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Rating: 
Summary: Full of ranting and raving and little else.
Review: As an investment professional (and a CFA charterholder), I was eager to read a book that was supposed to "cut-to-the-chase." What it turned out to be was not much more than a holier-than-thou, self-righteous venting. Don't look here for the basics of investing or personal finance. It is just the author's platform for railing against everything he thinks is wrong in the investing world. There is nothing wrong with that - except that the author makes the same tired points over and over and over again. He would have you believe the he is the only financial professional who could help you. The actual material on investing is basic and could be found in a hundred different books on the market. Save your $$$ - literally!
Rating: 
Summary: Probably best for insurance. Investments - good 2nd source.
Review: His introduction inspires a lot of confidence. He rails against the ethics, or lack thereof, of most practitioners of financial planning, and stockbrokers. He also says that most people in these professions lack the necessary expertise and depth of understanding that they should have before you should entrust them with money matters. I agree.Given some of those he cites, like Bodie, Kanes and Marcus, the authors of the textbook Investments, he obviously has read far and wide, and thought seriously about investments. He's right in saying that anyone who does not understand diversification, systematic and unsystematic risk should not be giving investment advice. Nonetheless, my feeling is that his coverage of insurance, retirement and real estate, not investments, are the part of the book most worth reading. He obviously has a wealth of experience, and as his website indicates, is a voracious reader and stays on top of current trends and topics, as well as the expertise that is denoted by various professional designations like CFP. I'll leave it for experts (ones as ethical as he is, I hope) to testify to the quality of his insurance and real estate advice. This appears to have more comprehensive planning and retirement information than I have yet seen. I am not sure I would use the book as an investing primer (William Bernstein and John Bogle are good) - maybe a secondary source. Some discussion of beta is worded in such a way that it might throw someone new to the concept. A brief example on standard deviation seems to contradict the fact that 2 standard deviations = 2 x 1 standard deviation. This may been have been due to an attempt to keep it very simple (see below). Beta: On page 12, he gives an example of a stock or fund with a beta of 1.3, calculated as: the fund's return of 13 percent divided by a market return of 10 percent. A beta of 1.3 implies 130 percent of the market return, and 13 percent and 10 percent are consistent with that. He may unintentionally mislead some, though, when he says "for every move the market makes, your stock or fund may increase 1.3 times more." He probably should have said that the "stock or fund may increase 1.3 times AS MUCH AS THE MARKET." With the phrasing "1.3 times MORE", I am guessing he meant that it typically moves 1.3 times as much as the market, and by "more" he may have meant "following in time previous increases of both the stock and the market". But some readers may think that "more" means "1.3 times MORE THAN the market return". If a stock moves 1.3 times MORE THAN the market, not 1.3 times what the market did, its beta would be 2.3, because it would fluctuate 230 percent as much as the market: 100 percent EQUALS the market, then you'd be adding another 130 percent of the market return.) If the reader goes back to the example of 13 percent and 10 percent, he may avoid this misunderstanding. In discussing a fund with a beta of 0.33 (fund return of 2 percent divided by market return 6 percent) he says the fund goes "up a third LESS" for "every movement of the market." It has actually gone up a third AS MUCH as the market (2/6). If it actually moved a "third less" than the market, that would be the same as saying it goes up or down TWO THIRDS AS MUCH as the market. That would imply a 4 percent return for the stock (one-third less than 6 percent). In his example, the 0.33 beta stock's return is nonetheless 2 percent. Standard deviation: On pages 18-19, a distribution is shown in which the average golf score is 110, and the area up to one standard deviation from the average covers "68 percent of all people that play". "The two side bars" defining this area "represent plus or minus 20 percent." They are at scores of 90 and 130, which are each 20 points away from 110 points. Based on this, it seems that the standard deviation would equal 20 points. So, when he said the bars were "plus or minus 20 percent," he apparently meant to say "plus or minus 20 POINTS." What if 20 percent were accurate, and the bars were placed accordingly? 20 percent of 110 is 22 points. Then, the bars would be at 88 and 132 points. The next two bars contain 95 percent of players' scores. This part of the graph is "the definition for two standard deviations." He says the scores there range as much as, "say, a +30 or -30 percent difference, or scores as low as 80 or as high as 140 for 95 percent of time." 80 and 140 are both 30 POINTS away from 110 points. As with the "20 percent" discussed, there seems to be an inconsistency: 30 percent of 110 points is not 30 points, it is 33 points. Thus, the bars would be at 77 and 143 points. Maybe the numbers have been rounded to keep numbers simple. It would seem simpler to have stuck with points, and left out percents. Two standard deviations should represent twice as many points as one standard deviation does. Whether one uses 22 points and 33 points based on percentages of the average, or 20 and 30 points based on the bars' locations, the numbers of points for two standard deviations is not twice the number for one standard deviation. If one standard deviation is 20 or 22 points, then two standard deviations has to be 2x20=40 or 2x22=44 points respectively. The example seems to say that two standards deviations are either 30 or 33 points. There is a sizable, 33% difference between 30 and 40, and between 33 and 44. I do not know why he did not just use 20 points for one standard deviation, and 40 points for two standard deviations.
Rating: 
Summary: Read it.... or weep!
Review: I highly recommend this book as a source of easily understandable information on all aspects of one's personal finances. Having worked with the senior population for the past 15 years, I see on a daily basis the results of people who do NOT take control of how they want to spend their later years.
I was particularly impressed with the section on long term care insurance and the fact that he stresses the value of buying a policy that becomes effective based on 7 ADLS instead of 6. (If you don't know what that means, then THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU.)
Another area that I feel is exceptionally well handled is addressing the emotional aspects of growing old, especially the impact of Alzheimer's disease on a family, and he gives good suggestions on how to plan for such eventualities and the end of life in his estate planning section.
Reviewer NICK comments on the depth of Mr. Moody's knowledge. I would agree, and certainly his website, www.efmoody.com is an ever-changing entity!
We all need to be reminded that not everyone is as ethical and honest as we would like--his warnings and suggestions on how to avoid being taken advantage of would seem to be right on the mark.
One of the most difficult things about writing is trying to take something that is VERY COMPLICATED and make it seem simple to understand. This book not only does that, but he also throws in a considerable amount of unexpected humor!
Go for it! It will make a nice Holiday gift for those who keep putting off "getting their financial act together."
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I picked up this book hoping that it would provide me with a refreshing and different outlook on investing. Unfortunately, it fell far short of my expectations. Moody first starts off by saying that nearly all authors, pundits, advisors, money managers, etc. are not to be trusted. In fact, if your financial advisor cannot operate an HP financial calculator, Moody feels you should head for the door. He then spends a fair amount of time attacking the way most people present asset allocation and stresses that the subject is a complex one. He then attacks dollar cost averaging and argues that it will hurt you more often than not. Fair enough--I agree with most of the points he has to make, but then his solution falls far short.
He talks about how you need to understand the fundamentals of investing and spends some time reviewing alpha, beta, standard deviation and Monte Carlo simulations. He then states that you need to pay attention to yield curves and above all, read what the Federal Reserve issues very carefully. THAT'S IT FOLKS!!! I am sure that many people watched yield curves and looked at what the FED had to say, but they still lost their shirt in the last big downturn. He might as well have said to read the Wall St. Journal or Investors Business Daily closely and you won't lose your shirt. In sum, there was little helpful investment advice in this book.
For example, Moody sharply criticizes most people's simplistic approach to asset allocation, but then doesn't tell you how to approach the issue other than to say it is a complex one. If most people are addressing the issue of asset allocation incorrectly, then give us some guidance on how to approach it properly.
One final criticism of the book is that in the first few chapters Moody slips in various one liners and "zingers." I don't mind a little levity now and then, but Moody goes overboard. He should leave the comedy to Robin Williams and focus instead on propping up his book.
Rating:
Summary: The book about your money that you must read!
Review: When I first picked up NO NONSENSE FINANCE, I expected it to be informative. I have a few investments, but I have no idea whether they're right for me, other than what my broker tells me. So, I thought it would be a good idea to for me to become more informed about what I was doing with my money. What I did not expect, was the plethora of information that is packed into this one little book, written in plain language that I could easily understand. I read the book in one afternoon. I was so fascinated by what Errold Moody, with his unique sense of humor, managed to convey. His style makes it any easy read, but what I learned, left my mind anything but at ease! I am a relatively educated person, but what I didn't know about finance was ridiculous. I had no idea that I was putting my hard earned money in the hands of possible crooks,at worst, and at best, people who may know little more than I! This book tells it all! Not what the "big guys" want you to know, but the way it really is! I had to write this review because I am so impressed with what this author has taught me. My thanks go out to him.
Rating:
Summary: The book about your money that you must read!
Review: When I first picked up NO NONSENSE FINANCE, I expected it to be informative. I have a few investments, but I have no idea whether they're right for me, other than what my broker tells me. So, I thought it would be a good idea to for me to become more informed about what I was doing with my money. What I did not expect, was the plethora of information that is packed into this one little book, written in plain language that I could easily understand. I read the book in one afternoon. I was so fascinated by what Errold Moody, with his unique sense of humor, managed to convey. His style makes it any easy read, but what I learned, left my mind anything but at ease! I am a relatively educated person, but what I didn't know about finance was ridiculous. I had no idea that I was putting my hard earned money in the hands of possible crooks,at worst, and at best, people who may know little more than I! This book tells it all! Not what the "big guys" want you to know, but the way it really is! I had to write this review because I am so impressed with what this author has taught me. My thanks go out to him.
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