m3richard's review against another edition
informative
fast-paced
2.0
This book is a collection of responses from financial executives and advisors on how they would invest their money which I found rather boring. They pretty much all gave a similar answer and nothing stood out as actionable advice. If you're looking for a book on finance I'd start with my favorite book, The Automatic Millionaire instead.
jackson_tarheel's review against another edition
4.0
Quick read! What was compelling about this book was the diversity of philosophy in the way these 25(!) tenured financial professionals invest their personal monies. Some practiced passive indexing, some active stock picking. Some had large exposure to real estate, private placements, and or commodities. Many had substantial % of personal wealth in their advisory/asset management businesses.
ryangoodyear's review against another edition
3.0
This book is a collection of essays. Some are well-written and some read like slightly lengthy emails that lack editing. A couple are absolute gems. A couple demonstrated some rather shocking misconceptions from so-called experts. Very few of these people are the true A-list thought leaders in the personal finance domain. There was a surprising lean towards actively managed mutual funds, with a decent amount of behavior biases threaded into that choice. I'd love a second edition with essays from Paul Merriman, Larry Swedroe, Ben Felix, even Eugene Fama if we're shooting big. All told, I love the concept of this book, but thought the execution was subpar.
Gems:
P83 “We believe success is best when shared and when we have 50 people at one of our homes, or in the winners circle with us, you can’t put a price tag on that ‘investment.’” - Shirl Penny
P96 “Few people discuss the impact lifestyle choices can have on their financial future, but I believe it will account for about 80% or more of our personal financial destiny.” - Ashly Daniels
P130 “Money and the accumulation of wealth works like the circulation of blood within the body. If a person is always worried about their money, afraid of risk and loss, tight-fisted, not charitable, suspicious, obsessed about fees, etc., it is akin to tying a tourniquet on a limb of the body--you cut off the proper circulation and flow of blood which leads to amputation or death. Instead, keep the money moving! Be generous, take risks with your investments, let other people make money too, invest in people who you like and trust. This kind of approach creates an energy of giving and positivity which results in more circulation, more abundance, and thus abundant investment returns (but also spiritual returns.)” - Joshua Rogers
P163 “I wonder if the greatest trick the devil ever played on investors is making them think it is the investing part that matters most. The working part moves the needle more, both for the math of deposits but also in the discipline of a purpose.” - Ryan Krueger
The most aspirational and thought-provoking essay was that of Bob Seawright. He discusses the stories being told as his relative lay on her deathbed, and how all these stories centered around her cottage in the Adirondacks. He details what lousy investments both it and the second cottage that he purchased are, but how none of that matters because of the value of the fun times that are had there. Really well-written essay and great, healthy outlook on understanding when something is a purchase rather than an investment, and having strong reasons for making the purchase and valuing life experiences above all else.
Gems:
P83 “We believe success is best when shared and when we have 50 people at one of our homes, or in the winners circle with us, you can’t put a price tag on that ‘investment.’” - Shirl Penny
P96 “Few people discuss the impact lifestyle choices can have on their financial future, but I believe it will account for about 80% or more of our personal financial destiny.” - Ashly Daniels
P130 “Money and the accumulation of wealth works like the circulation of blood within the body. If a person is always worried about their money, afraid of risk and loss, tight-fisted, not charitable, suspicious, obsessed about fees, etc., it is akin to tying a tourniquet on a limb of the body--you cut off the proper circulation and flow of blood which leads to amputation or death. Instead, keep the money moving! Be generous, take risks with your investments, let other people make money too, invest in people who you like and trust. This kind of approach creates an energy of giving and positivity which results in more circulation, more abundance, and thus abundant investment returns (but also spiritual returns.)” - Joshua Rogers
P163 “I wonder if the greatest trick the devil ever played on investors is making them think it is the investing part that matters most. The working part moves the needle more, both for the math of deposits but also in the discipline of a purpose.” - Ryan Krueger
The most aspirational and thought-provoking essay was that of Bob Seawright. He discusses the stories being told as his relative lay on her deathbed, and how all these stories centered around her cottage in the Adirondacks. He details what lousy investments both it and the second cottage that he purchased are, but how none of that matters because of the value of the fun times that are had there. Really well-written essay and great, healthy outlook on understanding when something is a purchase rather than an investment, and having strong reasons for making the purchase and valuing life experiences above all else.
wittylinen's review against another edition
2.0
This book was odd. I am new to reading personal finance books and the premise of this book sounded interesting so I picked it up. There were a few concepts I found interesting/helpful but overall this book fell flat for me. For one, some of the things people did with their money was completely foreign to me. That could be just because I am a beginner but also, the book didn’t really describe any actionable steps one could take with their finances. Overall, I’m glad this was just a library book I could return once finished.
korey's review against another edition
2.0
Very weak book. I would advise not taking any advice from this book...offers no results, no starting point, no changes of thinking. Bad premise.
tasarla's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Interesting book about how financial professionals invest their own personal money as well as the thought-processes that led to these decisions. There’s not many numbers, rather vague notions like “most of my net worth is in xyz because of abc”. They all tell stories of their relationship with money rather than digging into the accountancy. Medium paced relatively short book, easy to read
javierivero's review
4.0
Interesting insight on how wealth managers actually invest their own money. Not surprisingly, most of them do it through holding good ol’ low cost index funds
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