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Customer Reviews: Average Rating:  Rating : - Good Press for a Great Book!
I'm glad to see that so many other readers are as enthused as I am about John Girouard's Ten Truths of Wealth Creation--a clear-cut and inspiring guide to getting the most out of your financial assets. I was convinced to purchase a copy of the book after reading a positive review that was published recently in a lifestyle magazine in my area called 'Bucks County Living.'
Here's some of what the reviewer, J. Henry Warren,* had to say:
"...[This] book, though published a few years ago, is still relevant. It could have saved millions of people hundreds of thousands of dollars during this last economic meltdown. The book: The Ten Truths of Wealth Creation, by John E. Girouard, is for the most part a fast and easy read and worthy of the extra caffeine consumed when I stayed up late blasting through his easy to understand pages, damn, I should've known this last year.
If I had used these strategies a year and a half ago I would be a decade closer to comfortable beach retirement instead of still pounding computer keys and being a few dozen years far broker than usual. John E. Girouard exposes in this book how our investment industry, Wall Street, mutual fund companies, banks with CDs, online trading houses, and so on, offer we investors hope, but not much more.
I was reminded that, forgotten in our latest 1990's and 2000's gold rush, is the fact misleading statistics and hidden conflicts of interest are very common on the Street, and they most often rob people of opportunities to create wealth and achieve financial independence--no matter how one defines it. The solution, suggested by author Girouard, is to always invest in things you own and know, including old-fashioned participating whole life insurance. Yikes, did I say that? Yes, much of it makes great common sense.
Girouard mathematically and entertainingly explodes a series of theories recently thought set in stone, proving, for example how cash for a car can cost more than to finance it. The secret is to put the cash in an account that pays more interest than the finance charges. He shows how people can become their own banks, and then pay themselves interest, earn untaxed income, stop paying taxes on income already taxed before, all without taking excessive risks.
In a short telephone interview, Girouard noted his The Ten Truths of Wealth Creation are simply a collection of basic rules he learned over a quarter-century of showing thousands of clients his investment strategy, while exposing all the industry hype and practices which actually rob people of their money. He assured me that financial peace of mind can be achieved reducing confusion and worry.
Sure, we would have like to have known this a few years ago, but later is better than never, (at least this is what my folks and experience have taught me.)
Girouard said, "the spirit of change and vision is celebrated in medicine, industry, the military, and fine arts--but not in the investment industry," which he defines as the industry that makes its money by shuffling yours around. "In fact, its success depends on the absence of change and on investor confusion." Very strong statements from a financial advisor, in my opinion.
So, here, for your own opinion, in an economic period of pointing fingers and uncertainty, is Girouard's Wealth Creation Truth No. 10: "Minimize Future Decisions." Sounds right to me, and thanks to John Girouard who challenged me rethink my relationship with money, the future, and to remember wealth should serve life and not the other way around."
*J. Henry Warren is critic and author of several works of fiction. He holds degrees in Economics, Marketing and Finance from the University of Pennsylvania's Warton School of Business as well as an MBA from Temple University. He lives with his family in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. + See Full Customer Review |  |
