Crashproof Your Life: A Comprehensive, Three-Part Plan for Protecting Yourself from Financial Disasters [Hardcover]

Thomas A. Schweich (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Protect your financial future against virtually every form of unforeseen disaster

Despite the recent decade of prosperity, Americans now more than ever must prepare for their financial futures. In these times, people need to take steps to protect themselves from professional, financial, and personal harm. In his many years as a partner in a major international law firm, Thomas Schweich has seen hundreds of people, from all walks of life, ruined by unexpected financial mistakes.

Now, in Crashproof Your Life, Schweich shares with you the fruits of his experience with the victims of financial disaster. He has developed a comprehensive, three-part "crashproofing" plan for avoiding most types of professional, fiscal, and personal crises. You will get solid advice on how to protect yourself against layoffs and workplace traumas; how to control wasteful spending habits and avoid financial scams; and how to close insurance loopholes and ensure that friends and family don't deplete their hard-earned savings.

From the Back Cover

In an era of diminishing privacy, downsizing, mergers, and dangerously fleeting corporate careers, the speed at which disorder can take over our lives is ever-increasing. From failed investments and business ventures to unexpected health expenses to violations of company policies with career-ending repercussions, no one is immune to a devastating financial crash--and few have the resources to weather one. Technology itself poses new risks. Countless executives and employees have been dismissed for initiating E-mail that was deemed inappropriate or for using the Internet for purposes not related to their jobs. Those who are at highest risk are those who don't take the possibilities seriously. But it is possible to prepare for, and even avoid, such disaster. This essential and timely book will show you how.

Written by a trial lawyer, risk-avoidance lecturer, and former prosecutor, Crashproof Your Life will help you master the art of crashproofing and create a sense of security that will resonate throughout your life. Here you will learn to identify the risks you face on the job, with your investments, and at home and to plan systematically to reduce or eliminate those risks. The ultimate goal is to ensure that you get the money you need and keep the money you have.

Featuring numerous instructive real-life stories, the invaluable Nine Laws of Crashproofing, helpful checklists of risk-reducing actions, a recommended reading list, and much more, Crashproof Your Life will help you successfully navigate the twenty-first century, make friends with the inescapable disorder of the universe, and keep your shirt in the process.

Praise for Crashproof Your Life

"Could there be a more relevant book for the financial challenges of the twenty-first century? I doubt it. Everyone would profit from reading Crashproof Your Life. Schweich does a fabulous job outlining how to take care of your career and finances in good times and bad."
--Joseph Ryan
Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Marriott International, Inc."Crashproof Your Life is a winner. Mr. Schweich tells his readers how to (1) take responsibility for their financial futures, (2) build professional and personal financial structures that can withstand just about any economic risk, and (3) enjoy the rewards of a secure financial life. Everyone should read this book."
--John C. Danforth
Former U.S. Senator and a member of the Waco Special Counsel

"Schweich does a great job of outlining a discipline that allows the reader to accumulate wealth, preserve financial security, and still have fun."
--Andrew N. Baur
Chairman, Southwest Bank and Secretary and Treasurer, St. Louis Cardinals LP baseball team

Navigating risk in our hi-tech, low-privacy world

Many of us may think we are financially secure because we have a good salary, a healthy investment portfolio, or even high-ranking professional status and personal reputation. But attorney Thomas Schweich has seen devastating financial problems strike even those who seemed to have it all. In his work, Schweich helps people deal with the fallout of such events. And now he can help you too, with a sound crashproofing plan for avoiding financial disaster of any kind. In Crashproof Your Life you'll find:

• A three-part plan for avoiding financial disaster by reducing professional risks, financial risks, and personal liabilities
• Comprehensive structuring for each category
• Tools to identify risk
• Risk-reducing principles, called the Laws of Crashproofing
• Helpful checklists to help you become proactive

. . . and much more to equip you for today's world and help you gain a more secure future for yourself and your family.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (December 3, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0809222264
• ISBN-13: 978-0809222261
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,057,481 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Crashproof your life, January 19, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Crashproof Your Life: A Comprehensive, Three-Part Plan for Protecting Yourself from Financial Disasters (Hardcover)

This is a great book. I will recomend this book to all my friends. The web site is great and helpful in perticular the checklist.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Survival Manual Against the Forces of Entropy, January 7, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Crashproof Your Life: A Comprehensive, Three-Part Plan for Protecting Yourself from Financial Disasters (Hardcover)

The forces of entropy are out there. The unexpected disaster awaits you sooner than you might think. What are you doing to protect yourself? Little actions with unforseen consequences can easily be avoided if you are prepared.

How many times have you thought how stupid of me I should have foreseen that this might happen if I did this. Now there is a book that lays out in a very straighforward manner all the things that can go wrong and how through simple steps you can prevent them. This book teaches you how to build a bulwark against the forces of entropy.

It will not prevent all disasters but it will save you from most of the ones that you can unwittingly bring down upon yourself as well as how to lessen the damage from the ones you can't control.

A very timely book. It reads well. Section One on job security is worth the price alone. I found myself breezing through it and then rereading it. The true life examples of people who wrecked their careers as well as those who deftly sidestepped disasters are fascinating. It reads like a survival manual for today's workplace jungle. Two and three are invaluable and are filled with reference material regarding financial and tort protection that you would need several books to duplicate and even then wouldn't be as clearly laid out or as enjoyable to read.

I'm getting a few for friends.

2.0 out of 5 stars Good for someone just starting out in life..., December 14, 2004

By	David Yeagy - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Crashproof Your Life: A Comprehensive, Three-Part Plan for Protecting Yourself from Financial Disasters (Hardcover)

This book is most appropriate for someone who has just entered the workforce. Many of the lessons regarding behavior in the professional world are useful, but not profound. I was dissapointed in the section of the book devoted to personal matters. In general, I would not recommend to anyone with more than a passing knowledge of basic personal financial skills.