education-investments

How much training does it take to become a librarian, teacher, lawyer, physician, or rocket scientist? How well would the world work for us if such training were skimped on?

When it comes to buying a first home (whether condo, co-op, or fixer-upper), most people act as though you can do brain surgery without the training. Not!

Even if you view this emotionally and financially important investment as one to be approached carefully, most first-time buyers will make important errors. Here are a few of my favorites:

(1) Not thinking about how hard it may be to resell the home.

(2) Vastly underestimating how much money will be needed to fix it up.

(3) Overpaying for the home because of not realizing how to negotiate.

(4) Waiting until finding one's soul mate before purchasing.

(5) Spending more than you can afford, and using boxes for furniture.

(6) Purchasing a home that doesn't fit your needs (where will you put 4 children and you in 2 bedrooms?).

(7) Taking on a horrible commute.

Interest rates are down in light of the terrible terrorist tragedy and weak economy. Unemployment is rising. Based on historical patterns, this is a good time to buy. Are you ready? Probably not, even if you think you are.

But I have good news for you. If you read and apply the lessons of this book, you will be more ready than many people who have already bought homes.

The subjects covered include deciding what you needs are, versus your likes; how to look; determining what you can afford; deciding what broker to use; how to work with the broker (especially what not to tell the broker, since most work for the seller); how to decide what to offer; how to negotiate; getting the best financing; checking out the house; handling the closing; and even dealing with problems after the closing. You also get help with which professionals (such as buying agents, lawyers, and home inspectors) to use, how to select them, what they will cost, and how to work with them.

I have bought or helped buy three houses, am an attorney, and am a licensed real estate agent. I found several areas where this excellent book extended my knowledge. I know it will save you thousands of dollars . . . and probably even more in avoided emotional trauma!

The book does this by posing questions, providing worksheets, steering you to Internet resources, and describing case histories.

No book from the buyer's perspective can however hope to dispel the incredible naiveté that we all have when we first purchase a home (all 2 million a year who are like lambs being led to the slaughter). For that purpose, I suggest that you also read another book, How to Sell Your Home Fast, which is an excellent description of what intelligent, prepared sellers will be doing to get you to buy their home and pay too much. Beneath all the friendly chit-chat with the sellers, realize that your are usually being carefully maneuvered to act against your own interest.

By the way, this book does not do enough to warn you about hidden house faults. Home inspectors are not the entire answer. They usually get their referrals from brokers, and will usually not tell you the worst of what can happen lest brokers stop recommending them. Spend some extra money and have people you know well and trust who are expert in electrical, heating, air conditioning, structural, roofing, plumbing, soil, and environmental hazards take a look also. They will find things that you can use to get the price lowered to cover the cost of repairs. My experience is that you will save about [amt.] for every [amt.] you spend in this way.

I also recommend that you find 10 people who are a lot like you who purchased a home similar to what interests you about five years ago. Ask them what they did right and what didn't work out so well.

After you explore all of these choices, you may want to consider what I did once . . . rent with an option to purchase. All of my rent went towards the down payment. I found I loved the house, saved money, and had few problems with repairs. I later sold it for a nice profit.

Also, spend time in the yard of your potential new home at all hours of the day and night. You may be surprised by some of the positive and negative features. In one home, I discovered that a dozen deer came by across a creek at 7:30 a.m. Seeing them every morning became my favorite part of every day.

After preparing by knowing what the right questions are, look for all of the potential problems and opportunities in making large decisions. Then sleep on your decision for three nights. You'll know what to do then!

Also as with all books on swing trading and cycles as the market progresses the cycles change. I would love to see a complete revist of Hurst's strategies for today's market. I believe many of the skeptical would be pleasantly surprised.

Mike Powers uses strong and straightforward language, which urge parents to think, with words like, "What we are buying for our children is the ability to get good job and make more money over the course of their lifetime, without it, they are headed for 50 years of wearing funny little paper hats and endlessly repeating "would you like fries with that?" We know this and we'll pay whatever it costs to help them avoid it."

He explains why the colleges are so costly, where and why the colleges spend so much and how much it will cost in the next years to come. He suggests which colleges suit your child and what fits in our pocket. He has divided the book in to parts, investment and aid; I think all the possibilities are covered.

However, if you are already into investment, what you will find on "your contribution" section will appear basic. Also, if your child is about to go to the college in a few years time, the "other resources" section will look rudimentary. Unfortunately, Mike Powers does not reveal any specific strategy or scheme, which an individual can follow.

Not withstanding this, if you are interested in the welfare of your children, reading this book will definitely change your mindset, and help you start investing for the bright future. Particularly, parents who have small children will be highly benefited by reading this book.

Nobel-prize winning economist and economic advisor to two presidential administrations, Paul Zane Pilzer offers irrefutable proof that the next major boom in industry will lie in the industry of "wellness" as opposed to the $1.5 trillion dollar "sickness" industry.

It's also worth nothing that this is a book about WHY Americans aren't healthy and, surprisingly, it's for economic reasons. Pilzer shows compelling evidence that the $1 trillion food industry and the "healthcare" (sickness) industry fuel each other in propelling the average American to obesity and malnutrition.

This book also details how the baby boomers (who have been used for years as an indicator of where economic growth will occur) will create an entire industry that simply doesn't exist yet. The present $200 billion wellness industry is only the tip of the iceburg compared to what's coming.

One of my favorite parts of the book is concerning "Wellness Insurance" which shows a deceptively simple way to lower your annual insurance costs by over $3,000, have more money with which to purchase wellness products and services and STILL have the healthcare benefits that you need. Outstanding!

The information here is earth-shattering. And though it may be a bold statement, Pilzer shows inarguable proof that the coming "wellness revolution" may impact our lives more than the automobile and the personal computer.

Based on the information in this book, I believe the wellness revolution will dwarf the Internet millionaires and billionaires of the 90's.

Buy this book.

To summarize, this book seems to me one of these another 'anarchy' books. It has nothing more than these 50 tips and it would have be niced if it contains more analysis like why the author decided to choose this way (lying) and not the other ways.

All of the scenarios Brazil has described are extremely plausible, and most are quite practical. I, myself, have conducted variations of several of his suggestions, with results that cannot be described as anything but flawless.

In short: It Works.

A word of caution: this book is designed for the opportunist, not the moralist. If you find yourself offended by the fact that some people in society engage in morally questionable behaviour to get what they want, then this is definitely not the book for you.

That being said, I recommend it without reservation. Even if you never put this knowledge to use, it is still great fun to read. Share and enjoy.

His terms aren't defined and while I'm sure they have meaning to him, it leaves the reader wondering what he is talking about. For example, he talks of companies getting 50K from an investor, and "washing" it in and out many times to give the appearance of 450K. Since there is no more detail you wonder exactly how this is done and why there is a benefit to the manipulator. Detailing the accounting would be helpful.

It was so difficult to read that I felt I would have to go through and edit it just so I could understand what was meant. To understand what he was trying to say, many lines had to be reread several times because of the poor punctuation, run on and incomplete sentences.

Basically, you should stay away from low quality penny stocks. He mentions how looking at the bid/ask structure can be a tip off. Many of the things he says you should look out for are things the average person will never be able to find out. Even though he says large cap stocks can be manipulated, the examples are low quality issues that have higher prices with little volume and tiny float. He contends that the only reason to buy stocks is for their dividends, and that is the only way to be sure it is not a manipulated stock. I disagree, there are many reasons why a company doesn't pay dividends but that's another issue. There can still be financial shenanigans in dividend paying stock though it might have to be more creative.

Much of the focus is on smaller mineral exploration companies since that is his background. The book also is an advertisement for his services to check out stocks for you. If his reports are written anything like the book, you won't get anything out of them. I checked out his web site, a single page with a few charts of penny stocks and an invitation to email him for a quote for his services. Buyer beware.

I practice in the mining and securities field and find alot of the information detailed to be factual, and know that alot of the information put forward occurs on a daily basis.

The scoundrel reveals dastardly deeds that I wouldn't condone, he belongs in jail.

The book is worth a read.

Many of the disclosures in this book helped me understand better some of the losses I had experienced in the market over the years in dealing with scum promoters. The book also helped me in the recent bull market in penny mining stocks. I was also a big fan of the book, "Rampaging Bulls", published in 1992, another book revealing many Vancouver Stock Exchange scams.

The author pulls no punches in telling it like it is. No doubt this has caused him enemies especially with the enforcement authorities as he reveals the rampant daily fraud that goes undetected and that has never been documented by them. He also reveals the dirty deeds and tricks of newsletter writers, research analysts, and how newspaper columnists obtain their padded information.

I would recommend this book to everyone. For less than $20.00 canadian,less than what a trade costs, you can be that much more informed. I will be purchasing more copies for work mates and friends who haven't already received a copy as a christmas present.

I also visited the website and emailed the author, who replied pleasantly without looking to rip me off.

Here's a guy who has a lot to tell about trading, business and life, and the style to tell it well. Education of a Speculator gives the reader a unique combination of quantitative sophistication, street wisdom and a scholarly grasp of market history. The bibliography alone is worth the price of the book. EdSpec is so rich that you come back to it again and again. There is simply no book like this one. I've looked.

If you want to know how the market really works, read Education of a Speculator. If you want to read about a real man, Vic's father Artie -- scholar, athlete, cop, loving father -- read Education of a Speculator. If you want to know how a great mind approaches the day-to-day fray of trading, read Education of a Speculator. Anybody who feels nothing on reading Niederhoffer's rags-to-riches story, who thinks it's nothing but egomania, doesn't have a heart.