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| Missed Fortune 101: A Starter Kit to Becoming a Millionaire | 
 enlarge | Author: Douglas R. Andrew
Publisher: Business Plus
Category: Book
List Price: $23.99
Buy New: $0.34
You Save: $23.65 (99%)
Buy New/Used/Collectible from $0.34
Avg. Customer Rating:  (78 reviews)
Sales Rank: 11999
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6 x 1.2
ISBN: 0446576573
Dewey Decimal Number: 332.02401
EAN: 9780446576574
ASIN: 0446576573
Publication Date: January 3, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Watch Out February 6, 2008
6 out of 8 found this review helpful
My now former financial planner came to me last year all excited that it was a true wealth building opportunity and gave me a copy to read, which I did, from cover to cover. The other negative reviews do an excellent job of summarizing what I found after reading so I won't go into a lot of detail.
From my own perspective, I found there were some good ideas regarding the advantages of the Roth IRA's and 401k's, but I would be sure to consult a tax professional before making a move.
As far as the book is concerned, I found it to be based on a lot of mere assumptions of one's financial position. There was a lot of 'fuzzy' math in the illustrations, and numerous contradictory statements from one page to another.
The author references investing in "investment grade" insurance. There is no such thing. It is either universal or variable life, both of which are lousy vehicles for an investment and can have serious pitfalls in this situation. Do your own research or check with an impartial insurance professional if you have any doubts.
Additionally, the author does not portray any valid credentials, i.e. CPA, CFP, CLU, or anything related to financial advising. He's just another guy with a book.
I do not claim to be an investment professional, but I have found that it it is worthwhile to learn all you can to protect your own interests. So.....Watch Out!
I noticed that a lot of the positive reviews are from California and other sunbelt states. I'm just wondering how many of these folks actually did take the advice to mortgage their homes to the max, and now with the depressed real estate market have found themselves trapped in an "upside down" situation where the mortgage is far more than the market value of the house.
 Smoke and Mirrors January 27, 2008
2 out of 6 found this review helpful
Following the advice in this book is certainly better than doing nothing (financially speaking).
However, many of the concepts explains in this book are extremely misleading. Just a few examples are:
#1 Life insurance is rarely your best investment option. Mr Andrew fails to mention the extremely high commission and LACK of liquidity found in life insurance. His illustrations would never pass government standards of disclosure and consumer protection.
#2 Less than 5% of Americans pay 33% income tax. Again, this adds to the misleading nature of his illustrations.
#3 The idea of having a mortgage so you can save money on income tax is completely foolish! Lets say you are paying 33% in income taxes (as Mr Andrew loves to cite), most likely, you will not be eligible to deduct your interest anyway. But if you could, lets say you pay $1,000 of interest in a year, you would save $330 dollars in taxes. HOWEVER you still paid $1,000 in interest to save $330 in taxes. You do the math.
Again, if you are doing nothing financially, this book can help. However, you would be MUCH better off reading something like Automatic Millionaire by David Bach.
 If we only had the money November 21, 2007
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
I've had to STEAL this book away from my husband, who laments he didn't have it
25 years ago. The repetitive financial messages of the book have stuck in our collective
old brain cells. The revelation by the author of his failures as well as successes is
heartening. Great synopses at the end of each chapter! I'm inspired to SAVE -- the smart way.
Very educational--dispels a lot of finance misconceptions October 10, 2007
1 out of 6 found this review helpful
Go pick up it up and read the whole book. It will open up your eyes on what finances are all about, and dispels many myths about money, taxes, and retirement planning. In fact, insist that your CPA, financial planner, insurance agent and estate attorney read it too.
Extremely interesting October 10, 2007
4 out of 7 found this review helpful
I'm probably your typical Joe American with a marraige, kids, a house, car, etc. As I'm getting older I'm thinking more about running my personal finances like a business. I've reduced expenses significantly (no downsizing the family yet, though sometimes I could deal without the kids for a couple days! haha) and have tried to maximize idle money and active investments. Basic stuff I've done without professional help.
I've highly recommended this book to friends and family if for no other reason that it's includes a bunch of real thought-inducing topics that go against conventional financial wisdom. Namely to throw cash at your house to pay it off as fast as possible which truly does sound like a grand plan, but after reading the book sounds downright stupid.
Things I've taken away after reading this book:
* Deductible interest is good, at least when compared to non-deductible. No duh. But I never really thought it through to the ends.
* Your house will either appreciate or depreciate regardless of your mortgage rate, your monthly mortgage payment, or how much equity you invest into the house. If your house is worth $100K today and $110K tomorrow you gained $10K in equity. But it would've done that regardless of your mortgage.
* Money makes money. Pretty basic concept. But your money makes money a lot faster outside of being invested in your home equity which is what you're doing sending an extra $200/mo to your mortgage holder. That's $200/mo your throwing into a non-interest bearing account. Doesn't sound so smart now does it?
* There's a variety of retirement savings vehicles available outside the standard 401K and IRA. Well, obviously. But the book goes into depth on the advantages and disadvantages of them.
* One big thing the book pushes is Universal Life Insurance as the retirement vehicle of choice. There's a lot of agreeable arguments made towards this choice but there's no specific plans referenced and I haven't checked into the actual numbers to see if they stack up. But the overall theory seems pretty sounds. You throw your money into the policy, it compounds tax free, and you can withdraw it via loans tax free. People will argue that the policy costs money to run, and you have to pay a marginal interest rate against the loan, but you're still saving a TON via the tax savings which is the general argument for this policy.
I'm not saying I'm on board 100% with all the arguments made in the book. But many of them seem completely reasonable and logical. Pay $20K down on your house to save $100/mo in mortgage? Or take the $20K and invest it? It'll make $100/mo today in a 5% CD. And it compounds and thus makes more and more each month. And even more if the investment churns out more than 5%. And your house equity will likely increase regardless as housing values typically increase historically and will do so regardless of your mortgage.
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