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.