The 12% Solution


David Alan Carter - 2017
    A strategy that’s not pie-in-the-sky and not just a bunch of theory, but rather a systematic plan that is backed up with real numbers showing it clearly beating the S&P 500 over time. A trading strategy that’s understandable, repeatable, that works and works simply.Anyone can do this. In simple-to-understand language, you’ll discover---- The six ETFs that power the strategy, and why.-- The simple technique for identifying which of those ETFs to buy, and which to sell. And most importantly, when.-- How $5,000 can end up $1,000,000 in your retirement portfolio.-- How to protect your portfolio during market downturns with a simple cash trigger.-- In short, how to earn an average of 12% annually in the stock market with minimal trading, less volatility, and less risk.Beat "The Street" in just 20 minutes.If you have 20 minutes a month and a computer, you can turn any investment amount into a steadily growing compounding machine that will make you the envy of Mad Money’s Jim Cramer and 99% of all mutual fund managers.Make just 2-4 trades one day a month. The strategy tells you what ETFs to buy and what to sell. That’s it. Then turn off the computer and go live your life.

Principles: Life and Work


Ray Dalio - 2011
    Forty years later, Bridgewater has made more money for its clients than any other hedge fund in history and grown into the fifth most important private company in the United States, according to Fortune magazine. Dalio himself has been named to Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Along the way, Dalio discovered a set of unique principles that have led to Bridgewater’s exceptionally effective culture, which he describes as “an idea meritocracy that strives to achieve meaningful work and meaningful relationships through radical transparency.” It is these principles, and not anything special about Dalio—who grew up an ordinary kid in a middle-class Long Island neighborhood—that he believes are the reason behind his success.In Principles, Dalio shares what he’s learned over the course of his remarkable career. He argues that life, management, economics, and investing can all be systemized into rules and understood like machines. The book’s hundreds of practical lessons, which are built around his cornerstones of “radical truth” and “radical transparency,” include Dalio laying out the most effective ways for individuals and organizations to make decisions, approach challenges, and build strong teams. He also describes the innovative tools the firm uses to bring an idea meritocracy to life, such as creating “baseball cards” for all employees that distill their strengths and weaknesses, and employing computerized decision-making systems to make believability-weighted decisions. While the book brims with novel ideas for organizations and institutions, Principles also offers a clear, straightforward approach to decision-making that Dalio believes anyone can apply, no matter what they’re seeking to achieve.Here is a rare opportunity to gain proven advice unlike anything you’ll find in the conventional business press.

48 Days to the Work You Love


Dan Miller - 1996
    It is more about learning who we are really called to be. According to the author, failing to make that fundamental discovery is why so many people find themselves in jobs they hate. But now, thousands upon thousands are finding the work they love thanks to practical advice from leading career counselor Miller. Conversational and creative, Miller helps readers see clear patterns form from which we can make successful career and job decisions by understanding our God-given skills and abilities, personality traits, values, dreams, and passions. 48 Days to the Work You Love provides a step-by-step process for creating a Life Plan and translating that plan into meaningful and fulfilling daily work.

The Coffeehouse Investor: How to Build Wealth, Ignore Wall Street, and Get On with Your Life


Bill Schultheis - 1998
    He had discovered that when you simplify your investment decisions, you end up getting better returns. As a bonus, you gain more time for family, friends, and other pursuits.The Coffeehouse Investor explains why we should stop thinking about top-rated stocks and mutual funds, shifts in interest rates, and predictions for the economy. Stop trying to beat the stock market average, which few “experts” ever do. Instead, just remember three simple principles: Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. There’s no such thing as a free lunch. And save for a rainy day.By focusing more on your passions and creativity and less on the daily ups and downs, you will actually build more wealth—and improve the quality of your life at the same time.

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything


Steven D. Levitt - 2005
    Wade have on violent crime? Freakonomics will literally redefine the way we view the modern world.These may not sound like typical questions for an economist to ask. But Steven D. Levitt is not a typical economist. He is a much heralded scholar who studies the stuff and riddles of everyday life -- from cheating and crime to sports and child rearing -- and whose conclusions regularly turn the conventional wisdom on its head. He usually begins with a mountain of data and a simple, unasked question. Some of these questions concern life-and-death issues; others have an admittedly freakish quality. Thus the new field of study contained in this book: freakonomics.Through forceful storytelling and wry insight, Levitt and co-author Stephen J. Dubner show that economics is, at root, the study of incentives -- how people get what they want, or need, especially when other people want or need the same thing. In Freakonomics, they set out to explore the hidden side of ... well, everything. The inner workings of a crack gang. The truth about real-estate agents. The myths of campaign finance. The telltale marks of a cheating schoolteacher. The secrets of the Ku Klux Klan.What unites all these stories is a belief that the modern world, despite a surfeit of obfuscation, complication, and downright deceit, is not impenetrable, is not unknowable, and -- if the right questions are asked -- is even more intriguing than we think. All it takes is a new way of looking. Steven Levitt, through devilishly clever and clear-eyed thinking, shows how to see through all the clutter.Freakonomics establishes this unconventional premise: If morality represents how we would like the world to work, then economics represents how it actually does work. It is true that readers of this book will be armed with enough riddles and stories to last a thousand cocktail parties. But Freakonomics can provide more than that. It will literally redefine the way we view the modern world.(front flap)

Smart Investors Keep It Simple: Investing in dividend stocks for passive income


Giovanni Rigters - 2015
    You’ve probably heard both good and bad things about it. Still, you want to learn more about the stock market. It could also be that you want to start investing but don’t know where to begin or how much to invest. If you’re already investing, you want to learn better ways to grow your investments, because you want to be more confident about your financial future. Up until now, you probably didn’t have enough time to learn about investing and it might seem too confusing, because there is so much information out there about investing. You also don’t want to lose your money or don’t have enough money to begin investing. What if you had the confidence to start investing on your own, so you could show off your investment performance to family and friends? Leave the stress of an insecure financial future behind you and create sustainable wealth, which you can pass down to your family. In this book I give you a quick overview about what you need to know about the stock market, how to begin, what to do if you don’t have enough cash, how to generate passive income, and how to analyze companies. I also give you a list of companies I personally invest in and I try to answer all the questions you might have that are stopping you from getting started or progressing in your investing journey. I'll show you why you need to watch out with investment vehicles such as the 401K and index funds. This book is a quick read and great to keep as a reference. Best of all, you can get started immediately after reading it. **Don’t wait and buy the book now. It’s on sale, but the price will increase in the near future.**

How to Ruin Your Financial Life


Ben Stein - 2004
    This book is a laugh-out-loud way to educate yourself, your children, and your friends about how money really works...and a way to smile while you're straightening out that mess you call your financial life.

How to Go to College Almost for Free, Updated


Ben R. Kaplan - 2000
    But that was before he discovered that there are billions of scholarship dollars out there for students with all types of interests, skills, and backgrounds. After winning enough college cash to cover virtually the entire cost of his dream school, he's written an indispensable guide that shows you how to stake your own scholarship claim.Now in this fully revised and updated edition, Ben distills his proven step-by-step game plan that positions you to win big money for college -- regardless of your age, GPA, financial situation, or family background. With humor and insight, he reveals insider secrets for successfully finding, applying for, and winning lucrative scholarship awards -- empowering you with the information, inspiration, and know-how to afford the college of your choice and realize your educational dreams.Special Note: As a valued reader of this book, you also receive access to the Coach's Locker Room at Ben Kaplan's ScholarshipCoach.com website. The Coach's Locker Room provides a wealth of bonus material, updates to information contained in How to Go to College Almost for Free, question and answer postings, and other helpful resources.

Living Well, Spending Less: 12 Secrets of the Good Life


Ruth Soukup - 2014
    She gives her readers even more of what they love about the blog: lots of creative, helpful ideas and advice for moms on a budget along with stories from her own journey to discovering what the Good Life is really all about.

Crush It!: Why Now Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion


Gary Vaynerchuk - 2009
    In Crush It! Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion, Gary Vaynerchuk shows you how to use the power of the Internet to turn your real interests into real businesses. Gary spent years building his family business from a local wine shop into a national industry leader. Then one day he turned on a video camera, and by using the secrets revealed here, transformed his entire life and earning potential by building his personal brand. By the end of this book, readers will have learned how to harness the power of the Internet to make their entrepreneurial dreams come true. Step by step, Crush It! is the ultimate driver’s manual for modern business.

The Retirement Savings Time Bomb . . . and How to Defuse It: A Five-Step Action Plan for Protecting Your IRAs, 401(k)s, and Other RetirementPlans from Near Annihilation by the Taxman


Ed Slott - 2003
    Through his simple 5-Step Action Plan, Ed Slott�s down-to-earth, clear-cut, and often humorous approach shows everyday investors how to distribute, roll over, withdraw, and secure their retirement savings (and their inherited nest eggs) against Uncle Sam.

Poor Richard's Retirement: Retirement for Everyday Americans


Aaron Clarey - 2017
    Never started a 401k or IRA? Don’t worry. And are you so far behind in your personal finances you’re worried you’ll never be able to retire? It’s all good. Because whether you know it or not, the entire US retirement system is horribly flawed and was doomed to fail anyway. And that’s why every American needs to read “Poor Richard’s Retirement.” “Poor Richard’s Retirement” is a revolutionary retirement system because, unlike today’s conventional retirement planning, it works. It puts retirement easily within the reach of your everyday man. Whether you have student loans, a mortgage, are behind in your retirement planning, or have no retirement savings at all, “Poor Richard’s Retirement” bypasses it all by showing you how little you truly need to retire. And it does so through the simple truth that happiness is not found in $400 yoga pants, luxury SUV’s, McMansions, or whatever lies they’re selling you on TV, but through love of family, friends, and your fellow man. All of which are free. Make retirement infinitely easier and life happier. Buy “Poor Richard’s Retirement” today. Nobody in America has saved enough for retirement…until now.

Debt-Free U: How I Paid for an Outstanding College Education Without Loans, Scholarships, Or Mooching Off My Parents


Zac Bissonnette - 2010
    These days, most people assume you need to pay a boatload of money for a quality college education. As a result, students and their parents are willing to go into years of debt and potentially sabotage their entire financial futures just to get a fancy name on their diploma. But Zac Bissonnette is walking proof that this assumption is not only false, but dangerous-a class con game designed to rip you off and doom your student to a post-graduation life of near poverty . From his unique double perspective-he's a personal finance expert (at Daily Finance) AND a current senior at the University of Massachusetts-Zac figured out how to get an outstanding education at a public college, without bankrupting his parents or taking on massive loans. Armed with his personal knowledge, the latest data, and smart analysis, Zac takes on the sacred cows of the higher education establishment. He reveals why a lot of the conventional wisdom about choosing and financing college is not only wrong but hazardous to you and your child's financial future. You'll discover, for instance, that: * Student loans are NOT a necessary evil. Ordinary middle class families can- and "must"-find ways to avoid them, even without scholarships. * College "rankings" are useless-designed to sell magazines and generate hype. If you trust one of the major guides when picking a college, you face a potential financial disaster. * The elite graduate programs accept lots of people with non-elite bachelors degrees. So do America's most selective employers. The name on a diploma ultimately won't help your child have a more successful career or earn more money. Zac can prove every one of those bold assertions - and more. No matter what your current financial situation, he has a simple message for parents: "RELAX! Your kid will be able to get a champagne education on a beer budget!"

Capital in the Twenty-First Century


Thomas Piketty - 2013
    But satisfactory answers have been hard to find for lack of adequate data and clear guiding theories. In Capital in the Twenty-First Century, Thomas Piketty analyzes a unique collection of data from twenty countries, ranging as far back as the eighteenth century, to uncover key economic and social patterns. His findings will transform debate and set the agenda for the next generation of thought about wealth and inequality.Piketty shows that modern economic growth and the diffusion of knowledge have allowed us to avoid inequalities on the apocalyptic scale predicted by Karl Marx. But we have not modified the deep structures of capital and inequality as much as we thought in the optimistic decades following World War II. The main driver of inequality—the tendency of returns on capital to exceed the rate of economic growth—today threatens to generate extreme inequalities that stir discontent and undermine democratic values. But economic trends are not acts of God. Political action has curbed dangerous inequalities in the past, Piketty says, and may do so again.

Jimmy Buffett: A Good Life All the Way


Ryan White - 2017
    In Jimmy Buffett: A Good Life All the Way, acclaimed music critic Ryan White has crafted the first definitive account of Buffett’s rise from singing songs for beer to his emergence as a tropical icon and CEO behind the Margaritaville industrial complex, a vast network of merchandise, chain restaurants, resorts, and lifestyle products all inspired by his sunny but disillusioned hit “Margaritaville.” Filled with interviews from friends, musicians, Coral Reefer Band members past and present, and business partners who were there, this book is a top-down joyride with plenty of side trips and meanderings from Mobile and Pascagoula to New Orleans, Key West, down into the islands aboard the Euphoria and the Euphoria II, and into the studios and onto the stages where the foundation of Buffett’s reputation was laid. Buffett wasn’t always the pied piper of beaches, bars, and laid-back living. Born on the Gulf Coast, the son of a son of a sailing ship captain, Buffett scuffed around New Orleans in the late sixties, flunked out of Nashville (and a marriage) in 1971, and found refuge among the artists, dopers, shrimpers, and genuine characters who’d collected at the end of the road in Key West. And it was there, in those waning outlaw days at the last American exit, where Buffett, like Hemingway before him, found his voice and eventually brought to life the song that would launch Parrot Head nation. And just where is Margaritaville? It’s wherever it’s five o’clock; it’s wherever there’s a breeze and salt in the air; and it’s wherever Buffett sets his bare feet, smiles, and sings his songs.