business and investing

Finally, an intelligent and honest investment book! After wasting time reading so many books that either don't give specifics or hype techniques to promote the author's own agenda, this book makes sense. It covers investing in the financial markets, real estate and small business since these are the three major ways people build wealth. In each of these areas, Tyson explains what to do and what not to do. As for saving money to invest, the reviewer above who queries what a person should do who needs 20K cash for a new car, Tyson's advice in his Personal Finance for Dummies book is don't buy such an expensive car - buy a good quality used car you can afford!

I bought this book thinking that it would be a very basic book that would teach about the world of investing. While the book does a spectacularly wonderful job at covering the basics, I also gained a number of powerful insights that I didn't from reading more "advanced" investing books. The discussion of how the financial markets work was a real eye opener as was the insight that many people who accumulate great wealth do so not through investing in stocks but through small business. With the U.S. stock market at such nose bleed high levels, that alternative makes sense to me! The author also clearly lays out the case against following market gurus predictions.

Considering that I know hardly anything about investing in stocks, real estate, etc., this book was a very good one because it introduced me to the basics. It starts with each topic on "level one" and gradually leads you to the level where you understand the topic but do not have useless information. It discusses stocks and bonds, real estate, portfolio buiding, and even the interesting psychological obstacles in investing. I thought an interesting idea was that to succeed long term in mutual fund investing, your portfolio must be diversified and well-researched. This book also discusses the pros and cons of having a financial advisor, and gives resources for more information. The book has cartoons, which add humor and taught me how investing would be applied to my life. The section of the book least applicable to me was about running and buying business, but it was interesting nevertheless. It was a great introduction to investing and I feel much more prepared than I did before reading the book.