Concrete economic suggestions for staying afloat, geared toward more experienced investors.
Vanclef utilizes his expertise as a financial planner and investment strategist to offer suggestions on how to invest wisely no matter the status of one’s portfolio or the economic forecast.
Terms like REIT, asset class diversification and capital preservation don’t necessarily roll off the tongue. If these words read like Greek to you, then the book won’t be appropriate. However, those who aren’t financial novices–who have some money in the markets and are looking for a better way to ride out this rough economic time–may be able to use the book’s useful tips and research suggestions. Vanclef writes in a straightforward manner, but he packs a lot into this slight volume. Parts of The Wealth Code are rather dry, especially those involving the nitty gritty of certain classes of investments. Though he sometimes uses simple illustrations and short anecdotes for further explication, the author would have done well to include more. As with financial advice, Vanclef points out that his suggestions are not right for everyone, but still are useful as a jumping-off point. The author’s main thesis is diversification, and he likens a person’s investment portfolio to a wooden table. If it has only one leg, everything is fine, as long as nothing jars that leg. With multiple table legs, if one of goes missing, the table will still be upright. Vanclef sees similar benefits to spreading out one’s money. If you have some cash in real estate, some in stocks and some in oil or gas investments, your portfolio could still be growing even if one of your investment classes goes south. While this seems like common sense, most people have all their money tied to the stock market, creating an uneven financial foundation. The author takes the reader into the deeper definitions and explanations of investment, and that is the book’s primary value.
Concrete economic suggestions for staying afloat, geared toward more experienced investors.Pub Date: Sept. 22, 2009
ISBN: 978-1439254479
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
More glorious self-discovery to the trumpet's martial sound- -here, the British march on Egypt to retake Khartoum after their defeat in 1885. And Drummond gives a lift to Anglophilic readers by staging much of her romance and destiny-dreaming in one of England's stately homes. As in That Sweet and Savage Land (1991) and others, the ideal Soldier's Way is riddled with noble potential. Led by family head Sir Gilliard Ashleigh, solemn toasts are offered once a year by men of the family to the dead Lieutenant Vorne Ashleigh, Sir Gilliard's grandson, the ``hero of Khartoum'' who perished on the desert sands. (Some time later, that saintly perishing will be closely examined.) But, now, after Sir Gilliard's death, his surviving grandsons have worries. Young Val, 17, wants to buck tradition and join the cavalry instead of the family regiment, where the Ashleighs have distinguished themselves. Vere, 25, regarded as a frail introvert, is an artist and pacifist and looks forward to a peaceful life managing the estate. But when Vere is thrown over by his fiancÇe, who is infatuated with the dead hero, he bings off in a rage to join the army in Egypt—with embarrassing-to-comic results. Vere is warmly welcomed, but officers and troops soon learn he's useless. Then Val is seduced by the wife of a school official and nips out to join a cavalry unit incognito as a mere trooper. Back home, Sir Gilliard's granddaughter Margaret has her troubles with her dreadful clergyman husband. All will end well, of course, with the bulk of the tale devoted to the reconstituting of Vere, who becomes a fine ``old campaigner'' to whom new worlds of death and pain and courage have opened up. Pleasant romantic messes, mansion ambiance, and offhand amusements. And, again, Drummond does a hope-and-glory drumbeat for the nasty old gentlemanly glories of war.
Pub Date: Aug. 19, 1992
ISBN: 0-312-07778-0
Page Count: 464
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1992
BOOK REVIEW
The roots of a modern tragedy are exposed. Today’s workplace is not what it once was. Gone are the days of corporate loyalty and rewarding seniority found in the immediate post-WWII work environment. Today the rapidity of change impedes attempts to even describe the contemporary norm, and when dynamism becomes normal, Sennett (Flesh and Stone, 1994, etc.; Sociology/New York Univ.) worries about the impact the new workplace has on the people who work there. The belief that work is closely related to character has deep roots in Western society, and in an era where capitalism is evolving far more rapidly than human beings, there is good reason to worry. That a capitalist economy involves change, or uncertainty, or risk, is nothing new. Entrepreneurs have long driven the economy forward, in part, by embracing these conditions as the cost of potentially realizing large rewards. Today, however, conscious risk-takers have no monopoly on uncertainty; it’s “woven into the everyday practices of a vigorous capitalism,” and risk has become “a daily necessity shouldered by the masses.” Through interviews, observations, and statistics set against the background of a similar study undertaken 25 years ago, Sennett captures the tension this creates between contemporary work and human life. What is the place of commitment, sacrifice, caring for others, and looking beyond immediate personal satisfaction when work requires setting such archaic notions aside? In essence, there is a dissonance over time. The constancy associated with good character is directly at odds with the realities of the contemporary workplace: “the conditions of time in the new capitalism . . . [threaten] the ability of people to form their characters into sustained narratives.” Sennett is no Luddite, but this deeply provacative essay exposes the continuing human cost of progress. A depressingly perceptive analysis.
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-393-04678-8
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Norton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1998
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