   The book is a classic that has revolutionalised the way executives view their organizations, be it a for profit or not-for-profit entity. The Balanced Scorecard, an approach to strategic management that was developed by Robert S Kaplan and David P Norton, is a concept for measuring a company's activities in terms of its vision and strategies, to provide managers with a comprehensive view of the performance of a business. The key new factor is focusing not only on financial results but also on the human issues that drive those outcomes, so that organizations focus on the future and act in their long-term best interest.
   
   The traditional means of measuring success through financial performance focuses on achievement to date. It is backward looking and can be counter productive in terms of securing a successful financial future. According to Kaplan and Norton financial measures are inadequate for guiding and evaluating the drive that information age firms must make to create future value through investment in customers, suppliers, employees, processes, technology and innovation.
   
   The Balanced Scorecard balances financial success with processes that will generate success in the future. The scorecard retains a financial perspective and achieves balance by introducing a customer perspective, an internal perspective and a learning and growth perspective. In addition, it introduces objectives and measures, identifying both critical success factors and critical measurements.
   
   The Balanced Scorecard is a management system (not only a measurement system) that allows organizations to clarify their vision and strategy and translate them into action. It provides feedback around both the internal business processes and external outcomes in order to continuously improve strategic performance and results. When fully deployed, the Balanced Scorecard transforms strategic management from an academic exercise into the nerve centre of an enterprise.
   
   The Balanced Scorecard methodology builds on some key concepts of previous management ideas such as Total Quality Management (TQM), including customer-defined quality, continuous improvement, employee empowerment, and measurement-based management and feedback.
   The Balanced Scorecard suggests that we view the organisation from four perspectives, namely the financial perspective, customer perspective, internal business processes and learning and growth perspective. The approach requires managers to develop metrics, collect data and analyze it relative to each of these perspectives.
   
   This outstanding book is recommended to managers at all levels of an organisation, as well as business management students and strategy consultants.



2. This is a product that help me to alling the objetive of our organization to the lowest levels



3. Balanced scorecards have become ubiquitous in modern business parlance. But to really understand their power and elegance requires an understanding of strategy mapping as depicted in Norton and Kaplan's other books. Because those other books were written later than this one, the deeper power of the scorecards really emerges in the follow-up to strategy mapping. Nonetheless, this is a cornerstone of any strategist's library, depicting the methodology that has become rightfully synonymous with measuring strategy. The real beauty of this approach does not lie only in its extraordinary identification of the key perspectives that must be measured to accomplish (or determine a need to revisit) strategy. Instead, the malleability of the scorecard as a means to measure all of the aspects of stakeholder delivery is really indispensable when approaching the complexity of modern organizations. With the advent of triple bottom lines and the demand to measure not just the results but their alleged leading indicators, balanced scorecards have become the standard for how to do so. No strategist or business leader's library should be without this book. It is as vital as is "The Wealth of Nations" to an economist.
   
   Amie Devero, Author of Powered by Principle: Using Core Values to Build World-Class Organizations



4. The world doesn't need another long review of this book or the Balanced Scorecard concept but a little added perspective might be of value. BSC is most useful to organizations that need to jump start (or begin) their strategic planning efforts. The book lays out a practical and useful guide to do just that but many companies end up allowing BSC to become all consuming and not a means to an end. For this and other reasons, the majority of organizations don't follow through. The process described in this book is easy to read and absorb and consequently has a loyal following of adherents -- some of whom claim substantive results in their companies as a result. With the caveat that one size does not fit all, I would recommend this book as a component of your readings on business strategy and execution.



5. This book is the bread and butter if you are into executing strategy.There is lots of good tips and detailed understanding.
   
   Please visit http://www.balancedscorcard.wordpress.com for more information

5 comments about The Coming Economic Collapse: How You Can Thrive When Oil Costs $200 a Barrel.

1. The investment advice is based on the assumption that the "coming economic collapse" will be like the recession in the 1970s. Pretty unlikely, given that the causes are totally different. He just wants us to buy gold - who needs his book to hear this?
   
   This is a simplistic book with little to recommend it.



2. This book has a lot of great info, particularly about economy and aspects of history that may be misunderstood, or may have been completely misrepresented to us. The book is also a relatively easy read. I read it about a year ago, which was actually a little late, but even now it is still a worthwhile investment.



3. I wish he saw the credit market collapse and subsequent bailout. I'm off topic, i know, sorry. Regarding oil, hind sight is 20-20. After reading the book i in summer '07 i went off to my CFA and got this take: oil prices are being fueled by speculators, in inflation adjusted numbers it's still less (even at $100 plus) then the spikes in the early 80's, Not to worry the price will come done. Now with oil at 90 plus (10/08), my CFA has proven correct at least in the short term.
   
   The book takes good sources, references, common sense, and some marketing license with the title and makes a good case. The author still sounds shrill. During the period of $140 plus, i went to the authors site expecting to get the i told you so and the get ready here it comes and here's what you can do...but NOTHING! So much for committment.
   
   Don't get me wrong, if nothing he has heightened my senses and i will keep a diligent eye towards the oil industry, international economies, government action and inaction. I think it has elevated everyones thinking and the should be the sole reason for reading this book.



4. I read this book based on a recommendation by someone who was bullish in investing in Gold. The financial crisis (2008) has also catapulted the author to a series of media interviews. As others have already observed, the actual investment advice came only in the last three chapters. Much of the book devoted to building up the author's credence in analysing past periods of high inflation and volatile investment environment in the 1970s. In light of the current financial crisis, some of the author's observation makes interesting reading.
   
   Here are some of the them,
   
   "Most authorities continue to reassure the public that today's soaring energy prices are temporary, that oil reserves are virtually limitless."
   
   "Most people don't realise how close the dot-com crash came to destroying the economy, the society, and the very fabric of our civilization came close to disintegrating."
   
   "... our leaders did the right thing and saved us from disaster by the rapid response from the Federal Reserve lowering interest rates to nearly zero."
   
   And these are just the first 10 pages from the book. Leeb made a big thing about not falling into "group think" and he was the lone voice in spotting the finite nature of oil reserves. The problem is, there is no evidence that national leaders or company CEOs think oil is limitless. That is a strange concept. To put things in perspective, the dot-com crash induced recession lasted only around 6 months and mostly limited to the US. The general market and the rest of the world escape relatively unscathed. The Feds' interest rates policy directly linked to the sub-prime crisis is even harder to defend. Interestingly, the author think because real estate was a sound investment in the 1970s, and think it will remain sound for some time.
   
   On the different in investment strategy during a volatile market, the author wrote, "a far more rewarding strategy in the 1970s was to sell shares at the market tops and buy them again at the start of the next rally." Oh, now I get it .... buy low and sell high. ;-)
   
   I am also uncomfortable with some of the scientific assertions in support of alternative energy investment. Leeb doesn't think nuclear energy has a future because nuclear waste management is a problem. Ignoring France is 75% nuclear powered, and waste management has been effectively managed for the past decades. Wind energy is the preferred solution to the energy crisis by the author. However, no base-loaded electricity requirement was mentioned. Wind energy can not provide base-loaded electricity. For readers interested in different energy alternatives, I recommend Beyond Oil: The View from Hubbert's Peak by Prof. Kenneth Deffeyes.
   
   Gold investment actually makes a lot of sense. However, the rise and fall of gold price goes beyond the law of Supply and Demand. The strength of the US dollars used in paying for commodity, including oil and gold. And the influence of hedge funds. Even accepting the soundness of gold investment as a long term strategy, the lack of inclusion of any debate of the US dollars and hedge funds diminishes any serious recommendation.



5. I bought the audio book version and was only able to listen to about half of it. I couldn't finish it as it repeated itself constantly.
   
   Basically what I have taken from the author is that every civilization and empire that has failed did so because of energy supply problems. Forget corruption, forget fiscal irresponsibility or anything else just chalk it up to energy supply issues. Conclusion is the collapse of the American Empire will be the result of energy supply issues.
   
   The author constantly repeats himself throughout the book and it makes it really hard to finish.

5 comments about Foreclosure Investing For Dummies (For Dummies (Business & Personal Finance)).

1. Great book. This is the time to read this. It saved me $1000.00's before I wasted money on an informational product.



2. Par for Dummies series -- very informative, useful, clear and easy to read. Lays out upside potential as well as downside risks. As an adjunct, I've been using a beta service at realquest dot com which lets me search for pre-foreclosure, foreclosured and bank-owned homes in my local area. Perfect combo.



3. this book is very easy to read. it gives you step by step info on all apects of investing.



4. This book has been very helpful to my husband and myself. We are just getting started with this and the book is simple, easy to understand, and very informative. I would recommend this to anyone who is serious about wanting to learn, and having it explained to them in detail.
   
   Thanks, Ann



5. Excellent information, too bad the market is the way it is and people are losing their homes. The author is concise and accurate and anyone that has money to invest would do well to review this information before putting their money out there. The author makes it fun and interesting while making sure you have all you need to avoid the pitfalls; especially in today's market.

5 comments about Mutual Funds For Dummies, 5th edition.

1. The book does contain some very good advice for how to select good mutual funds but the book basicly states that as an individual investor that it is nearly impossible for you to get better returns while investing in individual stocks. This is not the case IF your are willing to do the necessary research on a regular basis. Most non-index mutual funds fail to beat the market indexes consistently and he states that if the professionals can't do it then why could private investors beat the indexes. The simple fact is that if you are willing to do the homework consistently, maintain a diversified portfolio of 5-10 stocks then you can beat the market. The simple reason most non-index mutual funds can not beat the markets is because they simply have to much money to manage. A good managed mutual fund will have to at some point close its doors to investors to continue making great returns and because most of these funds make thier money from bringing in more funds which therefore creates a conflict of interest. This major point is only partially gone over in the book and it seems the writer has written off the entire population as people only willing to check thier investments everyonce in a while and will not perform the research. The author should at least say that beating the market with individual stocks is possible for the investor that is willing to perform the necessary work but for those who are not then with a fraction of the work you can still get good consistent returns through the use of mutual funds.



2. This is a wonderful book for anyone wanting to know more about investing their money and managing finances. I believe it is a wonderful gift for teenagers and college students as most of us do not learn these things in grade school. It's an easy read and can be used as a reference when the young adult starts making their own income and has questions on what to do with it.



3. the book is fundamental and was given to my grandchildren for a start in investing. i am helping generate a spread sheet for them to use as an analytical devise.
   better than average do it yourself book, gets down to the basics



4. Eric does a good job of a broad view of the particular subject matter at hand. My only issue is that the books are highly overlapping. A structure with the original book on personal finance with additional chapters on subtopics would likely have avoided all the duplication.



5. We all know every Mutual Fund associate thinks THEIR fund is the best on the market, hence the NEED for a non-partisan book that helps you understand WHAT to look for in a GOOD Mutual Fund. If that sounds like you, I HIGHLY recommend this book. It is TRULY what it says it is...you may be a beginning investor when you begin the book, but you'll feel confident enough to make thorough investigations into prospective funds by the time you finish it! It is an 'easy read' book with easily understandable text.

5 comments about A Short History of Financial Euphoria (Whittle).

1. The real value of this book is that it will hopefully serve as a reminder to the person who has read it when that person happens to find himself in a state of financial euphoria. In that sense, it's indespensible and could be life-saver. It's a usefule piece of wisdom. But in another sense, Galbraith's analyses of various financial run-ups and crashes is a bit too tidy. Obviously at the most general level, extreme market behavior can be thematicized, so to speak, so that genearl qualities can be shown to be shared by extreme markets. And this is where Galbraith makes his point and spreads it on thick, albeit in overly stuffy tone for an economist!



2. Yes, Galbraith predicted the '87 recession- but he did so throughout much of the 1980s, during a period of tremendous growth and wealth building. When the '87 recession did occur- and let us recall that it was exceptionally short and shallow, lasting only until April of 1988- he gleefully announced his vindication.
   
   Galbraith built his reputation on his 1955 book on the Great Depression, written at a time when Economics was in large part a historical and largely literary field, well before the econometrics explosion of the 70s, 80 and beyond. Modern economists are as much mathematicians as anything, and the sophistication of the tools they use today is far beyond anything Galbraith had at his disposal in 1955.
   
   In large part because of the sophistication of the tools available, the recessions of the past 20 years have been much shorter and milder than those of past years. One only has to look at the historical record to see the tremendous decrease. At the time Galbraith wrote this book, however, he was still writing in a very 19th-century, historical style of analysis and his arguments tend to reflect that. A large part of his argument is that psychology governs markets, which is true, but trivially so; markets are, after all, simply collective human behavior. But Galbraith thinks that bubbles can be explained entirely by "herd mentality." Of course, if that were so, the Fed could quit playing with the funds rate and just buy a lot of advertising space and time.
   
   We now know, for instance, that the "bubble" of the late 90s was caused in large part by companies bringing forward computer spending in order to deal with Y2K compliance. We also know that the brief '87 recession was caused in large part by a large tax increase. And we know that there is a political business cycle triggered by the actions of politicians in election years that often results in a dip the following year.
   
   None of this enters in to Galbraith's analysis, because he's still dealing with the same analytic tools he was taught in the 1920s. So read this book for the historical perspective, and for an insight into how a 19th Century economist would have viewed times of economic boom and bust- but don't think for a moment that it has anything to do with post-1960 economic analysis.



3. Galbraith has written an excellent little book on the negative impacts of speculation on the American economy.The speculative dangers to free enterprise restarted with the Reagan administration's deregulation and privatization of the financial sector of the economy in the early 1980's.Galbraith's analysis is completely applicable to the Michael Milkin-Ivan Boesky directed junk bond speculation of the mid to late 1980's that led to the collapse of so many banks and S and L's in the 1989-1991 time period,as well as the Dot com bombs and NASDAQ(DOW) meltdown of 2000-2002 period, and the subprime mortgage backed bonds folly of the 2003-? period that also witnessed the bankers' reflating of the DOW bubble(2003-2007) and Ben Bernanke's 1.2 trillion dollar attempted bailout of Wall Street that simply created another bubble in oil and commodoties while annihilating the value of the dollar.Galbraith, like Adam Smith,John Maynard Keynes,and Kindleberger before him,correctly identifies a pattern that emerges over and over again in capitalist economies-first,there is the banker financed and directed leveraging based on increased prices for some asset.It is claimed that this is a " new " economy and things will be different this time.This leads to the formation of the bubble .This is then followed by a mania featuring herd like " momentum " investing that is financed by the commercial banks.This leads to a panic ,which leads to a crash which leads to a recession or depression.
   
   I have given Galbraith 4.5 stars here because he is completely ignorant of the fact that Adam Smith provided a much more detailed exposition of this problem in his The Wealth of Nations (WN)in 1776(See the Modern Library Edition (Cannan)of WN,pp.250-340).Smith's conclusions,supplied on pp.339-340,include the solution-prevent the bankers from financing the leveraging that speculators MUST have in order to put their plans into action.This requires a policy of restricting credit to 3 categories of borrower-the prodigals,the imprudent risk takers,and the projectors(Keynes's speculators and rentiers).Of course,the forces of banking and finance,as pointed out by Keynes in 1938 in an article in the Eugenics Review, will resist mightily.
   
   It is unfortunate that Galbraith never read WN.Galbraith could have used the intellectual support provided from the analysis presented by the greatest economist of all time to buttress his position substantially.



4. "A Short History of Financial Euphoria: Financial Genius is Before the Fall" is a book that every financial manager must be required to read. Every financial company must have one copy in its library.
   
   The book is powerful in its explanation and predictions of financial speculative episodes. In eight brief chapters, (I wish I could do that), JK Galbraith describes the financial euphoria preceding major financial collapses starting with the Tulipomania in the Netherlands in the 1600s and ending with October 1987.
   
   All crashes have common features. First, and nearly always, is a reinvention of a financial instrument sold to investors as the blockbuster wealth-creator of all time. People buy into the instrument in herds, creating a speculative bubble, which in turn leads to "mass insanity." Two speculative behaviors characterize all financial euphoria. One involves investors who believe the bubble will last forever. The second relates to those who know the bubble will ultimately burst, but contend "they will get the maximum reward from the increase as it continues; they will be out before the eventual fall" (p. 4).
   
   The two behaviors reinforce one another in two different, but related ways. Because of euphoric "mass insanity", there is always a strong belief in the unfailing ingenuity of financial geniuses. Partly because of such a belief, a dogmatic theology has emerged that condemns to Hell anyone who dares to caution against excessive speculation and mass euphoria. Critics are generally put down as unpatriotic and against capitalism. The consequence is a crash that "always ends not with whimper but with a bang" (p.5).
   
   Here is the common sequence of speculative episodes: Bubble, then "mass insanity", then euphoria, then crash, and finally "mass memory loss". The latter guarantees that there will be another episode just as severe or even more so.
   
   Highly recommended!
   
   Amavilah, Author
   Modeling Determinants of Income in Embedded Economies
   ISBN: 1600210465



5. How appropriate this book is, given the recent real estate bubble burst. It is a short study of the historical bursting of bubbles. John Galbraith is a renowned economist, and admits he can't predict when bubbles will burst, just that they will. The language you hear during the upward trend of bubbles is exactly the same - that "it" will never go down. People get into a frenzy or euphoric state and ignore that fact that the bubble will ultimately burst, as it always does. This book was written prior to the Stock Market crash of 1987, the dot com era, the more recent real estate bubble, which ultimately is the root of our current economic woes. This was a very quick read and I enjoyed it tremendously. A friend of mine lent me his copy to read a few years ago, and the recent crash of the real estate market led me to remember how much I enjoyed the book that I bought it for myself to reread.

5 comments about Trump University Asset Protection 101 (Trump University).

1. Asset Protection 101 is a book that everyone should read. We all know about corporations, LLC's, Revocable Living Trusts etc and we all know about law suits and being sued - but this book puts it altogether in an easy to read format that anyone can understand. If you want to save money on your taxes, if you want to keep from losing everything in a lawsuit, if you want to be able to pass on your estate to your family, without probate and with the least amount of taxes - then Asset Protection 101 is a "must reading" for everyone.



2. I know a little about business entities since I own a small business. I was worried that this book would either be over my head, or too basic. I found that it did a fantastic job of covering the basics without seeming to talk down to me. I also got some great ideas and strategies to really increase my protection and dramatically cut my taxes. JJ Childers manages to make complex strategies digestible for those not versed in legal jargon, yet doesn't talk down to anyone with familiarity in the areas he covers. Since studying JJ's strategies, I find I can understand and speak with my CPA and attorney with more confidence and comprehension. I have also found that I can make better tax and legal decisions with my new knowledge and my tax and legal advisors were impressed with my understanding of the topics of asset protection, estate planning and tax reduction. Thanks, Mr. Childers!



3. I was really taken by just how vulnerable many of us are to attacks by lawsuits and other events. Asset Protection showed me a world that I never knew existed a world where greedy lawyers (who should be disbarred in my opinion) sue for a living. Actually targeting companies and individuals not because they did something wrong but simply because their assets were easy to get at. Once that target is found then an "offense" is "created".
   
   A lot of the concepts I have heard of before but this book broke them down and made them simple to understand. I have already begun to shape my assets in line with the models in this book by working with my Lawyer and my Accountant both of whom have since bought a copy of this book and have begun to use it to discuss options with their clients. The list of missed tax deductions alone is worth a hundred times the cost of this book and I can not recommend it highly enough.



4. This is an extremely informative and well-written book. Building wealth is vitally dependent on legally reducing your taxes by forming companies and properly structuring your income between earned income and passive income. The author covers the various forms of company entities such as general and limited partnerships, S Corps, C Corps, and LLCs. I've read several books about corporate entities and this is the first one I've found with practical, real-world examples that explain why an S Corp is better in one situation, while a C Corp is better in another, and an LLC is better in other circumstances. I came away believing (rightly or wrongly!) that I actually understand the differences now. The author then builds on that and explain how you can use multiple entities of different types to create a solid asset protection plan. He gives an excellent example of how a actively traded investment account can be structured as a limited partnership (with brokerage accounts held inside it) and whose general partner is a corporation. I've noticed this same structure when reading annual reports over the years, and now I understand why this structure reduces liability and has very significant tax advantages.
   
   There is much more than what I've covered here. I highlighted text on almost every page in the book. My highlighting ratio is the predominant factor of how high I will rate a book. I will continue to pull this book off the shelf and refer back to it.



5. The only thing The Donald supplies to this book is his powerful brand and two generic paragraphs for all this books in this series. There really is no thoughtful forward or anything to do with his insights. That being said, this is a pretty good beginners guide to the whys, whats, and hows of protecting your assets from the various income taxes, business taxes, estate taxes (the death tax), and lawsuits.
   
   The author, J. J. Childers, is an attorney but writes clearly and simply enough for regular folks. The book's 17 chapters are presented in five parts. Part I covers the problem of excessive spending and a too passive approach to paying taxes. You can't build wealth that way. Childers shows you some basic principles on understanding the tax code and ways to use exemptions and deductions to keep more of your money. He also talks to you about the power of having your own business and the right structures to use to manage the risks involved.
   
   Part II covers protecting yourself from lawsuits and carefully explains why this matters to you and matters more and more as your wealth grows. He presents you with some basic principles of using corporations to protect your assets and using multiple entities to match risk and assets rather than leaving all your assets in one pot vulnerable to a single catastrophic suit. Part III cover estates and death taxes. He introduces you to trusts and why they are essential to you and why a will simply does not provide you any protection from probate. Part IV shows you how to think like the wealth. Childers calls this the Mogul Mindset. He also takes you through the process of creating an asset protection team and what professional expertise you simply must have. As the author says, you may think you don't have enough wealth to worry about these things, but when you start adding it up, you can get surprised in a hurry. Don't let anyone simply take it from you because you failed to act.
   
   Part V provides you with various resources such as a list of common deductions, which business structures provide various kinds of protection, a state by state guide to which assets you can protect during bankruptcy and a glossary of business and legal terms.
   
   As with any 101 basic course, this is introductory and you will need to study more and dig deeper to master the topics in this field. But this can certainly get you started in the right direction.
   
   Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

5 comments about Storyselling for Financial Advisors : How Top Producers Sell.

1. This book is must reading for anyone who is in the business of selling anything!



2. If you are considering a career in financial planning or are currently working in the financial services industry, this is a must read. Failure to read this book will insure you sound like everyone else and that will not understand your client.



3. I bought this book base on the recommendation of my mentor who is one of the best producer in the company (he's number 9 among 24,000 agents). I read through it and found that the financial advisors need to be more playful and more fun in order to connect with normal people. And normal people in this case are not middle-class or non-sophisticated investors. Some big-business owner or sophisticated investor want to be presented with something that is easy to understand. Plus, they also want to be entertained. This book will definitely worth your money and worth your time to read. It shouldn't be read only once. You should use it for reference if you feel "stuck" at the appointment or presentation. Also you should go back to it if you feel like your appointment or presentation that you've recently done was "dried" or "grim". This book will change all that. :)



4. I've been in the Financial Services business for over 20 years, and since day one, I've been told to present charts, stats, figures, etc. to clients. This type of process is shoved down our throats in this industry.
   
   Fortunately, I "got it" long ago and began including right-brain thinking into my presentations. This book, however, has crystallized those beliefs and taken me to the next level.
   
   West and Anthony have hit upon a concept that is not necessarily new; however, they have done an excellent job of bringing storyselling to a conscious level for the niche that includes Financial Advisors.
   
   I make decisions for myself and my family via careful analysis of facts (or so I think); however, after much thought (pun not intended), I now realize that my emotions play a larger part of that decision-making process. If I "feel" right about something, it's a done deal. Having stated that fact, I wonder: why should my clients be any different?
   
   We all think in pictures. Contemplate this: when someone tells you something (or you read something), does your mind see the words they say or that you read? No! You see pictures, photos, etc. This is the way we think, and this is the way sales and communication must be approached. Create pictures that depict what people want to achieve (with honesty and with their best interests at heart, of course; this goes without saying), and success is ensured.
   
   This is where storyselling comes in, and this is why this book is so important to those in the Financial Services industry. It cuts to the core of proper communication techniques. This is NOT about manipulation; that would simply be unethical, at the very least. This is purely about finding a better way to communicate your message in a way that will allow others to understand and benefit.
   
   A fantastic volume; I highly recommend it!



5. An excellent book well written and easy to read with just enough detail to be informative balanced with stories to make it readable. My biggest aha came from the the different styles of communication clients use and how I can better connect with them. This book was the first to cause me to focus on communicating better an speak in a way and method they can understand, imagine that! Well worth reading for veterans and rookies alike.

5 comments about The Art of Innovation: Lessons in Creativity from IDEO, America's Leading Design Firm.

1. Through anecdotes, Kelley demonstrates how stumbling blocks to innovation can be overcome. He shows an appreciation for experimentation, momentum, and embraces failure as a true path to knowing. Failed prototypes are wonderful learning tools. Kelley's perspective keeps spirits high. He leaves much of the innovative process open ended - nearly encouraging innovation on innovating.
   
   Interestingly, Kelley notes how medicine is becoming personalized and that the future can not be perfectly predicted. Still, he says we must aim at it. This was an important nugget of wisdom for me, a research coordinator at a think-tank-like public health research group, the Healthcare Innovation and Technology lab at Columbia University. On a daily basis we deal with innovation to improve healthcare and need to effectively innovate. Given that we tread a very specific territory - health and technology - and that Kelley's book could be so useful to us, it is obvious that he really has something to offer to everyone.



2. Excellent book with good insights. If you are in the business of innovation, this is one book that you shouldn't miss. I also recommend EIGHTSTORM: 8-Step Brainstorming for Innovative Managers.



3. The Art of Innovation: Lessons in Creativity from IDEO, America's Leading Design Firm
   by Tom Kelley
   
   The Ten Faces of Innovation: IDEO's Strategies for Defeating the Devil's Advocate and Driving Creativity Throughout Your Organization
   by Thomas Kelley
   
   
   Much had already been written - the good & the bad - about these two books after they were published. I do not wish to travel on the beaten path.
   
   I just want to share some of my own thoughts from a different perspective.
   
   I have recently reread these two books following my return from holidaying in Italy. I had in fact read both of them for the first time when they were respectively published several years ago.
   
   This time, I have in fact reread them syntopically with Frans Johansson's 'The Medici Effect', which in many ways, has influenced my own thoughts about the abovementioned two books.
   
   Following my recent holiday trip to Italy, particularly my revisit to the Vatican Museums in Rome & the Uffizi Museum in Florence, I became fascinated by the great work of the Medici family.
   
   The title of 'The Medici Effect' actually refers to an explosion of creativity and imagination that occurred in Florence during the Renaissance era, stretching from the late 14th century where it started right up to the early 17th Century, where it had spread to the rest of Europe, when the powerful & influential Medici banking family funded artists, artisans, painters, sculptors, and even thinkers and scientists from many different cultures and disciplines to come together to debate, discuss, and discover new ideas.
   
   [Out of 1,000 European artists, painters & sculptors during that period, about 350 of them had lived &/or worked in Florence, Italy.]
   
   Through their generous patronage, we are able to speak of and admire the wonderful masterpieces & elegant work of Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, Botticelli, Donatello, Raphael, Ghiberti and countless others.
   
   Tom Kelley's two books as mentioned above essentially drives home the point about 'The Medici Effect.'
   
   I see IDEO's successful problem solving approach with clients as a true application of the deliberate 'blending' of brainstorming methodologies, work practices, human resource cultures & physical infrastructures. As Tom Kelley had steadfastly asserted: 'Methodology alone is not enough."
   
   The adoption of the ten different high-touch personnas as defined by the author in his later book truely reflects the 'Medici Effect.'
   
   In my personal view, this innovative 'blending' is the strategic heartbeat of IDEO's success in the marketplace.
   
   The other stuff, like observing carefully the anthropology of endusers, high-energy brainstorming with time pressures, quick prototyping, & taking risks are actually peripheral to the deliberate 'blending' process. These stuff had been covered in great detail in the first book.
   
   In fact, as part of IDEO's problem solving repertoire, the cross-pollinating of inputs from their internal teams, clients' teams, knowledgeable people not directly involved with projects, & from people who make up target markets, further accentuates the Medici Effect.
   
   Come to think of it, & in terms of personnas from the creativity standpoint, I reckon what Tom Kelley had talked about so passionately in his latter book, builds, in some subtle ways, on the earlier thoughtware of Roger von oech (as illustrated in his two books on his four creative personnas: Explorer, Artist, Judge, Warrior) & Edward de bono (as illustrated in his 'Six Thinking Hats' book, which I believed had been somewhat influenced by Ned Herrmann's 'The Creative Brain'.)



4. Although published in 2001, thus making some of the innovations referenced seem really old, this is a great read for anyone interested in innovation and how to create an innovative culture in any organization.
   Kelley is GM of IDEO, one of the world's leading design and innovation consultancies. In a highly readable book he shows us how IDEO has played key roles in developments related to mobile computing to minimally invasive surgery and cardiovascular monitoring.
   
   Innovation lessons covered include Innovation begins with an Eye which mirrors what Yogi Berra reputedly said, "You can observe a lot by watching," Secrets for Better Brainstorming, (no secrets but good commonsense tips), A Cool Company needs Hot Groups where he debunks the myth of the lone genius and quotes Francis Jehl, the long time assistant to Thomas Edison as saying, "Edison is in reality a collective noun and means the work of many men."
   
   I'm not sure you will find anything dramatically new in this book, but what it does provide is a framework to create better innovation by reinforcing the need to better understand your customer base before designing to solve a problem. The bottom line is that IDEO has been very successful over a long period of time. It developed the first production mouse for the Apple Macintosh and the Palm V. A visit to their website provides a veritable cornucopia of major clients the design company has worked with. The more I study innovation, the more convinced I am that it is primarily a cultural thing. If you really want to drive innovation in your world, read this book and numerous others to reinforce key messages and key behaviors.



5. Although it is becoming a bit dated, the basic tenants that are discussed are relevant today as much as they were 10 years ago. Of interest to me is the strong attention to the team dynamics that under pin high performance development teams. Very much still worth the reading time.

5 comments about Leadership Without Easy Answers.

1. The most disappointing part of this book is its blatant political slant. The book is NOT about a theory of leadership, but about an ideological judgement of the performance of leaders. Heifetz starts by insisting that leadership is necessarily tied to values because if you disagree....then the rest of his book is meaningless. Heifetz believes that to be a good leader you have to adopt positions that he advocates and if you don't, then you aren't a good leader. So, in Heifetz's world, Reagan wasn't a good leader, but LBJ was.
   
   Do yourself a favor and keep surfing....



2. I have been studing leadership for over 15 years both by reading and experience. I consider this book to be the best book I have read because it describes leadership as a learned activity. It also says that leadership is in motivating people to do their own work in solving difficult problems. I found that as President of my congregation I was continually going back to the concepts in the book to lead it through a very difficult situation involving placement of the flags in the sanctuary. It was very difficult to get people to do their own work and not try to step in to solve everything. (That would have been impossible anyway) I found that he described President Lyndon Johnson as a successful leader (civil rights) and unsuccessful leader ( Vietnam). His discussion on leading without authority is new ground for me. If you want to discuss the book with others there is an on-line book study at the Work and Worship Institute website. I found it was a good way for me to get more from the book. This is a great book with great stories of a variety of leaders in our society.



3. I thought the book was good when I read it first. It took me a second read to realize how exceptional it is. The book's reviews on Amazon site range from 5 star to 1 star, from people who were amazed by its brilliance to those who could not despise it enough. I think this is the best accolade that a leadership book can ever get - it takes a stance, it provides direction, and it chooses to be for a great cause irrespective of whether it is loved or hated. This book cannot and must not be ignored.



4. Heifetz' definition of leadership revolves around the concept of influence rather than subordination or coercion. Using contrast to sharpen his own definition of leadership, he wrote that there is an important difference between imagining that a leader influences a community to follow her vision and influencing a community to face its problems.
   
   In the first instance, influence is the mark of leadership; a leader gets people to accept his vision, and communities address problems by looking to him. If something goes wrong, the fault lies with the leader. In the second, progress on problems is the measure of leadership; leaders mobilize people to face problems, and communities make progress because leaders challenge and help them do so. If something goes wrong, the fault lies with both leaders and the community (pp. 14-15.
   
   It is the second description that Heifetz defined as leadership, which is simply put as "mobilizing people to tackle tough problems" (p. 15). Heifetz was less willing than Peck (1977/2002) to say that the task of leadership is spiritual growth of self and others. Rather, he put the problem into a depth psychology perspective with practical organizational implications, and he used "four criteria to develop a definition of leadership that takes values into account":
   
   "First, the definition must sufficiently resemble current cultural assumptions so that, when feasible, one's normal understanding of what it means to lead will apply. Second, the definition should be practical, so that practitioners can make use of it. Third, it should point toward socially useful activities. Finally, the concept should offer a broad definition of social usefulness"(p. 19).
   
   By inserting values, Heifetz argued, he created a "prescriptive concept of leadership" (p. 19) rather than a descriptive or proscriptive one. Using his four criteria, Heifetz was able to state that Hitler, for example, was not a leader because he "exercised leadership no more than a charlatan practices medicine when providing fake remedies" (p. 24).
   
   Later in his book, he defined the task of addressing "tough problems" in the clearest terms:
   
   "Leadership, as used here, means engaging people to make progress on the adaptive problems they face. Because making progress on adaptive problems requires learning, the task of leadership consists of choreographing and directing learning processes in an organization or community. Progress often demands new ideas and innovation. As well, it often demands changes in people's attitudes and behaviors. Adaptive work consists of the process of discovering and making those changes. Leadership, with or without authority, requires an educative strategy" (p. 187).
   
   Heifetz identified the principal limitation of his book when he wrote that his book was concerned with the "short-run task of making progress on an adaptive challenge" and not about the "long-term task of leadership--developing adaptive capacity" (p. 129). This is a fruitful area to explore for scholars of servant-leadership because a major focus of Greenleaf's was precisely the development of this adaptive capacity.
   
   Heifetz also provided leaders with a "seven practical suggestions for bearing the responsibility that comes with leadership without losing one's effectiveness or collapsing under the strain. These included "getting on the balcony"; separating yourself from your role; externalizing conflict; utilizing partnerships; listening; "find a sanctuary"; and keeping your purpose clear (p. 252). Leaders under stress would do well to remember to read through these pages, which essentially offer some tips about resilience.
   
   The following includes several key concepts through direct quotation.
   
   * The concept of adaptation arises from efforts to understand biological evolution. Applied to the change of cultures and societies, the concept becomes a useful; if inexact, metaphor. Species change as the genetic program changes; cultures change by learning. Evolution is a matter of chance--a fortuitous fit between random variation and new environmental pressures' societies by contrast, can respond to new pressures with deliberation and planning. Evolution has no "purpose"--survival is our only measure of its success; societies generate purposes beyond survival. (pp. 30-31)
   * The mix of values in a society provides multiple vantage points from which to view reality. Conflict and heterogeneity are resources for social learning. . . . Leadership will not consist of answers or assured visions but of taking action to clarify values. (p. 35)
   * I define authority as conferred power to perform a service. This definition will be useful to the practitioner of leadership as reminder of two facts: First, authority is given and can be taken away. Second, authority is conferred as part of an exchange. (p. 57)
   * A holding environment consists of any relationship in which one party has the power to hold the attention of another party and facilitate adaptive work. [italics original] (pp. 104-105)
   * Attention is the currency of leadership. (p. 113)
   * The pitfall of charisma, however, is unresolved dependency. (p. 247)



5. The late Marvin Bower (McKinsey & Company's mastermind) was an avid reader of leadership books, and lost no opportunity to coach his partners with memos focusing on different aspects of personal leadership and professional values. He was very fond of Heifetz work, and with occasion of the donation of his personal library, I had a rare opportunity to review his own copy. Marvin had scribbled many ideas on its margins while reading... Later I learned he would only do that to volumes that he would deem credible, and from which he could borrow ideas worth the try.
   
   Needless to say, I bought the book as soon as I could and I must say it is the most credible leadership volume that I have read so far.