A Gift to My Children: A Father's Lessons for Life and Investing (Hardcover)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Legendary investor Rogers cofounded the Quantum Fund with George Soros in 1970, retired at the age of 37 in 1980, and spent a number of years traveling through China and six continents by motorcycle. He recently fathered two daughters in his sixties and wrote this small memoir to share with them some of the insights that he has garnered from his experiences. He advises to make your own decisions in life rather than listening to others, to figure out what you love to do and focus on that rather than what is expected of you, and to have a dream and to live your dream. In the area of finances, he says to save and invest early on rather than spending frivolously, so that you will be able to afford the important things in life later, and to do your own research, draw your own conclusions, and look to the future—not the past—for great ideas. These and other nuggets of wisdom from this self-made man are worth reading several times over. --David Siegfried

Review

"The wisdom packed into this little book is [in] 85 pages is wonderful." (Blog.III.co.uk, July 21st 2009) --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 112 pages
• Publisher: Random House; First Edition edition (April 28, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400067545
• ISBN-13: 978-1400067541
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #5,431 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not an investment book, but good advices to fathers and their children, May 28, 2009

By	X. Li - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: A Gift to My Children: A Father's Lessons for Life and Investing (Hardcover)

I have never read any of Jim Rogers prior books, but I am pleasantly surprised to find this little book insightful and enjoyable to read. He provided his answers to questions such as how to best prepare our children for the future. As a father of a five year old daughter, I fully appreciate a book just like this.

Each chapter is a lesson on a major quality of character or "virtue"; and each chapter is about several pages long. Each lesson is elaborated and explained with real events in Jim Rogers' life - his childhood in rural AL and his investment decisions.

This book is definitely NOT an investment book, but I am more than happy to learn about personal stories of this legendary investor, particularly about his thought process, mindset, and insights about being a father and investor.

Obviously he writes with his unique set of values and ideas about where to live (don't live in a country involved in any kind of war), what to become (a world citizen), and what to learn (philosophy and history), but in this little book I have found gems of wisdom common to a few very successful people I personally know. They universally credit their success to: 1)think on your own, 2) hard work and never quit, 3) read as much as you can, 4) always prepare for the worst, 5) save and don't carry debt, and 6) start your child early.

If you write a book for your child, what would you include and exclude? Under this premise I think Jim Rogers has done an excellent job so I rate this book with five stars.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another good Jim Rogers book, June 5, 2009

By	Yunsum S. Yu (Huntington Beach, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I've read all of Jim Rogers' books. All his books are well-written, entertaining, and easy to read. This one is no exception. It is filled with simple, good-ol-fashion advice for both adults and children. However, some of the examples Rogers uses to explain his idea may be hard for children to grasp, e.g. shorting stocks! Unless you plan to educate your kids about finance and economics early on, this book may be more appropriate for college-bound age teenagers or older.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Refreshing book from a colourful investor, May 14, 2009

By	Bobik (Singapore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Gift to My Children: A Father's Lessons for Life and Investing (Hardcover)

I think this book is really intended as the title suggests - for his daughters; but also for anyone who wants a summary of what Jim Rogers has experienced in his long and colourful life and what conclusions he draws about life in general.

The book is very brief and written in an easy language so that you can read it in one go if you want to. I find it very refreshing that in contrast to many other books this one is NOT bloated to the "standard" size of ca. 200 pages so that the editor is happy.

Prior reviews have outlined the content; there is very little new stuff for people who follow Jim Rogers on TV or have read his other books. Nevertheless I think it is good as a summary for the ones who are familiar with him or who is isn't yet but wants to quickly get an overview. This book plus a couple of YouTube interviews and you get his - interesting - view of the world.