Customer Reviews

What You Need to Do Now: An 8-Point Action Plan to Secure Your Financial Independence

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Millions of Americans have been forced to reflect on sad events and the horrific impact on hundreds of thousands of families as result of the Trade Center Attack. Layoffs, forced retirements, disabilities, deaths and financial crises are happening everywhere, and Edelman's book exploits these fears to very good purpose. Millions ought to read this book. It is full of sound advice and practical steps. No, it doesn't offer some stock market magic or clever way to manipulate your insurance or a real estate pyramid scheme. It fully delivers on the author's stated purpose, to deliver "Financial Security" with sound advice to persons that have had to reassess their own circumstances - or for that matter, for anyone that wishes to avoid financial peril. Any reviewer that does not assign this 5 stars is probably a self-styled stockpicking guru that was looking for a hot tip. There are no silver bullets in personal finance. Tough times warrants tough advice and this book fulfills its commitments. Banks, credit unions, brokerage firms and financial advisors would do well to buy copies for the benefit of their customers.

I had the opportunity to buy another book by this author several years but now regretfully passed and watched by investments go down the drain as I followed advice from another financial author.

Edelmans book helped me to recoup those losses and get back on track. I have since added "The Truth About Money" and "Ordinary People Extraordinary Wealth." I also recommend "The Road to Wealth" and "The Laws of Money" by Suze Orman, another credible financial author.

This book accomplishs its limited goal and does it well. To say the book is short on detail or substance misses the point of the book. Ric's other books do that. This book is meant to be a quick and basic primer on what people can do now, and it's not meant to be more. Furthermore, to say the author has questionable credentials is amusing. His firm was ranked by Bloomberg as the 5th-largest independent financial planning firm in the nation, with 5,400+ clients and $1.7 billion in client assets. Please, if you're going issue a poor review, make sure its not just a shallow and sleazy ranting.

I was worried about what to do these days, and I was able to Ric's book in even less time than he wrote it. It is a very fast, easy read - and most importantly, it covers everything I needed to know right now. His writing style is friendly and accessible, and the book is filled with practical, usable information I can understand, about bank accounts, mortgages, insurance, even buying a home safe! I'll be acting on much of his advice immediately. I'm most impressed that he's giving all the money to charity. This book is a great contribution, not just to charity, but to all of us who need the information to handle these times and the confidence to get us through it. I strongly encourage you to read this, and share it with friends. I'm now going to read other books of his.

With the evnets of 9/11, many of us don't know where to turn regarding our finances. This book will guide you with great advice. I'm glad I purchased it and will advise you to do the same. An easy read!!!

I have been wondering what all of the turmoil means for my finances and this book helps. This is a nice, quick read that pointed out some the things that I am doing right and quite a few I need to work on. It covered the areas I was wondering about. I have not read the other Edelman books but in this book he makes a complex area very easy to understand.

Saw the Oprah show and picked this up immediately. I've been enlightened and will share with my friends and family!

Hits the spot! Just what you need to regain confidence in your personal finances and in the American economy.

Anyone who has ever reached a notable level of financial success will tell you there is no single book in which you will discover the secret to wealth. The real secret to wealth (and many other things) can be summed up in two words -- "STOP PROCRASTINATING". A good book then will help motivate you towards your cause -- this book delivers in a BIG way.

At only 140 pages its a quick read, but packed with information to act on. Chapter 7 on "The Investment Strategy You Need Today" was invaluable. And the 8-point action plan on protecting your assets and preparing for emergencies (and the unknown) contains valuable notables for everyone.

It's no secret this book was written and published in record time, but as the author states in the intro -- "Nonetheless, the information you'll find in these pages will help you protect yourself and your family RIGHT NOW.", and I thank him for making the effort to belay my many questions and concerns (not to mention donating all his proceeds to Sept 11 victims). Viva!

This book should have been titled "Why you need to overinsure yourself rather than plan for retirement!" Ric uses life insurance *AS* his retirement plan and recommends you maintain enough insurance to provide an INCOME to your family. Not just pay off your debts and provide some cushion for your family, but to actually LIVE off the income. Geez, no wonder insurance rates are sky high! I can see a larger policy for a working man with a wife and young children to support -- so that his wife can have a few years to find her own way. But this man is advocating using life insurance for something it was never intended to be used for.

On top of that, he completely discounts just how much all this life and disability insurance costs. He maintains that if you can purchase a VCR and TV, you can someone find the money each month for all this insurance. Well let me tell you, I did just a basic search for the numbers he recommended for my family and we would pay out OVER $500 a month just for insurance! No thank you. We'll stick with our meager $100,000 whole life policy and the term policy for paying off the mortgage.

And that's another thing! I've never read a financial planning book that advocates not paying off your mortgage! His entire chapter about that was totally contrary to ALL the other advice out there and I couldn't disagree more. One should maintain the status quo, pay your debts, save, invest, and then pay off the morgage! Provide for your own retirement and stop using life insurance as your retirement plan.

By chance I heard ric on his self-promoting radio program recently as he was bragging that he spent two, count them 2, full days writing this book. He really didn't have to brag about it because it's quite obvious if you try to read any part of it. Not only is it shallow and substanceless, it's hideously written. If you are having troubled times or are worried about the economy, you should pay off your credit card bills and buy a book from someone other than an uncertified financial planner who is writing books merely to get new clients. Ickkkk!