Customer Reviews

Creating Wealth: Retire in Ten Years Using Allen's Seven Principles of Wealth, Revised and Updated

5 star:		(26)
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2 star:		(5)
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I just picked up a copy of Creating Wealth earlier today after having bought other books by the author like Multiple Streams of Income and The 1-Minute Millionaire.

In chapter 1 "We were programmed to fail from the moment we were born" Allen discusses 9 major misconceptions about money and why it prevents us from becoming successful. Interesting is that number 1 misconception is "Having a job is good and leads ultimately to wealth." That was originally written back in the 80's and certaintly no one will argue that having a job will lead to wealth is an incredible misconeception.

Another misconception that Allen covers is "Saving your money is a good investment." Is there anyone who really thinks that a savings account is an investment? Only those who are broke.

In chapter 2 Allen shows us "How to develop a wealthy mindset." This chapter includes Allens 5 steps some are familiar like affirmations, goal setting and a 30-second commercial (from Dr. Schwartz's book)

Chapter 3 "A fool and his money are soon parted." Allen offers his 7 wealth principles and where to put your money.

In chapter 4 "Launching yourself into financial self reliance", ALLEN outlines the three stages to wealth building;

1) The Pre-launch Stage
2) The liftoff or struggling stage
3) The Powerful pre orbit stage

In this section Allen discusses what to do if the economy goes bad. Where to put your money and what to do with your real estate holdings.

In chapter 5, Allen introduces the fourth stage to wealth--"the Automatic Pilot Principle." Allen then covers strategies for this fourth stage of wealth.

The next 6 chapters deal specifically with real estate (no surprise here), how to buy it, finding the bet deals, even making the deals come to you, scripts to call ads from the newspaper, real estate contracts, a property grid to help you select the best property and a property analysis form. I found this section more complete than Allen's earlier book "Nothing Down." One similiarity were the "Nothing Down" techniques which were in "Nothing Down" but were presented in a a different way here.

In section 4, chapter 12 Allen discusses Discounted Mortgages and the enormous profits from investing in that segment of real estate. He again offers scripts to use to call on mortgage holders and how to determine the yield and potential profits.

In chapter 13, Allen discusses investing in precious metals. Chapter 14 "Liquid Money and Where to Pour it" and Chapter 15 "Why the rich pay little or nothing in taxes" round out the Creating Wealth program.

Reading the book in 2003 is interesting as Allen refers to prices based on 1980's real estate. So readers will have to check local prices and not go by the prices Allen mentions. That is not a reason to knock the book.

Likewise the tax information is 1980's based but the principles haven't changed. Just get a new tax guide. Tax rules are changing constantly.

Finally Allen discusses how to avoid lawsuits, but better, newer information is in "Multiple Streams of Income."

Overall, Creating Wealth is a excellent book and a great supplement to "Nothing Down" and "Multiple Streams of Income."
I also recommend "The 1-Minute Millionaire" which is inspirational and motivational.

Disregard the negative reviewers who seem to be more concerned with nit picking on minor points, what Dr. Schwartz would call "Detailitis", stepping over dollars trying to save pennies.

Creating Wealth is a good book and a must read for anyone aspiring to create and keep wealth.

A read of Allen's book is interesting because it presents a different viewpoint on real estate. Being a novice in real estate, it provided me with information on many aggressive strategies. However, also being a CPA, I believe that they are excessively risky and are not necessarily financially sound.

Many techniques that are mentioned such as targeting assumable mortgages are out of date and useless. And many of the deals he covers as examples seem like a fast way to build up debt and incur monthly negative cash flow losses.

A google search on Robert G. Allen reveals that he is no longer pushing real estate but a vitamin multilevel marketing company. Also, a look at John T Reed's website reveals that Allen has filed for bankruptcy in the time period between when this book was written and today...1996, I believe.

There are probably better and more relevant real estate books out there. Since I'm still searching for my personal real estate methodology, I can't recommend anything now, but I would not recommend this book to others -- especially beginners.

The excellent book by Robert G. Allen was originally released back in 1986, but the advice is timeless.

Although many have attempted to copy Mr. Allen, most are mere imitations. His material remains fresh, strategies are workable and his writing style is entertaining and informative.

This book had been revised and updated. I also recommend Multiple Streams of Income, Nothing Down for the 90's (still works in the new millenium) and The One Minute Millionaire.

Creating Wealth is a classic and a must read for anyone who wants to create real wealth.

who has done it!

Creating Wealth was written back in the mid 1980's, interestingly enough, a time when the economy was very similiar to the current economy, a time when a strong republican was in office and a time when tax cuts and other powerful strategies were being introduced by the administration that was in charge at that time.

However, Creating Wealth is a good book for anytime. It offers timeless advice by Robert G. Allen, a man who has helped create more millionaires and financially successful people than anyone in history.

In this book by Robert Allen, a followup to Nothing Down which was at that time a national best seller and stillselling very well today, 23 years later, you will learn how to create a wealth building program tailored to your own individual needs.

In Creating Wealth, Allen explains the fundamental ideas and principles which made him a multimillionaire before he was thrity-five.

His surprisingly simple---and effective strategies can help any investor amass and maintain a fortune starting with little or even no money, yes, even in todays volatile financial climate.

The first step to becoming wealthly, Allen tells us, is to stop thinking poor. He shows how most of us have been programmed to think that only saving is good, debt and risk taking is bad, and that in our efforts to gain security we disqualify ourselves from ever making a substantial amount of money.

By developing the "wealthy mindset" as explained by Allen, you can launch yourself into financial self reliance. Robert Allen's practical and innovative investment advice, combined with a realistic set of goals and values along with a firm committment to getting ahead, can help you achieve a level of success you never dreamed was possible.

In Creating Wealth you will learn how to:

* master the seven principles of wealth

* develop a winning wealth strategy suited to your own unique
circumstances.

* make the opportunities come to you

* organize your life and your money to avoid taxes

* perpetuate your wealth once you have it

* retire within ten years!

The key lies in Allen's unique integration of real estate with other wealth generating investments. Creating Wealth provides detailed information on how to use leverage to multiply holdings while minimizing risks; how to take the greatest advantage of the tax system; when to diversify and in what directions, including special sections on high yield discounted mortgages, numismatics, limited partnerships, money markets and more; and how to set up corporations and trusts to protect your assets.

At a time when just keeping up with the bills and hanging on to a job is difficult, bankruptcies at an all time new high, Creating Wealth offers a system to get ahead. No matter how much or how little you've got to start with, Robert Allen's proven strategies can help you build---and keep---a fortune.

The parts of the book that I found most useful were

* The Automatic Pilot Principle

* Enormous Profits in Discounted Mortgages

* Numismatics: the secret of the Midas Touch

* Liquid Money and where to pour it

* Insulating your assets from Liability and Lawyers.

* The Win/Win Philosophy; How to achieve Win/Win Wealth
in a Win/Lose World.

Creating Wealth provides a sophisticated investment strategy that will help you achieve and perhaps even more importantly, maintain wealth.

Good book and I highly recommend it.

After having personally read over thirty books on the subject of real estate investment, I've found Robert Allen's book stands out from the rest. It is one of only a few books avialable today that actually teaches a step-by-step approach to investing. It leaves the general theories to the other authors and instead, gets down to the nitty-gritty of starting down the path to financial independence. The author doesn't self-promote his own elaborate collection of materials and seminars as so many others do, which I greatly appreciate.

As someone who is just starting to look into this fascinating subject, I can confidently tell you; don't waste your time elsewhere, buy this book, you won't be dissapointed.

Allen's simple and effective strategies can help any investor amass and maintain a fortune starting with little or no money. One of the tips that really helped me was Allen's admonition to stop "thinking poor". That really put me on "tilt" and caused me to look at my attitudes toward money in a new and more prosperous light. I had always been programmed to think of savings as good and debt as bad, however in my effort to feel secure I was ruling out many opportunities to ever be rich. "Creating Wealth" shows you how to master wealth principles, develop a winning strategy suited to your life, make wealth come to you, avoid taxes, perpetuate wealth and retire young! When it seems like everyone's going nuts with our skyrocketing stock market, many forget that some of us don't have a lot of capital to start with. We need more ingenious ideas to get the ball rolling. Allen's approach is clear, succinct and makes a great read if you're looking to get ahead--NOW!

I used the technique in "Creating Wealth" coupled with "Nothing Down" to buy my first home with NOTHING DOWN.

Further, my investing in real estate properties, I was able to earn enough money to pay off my home in under 5 years and replace my salary from my job of 20 years.

Some of the information in "Creating Wealth" is duplicated from "Nothing Down" but there is also much newer information as well.

For example, Allen shows you the traps to avoid in buying properties with Nothing Down that most other authors ignore. HE ALSO offers scripts to use when calling home owners.

While I don't expect to become a millionaire (wasn't my goals anyway) I have achieved financial independence in that I am debt free and live very well on the income generated from Mr. Allen's strategies.

I also recommend "Multiple Streams of Income" and "Multiple Streams of Internet Income."

I bought this book in the mid 1980's and it worked. During the 90's, I switched to stock market investing and put real estate investing on hold.

With the bear market that started during the Clinton years, I started to move back into real estate and discounted mortgages and other securities as espoused by Allen such as Gold and Gold Stocks and mutual funds.

Creating Wealth was an excellent book back in the 80's and it is an even better book today. The advice is timeless and is based on what really works in the real world, not just some writers opinion as is the case with too many other books out there today.

If you are serious about real estate investing and creating wealth, I highly recommend this book along with "Nothing Down for the 90's."

This may be one of the most frightening investment books ever written. An early work of "nothing down" guru Robert G. Allen, the book offers "cookie cutters" for making a killing in real estate, as well as a handful of other tips for gaining wealth. The advice can be divided into three categories:

1. Obvious: "buy low, sell high."

2. Stupid: "buy high, sell low." (Hint: run the numbers on some of Allen's deals. Often his oh-so-clever leveraging doesn't beat inflation for returns... or the results depend on truly improbable amounts of luck, with sellers willing to take pennies on the dollar because they're just bored with ownership.)

3. Illegal: "inspect your properties at least once a month." In California, the landlord doesn't have the right to do a monthly walk-through. Don't even ask about some of his moves with over-mortgaging on properties you don't own in the first place. Just back away slowly.

Allen's tax liens from his investment adventures around the time he wrote this book can be verified with an online search of Utah County's property records. Personally, I don't call a $346,000 tax lien a sign of "success" and prefer not to take investment advice from someone whose credit is far worse than mine. But that's just me.

I read this book cover to cover.

The book is broken into 5 parts: Foundation (the hook), Creating Wealth (the scheme), Concentration (the early stages), Perpetuating Wealth (the maturing stages), and Real Wealth (the later stages).

The Foundation starts off with some very cheesy motivational advice ("Bob Allen, you're great! You are a unique new kind of person ..."). To each his own, I guess. Then a sample of how different people would invest a $100,000 windfall. Of course every one is an idiot for 1) diversifying, 2) paying down debt, 3) investing in stocks, or 4) taking a vacation. He does make a very good argument for leveraging your debt to create wealth. That is the gem of this book.

The second part says buy 2 rental houses per year for 10 years. There's no discussion of other real estate options, just single family homes at below median price. He lays out his plan for 1) leveraging up to create wealth, 2) then jettisoning debt, diversifying, and creating a tax shelter. It's frustrating, though, because he just critized paying down debt and diversify and doesn't really explain the whys and whens. He actually suggests selling properties (and paying capital gains tax) to pay down debt, then immediately buying properties to create a tax shelter. Is he a fool? I can't tell. Though he referenced future chapters, there was no explanation for this bizarre suggesting in the referenced chapters. In fact, there is a big disconnect between the sections in the book. Many of my main questions went unanswered.

The next section, Concentrating, is the best. It describes some of the ins and outs of buying and owning properties. However, one gets the impression that his success is more due to being a good negotiator than to having a fool-proof system.

The Perpetuating Wealth section talks about discounted mortgages, gold coins, diversifying, legal structures, and taxes. These chapters are very disjoined and hit or miss. While discounted mortgages is quite interesting, he shows his limits in a discussion of ratios. He uses a Debt-to-Assets ratio and a Equity-to-Debt ratio to grade loans. Hello? These ratios contain equivalent information. Is he really using these to make decisions? His third ratio, Discount-to-Debt is followed by an example saying a $1000 discount may not be a bargain because costs in a default could exceed $1000. But the ratio isn't what gives one this information.

The legal structures chapter gives little useful information and taxes just doesn't get the job done. It has a pretty bad plumbing analogy for taxes. The final diagram has 3 buckets, 6 spigots, a filter, a manual pump, a few hoses spraying $$$, and some $$$ sprinkling on a piggy bank and a family. Now I get it.

The final 2 chapters are one saying education is useful and the other with nothing but 6 pages of quotes.