A brisk, practical take on money management.
A concise guide to personal finance and investing.
Investment expert and CEO Pecaut (University of Berkshire Hathaway, 2017, etc.) states at the book’s outset that he’s aiming to present timeless principles about how to think about and handle money. The book’s first section includes basic concepts, such as compound interest and the importance of saving. The second section is aimed at readers looking for a deeper dive into investment. The author writes from the perspective of a Warren Buffett-inspired investor who looks at the fundamentals of a company (such as price-to-earnings ratios) to find moneymaking opportunities. The third section takes a turn away from other, more traditional books on money management to offer insight on giving to charity. This advice is far from abstract and draws, in part, on the author’s own experiences with micro-lending. Taken as a whole, this book is a well-rounded guide to personal finance. Although some elements are familiar from other, similar works (including Albert Einstein’s oft-cited quote about compound interest being the eighth wonder of the world), the book offers nuanced advice that goes beyond simply getting out of debt and saving 10 percent of one’s income. For instance, Pecaut advises would-be investors to look hard at specifics of a company other than the raw numbers. For example, who’s in charge of the company? Is it just a hired hand or someone fully concerned with the company’s success? The book’s surprisingly personal section on giving is another highlight. Regardless of the topic, it unfolds in simple, straightforward language throughout.
A brisk, practical take on money management.Pub Date: Nov. 9, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-5192-1545-1
Page Count: 196
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: June 18, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A declaration worth hearing out in a time of growing inequality—and indignity.
Noted number cruncher Sperling delivers an economist’s rejoinder to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Former director of the National Economic Council in the administrations of Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, the author has long taken a view of the dismal science that takes economic justice fully into account. Alongside all the metrics and estimates and reckonings of GDP, inflation, and the supply curve, he holds the great goal of economic policy to be the advancement of human dignity, a concept intangible enough to chase the econometricians away. Growth, the sacred mantra of most economic policy, “should never be considered an appropriate ultimate end goal” for it, he counsels. Though 4% is the magic number for annual growth to be considered healthy, it is healthy only if everyone is getting the benefits and not just the ultrawealthy who are making away with the spoils today. Defining dignity, admits Sperling, can be a kind of “I know it when I see it” problem, but it does not exist where people are a paycheck away from homelessness; the fact, however, that people widely share a view of indignity suggests the “intuitive universality” of its opposite. That said, the author identifies three qualifications, one of them the “ability to meaningfully participate in the economy with respect, not domination and humiliation.” Though these latter terms are also essentially unquantifiable, Sperling holds that this respect—lack of abuse, in another phrasing—can be obtained through a tight labor market and monetary and fiscal policy that pushes for full employment. In other words, where management needs to come looking for workers, workers are likely to be better treated than when the opposite holds. In still other words, writes the author, dignity is in part a function of “ ‘take this job and shove it’ power,” which is a power worth fighting for.
A declaration worth hearing out in a time of growing inequality—and indignity.Pub Date: May 5, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-7987-5
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Penguin Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 25, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
More uncommonly sensible investment guidance from a master of the game. Drawing on his experience at Fidelity's Magellan Fund, a high- profile vehicle he quit at age 46 in 1990 after a spectacularly successful 13-year tenure as managing director, Lynch (One Up on Wall Street, 1988) makes a strong case for common stocks over bonds, CDs, or other forms of debt. In breezy, anecdotal fashion, the author also encourages individuals to go it alone in the market rather than to bank on money managers whose performance seldom justifies their generous compensation. With the caveat that there's as much art as science to picking issues with upside potential, Lynch commends legwork and observation. ``Spending more time at the mall,'' he argues, invariably is a better way to unearth appreciation candidates than relying on technical, timing, or other costly divining services prized by professionals. The author provides detailed briefings on how he researches industries, special situations, and mutual funds. Particularly instructive are his candid discussions of where he went wrong as well as right in his search for undervalued securities. Throughout the genial text, Lynch offers wry, on-target advisories under the rubric of ``Peter's Principles.'' Commenting on the profits that have accrued to those acquiring shares in enterprises privatized by the British government, he notes: ``Whatever the Queen is selling, buy it.'' In praise of corporate parsimony, the author suggests that, ``all else being equal, invest in the company with the fewest photos in the annual report.'' Another bull's-eye for a consummate pro, with appeal for market veterans and rookies alike. (Charts and tabular material— not seen.)
Pub Date: March 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-671-75915-9
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1993
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