Rule Your Freakin' Retirement: How to Retire Rich by Actively Managing Your Assets [Hardcover]

Michael Parness (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 3, 2009

DON’T PANIC. RULE!

Market turbulence has made opening monthly 401(k) statements shocking rather than reassuring. Michael “Waxie” Parness can help.

The standard strategies and advice regarding your retirement accounts are NOT working. Many people’s 401(k)s are now 201(k)s, and it may get worse. YOU need to take control of your retirement, and your life. Rule Your Freakin’ Retirement, through practical and pragmatic advice and examples, will teach you alternatives to the “buy, hold, and pray” strategies most investment advisers give. In today’s world you need fresh ideas, and this book gives you the tools you need to not only protect what you have in your IRA, but to grow it in an aggressive, time-tested, yet easily managed way. And, yes, a safer way!

Building on his successful Rule the Freakin' Markets, master trader and motivational speaker Michael Parness applies the same aggressive strategies to normally ignored or undermanaged 401(k), IRA, and other retirement accounts. Contrary to conventional wisdom, Parness argues that no matter what age you are, NOW is the time to adopt active, aggressive, and controlled strategies to ensure a fully funded, real retirement on your own terms, not subject to market gyrations out of your control. He outlines, in plain language, bold but practical strategies emphasizing research and tailoring approaches to individual needs.

With record numbers of baby boomers entering or nearing retirement, and succeeding generations caught by a volatile economy, Rule Your Freakin’ Retirement offers tangible, proven, no-nonsense advice that all can profit from, in the engaging Waxie style.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Parness (Rule the Freakin' Markets) shows readers how to take control of retirement and the years leading up to it. Full of practical suggestions, this book highlights numerous aggressive but simple and safe strategies to actively manage retirement resources. The author focuses on the fundamentals so that readers will be able to understand mutual fund reports and stock charts and know how to digest the information they contain. He divides his advice into three sections: assessing one's current financial situation, mastering the tools and making the most of assets. Each section includes charts and quizzes to help explain concepts and test understanding. Scattered throughout are Waxie's tips: short, helpful nuggets that provide advice on a variety of topics. Parness also includes several profiles of individuals at various stages of life and financial responsibility and offers practical advice for approaching their retirement savings. A handy glossary section serves as a useful reference tool for the less initiated. Free of jargon and easy-to-understand, this book will be of interest to everyone hoping to regain control over their retirement future, especially with the current market volatility. (Mar.)
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From Booklist

The advice given here prompts every American, wealthy or not, to not only understand finances but also to manage money—not invest it for the long term. It begins, as most financial planners agree, with a firm analysis of one’s assets, liabilities, and needs, including all types of insurance, estate planning, and an objective look at Social Security. Then the usual content follows, including discussions of 401(k)s, mutual funds, bonds and bond funds, cash, and asset allocation. Yet the author does dive into the kinds of tips usually known only by financial pros, such as possible fleecing—in terms of management fees—from mutual fund companies, the differences between mutual funds and the advantages of ETFs, and defining the bond ladder with a few simple how-to’s. Part 3, then, clinches the deal, where Parness shares some ideas and tricks used by traders—and inveighs against investors. With end-of-chapter quizzes and an approachable colloquial writing style, Parness helps ensure his future as a TV and radio expert. --Barbara Jacobs

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; First Edition edition (March 3, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312375751
• ISBN-13: 978-0312375751
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #953,535 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Dangerous book, July 15, 2011

By 

Jayhawk - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rule Your Freakin' Retirement: How to Retire Rich by Actively Managing Your Assets (Hardcover)

Michael Parness does provide some useful information in this book. His style of writing is unorthodox, often funny, and not at all stuffy like usual "retirement" books. However, there are plenty of dangerous ideas in this book to make it unsuitable for the average person. His ideas on active trading/speculation in the market can bring financial ruin to many people. Parness says nothing about the costs of active trading. He rightly advises us to choose mutual funds with the lowest possible costs, but does not even mention the fact that one buy/sell transaction in stocks will cost you from 10 to 20 dollars, depending on the broker you use. Buying and selling options, which he also recommends, is even more costly. His ideas on trend trading are undeveloped and seem more like a lure for people to visit his website, to which he refers many times throughout the book. There are other books on retirement that offer much safer ideas that his. Bottom line: active trading in the style that Parness advocates is unsuitable for all but the most adventurous people. Day trading (which Parness advocates in the book) requires nerves of steel, plenty of time to spend at the computer screen, and a willingness to take many losses in order to catch that one big win. If you are sure you can do it, this is the book for you.

3 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beyond Helpful, May 2, 2009

By 

Ty Camp (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rule Your Freakin' Retirement: How to Retire Rich by Actively Managing Your Assets (Hardcover)

Michael "Waxie" Parness really knows what he's talking about when it comes to making money in the market. If you're tired of losing money through mutual funds and want to take a more active role in managing your assets, this is the book for you.