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Emphasizing personal style, Joan Barzilay Freund’s Defining Style is a freeing, inspiring and extremely innovative look at interior design.
Emphasizing personal style, Joan Barzilay Freund’s Defining Style is a freeing, inspiring and extremely innovative look at interior design.
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Business & Finance

Cashing in, cashing out

Review by bookpagedev

Lately it seems as though all my friends are either getting rich or grousing about not getting rich while everyone else is. With the stock market and the overall economy steaming through yet another year of almost obscene prosperity, many Americans are rolling in the dough while others try to figure out how to get a taste of it.

There are new books out for both sorts of people: those who want to make the best of the money they have, and those still struggling to build up a nest egg. This month’s featured books cover how to start investing in the future, how to pick hot stocks, which hot stocks to pick, and what to do with all that moolah after retirement.

Let’s start simply. In Wealth Happens One Day at a Time: 365 Days to a Brighter Financial Future (HarperBusiness, $19.95, 0887309828), Brooke M. Stephens offers a combination of advice, affirmations, and action to demystify the process of reaching financial security. Like Dave Ramsey and other authors who address the basics of creating personal wealth, Stephens tells readers they can gain greater control over their lives by getting control of money.

It’s only natural for some people to feel intimidated about all the flashy wealth on display these days. This book is a self-help course in overcoming financial intimidation. One day at a time, it will help readers master the concepts of saving and investing even as they master their own emotions about money. Its 365 mini-essays move from the simplest of topics to such complex issues as Roth IRAs and testamentary trusts all explained in a breezy style with plenty of enlightening anecdotes.

Wealth Happens is a valuable road-map to personal enrichment. If you or people you care about have been meaning to get control of finances but just haven’t figured out where to start this book may be the highest-yielding investment you ever make.

Graduates of Stephens’s tutorial in personal financial management can move on to the small time with Gene Walden’s The 100 Best Stocks to Own for Under $20 (Dearborn, $19.95, 0887309828). Not every stock on Walden’s list is a small company, but most are small enough to have stayed off the radar screens of Wall Street know-it-alls in recent years. The author has applied sophisticated technical analysis to screen through the more than 8,000 stocks trading at more than $20 a share, finding a final 100 that excelled by a broad range of performance measures.

Imagine the rewards that can come from taking risks. Somewhere out there is the next Microsoft, priced today as cheaply as Bill Gates’s fledgling company was in 1987. A $10,000 investment then would be worth $1 million now. Walden argues convincingly that small stocks have been the 20th century’s most lucrative form of investment, and he makes a compelling case that his 100 picks are the hottest performers in this hot category. At a time when the true value of many high-flying stocks is very much open to question, Walden’s research can help investors find the market’s hidden gems.

Global Bargain Hunting: The Investor’s Guide to Profits in Emerging Markets traces another route to riches for intrepid investors. It’s true that the Asian financial crisis gave all emerging markets a bad name in 1998, soon after the first edition of this book came out, but the turmoil did nothing to shake the faith of authors Burton Malkiel and J.P. Mei in the less-developed world’s markets. Their new paperback edition incorporates the wisdom gained from the Asian experience and points stock-buyers toward the opportunities that abound in its wake.

Unlike Walden, Malkiel and Mei focus more on how to pick the right international stocks than on which stocks to pick. They devote plenty of attention to the pitfalls of investing in emerging markets, which range from high transaction costs to underdeveloped stock markets to corruption and even the risk of government expropriation. And they discuss which types of investment are and are not suitable for the typical individual buyer.

Like Walden, Global Bargain Hunting’s authors crunch numbers to reveal true values in the market that most investors could never discover on their own. You don’t have to be a math wizard to be persuaded by their valuation formulas, such as a calculation of domestic-growth-to-price/earnings ratios in ten nations that ranks the U.S., with its overheated stock market, dead last in investment values and Poland first. The message: Sell apple pie short; go long on kielbasa.

Malkiel and Mei explain complicated financial concepts in simple and clear language. They are admirably blunt about some of the dirty secrets of Wall Street, offering such insider warnings as: Initial public offerings of closed-end [mutual fund] shares are usually a rip-off. And, as Malkiel advocated (controversially at the time) in 1973’s A Random Walk Down Wall Street (6th edition 1996, W.W. Norton, $15.95, 0393315290), the authors tend to favor indexed funds over managed funds for international investors.

Global Bargain Hunting makes a strong case for buying into the developing world, even with all the financial hazards involved. Investors wary of buying at the top of the U.S. market will find this book a worthwhile form of armchair traveling.

So, suppose you profit from the advice of all three of these authors. Enjoy the warm, fuzzy feeling of success while you can, because what comes after it is the realization that you really have something to lose now. Margaret A. Malaspina wants to help you cope with your riches. Don’t Die Broke: How to Turn Your Retirement Savings Into Lasting Income (Bloomberg Press, $21.95, 1576600688) is Malaspina’s guide to a topic that Baby Boomers and others may not have thought about much as they squirreled away savings in 401(k) and IRA plans over the years: managing those accumulated, and often half-forgotten, assets before and during retirement.

Malaspina, who helped make fund manager Peter Lynch a superstar when she was a communications executive with Fidelity Investments, displays a thorough grasp of the wickedly arcane rules that govern retirement savings, especially when it comes time to start withdrawing them. Just as importantly, she finds ways to help ordinary readers understand those rules and what can happen when retirees inadvertently break them. The horror stories here, about incredibly damaging financial decisions made by smart people acting in good faith, will suffice to focus the minds of future retirees on what they have at stake.

Don’t Die Broke is not just for people approaching retirement age, either. Anyone, of any age, who inherits retirement-plan assets may face a bewildering series of choices, with little guidance from the IRS or the trustee holding the assets. Your heirs may wish you had died broke before it’s all over and, in fact, Malaspina contradicts her book’s title by offering sage advice on how to do just that. Effective estate planning, which may need to begin sooner in life than many would think, can shift enough assets out of an estate to avoid large tax burdens.

Malaspina’s work is important reading for any American who is saving for the future, because it hammers home the uncomfortable fact that just saving money is not enough. Every retirement account needs a game plan as well, and Don’t Die Broke will empower its readers to create solid strategies.

Briefly noted: Money, Greed, and Risk: Why Financial Crises and Crashes Happen, by Charles R. Morris (Times Books, $25, 0812931734), is a salutary reminder, in these heady times, of what can go wrong in the financial markets. Morris deftly surveys America’s two-century history of occasional busts, panics, and market hiccups, skewering the hubris almost always at the core of a financial disaster. In Succeeding Generations: Realizing the Dream of Families in Business (Harvard Business School Press, $35, 0875847420), Ivan Lansberg offers insightful case studies and astute analysis to guide parents, siblings, and other relatives through the tricky business of succession planning in a family company.

One of this month’s most intriguing works (remember, intrigue can have more than one meaning) is a former U.S. military spy’s primer on corporate espionage. Confidential: Uncover Your Competitor’s Secrets Legally and Quickly and Protect Your Own (HarperBusiness, $26, 006661984X), by John Nolan, provides chilling glimpses into the cloak-and-dagger world of finding out (and protecting) companies’ most valuable secrets.

And finally, aspiring tycoons can choose from among 50 potential role models in Lessons from the Top: The Search for America’s Best Business Leaders (Doubleday, $24.95, 0385493436 on sale August 17). Authors Thomas J. Neff and James M. Citrin, both executive search specialists, have finely honed their instincts for finding good leaders, and their chosen honchos sound off on life at the top in revealing interviews.

Journalist E. Thomas Wood is an editor with the Champs-Elysees.com family of European language-and-culture magazines.

Lately it seems as though all my friends are either getting rich or grousing about not getting rich while everyone else is. With the stock market and the overall economy steaming through yet another year of almost obscene prosperity, many Americans are rolling in…

LiteratureArts & Culture

Review

Review by bookpagedev

Banned authors or their books are usually attacked for their socially, politically, or religiously unacceptable ideas or speech. Perhaps it’s not by chance that we observe Banned Books Week in September. After all, it’s the time of the year when students (those we encourage to think for themselves) return to schools and colleges and review reading lists for the year’s writing projects. While many students will recognize Lady Chatterley’s Lover and Lolita as banned material, they may be shocked to see Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass on the list as well. 100 Banned Books discusses the censorship histories of books both past and present and this is only the short list. Banning, as it turns out, is an old and established way of . . . well, keeping the lid on. The first list of forbidden books was probably compiled during the fifth century by the pope. The Vatican, however, didn’t abolish it until 1966, after running up a grand total of 4,126 books. The irony is that The Bible still ranks as one of the most censored books in history, yet it’s translated more times and into more languages than any other book and has outsold every book in the history of publishing. Another study in irony is popular sci-fi writer Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, a believable tale of a futuristic society in which all books are banned. It’s also on the list. 100 Banned Books clears up the fog about what’s been banned, when, where, and why. But it has more than court cases and public opinion. The book allows readers a bird’s-eye view of the values and opinions that this and other societies have held over the centuries with respect to politics, religion, sex, and social mores. Each listing begins with a brief summary of the book, followed by its censorship history, and a generous listing of newspaper, newsletter, magazine, and journal articles for Further Readings. The book provides a panoramic view of the full scope of book banning.

Pat Regel is a frequent reviewer for BookPage.

Banned authors or their books are usually attacked for their socially, politically, or religiously unacceptable ideas or speech. Perhaps it's not by chance that we observe Banned Books Week in September. After all, it's the time of the year when students (those we encourage to…

NonfictionEducation

Review

Review by bookpagedev

Victory in Our Schools is an explanation of the simple but effective plan John Stanford used to create change in the Seattle public school system. Like most large public school systems, Seattle’s was facing rapid decline in 1995. A decision was made to hire a new superintendent John Stanford, not another highly credentialed educator but a retired Army major general with the foresight to see the district had five thousand educators dedicated to their profession and only needed a leader. To Stanford, leading meant inspiring the community act on the simple directive to reach and teach all children. Stanford admits he knew nothing about education, and details spending months simply asking questions, trying to determine where help was needed, where procedures could be streamlined, why Seattle’s students were being underserved by so many qualified and dedicated folks. The results of his questioning and the organization of this book are the ten philosophical shifts he believed were necessary before the results everyone wanted could begin.

The ideas Stanford helped put in motion are not new to educators: focus on the students rather than the adults, involve the whole community in the process, establish exit standards, implement strict consequences when standards are not met, and make everyone accountable for the results. What is new is how Stanford followed through once the ideas were on paper. From the top down, everyone was held accountable for student progress. Principals could no longer hide behind office doors; district administrators had to come out into the schools; businesses were expected to provide not only funding but also tutors; parents were told and told again how they must help. And the standard by which the community would be judged was simple: student achievement. Three years later, scores had risen while drop-out rates and violence had declined. Each chapter is full of examples of how beliefs were made into reality. If you want effective volunteer tutors, give them coaching cards to use with the students. If you want parents to actively participate in improving students’ skills, teach them how.

It is also the story of how a man who failed sixth grade and looked back on it as the beginning of his success; it is about how he inspired those around him to act on what all educators know to be sound practices. The numerous quotes by those involved, from district administrators to janitors, from community leaders to the parents of students, all attest to the respect and honor in which the community held a man who simply wanted everyone to do their best so that every child could succeed.

Jamie Whitfield taught in public schools for 17 years.

Victory in Our Schools is an explanation of the simple but effective plan John Stanford used to create change in the Seattle public school system. Like most large public school systems, Seattle's was facing rapid decline in 1995. A decision was made to hire a…

LifestylesCrafts, Hobbies & Home

Review

Review by bookpagedev

The winter garden Adrian Bloom’s Year Round Garden: Color in Your Garden from January to December (Timber Press, $39.95, 0881924571) is gorgeous and absolutely packed with information. This could either be inspiring or daunting, depending on one’s level of gardening confidence and ambition. Reader be warned: Bloom’s garden is in England the magical gardening isle where everything that gets poked into the dirt blooms to Edenic excess. But, since climate varies wildly even in that tiny country, the plant directories provide a huge range of material, and we Yanks will find more than enough choices to satisfy our local requirements. If your goal is to have something pleasant in the garden every month of the year, pick Bloom.

The winter garden Adrian Bloom's Year Round Garden: Color in Your Garden from January to December (Timber Press, $39.95, 0881924571) is gorgeous and absolutely packed with information. This could either be inspiring or daunting, depending on one's level of gardening confidence and ambition. Reader be…

NonfictionCrafts, Hobbies & Home

Review

Review by bookpagedev

The world at your fingertips Rand McNally attempts to provide a portrait of the planet with its new Portrait World Atlas ($39.95, 0528839950). The Random House Dictionary says a portrait is a verbal picture or description, which, technically, doesn’t describe this huge compilation of digitally produced, up-to-the-minute, and easy-to-use maps and index. What is described, and described quite well, is a collection of the Earth’s greatest natural wonders, selected from each continent. But the highlight of the atlas is, of course, the maps. For planning trips, tracking world events, or researching homework assignments, an atlas is essential, and this one, not surprisingly, comes highly recommended.

The world at your fingertips Rand McNally attempts to provide a portrait of the planet with its new Portrait World Atlas ($39.95, 0528839950). The Random House Dictionary says a portrait is a verbal picture or description, which, technically, doesn't describe this huge compilation of digitally…

NonfictionHistoryEnvironment

Fire and Flood

Review by Sarojini Seupersad

In his urgent new book, Fire and Flood: A People’s History of Climate Change, From 1979 to the Present, journalist Eugene Linden gravely explains why the world has failed to stop the ongoing catastrophe of climate change. He begins with the 1980s, when climate change first became widely known as “global warming.” As temperatures began to rise around the world, scientists sounded the alarm and made dire predictions of what was to come, yet the public was largely uninterested. Meanwhile, the fossil fuel industry maintained its outsize stranglehold on our economic and political systems—all in the name of profit.

Next Linden tackles the 1990s, when India and China became more industrialized, multiplying their greenhouse gas emissions exponentially. Following western nations’ lead, they had invested in mostly coal power, sending climate change into overdrive. This was also the decade when the Kyoto Protocol was enacted to curb greenhouse gas emissions, but in the end it did little to mitigate the effects of climate change, and the nations of the world maintained their collective dependence on fossil fuels.

Linden outlines all the ways the fossil fuel industry and the business community as a whole questioned the existence of climate change in bad faith in the 2000s. Despite evidence and numerous warnings, they actively downplayed the severity of climate change, aided by a decadeslong misinformation campaign. In fact, the first decade of the new millennium was the warmest decade on record, but even then the fossil fuel industry and its monied interests continued to dismiss the gravity of climate change.

By 2010, superstorms and massive wildfires were commonplace occurrences, rather than fluke events that happened once every century. Climate change is here, Linden declares, and we can no longer deny it. 

Although this is a deeply serious subject, there is still much to be hopeful about, and Linden ends Fire and Flood on a positive note. As coal companies go out of business and electric car companies become the norm, a new light may be shining up ahead. Experts anticipate trillions of dollars of investments in renewable energy, new green industries and new jobs over the next 30 years. The public is demanding change, and that, Linden emphasizes, is where our power lies.

If you’ve ever wondered how we got here, this sobering and accessible history deftly outlines government failures, missed opportunities and the steps we can take to turn the tide.

Eugene Linden’s sobering and accessible history of climate change deftly outlines how we got here and what steps we can take to turn the tide.

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