The Lies About Money

Consumers love Ric's unconventional yet common-sense approach to investing and personal finance. He revealed how everyday Americans achieve financial security in the #1 New York Times bestseller Ordinary People, Extraordinary Wealth. His first bestselling book, the personal financial classic The Truth About Money, was named Book of the Year. Now, Ric reveals the deceptive and manipulative business practices occurring in your retail mutual funds -- practices that are causing you to suffer higher fees, greater risks, and lower returns than you realize. In The Lies About Money, Ric's provocative new work, he offers you a detailed yet easy-to-follow plan that lets you take back control of your investments -- and your financial future.

Ric's unparalleled ability to explain complex financial concepts in a fun and entertaining way resonates with readers. In this book -- his first in more than five years -- he shares his most valuable lessons gained through two decades of working directly with individuals and families. He reveals the lies that have infiltrated your retail mutual funds and retirement accounts, and teaches you how to invest your money in your employer retirement plan, how to save for college, and for those who are retired, how to generate more income without sacrificing security. He shows you that proper money management has nothing to do with "hot tips" and everything to do with scientific analysis, bolstered by solid academic research and historical data. Ric explains exactly how the mutual fund scandal has caused him to change the way he manages his own money and the money entrusted to his firm by thousands of clients nationwide. Along the way, Ric shows you the secrets to investment success -- a long-term focus, the importance of diversification, and the crucial need for (and methods of) portfolio rebalancing.

And the book doesn't stop there -- it will actually help you build an investment portfolio, one designed specifically around your needs. The book features a 24-page color insert containing 43 portfolio models, each based on the Edelman Managed Asset Program, one of the largest and fastest-growing money management programs in the country. Ric's fun, interactive Guide to Portfolio Selection¨ will lead you on a fascinating journey through the book's pages, taking you to the portfolio that's right for you!

With insight and strategies that will change people's lives, The Lies About Money offers the truth that everyone is looking for.

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All Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review:
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Good, simple explanation of things to watch out for, 2008-09-25
Though maybe a tad longer than it could have been, Ric Edelman does a good job of discussing the perils of mutual funds and what to look out for when investing. He makes occasional arguments for hiring financial advisers, but always states that he is not trying to make a case for hiring him. His sections are short, simple, easy to read and provide a relatively straightforward explanation of the topics. There's a whole theory section on assessing risk that was probably unnecessary, but he warns readers that they are free to skip it. There's an enormous section that is simply a day-by-day timeline of mutual fund scandals that is incredibly tedious and makes its point three pages in (so the other 20 or so are just a waste of paper). Pick it up and read it on a plane, you'll finish quickly and have learned a thing or two.


1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

A great way to save money--don't buy it., 2008-09-07
This book is largely self-serving. The author shows how hard it is for ordinary people to invest wisely, so that they need investment advisors like him.

His advice to have a wide diversity of investments is contrary to Warren Buffet's technique: own a small amount of investments and study them carefully.


1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

I found this book extremely useful, 2008-07-28
This book led me to a major change in my retirement investment strategy.

I had already rolled my various 401(k) plans into IRAs. I had a mix of index mutual funds and individual stocks. But reading this book crystallized for me what the problems were with that.

Although it is true he makes a big pitch for institutional mutual funds, which you can only get from a company like his, he does say you can "do it yourself" with ETFs.

For me it was not a big deal to go to his website for a more tailored asset allocation -- which was free by the way. Then I did some research to map those asset classes to specific ETFs.

The biggest benefit is that I no longer have to agonize about if I am in the right stock or if I should get out of a stock and what should I replace it with. With the market down so much lately, I am able to keep on track and not sell based on fear. All I have to do is apply a constant ratio approach to re-balancing and that's it.

I have done this for the last 3 1/2 months and I am barely down (< 1%) compared to the S&P 500 down 10%. So far so good. Using his approach, you can see the rotation in and out of different asset classes and not worry -- you are in all of them!

As for the sales pitch, I could imagine someone not having the time and inclination to do their own investments and they would benefit from his company's services.



2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

It's like buying an Ad, 2008-07-12
OK, after getting to about page 40 I realized that this was an advertisement of his company. Basically, he says to buy every possible stock and go long-term. About 4x10^2 times, he was saying that "his" company was doing just that. Didn't find anything useful, except that you spend more when you retire (never knew that one!). The book's name is really great - it captures attention.


0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Useful book, 2008-06-27
As with Mr. Edelman's other books, there is information contained that is worth knowing and reviewing often. He writes with the experience of years of helping with financial matters.

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