Payback Time: Making Big Money Is the Best Revenge! [Hardcover]

Phil Town (Author)

Book Description

Release date: March 2, 2010

Don’t get mad, get even…
 
Phil Town’s first book, the #1 New York Times bestseller Rule #1, was a guide to stock trading for people who believe they lack the knowledge to trade.  But because many people aren’t ready to go from mutual funds directly into trading without understanding investing—for the long term – he created Payback Time.
 
Too often, people see long-term investing as “mutual fund contributing” – otherwise known as “long-term hoping.”  But the sad truth is that mutual fund investors are, to a stunning degree, pinning their hopes on an institution that is hopeless.  It turns out that only 4% of fund managers consistently beat the S&P 500 index over the long term, which means that 96% of fund investors see a smaller return on their nest egg than a chimpanzee who simply buys stocks in the 500 biggest companies in America and watches what happens.
 
But it’s worse than that.  The net effect of hitching your wagon to mutual funds is that over a lifetime they’ll fritter away as much 60% of your nest egg in fees.  Once you understand how funds engineer this, you’ll rush  to invest on your own.
 
Payback Time’s risk-free approach is called “stockpiling” and it’s how billionaires get rich in bad markets.  It’s a set of rules for investing (not trading but investing) in the right businesses at the right time -- rules that will ensure you make the big money. 

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Finally, an investment book that’s easy to understand and actually works in the real world.  PAYBACK TIME will make a lot of people very, very rich!”
--T. Harv Eker, author of the New York Times #1 bestseller, SECRETS OF THE MILLIONAIRE MIND
 
“There's never been a better time then now to start over and finish rich!  Recessions make millionaires and Phil Town's strategy for stockpiling wealth in the stock market is a fantastic vehicle for achieving that goal.  You'll realize when you read this that it’s still possible to recapture your dreams of a richer, better future.”
 --David Bach, #1 New York Times bestselling author of START OVER, FINISH RICH and THE AUTOMATIC MILLIONAIRE
 
“Masterful in its insights...brilliant in its simplicity and practicality! With uncompromising clarity, Phil Town exposes the truth about how poorly mutual fund managers perform, then proceeds to teach a very precise methodology for finding, evaluating, and investing in valuable businesses. PAYBACK TIME is a must read for everyone who's ready to take complete control of their financial freedom, and wants to do so with confidence, safety, and sound investment principles.”
--Tony Martinez, Founding Partner, Wealth Without Risk, LLC
 
“Town knows how to play by the rules in the ‘making big money’ game. Consider his book a gift to your financial library.”
--Robyn Spizman, New York Times bestselling author and founder of The Giftionary.com

“An incredible book that will teach you how to achieve financial independence faster than you ever thought possible.”
--Brian Tracy, President, Brian Tracy International
 
"Town has nailed it…PAYBACK TIME gives you the insight and mindset to maximize your investments.”
--Joe Sweeney, President of Corporate Financial Advisors and author of NETWORKING IS A CONTACT SPORT

About the Author

PHIL TOWN has addressed millions of people, sharing the stage with such respected public figures as Bill Clinton, Colin Powell and Rudy Giuliani. He appears frequently on CNBC as an investing expert.  Currently, he makes his home in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
 

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Crown Business (March 2, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307461866
• ISBN-13: 978-0307461865
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 1.1 x 9.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (61 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #157,421 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Phil Town was working as a Colorado River rafting guide when one day his life changed forever. After saving a group from a whitewater disaster, Phil was rewarded by his client with a crash course on investing, based on Warren Buffett's investing principles. Today, Phil believes that educating others about those same financial principles has the potential to make a significant difference in the lives of others. A sought-after speaker and author, Phil has written two books about personal investing: Rule #1, a #1 New York Times bestseller, and his newly released Payback Time.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

137 of 142 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Little new information March 15, 2010

By Roman M

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I've read Rule # 1 back when it first came out and I thought it was excellent. I'm about halfway done with Payback Time and so far 90% of the information is simply rehashed information from his first book. The one thing that appears to have changed is that MSN now apparently gives 10 year data for free, which was not available when Rule # 1 came out (back then you had to pay a third-party company to obtain 10-year data about a stock and MSN and Yahoo only offered 5-year data if I remember correctly). So if you haven't read either book and are wondering which one to pick up I would say go for the second one (Payback Time). If you've read Rule # 1, reading the second book certainly won't hurt for repetition sake, just don't expect any major new information. The concept of stockpiling is nothing revolutionary. Simply buy more shares when the price goes down. Wow. The one thing I did not like about Payback Time is how Phil is constantly directing the reader back to his website for every little piece of extra information. And he doesn't tell you what link on his site to click on for each piece of information so you end up randomly clicking on his site until you find what you're looking for (not to mention the fact that you have to register in order to use the site in the first place and it keeps on logging you out every few minutes for some reason).
Having said that, I still have to give credit to Phil for his clear writing style. He has a special ability to take complex information and making it understandable to the average person. I also like the fact that he gives his email address in the book and encourages readers to contact him with any questions. I like that type of service. I will update this review as soon as I'm done reading the book.

3/16/10: As a side note, I also have noticed, like others, that many of the raving reviews for this book sound fake (some almost sound like an infomercial) and are from users who have only reviewed a single item (i.e. this book).

4/1/10: In chapter 5, "Eight Baby Steps to Wealth", Phil walks you through a tool on MSN's website called "Deluxe (stock) Screener" (also known as "Supercharge your search"). It's supposed to be a free stock screener that lets you find companies that match Phil's criteria for great companies (saves you a ton of time). Unfortunately, this tool no longer exists (MSN retired it back in November of '09!). However, Phil recently posted an entry on his blog saying that you can find the exact same information on google's website. If you go to "Google Finance" look for Stock Screener. It's supposed to be just as good as MSN's Deluxe Screener. I will be playing around with this tool and will post an update soon.

5/26: Remember how I said that Phil gives out his email address in his book and encourages readers to ask him questions? Well, I sent him a question (regarding the use of Google Finance - see my post from 4/1) in late March all I got was an automated reply saying that someone would get back to me and no one ever did. So much for that. So if you have any questions, I would call the number listed on Phil's website. They will answer your questions.

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Valuable Introduction to Buying Low and Selling High as an Individual Investor April 10, 2010

By Donald Mitchell HALL OF FAMETOP 100 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

"Both low and high,
Rich and poor together." -- Psalm 49:2 (NKJV)

If you read and liked Rule #1 and are using that method, you probably will be disappointed in Payback Time. If Rule #1 seemed appealing, but was beyond what you could apply on your own, you'll probably find Payback Time easier to use.

I once attended a major investing seminar conducted by one of the most famous motivational speakers in the world. He spent two hours on an exercise where we were supposed to learn to buy low and sell high. Most people were delighted with that lesson, even though we only learned the principle . . . not how to implement it. I was shocked to see how little it takes to please those who don't know much about stock investing. But I assume you are well beyond that level.

If you are fan of Rule #1 (as I am), let me cut to the chase: Payback Time primarily gives you a buy-low-and-hold version of Rule #1 along with an update concerning online resources available and a more complete Web site to help you perform the details. Of the two books, Rule #1 is for those who want to be very active investors. Payback Time is for those who want to do less work and pay less attention to the market day-to-day.

Lest you take that point lightly, let me mention that I once had a book contract to write a similar book. I returned the contract after a few months of struggling to explain in simple language with not too many words how to do some similar evaluations. I found it to be harder than it was worth doing. As a result, I admire Phil Town for sticking with his writing to produce a book that is clear, simple, and not too hard to implement.

Do I take exception to anything he had to say? Sure I do. Anyone would. But the advice is pretty sound.

I thought the best part of the book was in defining the sell discipline, something few investment books take seriously. I think he sets a pretty high target, one that may cause you to miss some well-timed selling opportunities.

The main problem with the method is that to have lots of opportunities you require stock market collapses occurring reasonably often. During a period such as the 1990s (especially on the NASDAQ), you might find it difficult to apply the method to stocks you understand well that are dramatically under priced. In today's environment, I suspect bargains by this method are few, for instance.

My main quibble with the book is that Mr. Town spends about 20 percent of the content explaining that mutual fund returns aren't very good, the expenses piled onto mutual funds cause your returns to be much lower, and sharing his view that you cannot count on Social Security. All of this material was worth about two or three pages, not fifty.

Do your homework!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars More than just a book review September 3, 2010

By The Dude

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Ok, I'll try to be concise here. I like the book. Yes, some of the concepts in Rule #1 are re-hashed here, but I thought the presentation from this book was better. If you buy the book, however, you'll see that you are offered a "scholarship" to attend a Payback Time workshop for free, which I decided to attend. As most people know, very few things in life are for free. As I expected from the "free" 2-day workshop, it was a technique to get people interested in purchasing additional training and access to software tools/data which have been developed specifically for using the techniques outlined by Phil in the book to find good companies to invest in. For the most part, the free workshop covered what was in the book, and there was some introductory coverage of options as well. It was nice to have someone available to address audience questions from topics not understood from the book, but I was disappointed that about half of the workshop time morphed into discussion about buying the tools/data & training. What really surprised me though is the book focused mostly on "investing", but the trainers talked a lot about "trading", especially with options. While I thought the tools/training looked pretty good, even the lowest package they offered was for $5,000 (which was for 6 months access to the tools/data), it felt like for me to spend that much money, I would really need to spend a lot of time learning, paper trading, and watching the markets, which I really don't have. I'd love to quit my job and be a trader, but in this economy it feels too risky right now. It's too bad that Phil doesn't blog/share a little more often for free on his website ([...]) so I could've better followed his ideas in advance of attending the class. Since some of the packages included "access to Phil" (to ask questions, discuss ideas, etc.) I might've been more inclined to spend the money had I had a little more experience with Phil in advance of the class. Phil actually Skype'd into the session to explain the packages and answer audience questions. I am still interested in the offerings, so I may go back later if circumstances change.