The New Rules of Money: 88 Simple Strategies for Financial Success Today

Author: Ric Edelman
List Price: $15.00
Our Price: Click to see the latest and low price
ISBN: 0062720740
Publisher: HarperCollins (01 February, 1999)
Sales Rank: 40,782
Average Customer Rating: 3.21 out of 5

Customer Reviews

Rating: 5 out of 5
This book will make you money!
Whoever said that money is a very, very controversial subject was only touching the surface! They should check out these reviews. I believe and know from nine years of investing that a good, emphasis on"good" 401 (k) plan is one of the best investments in America today. To the negative vibes on 401 (k) and other retirement plans, ask yourselves, "How much did you pay in taxes last year?" To the great mathimatical geniouses out there who don't understand non prepayment of mortgages, take out your calculator and figure out which will make you more money; prepaying on a 7%-9% mortgage or putting that same prepayment cash in a good mutual fund and making 15%-20% per year? This is known as "opportunity risk" in the later example, your money could double in 3-4 years with mutuals so why would you want to prepay a low interest mortgage?. As far as the other books recommended, I would suggest "The Millionaire Next Door", 'More Wealth With! out Risk" "Financial SelfDefense" and 'The Richest Man in Bablyon" a lot of the other books either all repeat themselves or are out of sync with the times.

Rating: 5 out of 5
Edelman is a controversial guy
No doubt that Edelman is a very controversial guy--just check out these reviews. However, Edelman is also very knowledgeable and very accurate. He accurately called the Index Fund fallout as early as 1998. HE WAS WIDELY CRITICIZED FOR THAT. But as someone who listened to him, I am glad he was so perceptive!Likewise, Edelman suggests to carry a mortgage vs having a paid off mortgage and invest the difference. As another astute reviewer commented, this is a lot like the old term vs cash value life insurance debate. Which is better?Cash value is generally the better value for the insurance salesman. Likewise, a paid off mortgage is not doing you any good because it is a liability and provides no income. Better to put that extra mortgage moneyin good investments that can grow 20%-25% per year.Edelman may be controversial but his advice is right on.

Rating: 5 out of 5
Great advice
I shouldn't be surprised that there are a lot of negative reviews. Personal finance is exactly that....personal...and with the personal factor involved people will have different ideas about what they like and don't like, etc. I think the thing that gets overlooked about the ideas Edelman shares in this book and his others is that if you want an index fund or a short mortgage, you can still do that. I don't think the effectiveness of the kinds of techniques and ideas Ric promotes should immediately be shot down just because you like index funds and he doesn't. Are you going to shun dollar cost averaging your index fund as well, because Ric hates index funds and likes DCA? Well, now you're just being silly.

That's why I think this is an extremely valuable book. No matter what you want to do with your own finances, there is something here to help you. Maybe you don't like his approach to investing, but you may find his ideas on saving for college indispensible. Maybe you're just curious about what a municipal bond is, or how it behaves. It's an extremely malleable approach to personal finance. It's more goal-oriented than return-oriented. It focuses on the long term, regular joe investor, not the day trader.

And one last thing about the author. I don't know if any of the other reviewers live in the DC area and get the oppotunity to listen to Ric's radio show, but Ric is very fair-minded about how he presents his financial planning firm. He repeatedly advocates shopping around for the firm that can help you best, and certainly doesn't think that he is the only game in town. He brags about his achievements and the success of his firm, but so what? Wouldn't you rather take advice from a guy widely recognized as top-notch in the industry?

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