NEST EGG INVESTING: How to Build a Secure Financial Foundation

While Breunig offers sound counsel to upper-income individuals who want their money to work as hard as they do, her guide is equally valuable for its perspectives on the deregulated world of financial services. The author (host of a cable TV show) divides her text into four parts. Following a short introduction on financial planning, she examines a handful of investment possibilities notable mainly for their income potential and safety. Her choices are confined to US Treasury obligations, money market funds, CDs, self-directed pension programs, and Swiss annuities. In addition, Breunig provides step-by-step instructions on how to buy. The final two sections are devoted to lengthy back-grounders on financial intermediaries (commercial banks, credit unions, thrifts) and cash management. Among other things, Breunig predicts that the census of traditional depository institutions will decline markedly by decade's end, owing to technological advances, end-game provisions of the Monetary Control Act of 1980, and the emergence of so-called near banks like those at the heart of the Sears Financial Network. No fan of the FDIC, she also furnishes checklists to help the wary determine the staying power of banks and other depository institutions. The bottom line: smart-money advisories that focus narrowly on low-risk/ high-reward strategies for accumulating reserves--the cornerstone of any sound financial program--plus big-picture briefings which could cushion future shock.