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How To Really Ruin Your Financial Life and Portfolio by [Ben Stein]

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Ben Stein

How To Really Ruin Your Financial Life and Portfolio Kindle Edition

by Ben Stein (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

3.8 66 ratings

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Hilarious advice on what NOT to do with money, from financial funny man Ben Stein

Everyone's searching for the secrets to financial success, but what about the best ways to lose money . . . fast?! In How To Really Ruin Your Financial Life and Portfolio, bestselling author, economist, financial commentator, and media personality Ben Stein explains exactly what to do . . . to go bust! The ultimate "how-NOT-to" guide, the book gives readers invaluable tips that should be avoided at all costs. Written in Stein's own inimitable style, this hilarious guide provides essential financial advice on what not to do when it comes to managing money.

From reading and acting upon investing newsletters to trading on a margin, from investing in bonds to breathlessly following CNBC, and from buying stock in firms you do not understand to believing in your own genius at stock picking to keeping as little cash on hand as possible, Stein presents the rules that every would-be investor needs to know, so they can do the exact opposite and actually make money. Fully revised and updated, this new edition presents all-new missteps that can destroy any portfolio.

Fully revised and updated edition of the tongue-in-cheek bestseller that shows investors what not to do with their money
Written by acclaimed author economist, financial commentator, and media personality Ben Stein
Loaded with indispensable pieces of bad advice that readers should avoid at all costs

A laugh-out-loud approach to personal finance, How To Really Ruin Your Financial Life and Portfolio is an accessible guide to money from the funniest man in finance.

Print length

165 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publisher

Wiley
Publication date

August 22, 2012
File size

695 KB
Page Flip

Enabled
Word Wise

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Enhanced typesetting

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Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

PRAISE FOR HOW TO REALLY RUIN YOUR FINANCIAL LIFE AND PORTFOLIO

"A wise man once said, 'All I want to know is where I'm going to die so I'll never go there.' Ben Stein has applied this instruction to the investment world with his special brand of humor and insights. Pay attention!"
—WARREN E. BUFFETT, Chairman and CEO, Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

"I've always thought before you can learn how to become rich, you first have to stop doing the things that keep you poor. Leave it to my friend Ben Stein to smack us all across the face and, just like Cher in Moonstruck, get us to 'snap out of it.' It's an amazing wake-up call from an amazing guy who gets it, and gets us, and now, is trying to help us. Financial advisors charge thousands of dollars for this kind of insight. Talk about how to ruin your financial life! Ben's much, much cheaper, and much, much better."
—NEIL CAVUTO, Anchor and Sr. Vice President, Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network

"These are perilous times. Many face ruin and catastrophe. You must read this book to protect your portfolio and to make money."
—JIM ROGERS, author of A Gift to My Children

--This text refers to the paperback edition.

From the Inside Flap

PRAISE FOR HOW TO REALLY RUIN YOUR FINANCIAL LIFE AND PORTFOLIO

"A wise man once said, 'All I want to know is where I'm going to die so I'll never go there.' Ben Stein has applied this instruction to the investment world with his special brand of humor and insights. Pay attention!"
—WARREN E. BUFFETT, Chairman and CEO, Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

"I've always thought before you can learn how to become rich, you first have to stop doing the things that keep you poor. Leave it to my friend Ben Stein to smack us all across the face and, just like Cher in Moonstruck, get us to 'snap out of it.' It's an amazing wake-up call from an amazing guy who gets it, and gets us, and now, is trying to help us. Financial advisors charge thousands of dollars for this kind of insight. Talk about how to ruin your financial life! Ben's much, much cheaper, and much, much better."
—NEIL CAVUTO, Anchor and Sr. Vice President, Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network

"These are perilous times. Many face ruin and catastrophe. You must read this book to protect your portfolio and to make money."
—JIM ROGERS, author of A Gift to My Children

--This text refers to the paperback edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B008KPME0G
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Wiley; 1st edition (August 22, 2012)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 22, 2012
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 695 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 165 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #605,681 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #781 in Business & Professional Humor
- #1,091 in Personal Finance (Kindle Store)
- #4,432 in Humor (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
3.8 66 ratings

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Ben Stein

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Ben Stein (Los Angeles, CA) is a respected economist who is known to many as a movie and television personality, but has worked more in personal and corporate finance than anywhere else. He has written about finance for Barron's, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and Fortune; was one of the chief busters of the junk-bond frauds of the 1980s; has been a longtime critic of corporate executives' self-dealing; and has cowritten eight finance books. Stein travels the country speaking about finance in both serious and humorous ways, and is a regular contributor to CBS's Sunday Morning, CNN, and Fox News. He was the 2009 winner of the Malcolm Forbes Award for Excellence in Financial Journalism.

Customer reviews

3.8 out of 5

66 global ratings

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Alan

Good (and Quick) Starting Place For New Investors

Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2012

Verified Purchase

If you're new to investing, not sure where to start and / or don't have the time or desire to read investment books by 'experts', this is meant for you.

The content is largely common sense, but many people who think they can 'win' against the system seem to suppress their common sense. Ben Stein speaks not just as an economist but as someone who has invested his own money in various markets for decades. It also provides a good introduction to the various ways money is made in finance - and also why they probably won't work for you.

The content is good and edited well; however, it should be sold for a few dollars less.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Amazon Customer

Repetitive

Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2012

Verified Purchase

I really like Ben Stein and I like Iistening to him on financial shows. I think he has a lot of common sense when it comes to money. Unfortunately, this book is excessively repetitive. He chooses every financial way there is to make money [stock markent, bonds, ETF, etc] and lets you know all the ways a private investor can go wrong considering the advantages giant financial institutions have when investing. Unfortunately, all the ways you can make mistakes are pretty much the same for every type of investment. It all comes down to the fact that giant investment houses are also trying to make money and they employ thousands of people all around the world to gain an advantage in the market, and as a private investor you can never match that. His advice: Don't think you will beat the street. Invest with the crowd. Sadly, you will have learned this in chapter one, and by chapter three it is monotonous. I didn't read the last chapters.

5 people found this helpful

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Richardsson55

Thanks for the GOOD SWIFT KICK IN THE BUTT, Ben!

Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2012

Verified Purchase

...but you should have included a chapter about SPENDING TOO MUCH MONEY
on Amazon purchases! Just kidding, Amazon, glad you're here-we all know that Books
and Music take precedence over Food and Clothing.
I wanted to give Ben five stars for this book, but really, most of the advice he's giving here
is just common sense-most importantly, not trying to be your own financial advisor by
'picking' individual stocks, etc. A good read, worth a few laughs maybe, but not great.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

JS

Better than the 2010 version

Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2013

Verified Purchase

This is late 2012 copyright I believe and is even better than the 2010 edition. I believe I said 2011in a review of his first "How To Ruin, book.
This one takes on your portfolio along with the common sense and easy to understand advice.
I Highly recommend this one for your kids. Ahhh heck I'll tell the truth, Not only your ked but Yourself and any Friend that sees it on your coffee table. Because as Ben says, "You don't know Anything!" Believe me it's not an insult or put down. He's right. Something for everyone in this one.

One person found this helpful

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G.M.I.

Solid advice, Entertaining style

Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2013

Verified Purchase

I love Ben Stein. This short book was an exceptionally easy read and a nice break from the usual dry investing books.

Stein's advice is solid and time-tested. It's a good, basic intro for a those new to investing (as long as you have enough of a foundation to understand where he's being sarcastic--which is about 60% of the book) and a good refresher for those with experience. I also found it to be useful as a reality check-- a source of solid, time-tested investing wisdom.

One person found this helpful

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reviewer

Short and messy

Reviewed in the United States on November 5, 2012

Verified Purchase

Book was too short (didn't see that from the amazon site). Goes straight to the point, but too short. Could/Should give more financial advice (even if it is on what NOT to do). The content is very straight forward, but still i find it a bit of a steal to read basic things, a non-finance person can also say, for the price you pay. I was just disappointed.

Helpful

wanttoplaypiano

Ben Stein should be ashamed to sell this garbage

Reviewed in the United States on October 26, 2012

Verified Purchase

After reading prior books authored and co-authored by Ben Stein, I was very much looking forward to reading this book...

What a waste of time and money! You can read this tiny so called "book" in 10 minutes at a bookstore and save your money. It is basically an attempt to take what should have been a slightly humorous commentary, and instead pawn it off as a "book".

Great endorsements from the likes of Warren Buffet, but sadly, a waste of money.

2 people found this helpful

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MikeC

Awesome!!

Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2013

Verified Purchase

Ben Stein hits the nail on the head with his book, written to warn of ways to ruin your financial life in a satirical fashion.