The Only Guide You'll Ever Need for the Right Financial Plan: Managing Your Wealth, Risk, and Investments (Bloomberg) [Hardcover]

Larry E. Swedroe (Author), Kevin Grogan (Author), Tiya Lim (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2, 2010 | Series: Bloomberg

An accessible guide that outlines the key elements of an effective financial plan

From Larry Swedroe, the author of the bestselling series of "The Only Guide" investment books, with Kevin Grogan and Tiya Lim comes a step-by-step handbook that shows you how to develop a winning personal investment strategy and reveals what it takes to make that strategy part of your overall financial plan. The Only Guide You'll Ever Need for the Right Financial Plan focuses on the "art" of investing and gives you the information you need to create a strategy that is tailor-made for your particular situation.

Designed for savvy investors and professional advisors, this book offers the vital information needed for developing and implementing an overall strategic financial plan. In this essential resource, Swedroe outlines the basics in asset allocation and other investment planning concepts.

• Addresses how you can design an investment policy statement and an individual asset allocation plan
• Examines how to maintain your portfolio's risk profile in the most cost-effective and tax-efficient manner
• Offers insights on integrating risk management and estate planning issues into your plan

The Only Guide You'll Ever Need for the Right Financial Plan offers a handy tool to help you make more informed and prudent decisions that will go a long way to ensure a secure financial future.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"If you're looking to sharpen your financial thinking, let Larry Swedroe be your guide. With insights fromThe Only Guide You'll Ever Need for the Right Financial Plan, you should be able to raise your financial game—and maybe boost your family's wealth."
—Jonathan Clements, author,  The Little Book of Main Street Money
 

Review

"Larry Swedroes work comes as close to being the definitive investment book of our time as any that I can imagine. His greatest gift is his ability to communicate with profound simplicity, bringing clarity to the daunting challenge facing investors who are intent on reaching their financial goals."
—Bill Schultheis, author of The Coffeehouse Investor

"If you're looking to sharpen your financial thinking, let Larry Swedroe be your guide. With insights from The Only Guide You'll Ever Need for the Right Financial Plan, you should be able to raise your financial game—and maybe boost your family's wealth."
—Jonathan Clements, author of The Little Book of Main Street Money

"Just as every successful builder needs a blueprint, so too does every successful investor need a personally tailored investment policy. How much stocks, how much bonds? Foreign versus domestic? When and how to begin Social Security or withdrawing from your IRA? Larry Swedroe plots your financial life from cradle to grave (and even beyond). Don’t invest without it!"
—William Bernstein, author of The Four Pillars of Investing

"This is a most excellent book! Either as a great educational read or an indispensible reference, The Only Guide You'll Ever Need for the Right Financial Plan will pay you back many times over the cover price."
—Harold Evensky, President, Evensky & Katz

"If you have investing experience, and want to improve your portfolio, this is the book to read."
—Taylor Larimore, coauthor of The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Bloomberg Press; 1 edition (August 2, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1576603660
• ISBN-13: 978-1576603666
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 0.9 x 9.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #64,781 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Larry Swedroe is principal and director of research for Buckingham Asset Management, LLC, a Registered Investment Advisor firm in St. Louis, Mo. He is also principal of BAM Advisor Services, LLC, a service provider to investment advisors across the country, most of whom are affiliated with CPA firms. Previously, Larry was vice chairman of Prudential Home Mortgage. Larry holds an MBA in finance and investment from NYU, and a bachelor's degree in finance from Baruch College.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding investment book August 6, 2010

By VoraciousReader

Format:Hardcover

As someone who owns a large collection of investment books, this latest contribution from Mr. Swedroe ranks at the top of the list. His gift is taking a complex subject and making it accessible to "the rest of us" yet not in any way "dumbing down" his presentation. It's the rare financial writer who can hold your attention chapter after chapter.

In this book Mr. Swedroe carefully but succintly provides superb information on asset allocation (with sub-chapters on the various types of equities, bonds, alternative investments etc.), even including valuable discussion on whether or not to prepay your mortgage vs. increase your tax-advantaged savings, and asset location (i.e., in which retirement or taxable accounts to place particular investments for maximum tax-efficiency. With tax rates going up in 2011, that's more important than ever).

When you read this book you will also see he has included cogent chapters on college savings plans, long-term care insurance, IRAs, Social Security, and determining a safe withdrawal rate for your golden years.

This is the kind of investment book you will refer back to over and over again. If you read just one investment book this year, this should be it.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for the Intermediate to Advanced DIY Investor September 17, 2010

By Mike Piper

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book is brief, but it contains a great deal of helpful information for managing your portfolio.

For example, I particularly enjoyed the authors' discussion of risk tolerance as having three components: need to take risk, desire to take risk, and ability to take risk. In my experience, most investors don't take the time to consider that last one--ability to take risk. If you don't have a specific plan of action for what you'll do (specific ways you can cut your retirement spending, for example) if your portfolio doesn't put up the returns you expect, then you can't afford to take much risk in your portfolio.

Bravo to the authors for pointing that out.

My one caution would be that, if you're brand new to investing, this may not be the book to start with, as Swedroe and crew make no apologies about using technical terminology. If that sounds intimidating to you, I'd suggest starting with Swedroe's "Wise Investing Made Simple" instead.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Hooray for Another Gem !! August 22, 2010

By K. Ibarra

Format:Hardcover

If you own or have read most of Larry Swedroe's books on investing (like I have), there isn't anything really new in his latest book. However, if you have not, and are into Do-It-Yourself financial planning, this book is priceless. Larry Swedroe's principles on index investing, risk management, asset allocation, portfolio diversification, choosing an adviser, fail-safe retirement withdrawals, and estate planning are concisely explained in this easy-to-read text. In short, this book summarizes all his previous works into a well written guide that removes the mystery and complexity out of financial and retirement planning. I started reading Larry's books when he first published in 1998, and it is so refreshing to know that his investing principles have not changed after 2 rip-roaring bull markets and 2 brutal bear markets that have followed. Unless you are a multi-millionaire with no concern about money, applying Larry's principles will not make you wealthy in retirement, but at the same time, you won't die poor and destitute in retirement either. Larry along with John Bogle, William Bernstein, Rick Ferri, Burton Malkiel, Jason Zweig, Jon Clements, and all the other wonderful Bogleheads, have truly given empowerment to the Main Street investor, and in so doing have made the so-called Wall Street gurus look like over-rated village idiots that they are. Larry, thank you for another one-two punch on enlightment and simplicity, and please keep the hits rolling !!