| The Procrastinator’s Bible for Financial Success: Nine Essential Steps for Planning, Budgeting, and Investing-second addition
Frank J. Eberhart
iUniverse (2007, 2008, 2009)
ISBN 9780595411986
Frank J. Eberhart wants you to quit postponing your financial makeover and discover how easy it actually is. “The Procrastinator’s Bible for Financial Success” does just that, regardless of your previous fiscal background (or lack thereof). It’s never been this effortless – or pleasant – to make sense of the complicated financial world! Why put it off a minute longer?
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The Procrastinator’s Bible for Financial Success, Second Edition: Nine Essential
Steps for Planning, Budgeting, and Investing
Frank J. Eberhart
iUniverse (2008)
ISBN 9780595411986
Reviewed by Leslie Granier for Reader Views (1/09)
“The Procrastinator’s Bible for Financial Success, Second Edition” offers tips for those who need advice on how to invest for their retirement. There are worksheets included for the reader to track his or her current and future expenses including items such as how much the mortgage is and how much they will need to set aside for college tuition for the children. The author discusses different types of investment strategies because no two people will have the same requirements for financial
stability. Some can afford to take higher risks for bigger returns while others should invest
moderately. He talks about how to determine the amount of life insurance people should purchase
and what to look for in the different policy types that are available. There is excellent information on the differences between a trust and a will and the reader should familiarize himself with them. The author provides a list of websites for the reader to access to view more specific information on many of the topics he discusses.
This book will help first-time investors as well as those whose estates are quite large Eberhart
provides very specific examples and explains the subject matter well but due to legal ramifications it is probably best to get an attorney to look over one’s plans. Investors need to constantly educate themselves on the ever-changing tax laws, including inheritance taxes, death taxes, and gifts.
I found this book helpful in terms of showing me what I need to do to make sure my assets go to the entities I want them to go to. The level at which the material is presented is appropriate for the average reader. My advice would be to learn all you can from “The Procrastinator’s Bible for Financial Success, Second
Edition” by Frank J. Eberhart; then seek legal assistance once you have decided what the best path for you to take would be.
Review: ForeWord Magazine
PERSONAL FINANCE
Five Stars *****
The Procrastinator’s Bible For Financial Success:
Nine Essential Steps For Planning, Budgeting, And Investing
Frank J. Eberhart
iUniverse
137 pages
Softcover $18.95
978-0-595-41198-6
Five stars (out of Five) *****
Frank Eberhart’s Procrastinator’s Bible For Financial Success is a wellspring of knowledge about wealth, how to attain it, and how to keep it. A profitable read for beginning investors, procrastinators, and seasoned traders, this “comprehensive workbook” delivers what it promises in a readable, well-organized, easily-followed fashion. From his years of experience and expertise as a financial advisor, Eberhart has distilled nine essential steps for the key areas of planning, budgeting, and investing. If followed, he writes, these steps can “take your finances, your estate and yourself to a new level.”
In his introduction, Eberhart stresses the need for planning, whether the reader is a financial procrastinator or not, and provides a set of five “must-do” items to facilitate the planning process. He follows these with his nine steps which, he says, “are designed to help you understand how investments work, get organized, set your estate plan in place, and put your goals into writing.” A natural born teacher, Eberhart leaves nothing to chance in guiding his readers through the steps. He explains acronyms like QTIP, ETF, JTWROS, and QPRT. He includes definitions throughout the book and a glossary of terms like “front-end load,” “arbitrage,” and “triple witching day.” He includes tips, multiple examples, footnotes that make sense, an entire reference section of relevant Web sites, and frequent advice about consulting experts in legal and financial matters. And perhaps most helpful of all are the checklists and worksheets for specific topics. The one for a retirement budget calculation is an excellent example, with entries for everything from auto expenses to vacation requirements. Equally useful are the six sections of worksheets in chapter two: Personal/Business Information. They provide space to record personal data including the names of family members, prior marriage partners and obligations, wills, assets, debts, life insurance details, estate administration factors, and special needs requirements. Once completed, these pages can be photocopied for use elsewhere if needed.
Eberhart is meticulous in ensuring he thoroughly covers each topic, whether he is detailing how to keep track of investments or discussing how to determine one’s need for life insurance. It’s hard to imagine any questions left unanswered after his chapters on “Step Eight, Understanding Your Investments” and “Step Nine, Mutual Fund Checklist: Items You Need to Address Before Investing.” In addition to his nine steps, Eberhart provides a chapter on learning before investing, which includes topics on the basic classification of funds, the most frequently seen funds, specialty funds of various kinds, a comparison of different funds, an example of his own fund management process, and a note about arbitration. As well there are chapters about bonds, choosing a financial adviser, and a very interesting test on financial trivia.
As his final bit of sage and cogent advice, Eberhart states, “It is up to you to protect your and your family’s financial future. Whether investing or planning your estate, the more you learn, the more you earn—and the more you keep what you earn!” And that, as they say, you can take to the bank.
M. Wayne Cunningham- Five Stars*****
My book is being featured in sponsorship with the BBB on NBC, CBS. It will be featured on WeTv (womens entertainment network) in September/October |
