Making the Most of Your Money

Rating:
Summary: About those amusing reviews....
Review: I checked out all the reviews here. A lot of those 1 star reviews do look alike. Some even made the same spelling errors.

Then I checked out the 5 star reviews. Know what? SAME THING. They also looked alike and appear to be written by the same person.

I don't know about those 1 star reviews but I do know this...I read the book and is not a keeper. It stinks!

1 STAR

Rating:
Summary: Amusing Reviews of This Book!
Review: I find the negative reviews of this book fascinating. If you're a fan of Wade Cook, technical analysis, day trading, or the fun-reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad books, you probably won't enjoy this book, so I wouldn't recommend it to those readers. Other good books are "The Road To Wealth" and "Personal Finance For Dummies."

That said, I wouldn't trust the negative reviews. I think many of the negative reviews come from one or two people who hate Quinn for her investigative financial reporting. They have 'issues' with Quinn and are posting multiple reviews under fraudulent names. And, some of those reviewers carelessly indulge in character attacks which border on slander for which the reviewer can be sued.

In 1997, Quinn won the Cressey Award which was "bestowed for a lifetime of achievement in the detection and deterrence of fraud."

Quinn made enemies by reporting financial fraud. In some cases, she discovered the fraud. In other cases, she just shone a spotlight on those behaving with a lack of integrity and, often, going against the law.

To give you the flavor of Quinn's reporting, I excerpted a small part from one of her columns (I withheld names, because they're irrelevant). Quinn writes: "XXX, 46, a lawyer in Orlando, Fla., describes himself as an "exceptional business trainer." His seminar experience goes back to 1983 - not always in the best of company."

Quinn continues, "He first lectured for huckster YYY, who ran some dubious financial-planning organizations. In 1993 and again in 1996, juries decided that YYY had committed fraud. Later, XXX taught for ZZZ, an earlier popularizer of "cash flow," who settled an FTC action in 1996 with a $200,000 fine. (ZZZ went bankrupt; the FTC says he never paid). XXX himself was reprimanded by the Florida Bar Association in 1988 for misusing an investor's funds."

Incidentally, YYY was a bestselling author of financial books, and some of the negative reviews of Quinn's book recommend books by XXX and YYY.

In another, similar case, a trustee and attorney was convicted for embezzling funds entrusted to him by the deceased father of a young disabled girl. The trust was to be used to care and provide for the girl. While withdrawing funds to build a second mansion for himself, the attorney denied the young disabled girl funds to fix up her old house and to take vacations. In my view, no punishment is unreasonably harsh for such a person. He was convicted and, hopefully, will serve some time in a prison with a big, bad roommate named Bubba.

In another story, Quinn writes about the exploits of a young Internet stock scammer.

Quinn writes: "Two thoughts struck me, when I read about young DDD. He's the stock scammer from Cedar Grove, N.J., who started his crooked career at 14 and was nabbed at 15 by the Securities and Exchange Commission. DDD is the youngest person, and first minor, ever sued by the SEC. He made nearly $273,000 from 11 illegal stock manipulations."

Quinn explains: "DDD bought blocks of cheap stocks in tiny ("microcap") companies trading mainly on the over-the-counter electronic bulletin board.
Then he posted hundreds of misleading messages on Yahoo Finance investor sites, claiming-for example-that the stock would be the next "to gain 1,000%."
He sent out the messages under many different names, to make it appear that the stock had a groundswell of support. As other investors jumped in and drove up the price, DDD sold-usually within 24 hours of starting his scam. He made $11,000 to $74,000 per trade, the SEC says. That's a classic pump-and-dump operation, just as illegal for someone 15 as for someone 35."

It's certainly not below Quinn's enemies to post fraudulent reviews under different false names.

Incidentally, if you receive spam e-mail touting some unknown stock, it's possibly an illegal pump-and-dump operation. You can send such e-mail to the SEC and to the FTC, if you want to help them track down the people behind the fraud. (Tracking down such people isn't difficult. If they post online, they have an Internet service provider, and when they connect to the Internet, the provider assigns them a dynamically generated Internet address which is captured anytime a person makes a post. Because those blocks are uniquely assigned to a given provider, the trackers then have the service provider. From the service provider's records, it's relatively easy to see which accounts might have received the IP address, and you have the person's account at the ISP.)

Other reviewers seem to be confused about finance. Possibly, they've read too many bad books about investing. For example, one negative reviewer writes: "Another major flaw with this book is the heavy emphasis on 401 (k) plans but no mention of the big capitol [sic] gains tax you get whacked with when you start withdrawing money from the plan. Oops again Quinn???"

WHAT? Distributions from a 401(k) are taxed as ordinary income, not capital gains. You will NEVER pay capital gains tax on money withdrawn from a 401(k). (see 401K.com or the IRS Pubs for more info) If anything, there is the reverse danger-- large capital gains will be taxed as income when taken out of a deferred retirement account. Tax-free compounding is a huge force benefiting 401(k) investors. The money is only taxed once, as income, when withdrawn. And, most investors with significant savings WISH money taken out of 401(k)'s were taxed at the LOWER capital gain tax rates.

"Another" reviewer writes: "Retirement advice? You'll get whacked with a huge capitol [sic] gains tax and there is no advice here on how to offset that." Beware of people giving financial book recommendations who can't spell 'capital' correctly.

I'm sure Quinn's enemies will vote (repeatedly!) against this book review. So, if you're like me and you really hate financial crooks and you respect the people, like Quinn, who uncover financial misbehavior and hold such people accountable, I hope you'll vote for my review!

Rating:
Summary: Revised???
Review: I bought this book on the basis that it was a revised edition only to find that it is only revised from the edition that came out in 1991.

So instead of having 12 year old advice, I only have 6 year old advice? No thank you.

I also think that Quinn overdoes the debt thing. But if you really want a good book to get out of debt, try "The Everything Book to Get Out of Debt"

And I don't trust Quinns advice (or is that opinions) on trusts and estate planning either. There are better, more current books out there.

When Making the Most of Your Money was written back in 1996, there were a lot of trust seminars going on so I assume that this is Quinns way of jumping on the bandwagon of a popular topic. Unfortunately, her advice is outdated and incorrect.

Not a good book for the times.

Rating:
Summary: College advice is a dud
Review: Not only is the personal finance and investing advice way off, so is the college funding advice. I recommend "How to Go to College Almost for Free" by Kaplan and "Schlorships 2002" (KAPLAN) by Gail Schlacter for some real advice on getting your children to college without costing a fortune.

Rating:
Summary: College Student not happy with Quinn's advice....
Review: Advice for college students as espoused by Jane Bryant Quinn couldn't be worse. How can Quinn say that CD's, Money Market Accounts and T-Bills are safe investments. With these "investments" you are guaranteed to lose money.I'm working two jobs to cover the mistakes (advice) offered by Quinn.And check out who places ad's in newsweek. Do I see a conflict of interest? Hmmmmmmm.

Rating:
Summary: Beginners: Beware - Experienced know better!
Review: Judging by the reviews, it seems that most people are interested in investing. I ask you; why would you read a book written by a magazine writter and expect any real investment advice? Hmmm???

In fact, why would you expect any worthwhile financial advice from a writer/author? I don't see CFP, CLU, CH.c, JD or any other financial designation after Quinn's name.

Quinn is a writer. Nothing more. You should have realized that before buying this book.

If you followed Quinn's investment advice you probably lost 3/4 of your net worth over the last 2 1/2 years.

If you followed her insurance advice, you probably wasted several hundred, maybe several thousand by being over insured.

If you tried to follow her college saving advice, you probably hit a dead end with wrong or disconnected numbers. This book has dated material.

If you stayed in treasuries, cd's or savings accounts, you lost money as the interest rates declined.

I did enjoy Quinn trying to explain stock splits. My 7 year old does a better job. Ditto for her explanation on how to buy stocks. The advice on bonds is way off.

Quinn on goal setting? Looks like she did a quick read of one of Anthony Robbins books. Obviously, like personal finance and investing, explaining goals and how to achive them is not her forte.

Home buying? You've got to be kidding me! Eric Tyson does a good job in his dummies books.

Retirement advice? You'll get whacked with a huge capitol gains tax and there is no advice here on how to offset that. Pension advice is a farce and her suggestions on how to use social security is totally absurd.

I found this book to be a total waste of time and money. I can see why it is now being offered for only $2.99, which is still too much and still a waste of time.

Alternatives? Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Retire Young, Retire Rich, The Only Money Book You Will Ever Need by Tobias is excellent. And everyone must read the Millionaire Next Door and The Millionaire Mind which are not just for the conservative.

How to Make the Most of Your Money was not a good choice 6 years ago when it was written and it is a poorer choice today. You can skip this one.

Rating:
Summary: Quinn's Credentials???
Review: While I am aware that Ms. Quinn is a noted writer/author, what are her financial credentials?

I went to college with a friend who majored in journalism, but she didn't try to extrapalate that into saying that she was a financial expert. Nor should Quinn.

Isn't it interesting how those who can't complete a CFP course or start a successful financial practice write medicore books?

It does go to prove that anyone can get a book published and even pick up a handful of followers (albeit gullible, financially illiterate followers)

I would recommend Terri Savage instead of Quinn. At least Terri SAVAGE has credentials which Quinn clearly does not.

Rating:
Summary: Waste of Money.
Review: I can sum up the value of this book in three words:WASTE OF MONEY!Save your money and your time and read somethingelse! For investment advice, read Beat the Street or Buffettology. For personal finance, suggest The Road to Wealth or Personal Finance for Dummies. For home buying, read Home Buying and/or Mortgage for Dummies.

Rating:
Summary: Pure GARBAGE!
Review: Where does Quinn get off suggesting that we should ask our insurance agents to raise our premiums? That is akin to asking a car salesman to tell us how much we should pay for a car and raise the price if necessary.As Suze Orman says, "The best financial advisor we will ever meet is the one that we see in the mirror." This is especially true when it comes to insurance products.And let's put to rest the misconception that Quinn is tryig to put insurance people and other financial professionals out of business---she is supporting them, not attacking them!This boo is pure garbage. Avoidd it like the plague.

Rating:
Summary: Rich Dad, Poor Dad is better
Review: ...this bookis out of date and contains potentially dangerous information, such as the insurance advice. In other areas, it is way too conservative. The investment advice offers limited upside but deep downside...I saw this book for sale for $1.75 at a used bookstore and nobody would buy it. Does that tell you something?