Customer Reviews

Wealth Without Risk

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

While many books have been written about personal finance, none have had the initial and lasting impact as has this great classic by the late, great Charles J. Givens.

Wealth Without Risk came out in late 1988, early 1989. No one knew these strategies. Nobody knew how to reduce their auto insurance. No one that you could get a lower interest rate on your credit cards just by asking. No one ever thought about using their home equity as an income stream. Only A.L. Williams people where teaching the folly of investing in (w) hole life insurance.

Nobody knew how car insurance and automobile dealers were ripping people off. And no one knew how to really use their 401 (k) plans at work or their IRA. Tell someone you opened a self directed IRA and they would say "what the heck is a self-directed IRA?" They thought it was like a missile that was aimed at you!

Nobody knew that you could make 20% in mutual funds and invest without paying commissions. And only a handful of us knew about tax liens certificates and discounted mortgages.

There were a few other financial authors out there like Venita Van Caspel and Robert Allen. Only Allen came close to offering the results Givens offered and Allen was limited to real estate investing (I highly recommend Robert Allen as well)

Although I would recommend the newer More Wealth Without Risk over this older version, the original Wealth Without Risk is also packed with information that can positively impact your bottom line.

Don't be surprised if you find resistance with certain financial people. Even though this book came out over 17 years ago, little in the financial world has changed. When people have their hands in your pockets, guess what their primary interest is? HINT: It's not in your best interest that is for sure.

Givens may be gone but he has left a legacy that has lived on. Like other great books, Wealth Without Risk will continue to sell for decades to come.

RIP Chuck and thank you!

Where do I begin? I had a tiny, home-based business at the time, when I bought this book. I lived in a tiny house in a miserable Northern State that I will not mention. At that time, 10 years ago,I had absolutely NO idea what I was doing when it came to my money. I needed serious help! 10 years ago, I bought this book. This book, along with Charles Givens other books, "MORE Wealth without risk" and "Financial Freedom" have been my financial bibles for the past 10 years. Along with my own hard work and determination, my business has grown substantially and these books have seriously played a role as a building block for what I now have today. A beautiful home and a pool in sunny, tropical FL. My dream life and dream home. I cannot believe this book is out of print! I still refer to this book today. A few of the topics are outdated for 2000 but the overall message is unavoidable and timeless! "Wealth Without Risk" is NOT a get-rich-quick scheme. It simply covers the financial basics in simple English and is well written. I am guilty of a short attention span and the chapters of "Wealth Without Risk", "Financial Freedom" and "More Wealth Without Risk" are short and to-the-point. Everything from uncrupulous car dealer and life insurance schemes to advice on taking business deductions. I have learned from this book! Scads of simple, down-to-earth answers to common questions you were afraid to admit that you did not know. Alternately, in my opinion, Givens lost his steam with "Super Self". I bought it and was wholley disappointed.

I bought this book 10 years ago. Wish I would have bought it 10 years sooner. As I began to apply Mr. Givens strategies, I found myself experiencing mixed emotions; excitent & joy for the fast and dramatic results that I experienced and disgust and disdain for being misled by leading institutions. I saved $32,000 in my first six weeks. That should tell you what this book was worth to me. More importantly, I am continuing to save by following the strategies. I am one of those "fools" that dropped the uninsured motorists from my auto policy. Haven't carried it in ten years. When my agent told me what the benefits of this cr*p was I asked him what was the possibility of cashing in on uninsured motorists. He said, "About the same as winning a million dollar lottery or getting struck by lightning-TWICE" Sorry folks, I just don't feel that it's worth the price. Mr Givens, thank you for allowing my family and I to really live and achieve WEALTH WITHOUT RISK!

I bought this book way back in the late 80s (89 I think), saw his late night shows and attended some of his seminars - and then implemented the strategies presented. Today, 12 years later, I must say that what I did then was probably the smartest financial thing I did in my life. My knowledge & wealth has increased manyfold compared to then. Though I haven't followed all his startegies to the dot, I have implemented most of them that were within my abilities. Thanks to CJG and his organization.

It was that quote and article in USA Today that prompted me to buy "Wealth Without Risk" way back in 1989 and I have never regretted it.

According to the article, Givens was making some powerful, almost unbelievable statements like "earn 20% safely on your investments"(this was 2 years after the huge stock market crash!), "Reduce your income tax by 50%", "Better Life Insurance for 80% less", "Send Your Kids to College for Free" and "Spend your way into wealth." Sounds too good to be true, right? Wrong.

I started following Givens strategies back in early 1989. I took money out of cd's and savings and started to invest in no load stock mutuals and a no load bond mutual fund. By October of 1989, my aggressive stock fund was up to a 34% gain. Remembering that October is a bad month for stocks plus that Allen Greenspan was lowering interest rates, I sold off most of my stock shares and rotated into bond funds. By the end of 1989, the bond fund that I had invested in early in 1989 The Scudder U.S. Zero 2000) was already up 25.7%. I was also earning 8 1/2% in my money market fund. I was investing with no commissions and no risk.

Next area was auto insurance. I followed Mr. Givens advice in Wealth Without Risk and reduced by insurance by $280. Now I knew this guy was for real.

I also pulled my credit report and found numerous errors. They even had me intermingled with someone with a similiar name who had moved into an apartment complex that I used to live in years earlier. Needless to say, I got it corrected but never would have thought about doing this if I hadn't read this book.

What really appealed to me is that "Wealth Without Risk" doesn't offer any pie-in-the-sky get rich quick schemes. Instead, iy gives you more than 250 savvy, instantly accessible money strategies--proven, powerful plans for accumating wealth through personal finance, tax reduction, and investing. Some of the other topics that appealed to me were:

* Cut the cost of borrowing money by 30%-50%

* Slash premiums by 50% on homeowners, mortgage, disability,
liability, and rental car insurance (we travel a lot)

* Make your vacations tax deductible (ditto)

* Shift assets between family members and turn family expences
into tax deductions

* Start a small business for fun, profit, and huge tax
deductions

* Create a million dollar retirement plan where you work

* Earn a safe 20% a year with mutual funds (we did that PLUS)

* Make 15%-20% government guaranteed interest with TLC's

* Realize over 20% a year in nontraditional IRA and KEOGH
Investments

* Recognize the 10 biggest investment mistakes

Another thing that impressed us was that Charles J. Givens had been named as one of the 20 most successful people in America and had dedicated his life to teaching people the practical wealth-building techniques that made him financially super successful. Givens was on a mission and was passionate about teaching people how to achieve "Wealth without Risk." Quite a departure from others.

Givens also exemplified the character qualities that Dr. Stephen Covey refers to in his groundbreaking book, "The 7 Habits of Effective People." Qualities like integrity, high values and human dignity.

I loaned my copy out and bought several more copies for friends and family members. More Wealth Without Risk is the updated version of this classic. I also recommend Financial Self-Defense and SuperSelf, all great books by Givens.

A friend of mine recommended that I read this book...I was so impressed by the info. provided that I read over half the book in less than a day..(book has over 500 pages)...I also ordered three other books written by Mr. Givens...His advise, even though written some time ago, is very do-a-ble and easy to follow...I thanked my friend and recommend this book other books written by Mr. Givens to anyone who's serious about getting their finances in order.

I have to admit, prior to reading Wealth Without Risk I was financially illiterate and broke. I was spending 125% of my income and going nowhere fast.

A friend told me about Charles Givens after having seen him on The Today Show for the umteenth time. The only thing that caught my interest was that he talked about reducing taxes and starting a home based business. I had no interest in the mutual funds part at all.

At that time, I was living in Pennsylvania, land of high taxes. Several months later, I moved to Orlando, Fl and was invited to a Givens seminar in Altamonte Springs, Fl. Now I was excited. As the saying goes, "the light bulb went off" and I got it!

Immediately, I went to work and started using the strategies. I had the following results:

- cut my car insurance my 60%

- reduced my taxes to zero

- cut health insurance cost at work by 100% - actually signed up
for a high deductible where my employer paid me each payperiod

- cleaned up credit

- opened a 401 (k) at work

- opened a self directed IRA

- opened two mutual fund accounts, one for my IRA and one as a
regular account

- opened a money market mutual fund to replace bank savings.
At that time, money market funds were paying 8%-10% interest
as comapred to that 3% pittance that the bank pays.

- Started using the 10% solution.

- Started using the 20% solution

All of my investing came from money that I was previously wasting in excess taxes, insurances etc.

My ex-wife and I had made some serious financial mistakes and ruined our credit. We were told that it would take years to fix. With the use of Givens strategies, we did it in a few months.

I wholeheartily recommend Wealth Without Risk. I recommend the updated version, More Wealth Without Risk. Great book, timeless advice.

As an Enterprenuer and HomeMaker, I am a little skeptical yet excited about self-help books and Financial help books. When I picked this up and read the reviews I knew I made a good decision, especially at a REAL cheap price (Thrift Store). Thank you other reviews for the tip. I am already reading the book! (I am 19 years old and Married). I am so lucky I picked up this book, guess where! the Thrift Store today! (4/28/01). After already reading parts of this I am already ready to get the Best Insurance, (save on Premimums 50%), Re-establish My Credit and Invest in Mutual Funds within a YEAR. Over 300 strategies to save your life!!! HIGHLY Recommend to those just getting started, Highschoolers, College Students, Newlyweds etc... Please Get it!! You won't regret it! Thank you, Jacquelyn P.S. Since the book is out of print, I recommend buying the used or collectible version. Saves you more money.

This should be used as a text book in our high schools. Completely turned our financial life around. Givens takes the mystery out handling your money. He's right when he says "It's not how much money you make, it's what you do with it that matters" Too bad this book is so hard to obtain. I lent mine out and never got it back.

If I had read this book or one with similar information when I was 25 instead of 45 and followed the guidelines I could have retired by now(I'm 48). Will teach you more in easy to understand English in a weeks spare time than you've learned in a lifetime. Should be required reading for all high school or college students. I have been applying some of the simple to follow techniques without too much change in my middle class lifestyle and have increased my retirement funds substantially in just a few short years.