by Mike Egan
Your Stronger Financial Future is a book that delivers on its promise of giving you a better footing for making and keeping your investment money in these, shall we say, “uneven” economic times. It offers up what I’ll call “lessons” based on common notions about investing and how the economy works. It turns out, according to the author, that many of these notions are actually misperceptions and are usually, entirely wrong. I won’t do any plot spoilers here, but if you read a newspaper and believe everything in there is what you need to know to invest wisely (or correctly), then prepare to have that newspaper rolled up and swatted across your nose. There’s more to investing than meets the eye, and trying to guess what the Fed will do, or whether stocks are better than bonds, or how much of your portfolio should be in gold, is all a fool’s errand. You need balance, sense, time, and confidence, and the authors show that those traits, along with money (obviously), will get you where you need to be financially. So why only four dollar signs? Well, that’s why: this is basic stuff, almost common sense. It should help some folks see through the smoke that’s been thrown up around them by the economy, and certainly it will serve as a good reminder to others who have grasped the principles at play here but have maybe forgotten them. Ultimately, this is simple stuff and the insights, though real, are a bit shallower than they seem at first. Still, I enjoyed reading this book with its “perception is that, reality is this” approach, and it’s hard-driving sensibility. I think this book will have something for every investor, beginning or pro. Even if it does turn out to be just a refresher course, that’s not a bad thing, and this remains a strong, informative, and worthwhile investing book.
