Financial-future

I was looking for an indepth personal financial planning guide with guidance on decision making -- that is not what this book is. It is more a top level look at financial planning in most areas, in depth in a few areas and totally leaving out other areas.

For example, the book describes many of the financial instruments and has a great worksheet to calculate allocations but does not let the reader know why these allocations are the best. The author goes into 529 College Savings Plans but only describes the top 12 states plan. The 70 pages of glossary and index could be better served by covering the topics in more depth or adding sections on real estate or estate planning.

I am currently researching the use of a stochastic simulator for a Ph.D and as such make a point of seeking out any literature in this regard. Regarding the book, the concept is good but the delivery very poor. The book is expensive when you consider the size, knowledge content and quality of presentation. The book itself is also poorly bound and presented. The author has a tedious way of presenting the subject, which is unfortunate since the market requires better efforts at explaining the benefits of using stochastic models.
The only thing of value in the book is that a portfolio needs to be constructed in such a way to allow for market variability. The days of relying on a straight line calculation, extrapolated out forever are gone. If you can grasp my last sentence then there is no need to buy the book.

This book is a great introduction for advisors and savvy clients getting into stochastic financial planning. I find the deterministic methods (with a constant rate of return) to be dangerously optimistic. This book clearly establishes the pitfalls of using the traditional deterministic methods

It's the only book I know that focuses on the much-needed mission to convert clients and planners to financial planning using stochastic methods that take market volatility and the client's risk tolerance into consideration.

I recommend it to anyone who wants to get a look at the big picture and look forward to Glenn's next book.

I was first drawn to the works of Peter Steidlmeyer in 1993 as a futures trader by a colleague who explained that the features that I noted about the frenzied interest rate futures markets, had been encapsulated by this author. Without reading the book I tried to monitor the market activities in the profile that had been explained to me. Strangely enough, there was a pattern apparent on the daily sheets of paper that I started to collect.

It was not until late 1999 that I revisited the phenonmenon when I started to trade on my own account from an office. I recalled the works and decided to pick up the book. It was an incredible revelation and revitalised my enthusiasm for day trading. Many people feel that they have a gut instinct in understanding where markets will trade, but Steidlmeyer's statistical approach formalises much of this. I was particularly interested in how his upbringing and his experiences as a child and the responsibilities he was given formed his approach to trading as a pro. From the writing you will learn the importance of watching rather than partaking in the opening hour of the market, which is often a money saver. it will teach you rules of discipline, because it makes sense.

What I failed to take away from the book in working practice was the application of options volume from the 'far-traders,' the people who were bothered about the long-term haul, and how this could be witnessed in practice. There is certainly a lot of truth in it, but I could not match this with my experience as a day trader. The statistical comprehension of Market Profile is skillfully explained and is profitable to those who adopt it. the book is well written, understandable to the novice and is sound advice.

I think this book is targeted towards discretionary traders who are comfortable with trading indicators (MA, RSI, MACD, etc.), but unfamiliar with how to back test these indicators on historic data. If you want to back test your trading ideas in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, this book may be of interest to you. If you already know how to test systems on Trade Station or Super Charts, this book is probably too elementary.

This book is divided into two parts. Part I explains the theory of "Smart Momentum." Part II shows step-by-step how to implement it in Microsoft Excel. The nice thing about this book is that Part II parallels Part I on a chapter-by-chapter basis.

The book focuses on (a) indicator creation, (b) indicator selection, and (c) indicator combination. The logical development of a trading system proceeds as follows:

An equity curve shows cumulative dollars extracted from the market versus time. The "Smart Momentum Ratio" (SMR) summarizes an equity curve in a single number. (The author claims the Sharpe ratio, in and of itself, is not good enough.)

One can compare equity curves by comparing their respective SMRs. The better the equity curve, the larger the SMR.

Since an equity curve is the cumulative daily result of a trading indicator: The better the trading indicator, the larger the SMR.

A collection of one or more trading indicators comprises a trading system. Since a single indicator may fail under certain market conditions, it is desirable to build a trading system out of several uncorrelated indicators.

If one varies the parameters of a trading indicator, and its SMR stays relatively constant, then that indicator is said to be "robust." Indicators that contain SMR spikes (referred to as "Matterhorns") are not robust. Curve fitting is avoided by using several data windowing methods, which are briefly mentioned.

By the way, this book does not teach you how to use Microsoft Excel. It only gives you the Excel spreadsheet formulas to enter into spreadsheet cells (I did not test them to see if they were accurate). The techniques shown in this book are fine for tinkering in Excel, but to seriously create and analyze indicators the way the author suggests would take man-years in front of Excel. This may lead a person serious about developing trading systems into computer programming and optimization algorithms. For the latter approach, I recommend "The Encyclopedia of Trading Strategies" by Katz and McCormick.

Because of the above reason, and the reasons that follow, I only gave the book 4 stars (with respect to its intended target audience):
Chapter 9 - Spreadsheet preliminaries) The author uses USDJPY data sampled at 6:00, 12:00, and 18:00 GMT, but does not tell where to acquire such data.
Chapter 11 - Indicator selection) The author tells how to find robust indicators, but does not give the Excel steps needed to generate the 3D charts used in companion chapter 4.
Chapter 12 - Indicator combination) Indicator correlation matrices are presented. The author says they are generated with the Excel "correl" function, but does not reveal what cell references to use.
Chapter 13 - Maintenance) Failing indicators are replaced with new ones on a frequent basis. In my opinion, this is not the signature of a robust trading strategy.

_____This book is great to have if you are a novice to the world of personal finance. The text is geared toward married couples, but that doesn't mean a single person cannot read it and learn a lot from it (i.e. the advice generally applies to either singles or couples, with some extra information for couples).

_____The information contained is truly minimal when you compare it to many other books on the shelves. But for a novice I think that is good - Bach himself stresses that the information is meant to present to the reader the aspects of personal finance, while providing links to sources for more detailed information.

_____While I agree that pretty much all of the information contained can be found for free on the internet, the value of this book is in the fact that it contains brief synopses of that information, all gathered into one place, with the added bonus of providing a purpose for all the different aspects of personal finance. Not just "what" and "where," but also "how" and "why."

Investing for your future is sound, strong advice at any age. As a teacher of business management and having counselled an overwhelming number of people in the area of finance, I believe investing is particularly critical for young people today. I am so happy to read that previous reviewers, in their twenties, have learned from this book and are planning for their future. If you are starting your career and in your twenties, now is the time for financial planning, even though you might not be able to put a lot of money aside, "every penny saved, is a penny earned."

There are many books on the market today on investing and financial planning. Some I would highly recommend, others are not worth the time it takes to read the book - save the money you would spend on those "guaranteed get rich quick books" and invest the money where it will guarantee a return. "Smart Couples Finish Rich" is filled with a wealth of information on money management, retirement accounts, living trusts, types of insurance and investing in general. After reading it, you will be better equiped to manage your money and save for the future. That not only makes "smart cents," it makes smart sense. Hopefully, with some financial peace of mind and stability, couples will not only finish rich, they will finish rich... together!

I am a CPA and my wife is a full-time education student. I enjoy reading about accounting and finance. She does not. I like to pay the bills and do the household bookkeeping. She does not. However, my point is, we BOTH agree that this book is the one to have if you want to learn about saving and investing, building a nest egg for retirement, and having the financial independence to realize dreams, AS A COUPLE. I found this book very easy-to-read and informative, and I know I will use it often for future reference. As a CPA, I am accustomed to reading finance books and articles that are loaded with technical finance jargon. However, David Bach presents this information in a much more refreshing manner, and in a way that is easy for those unfamiliar with financial terminology, to understand. It gives you a wealth of information about 401(k)s, life insurance, trusts, wills, mutual funds, DRIPs, and much more. Most importantly, Smart Couples Finish Rich emphasizes personal financial planning and management as practically a lifestyle, not just an exercise or process. It shows you how to determine, as individuals and as a couple, what values you hold dear and how your view of money, investing, consumption, etc., should be aligned with your values. It really helps the reader to see that everything that one does in his or her life is a reflection of their values, including how one plans and manages his/her financial future. I highly recommend this book to those couples who are looking for an effective tool to learn more about personal finance and how to provide for their rich future together.