690 of 705 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Mostly Sound Advice with Overstated Claims, April 20, 2001
In this book, Mr. Allen gives you an overview of the key principles behind creating more sources of income. He claims to focus on opportunities on a "part-time basis," from "your own home," "using little or none of your own money," "with few or no employees," "using simple, proven systems that really work." In many cases, he describes the success that the most successful one percent will enjoy as though that is what you should expect. In other cases, he encourages you to pursue paths that could cause you to lose lots of money. Be careful!
The section on the benefits of regular investing and compound interest is one of the very best I have seen. It shows how as little as a dollar a day invested can be turned into a million dollars over a lifetime. That is followed by 50 ways to save $50 a month so you'll be able to make these investments.
He then has a good section on the money skills you need: "value" money; "control" money; "save" money; "invest" money; "make" money; "shield" money; and "share" money for worthwhile purposes (your legacy). I agree that each of these areas needs work. I do think that the "control" and "shield" sections are overdone for the average person. They are more an indication of personality that is compulsive than of necessary steps. I have known hundreds of people who have achieved financial security through their own efforts, and none of them to my knowledge employed more than a small amount of what is described in those two sections.
I also liked his "moneytree" concept for what kind of a stream of income you should try to build. I do think he makes it sound much easier than it is. I have personal experience with most of these areas, and I thought that they each took a lot of work, strain, and sweat. I also had to put significant financial resources into them before I was done.
The stock investment section is pretty good until he starts talking about buying calls. Don't do it. His advice on buying indexed, no-load mutual funds is good, but he veers off into encouraging sector funds. Don't do it unless you are very knowledgeable.
I thought the real estate section was good, but he makes it sound easier than it is to handle the human interactions necessary to get the real estate with no money down and to do the renting and fix up. Many people would find it excrutiating to do those things. Someone with a lot of emotional intelligence would find it fun. Don't forget that needed repairs can put quite a dent in your wallet, as can having deadbeat tenants (or no tenants).
The tax lien section is pretty good, and more people should look into that.
I thought the network marketing section was woeful. Yes, celebrities have an easy time with network marketing. Are you a celebrity?
I think that licensing will be too tough for most people, although it was a good idea to have it here. This is more appealing for people who are lawyers.
I wish it were as easy to make money from writing a book as he suggests.
The tax material was decent, if a little light.
Overall, Mr. Allen seems to have a need to show off. He likes to tell about his personal successes. I agree that he is a talented man. And I agree that I am not as talented as he is in these areas. So why should I try to follow his advice? Most things require skill or knowledge to do well. If he looked for things that 90 percent of the people succeed in earning a good income from with limited risk, this would have been a great book. But he keeps wanting to pull rabbits out of a hat, by describing places where a few will make a killing while most will get killed. A good example is the section on building an Internet business.
I do recommend that you read the book. But check out the ideas for their difficulty to implement, and their risk, before choosing ones to do. Generally, simpler, safer, and easier are better. If you did everything he suggests, you would have a very complicated life just taking care of your finances.
Before reading this or any other investment book, I suggest that you think through how your would like to spend your time on achieving and retaining financial security. Then, as you read this and other books, check out the ideas to see how well they coincide with your idea of what you like to do. Reject those that push you in directions that are uncomfortable for you. You probably won't follow through, or will do it badly, or will feel lousy all the time. Money just isn't worth making yourself unhappy for.
Keep money in perspective in terms of your goals for a wonderful life!
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107 of 111 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Caveat Emptor, February 10, 2003
The book is just a gloss-over summary of ways to make money through various sources. Nothing original. Some ideas are worth pursuing, others I wouldn't touch. You're better off getting books that are in-depth.
What is disturbing is that the book contained a flyer promoting Allen's Protege' Training. His Rep said to first get a credit card that would be used to capitalise my business I would start under their tutelage. She seemed disappointed I could only get $4,000 credit limit, but hyped up an interview with their 'Executive Director' who would decide whether or not I'd be accepted into their protege club. After a basic interview, their Executive Director stated I should charge the $3,995 tuition to my credit card. I confronted him about the Rep's statement that the credit card was specifically to be used to finance the start-up of my business. He said the Rep was wrong and that I needed to seek capital partners to finance my business. Since the Rep had been working for Allen for two years and the Executive Director for four years, one of them wasn't being truthful. It was a classic bait & switch to get my money.
I had two friends go through the same interview. One claimed to have a credit limit of $4,500 and one a limit of $5,000. The friend with the limit of $4,500 was quoted a tuition of $4,495 and the friend with the credit limit of $5,000 was quoted a tuition of $4,995.
Also, I asked the director why I needed the protege' course if the book was so wonderfully instructional. He said the book is not really a step-by-step 'How-To' (despite its deceptive sub-title) and that, just as I couldn't learn brain surgery by reading a manual, I couldn't really be generating money by Allen's book without his protege' program.
I say: BUYER BEWARE!
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