Financial Freedom: Creating True Wealth Now (Book On Tape)

Hay House (Published 2006)

Written By Suze Orman

USA

Review 3 stars— Good Read

How the blurb describes the book:
This practical, systematic approach to financial freedom is divided into three sections. This first one takes us back to our most formative experiences with money. We do this in order to break free of financial worries and take control of our feelings about money. Once we've made this connection, we're then able to change both our attitudes and our actions and start to create a life that is financially free.

The next section contains the Must Dos, the Laws of Money. Here we'll learn how to master the practical elements of financial life. We'll find out about trusts and wills; credit-card debt; saving for retirement; the insurance we should and shouldn't have; and most important, we'll come to understand why it's so critical to trust our own instincts more than others', even the professionals to whom we're so accustomed to listening, when making financial decisions.

The last section takes us beyond the financial realm into an area of life that all the money in the world just can't buy. It is here that we learn the true secrets of the money cycle and realise that we cannot measure our self worth by our net worth. With this last section, we have entered the realm of wealth!

Mr Home Budget's Review:
While this is a "book on tape" it is so much more than that. A lot of the audio you hear is from a live presentation with Suze Orman, with real audience members. Suze talks to the audience and asks questions and they answer back. This is a unique concept and works really well when you listen to it. So do not expect it to be like most books on tape where it is just reading, word for word like what she has in her written book of the same title.

Her first point to the audience is an excellent one. She places a crisp one dollar bill below each person's chair. She asks all of them to take it and rip it in half. Now she requests comments from the audience about how they feel about ripping up the one dollar. Even though it's not their money, most people reacted in the negative about the experience. Saying they hesitated to rip the money up, and a lot commented that it was slower and harder to rip up this money compared to a piece of paper. Some even said they felt bad or guilty for doing it.

But now Suze makes the point that each time you throw away something in the fridge which has gone off that was worth $5; you have ripped up 5 one dollars. Each time you buy a $50 item of clothing and only wear it once, you have effectively ripped up 50 one dollars. And each time you don't shop around on a major bill, for example like an insurance policy. You could have effectively ripped up more than 200 one dollars. She goes on to say because people don't think of it in these terms; they don't associate a negative feeling for not saving money. I think that it's a very good point.

But from this very good point, the book seems to go off in all sorts of weird directions. The book is broken down into 9 parts. For example in the first three sections Suze talks about the more emotional side of money and gets people to relate their first thoughts and feelings about money compared to their current views. She asks many questions to test the listeners/audience's morality, feelings, ideas and views. Some things cut really close to the bone and do make you evaluate your total money spending patterns.

From section 4 to section 6, Suze talks about the more practical side of money, including topics as wills, credit cards, insurance, 401K plans (the USA equivalent to our super plans) and compound interest. This is where you might want to bring a pillow along. It's not that this information is not useful as it is. However, she goes into so much detail, and covers topics in so much depth that it becomes more like a lecture. For example, she talks about how to handle a will for over 30 minutes, when this should have been tackled in 10 minutes maximum.

The last nine steps go back to the touchier, emotional side of money; your thoughts and feelings about it. While this book really didn't excite me all that much, this line caught my attention. "For those of you who have credit card debt and you have the money to pay it off sitting in your bank account. You don't pay off your credit card debt because you are holding on so tightly to the amount of money which is in your account. You don't even have the faith to pay off your credit card debt with it. You would much rather pay 18% in interest charges on that credit card debt, than let the money that is earning 4% in your savings account go."

The bottom line is this is a good book (audio book) but not great. There are some really interesting stories, ideas and concepts. However, they are followed by so much boring, useless technical jargon they get lost in the whole book. It's worth listening to just to find the diamonds in the rough, but don't expect it to wow you!

Pros:
Suze gets you thinking about some of your bigger goals in life.
She talks about stories about herself when she was working for $400 a month and had zero money and how she turned it around. These are extremely interesting.

Cons:
The tips in this book are extremely American based, and some will not translate to other countries.
While there are some interesting parts in the book, some are so boring you best have a pillow ready.

How To Grow, Manage and Protect Your Wealth

Wilkinson Publishing (Published 2009)

Written By Dominic Alafaci

Australia

Review 3 Stars – Good Read

 How the blurb describes the book:
Whether you have $5000 or $5,000,000 to invest, you would do well to read this book by the Collins House supremo, Dominic Alafaci. It covers the things everyone needs to know about money management, and more.

Of special interest are the real life experiences and case studies which are examined.

How To Grow, Manage and Protect Your Wealth, describes the steady and sensible decisions people have used to grow modest sums in $million plus portfolios that generate tax-free income.

A special feature is the 17 Tips You Can't Afford To Ignore. Get on the right track with this easy to read guide to financial security which includes the impact of the May 2007 Federal Budget.

"Dominic brings commonsense at a time when it's not all that common"- Paul Clitheroe.

Mr Home Budget's Review:
I'm not sure what this book really is. It seems to jump from a reference book, to an autobiography of the author, to a book about laws which pertain to money and then to a book with personal stories about their money problems. To call it flighty and inconsistent would be accurate.

This is not to say you will not be able to learn anything from it. There are heaps of long-term strategies which would fit into your budget and money goals. However be prepared for every good part you will find an equally non-relevant part to your situation.

The most confusing bit of the book is when the author talks about himself for 23 pages. And he almost starts from birth until present. This passage includes how he coached a volleyball team, and while this is interesting, it has an almost zero outcome on you the reader or your money situation.

Where the book excels is in its storytelling ability from the author using his clients as examples. This put you in a bird's eye view of how he handles clients and what they are thinking when it comes to their money. Unfortunately these parts are too few and far apart.

The book ends with 17 Tips You Can't Afford To Ignore. But some of these tips are so long and convoluted you might think they could have been chapters all unto themselves. Not just as the book puts it "tips". And a lot of these tips would only work in certain situations and would not be for everybody. For example tip 12, "Why pay double fees in a self-managed superannuation fund?"Most people would not have a self-managed superannuation fund.

On the other hand, some of the tips are extremely small and are not real tips at all. Just opinions on what may happen in the future.

But perhaps I'm being a tad harsh. It does have its good parts and ideas that could save you a fortune. If you can just use one of these tips then the total book purchase was 100% worth it.

One of the tips which stood out to me was: "Tax Driven Products, An investment must stand on its own two feet, and whilst tax benefits are important, they are of no value if the investment doesn't provide a return of your capital and positive rate of return commensurate with the risk you are taking."

To put this in a nutshell, if you are going to invest your money into a company because you could get some tax advantages DON'T. Make sure the investment will go up and don't worry about the tax cuts.

While the book is a good read (even if being a tad all over the place). This book will not be for everyone and I would only suggest it to people who already have a large amount of money to invest. If you are a mum and dad, who are trying to improve your budgeting situation, then you might want to look elsewhere.

Pros: The stories from his clients are extremely good and entertaining.

Some tips will help you over the course of your life and could save you a lot of money and heartache.

Cons: At times you will think this book is more of a biography of the author than a money management book.

Some of his 17 tips are not really tips at all. Or they are so long they could have been their own chapter and not just classed as a tip.