youngandthrifty.ca » Book Reviews

Secrets of a Stingy Scoundrel Book Review and Giveaway!

young — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:26:04 +0000

I had the opportunity to review Secrets of a Stingy Scoundrel and boy, am I sure glad I did. It is H-I-L-A-R-I-O-U-S! I actually laughed out loud a number of times (and I must say, getting me to do that while reading something is pretty hard).

Secrets of a Stingy Scoundrel is written by Phil Vallarreal. If you don’t know who he is, I have to be honest with you, you’ve been living under some sort of rock because he’s one of the writers/ contributors to the Consumerist. He’s also a syndicated film critic for the Arizona Daily Star and also contributes to OK! Magazine.

I had no idea he was this funny (sorry, Phil, I follow you on twitter, but I suppose it’s hard to capture that amazing sense of humor in 140 characters at one time). Secrets of a Stingy Scoundrel is funny. At parts, it’s almost so funny that you feel guilty and sheepish to be laughing about it, and more importantly, you feel shocked that someone would actually say something like that out loud, let alone publish it in a book.

Basically, the book give 100 dirty little money-grubbing secrets that will help you save money.

Some of my favourites are:

Double your Pleasure, Double your Fries- in which the tip is to use ice cubes to make your fries soggy. After you’ve eaten the fries before you dumped the ice cube on it to make it soggy, go to the restaurant employees and demand new fries because your fries are soggy.
Tupperware Thief- when you go to parties, look pathetic taking home something wrapped in saran wrap or aluminum foil. More often than not the host will make sure you have some Tupperware to take it home in (and we all know how much Tupperware can cost). The only thing Phil says you have to deal with is the passive aggressive parting shot “oh don’t worry about bringing that container home soon- I’ll hunt you down for it if need be”. LOL love it!
The Legend of the Cubic Zirconium Heirloom- Now, I must warn you this tip was found in the last part of the book (which is, in my perspective, the funniest section labelled “Gross, Mean, and Just Plain Wrong…”). He talks about giving your future fiance a cubic zirconium ring and calling it a heirloom ring passed down to you from your mother. Adding some sort of sentimental story to it increases its luster even more. The author denies having used this tactic himself though.
Double Movies- Reading this excerpt made me think of my teenage days- going to an early film and then staying there until you see the next film in another theatre room. Who hasn’t done that before? It’s just a lot harder to do it as an adult lol, I would think.

There are some great tips in here that even I have tried (but I won’t tell you which ones) or that I think would absolutely work (the trick where he avoids going to concerts with his long term girlfriend by acting like a total jerk at the concert and embarrassing her… then apologizing profusely for a few days afterwards). That one, he has tried and now he’s married to his long term girlfriend.

Some of the most useful ones involved negotiating, complaining (which I am obviously good at LOL), and “sticking it to the man” (aka big bad corporate America).

If you’re easily offended (especially with things that don’t sound ethical) then I would probably not read this, but if you like sarcasm, cynicism, and quick humor, this is a great read and will have you laughing (and learning) about some crazy ways to save money.

Secrets of a Stingy Scoundrel Giveaway

This book is worth $15.95 and it will be worth even more because I’m going to be shipping it out to you. Good luck and thanks for reading! Contest ends February 7, 2012.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

youngandthrifty book review and GIVEAWAY: Millionaire Teacher by Andrew Hallam

young — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 16:37:12 +0000

Andrew Hallam was one of the first personal finance bloggers who reached out to say “hi” to me when I first started blogging. His writing is amazing (he writes for the Globe and Mail, has articles in Money Sense) and his life is amazing (became a millionaire in his thirties on a teacher’s salary, teaches at an international school in Singapore and gets to see the world, he runs marathons, seems ridiculously fit, and also battled bone cancer). I was very very excited (this is an understatement) to hear that he wrote a book called “The Millionaire Teacher: The Nine Rules of Wealth you should have Learned in School.”

As if the above examples aren’t enough, he’s also really really really nice and seems like a very inspirational teacher.

Honestly, I would love to read an autobiography of Andrew’s life (hear that Andrew? That could be your next bestseller!) because it is so fascinating and his outlook on life is so strong and positive.

I was even more excited to read it. Andrew has a fantastic way with words, he is a natural writer. He has a great way with analogies and helps make the often boring concepts of investing and P/E ratios crystal clear.

I was interested to hear what he has to say, especially since I read recently that he sold all his common stocks and stuck to index investing, which is often contrary to what we hear and see in the financial media world. He tells it like it is, and shares some of his experiences of actively managed mutual funds (which I agree with).

He also talks about spending like you want to GROW rich instead of spending like you ARE rich. This is something that is not stressed enough in this day and age. Everyone wants instant gratification and we will be paying for this dearly down the road.

My favourite parts of this book is how Andrew gives you the “how to’s” for index investing and evaluating whether a common stock may be a good purchase (if you want to fulfill that adventurous gambling driven side of you, of course). Many personal finance books do not do this, which is their pitfall, and I was really happy to see that Andrew even writes about the websites you want to go to if you were to invest the way he suggests.

He even teaches you how to start a TD eseries (for the Canadians who want to index invest), which is one of my personal favourite investing tools. I am seriously tempted to start a TD eseries for my TFSA instead of worrying about picking dividend stocks. Or I could do both

I also learned that Vanguard is actually a not for profit company, which I did not know beforehand. I learned a lot from reading Andrew’s book and it was really good. I’m sad to be giving it away, but I think that any new (or even seasoned investor who needs a new perspective) investor would benefit from reading this book.

I would rate this book VERY highly in practicality and usefulness. I think it would be ranked as one of my top 5 investing books I have read so far (that says a lot because I have read a ton of personal finance books). He is so honest, doesn’t BS (to appease the mutual fund advisors, or the advertisers for magazines- you’ll find out why when you read his book), and he shares some dirty little secrets of the investing/ financial world that I didn’t know about.

Millionaire Teacher book Giveway!

Because I love you guys, I’m giving away this book to one lucky reader. Trust me, you will love this book- no wonder it was sold out on Amazon Canada and Amazon USA for weeks. It’s a $19.95 value. If you don’t win, I highly recommend you buy his book, the $20 goes a long way in financial literacy for years to come. Your investments will thank you later.

I will draw the winner on December 15 and announce the winner on December 16, 2011 (Friday).

Good luck!

youngandthrifty Book Review: The Wealthy Barber Returns

young — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 15:55:26 +0000

As you all know, The Wealthy Barber is one of my all time favourite personal finance books (and I believe one of the very first ones I have read), so you know that when David Chilton announced that he was writing another book, I was waiting with delirious anticipation to read his second book, The Wealthy Barber Returns.

It was through The Wealthy Barber that I learned that Paying Yourself First is the way to go (and it remains to be my most important financial piece of wisdom).

I really enjoyed the Wealthy Barber because of the humor, the easy reading, the story line and I’m happy to say that The Wealthy Barber Returns doesn’t disappoint! No story line in this one, but lots of humor. I actually “laughed out loud” at a few pages and to be honest, I NEVER do that with a book, let alone a PF book. Ten years later, he still looks the same as the original book (I did a side by side comparison of course) and has not significantly older as he claims in the title of his new book.

He wrote the book because he found that the rate of savings and the financial literacy of Canadians was pretty dismal and he’s right. In this book, he focuses mainly on his insights into saving, spending, and borrowing, and says that our current society is CONSUMED with consumption (I totally agree with this- material goods don’t necessarily bring lasting happiness- I have yet to try and convince my boyfriend otherwise).

The way David writes reminds me of how I write (like its a conversation) except he writes a gazillion times better of course.

In the latter part of the book, he talks about some random thoughts on personal finance, and I liken this to the “nitty gritty”. He talks about financial advisors, what common personal finance abbreviations mean, why its a good idea to be oblivious in the stock market, and he even mentions about some great personal finance blogs you should follow (namely the Canadian personal finance gurus Preet Banjeree and Squawk Fox). In one of my favourite chapters, he acknowledges that because of the multiple registered plans available (RESP, TFSA, RRSPs) it can be difficult to “choose just one”, so he elucidates (there, word of the day!) which one might be better for you, given your specific situation.

I really liked his chapter on TFSA vs RRSPs (and I have also asked this important question, of course) and he thinks the TFSA wins hands down. You can read an excerpt of his book in the Toronto Star. He does make a good point that with the RRSP, it can be very difficult to predict your income when you withdraw from it. However, I am being optimistic and don’t think that there will be a 40% tax rate when I withdraw my RRSPs, but who knows, I might be a very wealthy pensionable 65 year old!

Another chapter (titled “A Tough Call”) I really enjoyed was about whether or not to contribute to an RESP (or contribute to an RRSP). Do you put your children first or your retirement first? He suggested that you could recruit grandparents to help with RESP contributions and that approaching this subject with your parents might be difficult but he gave an easy tip:

Get some RESP brochures and say to your parents, “Here’s the material you asked for.” When they look confused, follow up with, “Oh sorry, that was the in-laws”.

Haha that is the best trick in the book ever, if you ask me! Creating motiviational competition and guilt between inlaws is like getting two Christmas presents from your separated parents (Hey! My parents are separated so I can say that, don’t hate me )

The coolest part of this book is that he actually gives his real number in the book and I am tempted to call it to see if it is really him. Judging by his friendly, personable personality, I am taking a guess that it really is his phone number listed in the book. Anyone want to test it and see? When I emailed him (or so I thought his publisher) to ask for a review copy of his book, I was surprised that he replied back himself!

Readers, what are your thoughts on The Wealthy Barber Returns? Have you tried calling his number? Here’s his website if you want to have a visit: The Wealthy Barber Returns. You can also follow him on twitter: @wealthy_barber.

youngandthrifty Book Review and Giveaway: The Wealth Cure by Hill Harper

young — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 15:00:54 +0000

Because it’s my birth month (a big shout out to my fellow September friends!) I’m going to be giving away TWO books this month (and there’s plenty more in store!). I had the opportunity to read and review The Wealth Cure by Hill Harper. If you don’t know who Hill Harper is, he’s famous for acting in the television series, CSI New York. He also is a New York Times Bestseller for the books The Conversation and Letters to a Young Brother. Oh, and did I mention that he’s hot? Hot and smart (he graduated from Harvard)? *drool* (sorry my dear male readers, I got side tracked).

Anyways, I didn’t really know what I was expecting when I first read this book. I thought it might be just another personal finance book, telling the reader that he or she needs to do this or that in order to get their finances in order.

It was actually quite different from what I had expected.

I learned a lot about life AND about finances. So two birds with one stone! Hill Harper told his story, about how he grew up thinking about wealth (both his parents were physicians), about what he thought about love (his parents were divorced) and about how his friends and acquaintances in the movie/ Hollywood celebrity industry thought about money and managed their money. It was a really good book and I learned a lot about Hill Harper and about money.

Hill Harper never seemed like he was frivolous with his money, but he did make some big purchases on real estate over his years. He talks about how we can be truly wealthy (and it’s not what you would think, this definition of wealthy). He travels across United States to clear his mind about his life and what his thoughts are on money, love, living, friendship after a diagnosis of a serious medical condition. He learns about what truly matters when you are faced with a life threatening disease, and as you might have guessed, it’s not about our material possessions.

I also learned some cool history, like where the term “The Real McCoy” actually originated from. (Do you know where it came from?)

The book read like an autobiography/personal finance book/ and spiritual book (without all the new-age lingo) in one. It was good and I would recommend it, more for the spiritual learning that you will get from learning how to redefine your relationship with money. I think it’s a great book for people who are interested in learning more about whats important about life.

So, I hope to give one book away! It’s a new book (haha, youngandthrifty.ca got UPGRADED yeahhhhh) and its worth a whopping $30 Canadian (or $26 USD). Oh and did I mention its hardcover? Which means it will cost me more to ship it to you. Value for your entry!!

The Wealth Cure Book Giveaway:

There are two ways to enter:

Subscribe by RSS for one entry and comment below OR YOU CAN
Subscribe by Email for two entries and comment below
If you already subscribe, thanks for reading (I heart you)! Just let me know below and I’ll give you one entry
For an additional entry (you have to do 1,2, or 3 as well), spread the word of the giveaway by tweeting this:

The Wealth Cure by Hill Harper book giveaway (ends Sept 21 @youngandthrifty) http://goo.gl/eZBZE

Winners will be drawn via random.org and announced on September 23, 2011. Contests closes September 21, 2011 (Wednesday) at 11:59PM PST.

Good luck everyone! Thanks for reading Y&T!

youngandthrifty Book Review and Giveaway: Smart Women Finish Rich by David Bach

young — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 15:15:43 +0000

Because this month was seemingly all about women and money (Are Financially Independent Women a turn on? drew a record 89 responses on my blog, woot!), I thought I would do a giveaway for a book tailored to women, as well. I’m a big fan of David Bach’s books, namely The Automatic Millionaire. He’s the one who taught me that paying yourself first is the way to go, and that if we skip daily luxuries such as that Starbucks latte, we will be on our way to financial freedom.

When I stumbled upon Smart Women Finish Rich: 9 Steps to Achieving Financial Security and Funding your Dreams at a bookstore, I had thought it might just be another spin off of his bestselling book, with a focus on women. I was pleasantly surprised and actually think this book is better than The Automatic Millionaire.

He begins by talking about why women nowadays are taking control of their financial futures, and gives anecdotal evidence as to why this is crucial (more divorces, women are in the dark about the finances because the husband usually handles the finances). He then goes on to explain WHY we need to do more financial planning than men- we live longer than men (sorry guys!), we earn less than men, oftentimes women are the ones let go by corporate downsizing… the list goes on.

In the next step, David asks you to re-evaluate your values, and list them. Money is a vehicle in which we can express our values. He says men often seek to gain money for the sake of gaining money (e.g. “I want to make $100,000 a year by the time I hit 30″) and women seek money to so they can use that money to manifest their values (be it: have more time for family life, being financially secure etc.). I really enjoyed this chapter because it made me think hard about where my values lie- this is something I don’t do often, admittedly.

In the next few chapters, he talks about finding where your money is. Really finding out where your money is, and how much you’re paying in commissions and fees etc. how much is in your registered portfolios, how much is in your non-registered portfolios, how much cash you hold. The nitty gritty.

Of course a David Bach book isn’t complete without mention of the Latte Factor, in which he explains that if you cut out your daily needs (like that daily lunch out, daily coffee and a muffin) you can amass some serious wealth. He does use a 12% annual return, which to me sounds somewhat unrealistic, though.

David Bach’s Grandma instilled some pretty sage advice about money into little David Bach. So much so that he writes about her advice, namely the three-basket approach to financial security. One is your security basket, one is your retirement basket, and one is your dream basket. Dreams are categorized into short term dreams and long term dreams. You know which basket is my favourite! Dreams!! In this section, he goes into detail about how to invest, and why you need to invest (and not just put your money in a high interest savings account earning next to nothing after inflation). I really like how he does it “step by step” and its easy to read.

Another thing that’s different from his initial book is that David Bach talks about the major mistakes investors make and how to best avoid them, he writes about how to raise children so that they are not financially incompetent, and how to attract greater wealth. Basically how to make sure you are getting paid for what you’re worth. Men may make more than women because they’re not afraid to ask for a raise, they’re not afraid to quit a job and move onto another job if they aren’t getting paid well (uh, case in point: boyfriend is on his 5th or 6th job and he’s been out of school for 6 years!).

All in all, I was really impressed by this book and I think I can safely say Smart Women Finish Rich is my favourite David Bach book now. I like how he incorporates empowerment of women in the book (coming from a GUY I thought it would be difficult to do, because I was thinking “what do you know about being a woman, boyyyy?”). Grrrrl power! I would highly recommend this book to any female.

Book Giveaway:

I’m giving away the book I just read (am I being minimalist?) to a lucky Y&T.ca reader (females, good luck! Males, maybe you can give it to your wife/girlfriend?)! It’s the Canadian edition, so it talks a lot about Canadian finances (like RRSPs and the whole gamut).

There are two ways to enter:

Subscribe by RSS for one entry and comment below OR YOU CAN
Subscribe by Email for two entries and comment below
If you already subscribe, thanks for reading (I heart you)! Just let me know below and I’ll give you one entry
For an additional entry (you have to do 1,2, or 3 as well), spread the word of the giveaway by tweeting this:

David Bach’s Smart Women Finish Rich book giveaway (ends Sept 7 @youngandthrifty) http://bit.ly/n4ksDS

Winners will be drawn via random.org and announced on September 9, 2011. Contests closes September 7, 2011 (Wednesday) at 11:59PM PST.

Good luck everyone! Thanks for reading Y&T!

youngandthrifty Book Review and Giveaway: Rich Dad’s Cash Flow Quadrant by Robert Kiyosaki

young — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 15:00:29 +0000

Now that the Canada Post strike is over, I can finally give away a book on my blog!

In case you haven’t heard of Robert Kiyosaki, he is the author of Rich Dad Poor Dad (one of the #1 New York Times Best sellers). From that successful book, he has created a board game, many other books, and even both free and fee-based seminars on how to generate passive income cash flow. He’s pretty much the cash flow guru and many people love and respect his entrepreneurship.

In this book following the wildly popular Rich Dad Poor Dad, I was expecting that he would basically rehash Rich Dad Poor Dad and throw in some redundant information (I guess I don’t have much faith in follow up books/ sequels!). However, I was pleasantly surprised and find this book better than the first one. I found that the first book didn’t give enough practical advice/ information. The first book was good though because it gave a solid background for his follow up books, I suppose. In this book, there are plenty of examples on how to get yourself into the desired “quadrants”.

In Cash Flow Quadrant, he explains in detail the different quadrants (E, B, S, and I). In case you haven’t read the first book, the quadrants are as follows:

E- Employee

S- Self Employed

B- Business Owner

I- Investor

He then goes on and explains the personality characteristics of each quadrant, and explains that you can be in multiple quadrants simultaneously (e.g. be an employee and also own a business on the side, or be an employee and be an investor in stocks and mutual funds). I found the description of the personality traits of different quadrants particularly interesting. For example, those who are self-employed professionals, like lawyers, doctors, accountants, and dentists. They are characterized by being fiercely independent and like to the take control of the situation by doing it on their own (e.g. they have the mentality of: “If you want something done right, do it yourself”). They are often considered perfectionists.

He also explains that for those who own their own business, it can be businesses in the “S” quadrant or it could be a business in the “B” quadrant. Those in the “B” quadrant requires that the person have an ability to lead people and take control of systems, and have people working for you and following your vision. Those in the “S” quadrant who own businesses could be the above mentioned self-employed professionals.

He describes the characteristics of the wealthy and that most of them are investors, business owners. Just like Millionaire Next Door, he explains that our main expenses are our taxes- those who are in the “E” quadrant will continue paying taxes whereas those in the other quadrants (especially “I” in terms of dividends etc.) will find a way to minimize taxes and be able to continue to generate cash flow.

In the next few chapters, he explains the three kinds of business systems, the seven levels of investors, and even talks about how advisers can even take advantage of your financial illiteracy, how to become a “B” and an “I” (aka wealthy people) and finally how to make disappointment your strength. I especially enjoyed the last few chapters, as he focused on telling the reader that everyone needs mentors, that we need to practice humility and be ready to take risks and fail (for example, starting business and worrying that it won’t do well). If we fail we can learn from our mistakes and grow from them, as long as we have an open mind.

All in all, I enjoyed this book- it helped open my mind to different personalities and how we are drawn to different quadrants, and gave practical ways on how to change yourself so you can be in a more desired quadrant in terms of wealth accumulation.

Readers, have you read this book? What do you think of his series/ message?

youngandthrifty Book Giveaway:

I’m giving away my copy of Cash Flow Quadrant (no dog eared pages this time, how about that!). It is a good inspirational book to read, and I would recommend it. He is an undeniably good story teller and is very engaging and empowering with his message in his books. I’m sure that’s why he’s on the New York Times Bestseller list!

There are two ways to enter:

Subscribe by RSS for one entry and comment below OR
Subscribe by Email for two entries and comment below
If you already subscribe, thanks for reading (I heart you)! Just let me know below and I’ll give you one entry
For an additional entry (you have to do 1,2, or 3 as well), spread the word of the giveaway by tweeting this:

Cash Flow Quadrant by Robert Kiyosaki book giveaway (ends July @youngandthrifty http://bit.ly/kbTnPI

Winners will be drawn via random.org and announced on July 15, 2011. Contests closes July 8, 2011 (Friday) at 11:59PM PST.

Good luck everyone! Thanks for reading Y&T!

Book Review: The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America’s Wealthy

young — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 14:50:20 +0000

I have heard many great things about this book so I was very excited to receive this book when I won a giveaway on another fellow blogger’s site (LIFE HACK alert: If you usually never ever win anything, try entering giveaways from bloggers! I never win anything and I have won about four books in the past one and a half years).

This book is an easy read (finished it in about 5 hours) and is a real page turner (perhaps more so than that psychological thriller book on your nightstand). The authors have studied the spending habits, background, and savings and investments of America’s wealthy for two decades, and what they found out is more surprising than you would think. America’s millionaires do not drive expensive luxury cars, nor do they were expensive Rolex watches (more like Timex!). They do not shop at Saks 5^th Avenue, they shop at Sears and JC Penney. They are not the lawyers, doctors, or other prestigious professions, they are the small business owners. They do not hold 30% of their portfolio in stocks, they only hold about 20%.

In this book, they start off by giving the reader a baseline of wealthiness- are you a UAW (under accumulator of wealth) or a PAW (prodigious accumulator of wealth)?

Here’s how to tell if you are wealthy:

“Multiply your age times your realized pretax annual household income from all sources except inheritances. Divide by ten. This less any inherited wealth, is what your net worth should be”.

(I calculated- and I am not wealthy for my age- I am about $50,000 away from being wealthy.)

They then go on to talk about the differences between UAW’s and PAW’s. Those with prestigious job titles, the doctors, lawyers, and those who live in fancy neighbourhoods, tend to feel the need to keep up with the Jones’ and spend money to keep up this lifestyle accordingly. They are often UAW’s and not as wealthy as you might think.

The authors detailed seven factors that more likely lead to wealth accumulation:

The wealthy live below their means
They allocate their time, energy, and money efficiently, in ways conducive to building wealth
They believe that financial independence is more important that showing off high social status
Their parents did not dole out money to them aka “economic outpatient care”
Their adult children are economically self-sufficient
They are proficient in targeting market opportunities
They choose the right occupation

One of the messages that really “hit home” for me was the idea of economic outpatient care. The affluent parents giving out money to their children, making sure they lead a good life, go to a good school, and not have to worry about money. Yet these actions are actual counter-beneficial. Those that are not economically self-sufficient come to depend upon their affluent parents because they are accustomed to their current living standards. The say that the gift receivers (adult children expecting handouts from their parents) do not distinguish between the wealth of their affluent parents and their own personal wealth, they establish a “what’s yours is mine” mentality when it comes to their parents wealth. Unfortunately, this can also lead to bitter battles of inheritance between siblings. This is probably one of the main reasons why Warren Buffett has declared that he will not give his children any of his 62 billion dollar estate-- and his children are fine with that, and wholeheartedly agree that Warren Buffett is making a good decision to not distribute his wealth to his children.

The authors go on to share a story of a father with two daughters- one who left home and refused to comply to her father’s vision of both daughters marrying “good husbands” and just bearing children and not working for themselves. One daughter went off to start her own business and became very successful and the other daughter stayed close to her father and continued to receive monetary assistance from him (in a sort of co-dependent sort of way) until his death. I think this idea of economic outpatient care is very prevalent in the generation Y. Take for example, my sheltered sisters. My parents didn’t want them to stray from studying well at school, so they did not encourage them to get jobs while in high school. I on the other hand, started working a few months before it was even legal to work in Canada. I am much more advanced in terms of investing my money and saving my money, whereas my sisters are unfortunately not. They are starting to learn though through baby steps- I got one of them a high interest savings account with ING.

In conclusion, I would definitely recommend this book. It’s not “preachy” at all (doesn’t tell you to go do this or that, or save 40% of your pretax income or anything like that), but it offers an objective glimpse into the lives of America’s wealthy and you can choose to emulate them or not.

Readers: Have any of you read The Millionaire Next Door? What did you think of it? Do you agree that children of affluent parents should not expect a hand-out from the ‘rents? Do you think Generation Y is dependent upon economic outpatient care?

youngandthrifty Book Giveaway!

Since I haven’t run a giveaway in a while, I would like to take this opportunity to give away the copy of the book I just read. It’s only been used for 5 hours and there are a few dog eared pages (just loved some excerpts in the book!). It’s worth USD $16.95 and shipping (on my expense lol) so might as well enter to win a copy!

There are two ways to enter:

Subscribe by RSS for one entry and comment below
Subscribe by Email for two entries and comment below
If you already subscribe, thanks for reading! Just say so below and I’ll give you one entry.

The winner will be selected by random.org from my excel sheet. You have until Wednesday May 11, 2011 midnight PST to enter. Good luck!

youngandthrifty Book Review and Giveaway: Smarter Than the Street

young — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 15:27:10 +0000

Smarter Than the Street: Invest Money and Make Money in Any Market by Gary Kaminsky

Gary Kaminisky is a co-host for CNBC’s The Strategy Session and he recently wrote a book revealing the wealth-building secrets of wall street insiders. I was excited to read this book because I enjoy reading about different strategies of that investors have up their sleeves.

This book was a very easy read, he writes in a very no-nonsense way with simple terminology that you can understand (I think that’s the key to any personal finance book that talk about investing in the stock market). He talks about how the next decade is going to be a zero growth decade, and why the “buy and hold strategy” won’t work in our day and age.

He explains why buying mutual funds aren’t a good idea, and why investment analysts really don’t have your best interests at hand. He basically says that fund managers have their hands tied most of the time, and that they aren’t out there to make a ton of money, they are only out there to beat the S&P500, and are satisfied even if they beat it by a minute amount.

Gary talks about change and that change can be good or bad, and how to see whether the change is good or bad in a stock (by keeping updated on news, changes with corporate structure etc.). He looks about two companies and how they dealt with change over the many decades they have existed, including GE and Disney.

Gary shares with the reader how many stocks they should own, and that it doesn’t matter if you only have a $10,000 portfolio. He talks about how discipline is most important with investing, and that you shouldn’t be afraid to sell your losers (in fact, he encourages it). He says that we need to avoid the herd mentality and do the opposite of what everyone else is doing (I definitely agree with this). He also shares with the reader on how to hedge against a bad market (by buying ultra short ETFs) and says that buying indexes is basically for losers (basically says that buying ETFs= no growth for many years).

I enjoyed reading the book and reading about the insider secrets of wall street (something that One Up on Wall Street’s Peter Lynch mentions) because it was easy to read, but I found that the information in the book wasn’t completely 100% concrete. He talks about shorting stocks when the markets aren’t doing well. I did like how he enunciates that your stock broker or financial advisor might not have your best interests at stake. He mentions Suncor many times in the book as being one of the best stocks he has ever owned, and mentions a few other key stocks. He basically says to check financial websites daily for news and information and to do your own diligence when selecting stocks. All in all, I find this book useful for someone who hasn’t read their fair share of investing books.

Readers, have you read this book? What did you think of it?

Smarter Than the Street Book Giveaway:

I will give away my copy of Smarter Than the Street to one lucky youngandthrifty.ca reader! North American entries only, please.

To enter this contest, all you have to do is subscribe to my blog and comment below to let me know you did so. That way, I can contact you via email if you are the winner. The contest closes February 4, 2011 at midnight, PST.

The winner will be selected through Random.org and will be announced on Feburary 11, 2011.
Good luck!

youngandthrifty Book Review: The Intelligent Investor

young — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 16:26:42 +0000

“The Intelligent Investor is a realist who sells to optimists and buys from pessimists”- Benjamin Graham

As I’ve finally finished reading this book while vacationing in Hawaii (you can see I was reading this book poolside), I’m going to attempt to do a review of the Intelligent Investor. It is possibly the best investment book ever written. I know my review won’t do the book justice, but I wanted to share with you what I thought of this book. I feel that The Intelligent Investor should be read by every investor BEFORE they invest- I wish I did the same, as I would have done a lot of things quite differently. Hindsight is 20/20 of course, right?

Basically The Intelligent Investor is so thorough, it pretty much reads like a textbook- it even has an index at the end of the book. It’s easier to read than a text book (don’t worry Gen Y’s) and is very interesting and gives you a lot of “ah-ha!” moments. So who is Benjamin Graham? He’s definitely not as “famous” as Warren Buffett, but he was Warren Buffett’s mentor and inspiration. Benjamin Graham is quite possibly the best investor in history- he was Warren Buffett’s teacher, for goodness sake.

The book has 20 chapters and each chapter is followed by commentary from Jason Zweig, a senior writer at Money magazine. Jason gives a more “updated” perspective on the chapter written by Benjamin Graham. He gives modern-day context to the Benjamin Graham excerpts.

So here I go detailing each chapter. Note that the titles that I have for each chapter do not reflect the actual titles of the chapter. My review is going to be very brief, but if you like the book, you should go get it. I’m sorry I’m not going to give away my copy of this book because I’ve already dog-eared all the good pages lol.

Chapter 1: Investment vs Speculation

This chapter basically explains the difference between investing and gambling. I know it may sound completely different, but if you don’t know what you’re investing in, you’re basically gambling but lying to yourself. This chapter tells you how to analyze a company for its value and not surrender to hype or the “next big thing” (e.g. internet stocks and the dot com boom).

Chapter 2: Investing and Inflation

Chapter two basically recommends you hold bonds (and not 100% stocks) to protect yourself. They also suggest you protect yourself from inflation with REITs or treasury protected securities. Of course if you want more detail, go read the book!

Chapter 3: Learning from history

This chapter focuses on the history of the stock market in the past century (and that every bull market comes to an end- same goes for bear markets).

Chapter 4: General Portfolio Policy

Benjamin Graham recommends holding 50% stocks and 50% bonds/cash. It wouldn’t suck so much when your stocks tank to 50% what you invested in it with half of your portfolio in bonds and cash.

Chapter 5: Be defensive

This chapter tells you not to buy a stock just because you like their product (e.g. you like Starbucks therefore you buy the stock). You need to do an analysis of the financial statements to protect yourself from a risky investment.

Chapter 6: The Don’ts of Investing

Basically telling us NOT to day trade (your broker will always profit, but you will always not profit).

Chapter 7: The Do’s of Investing

Benjamin Graham says growth stocks are fantabulous and bargain hunting is fantabulous. We need to change our mind from “omg! The stock market is tanking! The sky is falling” to “Yay! I can buy me some good companies at a discount”. This is easier said than done due to our hard-wired brains to think otherwise.

Chapter 8: Market Fluctuations and realizing they will happen

Chapter eight basically says that market fluctuations will happen and always happen, and that the key should always be buy low and sell high (and not the other way around). They have a great analogy (and my favourite take-home message of this book) in this chapter of Mr. Market- he’s manic depressive and you can’t succumb to his whims. You need to control him and use him to YOUR advantage.

Chapter 9: All about Funds

Benjamin Graham gives a few reasons why investing in funds might not be so hot (a lot due to “behind the scenes” reasons) and why any beginner investor should just invest in a total stock market index fund.

Chapter 10: The Investor and His Advisers

This chapter talks about where investors nowadays are getting their information on which stock to invest in.

Chapter 11: Security Analysis

This chapter goes in depth about what you need to look for in terms of security analysis and how to read financial reports to make sure you are investing in a good company.

Chapter 12: Things to consider in per share earnings

Benjamin Graham illustrates the accounting hocus pocus that some companies can do to make their earnings look better than they actually are.

Chapter 13: Comparison of Four Companies

Here’s where the textbook similarity comes out. Benjamin Graham compares four companies and shows you what to look for.

Chapter 14: Stock Selection for the Defensive Investor

This is an excellent chapter- they talk about seven things to look for when evaluating whether a common stock is up to snuff (e.g. a P/E ratio of less than 15).

Chapter 15: Stock Selection for the Enterprising Investor

Basically sums up to finding bargains and practising finding bargains.

Chapter 16: Convertable Issues and Warrants

B.G. explains what these are and why they’re important to look at.

Chapter 17: Four Extremely Instructive Case Histories

Super detailed commentary of what happened with four stocks and why they did well or why they tanked. Jason Zweig provides an updated commentary on stocks we know in current times, such as how AOL bought Time Warner.

Chapter 18: Comparison of Eight Paris of Companies

Again, more practice looking at companies to see if they’re up to snuff for your investing dollars.

Chapter 19: Dividend Policy

This chapter talks about the pros and cons of companies that do or don’t distribute dividends.

Chapter 20: Margin of Safety is the main concept of investing

The final chapter talks about risk and how to minimize it. Breaking even is really hard when you’ve suffered a huge loss, like if you’re down 90% of your investment.

PHEW! Again my review does not do this book justice. Go get it and read it. It’s well worth it.

Readers: Have you read this book? What did you think?

youngandthrifty Book Review: The RESP Book: The Complete Guide to RESPs for Canadians

young — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 16:40:57 +0000

To be honest, I haven’t done much research on RESPs and how they work because I don’t have a kid, but I have always been meaning to look it up to see what all the fuss is about. Another reason why I have always wanted to check out RESPs is because I plan to (hope to) have a child within the next four years or so.

Thank goodness Mike over at Money Smarts Blog wrote the book: The RESP Book: The Complete Guide to RESPs for Canadians, because I was given the opportunity to learn the ins and outs of the “RESP”, that elusive and often misunderstood registered account.

It is so well written, clear, no fuss, no fluff, no beating-around-the-bush and such a breath of fresh air. It’s so easy to read I read it in 1.5 hours on a flight to Hawaii. I had so many “ah-ha!” moments, I think my BF sitting beside me was getting annoyed with my mini-epiphanies.

It is so easy to read and so well-laid out that it will work as a fantastic reference book, basically like an RESP for Dummies (Not sure if they have an RESP for Dummies, but this book is so good and easy to read..).

I learned a plethora of things about the RESP- it really is so comprehensive and complete (yet written very clearly and simply without any wasted words) that it IS the ultimate “complete guide” to RESPs for Canadians. It even has a handy dandy summary at the end of the book, and a checklist for you to keep track of the steps needed to open up an RESP for your child. It even tells you step-by-step what options you have if your child decides to go the “screw education” route so that you avoid the harsh penalties and taxes if you withdraw the funds.

I knew that the government would match or top up some of your contributions to the RESP, but I didn’t know how much and under what circumstances.

Mike Holman also throws in some goodies at the end, including information about proper asset allocation and some basic explanations of investments you can hold in the RESP, including an explanation of stocks, mutual funds, index funds, ETF’s etc.

Here are ten things I have learned about the RESP thanks to this fantastasmic book:

The government gives your beneficiary a 20% grant to the contribution you put out (up to a max of $7200– that’s almost $10K!! Free money from the government!!)
ANYONE can open an RESP (which I had no idea…I thought it had to only be for children), but it can become a moot point if you are over 17 (and you’ll find out why if you read the book)
I had no idea that the hospitals have these RESP hawk-like prowling sales people/pamphlets that try to sell you their RESP products… evil!
You don’t need to use the RESP ONLY for tuition. It can be anything PF related
I now know what to watch out for (over-contributions, too LATE contributions etc.)
That if you start contributing to your RESP for your child too late, you’re basically SOL (you’ll learn how late is “late” in the book)
I learned that you can use the RESP for part-time studies too, but there comes with criteria for this
If you have a lower net income, the government will give you even MORE money (huzzah!!)
I also learned the reason why the RESP is so elusive and why you don’t see RESP accounts advertised in banks or in the media as much as RRSPs (note: and it’s not because it’s any less sexy)
Most importantly, I also learned that the Canadian government actually isn’t as bad as I had thought it was. That they DO try and encourage you to save as much as possible (what with RRSPs, TFSAs, RESPs) and reward you if you exhibit good money hoarding behaviour

So now I come well prepared with this arsenal of information about the RESP and will make sure I follow all the tips and tricks in the book once that baby of mine pops out (in the next few years). From day 0, I’ll make sure he or she is well equipped and will have access to money for school (because being $40K in debt when you graduate from post-secondary just seems like it sucks).

I honestly think EVERYONE with a child or thinking of having a child should go out and get this book (available on Amazon) and start contributing to an RESP. Giving a child the chance for higher education and not having to limit their opportunities because of money is the best gift to possibly give, IMHO. I was given this gift by my parents (and scholarships thanks to my genius intellect lol) and am sure glad I didn’t have to go into debt for school. Besides, if the government is giving away free money, why not take advantage of this rare opportunity?

Speaking of taking advantage of opportunities, I have a free book to giveaway to readers of youngandthrifty.ca, thanks to the generosity of the author of this book!

So to enter to win a copy of The RESP Book: The Complete Guide to Registered Education Savings Plans for Canadians, here’s what you have to do:

Subscribe by email (any new subscriptions after November 1 will be automatically entered)

or subscribe by RSS (please leave a comment so I can enter you in the contest)…

if you’ve already subscribed to youngandthrifty.ca’s updates, just leave me a comment so you can be entered into the contest

For an EXTRA entry, follow me on twitter and tweet about this giveaway:

Here’s the suggested tweet (just copy and paste it): Book review: The RESP Book Giveaway on youngandthrifty.ca http://bit.ly/ciZqP6 (via @youngandthrifty)

Winner will be chosen by random.org

Contest ends November 14, 2010 at midnight PST

Canadian addresses only (makes sense as what would a US citizen do with a book on RESPs? )

Good luck!