Eric TysonBesprekingen

A very basic introduction to investing that doesn’t capture the broader perspective of how it fits within sociopolitical development and without noting the nature of risk adequately.

Everyone will at some point or other in their lifetime come to the realization that wealth management is quite beneficial for realizing your projects. This can, and should start at an early age, and at the time I discovered this book, I was just waking up to the fact that I would have an advantage by knowing where I stood financially in the world.
I recommend this book for the absolute beginner. Any experience in personal wealth management will render this book of minimal usefulness.

If "your finances reflect the history of your life more than they reflect a comprehensive plan for your future," this book may break the chain of "financial illiteracy passed on from generation to generation" by helping you "make a short list of your financial marching orders" from here to mature financial habits and arrangements.

This was an incredibly useful book. It provides a concise road map for the home buying process along with tips on how to conduct the process. I will be referring here often during the next year.

This was an incredibly useful book. It provides a concise road map for the home buying process along with tips on how to conduct the process. I will be referring here often during the next year.

It's exactly what it sounds like. I think I learned something, but whenever the tone of the book got irritatingly condescending, I just needed to look at the title for a reminder. (July 10, 2006)

I did learn some things about investing and IRAs, but sometimes the author is very condescending. An example is in a chapter on how to save money on your cellphone: "Last but not least, be safe with your cellphone, especially when driving, and don't hold your cellphone to your ear when talking because of long-term concerns about the radiation emitted from these phones." Okay, sure, I won't hold the phone up to my ear when I use it--wait, huh? What does any of this have to do with finance anyway? And, often, the advice given about finance is logical, but impractical. Take this example in a chapter about getting health insurance: "If you have a preexisting condition [that is making it difficult to get health insurance on your own], find a job with an employer whose health insurer doesn't require a medical exam." Oh, sure, just let me up and do that in these uncertain economic times. On a positive note, the chapter on Roth IRAs was useful. It gave me a general overview of the whole process in layman's terms--something even the "experts" at my bank were unable to do.

If you are pretty sure that you are doing everything right and have a good grip on your finances, this book will help reassure you that you are well on your way to financial success. If, however, you are like most of the country and struggling with an ever-increasing cost of living in spite of a downturn in economic growth, this book will most likely leave you with a sense of hopelessness.

In short, this is a book for kids who are financially fresh and unmarred, blinking in the sunlight of an optimistic future full of possibility. Ah, it must be nice.

Good overview of investing.

Thank you for REMINDING AND HITTING me on the head! A VERY GOOD BOOK! three thumbs up!!!

"Another problem with seeking to amass wealth is that tomorrow might not come. Even if all goes acccording to plan, will you know how to be happy when you're not working if you spend your entire life making money? More importantly, who will be around to share your leisure time? One of the costs of an intense career is time spent away from friends and family. You may indeed realize your goal of retiring early, but you mabe putting off too much living today in expectation of living tomorrow....
Making and saving money is like eating food....The right amount, perhaps with some extra to spare, affords you a healthy, balanced peaceful existence. Money should be treated with respect and acknowledged for what it is - A MEANS TO AND END..."

"...please consider your HIGHER LIFE GOALS AND PURPOSES. What are your non-financial priorities (family, friends, causes) and how can you best accomplish those with the financial resources you do have?"

Eric Tyson has written a great introduction to personal finance.
I have first read his book after I have graduated from college. Now, almost four years later, most of the information is still relevant. This is a great book if you are new to personal finance. Tyson goes over how to save, manage debt, investment, financial products to avoid, picking right financial advisor, and etc. The 2003 edition I read had shown sign of its age by advocating real estate investment as one ways of building wealth.
To be fair to Tyson, he did pointed out the many pitfalls of real estate investment. I really like Tyson's attitude toward personal finance(eg. don't keep up with the jonese and etc.)

Overall, this is a great book, I will r-eread it again in the future.

Eric Tyson has written a great intro to personal finances. This book covers basic financial information such as savings and investing, as well as in depth information on taxes, insurance and debt reduction. Tyson's tone is very conversational and not preachy at all, which makes for an enjoyable read. I think it is a must read for young people even if you think you know all there is to know about money. I didn't expect to learn a lot of new stuff and still I ended up with some useful tips that I will definitely apply to my financial life.

Home Buying for Dummies was an excellent starting point for me, a clueless want-to-be home purchaser. The book covers budgets, selecting professionals to help you (such as real estate agents), searching and deciding on the right home, and securing a mortgage. It’s written by real estate professionals. I haven’t read other “for Dummies” books so I’m not familiar with the genre, but it was so easy to read and actually incredibly painless. If you’re looking to purchase, it’s a great starting point. And that’s coming from someone who was quite clueless.
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For someone who has their personal finances in order, this will be a boring and basic book. For someone who is just figuring out how to manage their finances, this is a great book. I read this book when I was feeling weighed down by our finances and debt. This book helped me think systematically about what we were doing with our finances, helped refine a plan to retire all our debt, and convinced me the need to save and invest for the future. Since I read this book, I have read a number of other books about personal finance and investing. While several of these books gave me a deeper understanding of the topics, not have contradicted what I learned in this book. Personal Finance for Dummies has all the advice I would hope a parent would pass onto their children about money. Unfortunately, a lot of parents don't know many of the things found in this book or don't think to teach their children how to effectively manage their money.½

This is a great book. If you want to learn the absolute basics of Investing and get a flavor of the advanced stuff this book is for you. After this book you will not only have a good knowledge of how the markets and investment vehicles work you will have a base to build upon.

Some useful definitions of terms. Their advice can be summed up as "buy index funds".

Repetitve. A bit too simplistic and gives some questionable advice.

This is an adequate "starting out" type finance book. If you already have $$ though it isn't that useful. A little to skewed towards starting your own business.

As annoying as the Dummie's series is...this book was actually helpful and was definately the best of this genre that we read when we were buying our house.