Rating: 
Summary: Eye Opener to World of investing and wealth
Review: Ric really understands a common man and his financial needs. I found this book in a book shop and couldn't stop reading the entire book there. I found it so absorbing and so practical. All his eight steps are gems. I have taken down the notes and planning to buy the book for me and also for my friends. I found his ideas so simple to understand and i can very well imagine the benefits it can bring me if i can practise it. Thank you Ric for putting me on the way to financial prudence. Highly recommended for any one interested in learning about simple sure fire ways to acheive financial independence and wealth.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't waste your money
Review: First off I'd like to say that the information in this book,8 so called secrets,is valuable. Mr. Edelman explains it in an easy to understand way. The reason I say not to waste your money is this. Each secret has a chapter with an average length of 11.5 pages. So basically the good information is in about 90 some pages. The rest of the book is filled with the authors' clients telling you how they do the things that the book says. In my opinion this should be a 100 page book at the most. It took me 2 hours to get all the valuable information out of this book(it is good information). I think the author expanded most of his energy trying to sell you his other books by the numerous footnotes telling you to by his other books. He was trying to be humorous most of the time with the footnotes but it became annoying.My recommendation is..The library
Rating: 
Summary: Wealth Building demystified
Review: This books gives lots of practical ideas for the average person to build wealth and keeping it. Very easy reading. Love his book. At the end of each chapter the author includes testimonials from his clients which personalize his advice.
Rating: 
Summary: Third book is not a charm
Review: I loved Ric's first two books, especially "the truth about money", but this book didn't tell me anything new. It doesn't seem like much thought was put into the book. It comes across as a cheap imitation of "the Millionaire Next Door" (which was a great book). Half the book is filled with Ric's clients sharing their financial anecdotes. These stories are very repetitive and very unenlightening. Some of the reviews below seem to be talking about "The Truth About Money". If you don't have that book go get it first.
Rating:
Summary: OUTSTANDING!
Review: WOW! This is one terrific book on investing.It is the only finance book on the market that explains in plain english how to handle the money you already have to make it work for you. This guy is a wizard who knows how to give real advice that can help anyone, not just millionaires.
Rating:
Summary: Very down to earth and helpful
Review: I found the common theme in this book to be, "pay yourself first." It is amazing what compound interest over time can accumulate to! Ric Edelman has a pleasing sense of humor along with an ability to communicate personal finance in a simple manner. Although I didn't agree with all of the testimonials, the message was delivered, and I will be enhancing my future plans accordingly.
Rating:
Summary: I got a copy for everyone in my family.
Review: If you've ever benefited from the advice of your elders; be it a parent, grandparent, or mentor - and realized the true value of that advice - order this book NOW! This book goes past what all the experts are always telling you to do with your money and looks are what 5,000 ordinary people are really doing to succeed. Each section begins by going into detail about something each of these successful people share in common. I loved the stories about life from real people called 'In their own words' at the end of each section with. The stories are about the smart, foolish, happy or sad experience in their financial lives. Some of the stories are very moving... don't be surprised if you get choked up or shed a tear while reading. The special 'mind over money' section about psychological/emotional investing was very insightful. This book packs all the motivation you'll ever need! It's the sledgehammer of common sense that we all need to get hit with to get us going.
Rating:
Summary: No Epiphanies or Elixirs Here
Review: The reason I give this book two stars is that it emphasizes the potential rewards of risk without emphasizing a responsible, balanced approach. Other publications, such as the bestseller, Rich Dad, Poor Dad, and excerpts from The Millionaire Next Door communicated more clearly that what separates the financially independent individuals from those who are trapped in the paycheck-to-paycheck rat race world is that the former are made up of compulsive savers and investors while the latter are made up of compulsive spenders who entrap themselves by spending increases that correlate with pay raises. Author Robert Kiyosaki at least hit the nail on the head when he said that the road to financial success is to increase your ability to build interest income, a goal well highlighted in Dominguez and Robin's Your Money or Your Life, by building assets and reducing liabilities. In fact, his terms made investing in the stock market appear a whole lot more attractive an option than what this book, with its bits and pieces of anecdotal evidence, could ever begin to express. Sorry, still 2 stars. The way that the chapters were laid out did not strike me as being overtures of a road to victory for every person. Why? Because, unlike other reliable sources, such as Kiyosaki's works, it does not go deeply enough into the process of thinking about what defines financial intelligence and what the financially intelligent thing to do would be for a given situation. With the quick jump to placing a seemingly blind faith in investing the stock market and with the few stories of how several became "successful" with his strategies (and they may be financially sound), this book resonated the pitches of a snake oil salesman. Ric Edelman is, perhaps, an intelligent man, but don't confuse this "Yadda, Yadda, Yadda" with "Yabba Dabba Doo"!
Rating: 
Summary: Very bad advice on mortgages
Review: Putting food on the table, saving money for the raining days (lost of job etc..) are part of a normal life. If some of this is missing then the person is leaving above their means. This problem should be solve first before somebody think about investing.
I am not flattered with the case Ric studied in this book about the person with the 15 year morgage (Janet) and the 30 year mortgage (Karen). After 5 years, Janet has $43285 in equity in her house, Karen has $12675 in savings and about $5000 in equity this gives a total of about $18000. Provided that both were not leaving aboove their means Janet does not have to sell her house right away (she has some saving of course less than Karen). If Janet gets a job less rewarding that the one she had (and this is what every person without a job should do) this will keep her going until she gets a better job. Her light saving will pay for her groceries while her job pays the mortgage. If eventually she is forced to sell, she has about $25000 more than Karen.
Rating:
Summary: Pssst... here's a secret: this book is full of bad advice
Review: The author shares 8 "secrets" of financial success in this book.
Secret #1 Never pay off your mortgage because interest is tax-deductible. And if you investment your money in stocks (instead of pre-paying your mortgage) you will earn greater interest than what you're paying on your mortgage. WRONG. This "secret" has been wrong for almost five years now -- and would cost you plenty. The stock market is not a panacea. Besides, tax-deductibility is a non-issue for low-income retirees.
Secret #2 Don't diversify your retirement money -- put it all in stocks. WRONG. A mixture of stocks AND bonds is appropriate for almost everyone's retirement account. This author apparently knows nothing about portfolio theory and efficient frontiers. And this "secret" would have severely hurt anyone who is approaching retirement and kept their IRAs at 100% stocks during the bursting bubble & subsequent bear market.
Secret #3 Most of your wealth will come from investments of less than $1000. Sure it's good to start early, but the premise here is WRONG. The most money anyone makes in interest is in your last few years of holding an investment. In other words, most of your wealth comes at the end - when compounding interest is most strong. Imagine a small deposit to a mutual fund. Ten percent interest in your first year will be near-nothing. Ten percent interest on your investment in the fourtieth year is likely to be a number with six or seven figures. Thus most of your wealth will come from investments worth well more than $1,000.
Secret #4 You should rarely move from one investment to another. WRONG. While I agree with buy and hold, blindly following buy-and-hold advice will get you in trouble. Severely underperforming investments need to be harvested. And rebalancing (to keep your appropriate mix of stocks & bonds) should be performed yearly.
Secret #5 Don't measure your success against the Dow or S&P. WRONG and STUPID. You have no way of guaging the performance of your mutual funds or other investments unless you use a yardstick such as the S&P Dow or Wilshire. Perhaps the author knows the investments he sells are lemons, so he wants to discredit benchmarking. Sad.
Secret #6 Devote less than 3 hours per month to your finances. And budgeting is stupid. WRONG. 3 hours is an arbitrary number and some people will take longer, others less. Big deal. And budgeting is a *great* idea for those people who don't save enough.
Secret #7 Involve your kids in financial planning. OK, this one is right, but to teach your kids these "secrets" is WRONG and will doom them for life.
Secret #8 Don't pay attention to the financial media. WRONG. If you read this book then never pick up a legitimate piece of financial journalism again (WSJ, Barrons, Money, Andrew Tobias) you're screwed.
This book ranks among the worst of the financial planning books I've read.
Want good advice? Try "Personal Finance for Dummies" by Tyson or "The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need" by Tobias. Or simply go to vanguard.com and read their planning & advice section -- it's free, honest, and accurate!
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