Short Takes Reviews: Personal Finance, September 1, 2010
by Sarah Cords Sep 1, 2010Arnell, Peter. Shift: How To Reinvent Your Business, Your Career, and Your Personal Brand. Broadway. 2010. c.208p. index. ISBN 9780385526272. $23. BUS
Arnell trades on his reputation as a branding and marketing guru to Samsung, Donna Karan, and Pepsi in a book that can't decide whether it's an inspirational self-help title or a branding how-to. After telling the story of his 250-pound weight loss, Arnell describes his idea of "Shift," which he promises can "help you brand yourself a better person." A number of forgettable short chapters follow, offering further weight-loss stories, anecdotes about his various campaign successes, and generic business platitudes like "fish where the fish are." The book is easy enough to read but (ironically, for a title about branding) leaves no lasting impression.
Bernoff, Josh & Ted Schadler. Empowered: Unleash Your Employees, Energize Your Customers, Transform Your Business. Harvard Business Pr. Sept. 2010. c.244p. ISBN 9781422155639. $27.95. BUS
Two vice presidents at Forrester Research (Bernoff is also the coauthor of Groundswell) offer a rare thing: a book about using new technologies that actually goes beyond jargon and offers practical solutions. In addition to providing examples of how today's consumers have empowered themselves through social software, the authors suggest that the best way to deal with such customers is to train and support empowered workers (or HEROes, "highly empowered and resource operatives"). The most valuable part of the book is its second half, which describes how HERO employees, management, and IT staff can and must collaborate to make the system work. The focus on the whole organization makes this a good read for employees and managers alike.
Chen, Kay-Yut & Marina Krakovsky. Secrets of the Moneylab: How Behavioral Economics Can Improve Your Business. Portfolio. Sept. 2010. c.256p. index. ISBN 9781591843542. $25.95. BUS
Behavioral economics remains all the rage in business literature, and Chen (lead economist, HP Labs) and freelance writer Krakovsky are the latest to try and capitalize on the subject's trendiness. By describing experiments currently being done at HP Labs, the authors explore how some unexpected findings about people's expectations of fairness, reciprocity, reputation, and trust can be used by companies to better understand the sometimes irrational behaviors of their customers and clients. Although interesting and an easy read, this nonetheless covers well-trod ground—see, e.g., Dan Ariely's Predictably Irrational, Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein's Nudge, Peter A. Ubel's Free Market Madness, and Ori Brafman and Rom Brafman's Sway.
Deutch, Roni. Surviving the Coming Tax Disaster: Why Taxes Are Going Up, How the IRS Will Be Getting More Aggressive, and What You Can Do To Preserve Your Assets. BenBella. Oct. 2010. c.340p. index. ISBN 9781935618072. pap. $16.95. BUS
The promotional materials for Deutch's book proclaim that as the owner of the country's largest tax-resolution law firm she is "the most recognizable tax expert in the nation." Her expertise is, in fact, the strongest selling point because the content is unfocused. Deutch convincingly makes her case that the government is overspending and the IRS will soon be chasing all the tax dollars it can, but in later chapters she bounces between advice for those facing penalties for not filing, small-business owners, and those with sufficient estates to be penalized by the death tax. Her tips and strategies seem useful enough, but they are hard to find in the hodgepodge; better organization and stronger chapter introductions or conclusions could have made all the difference.
Hirshman, Susan L. Does This Make My Assets Look Fat?: A Woman's Guide to Finding Financial Empowerment and Success. St. Martin's. Sept. 2010. c.320p. ISBN 9780312385538. $24.99. BUS
It seems mandatory for personal finance books for women to rely on a hook, and Hirshman's is that investing is similar to dieting. Accordingly, she has organized her guide in keeping with that motif, including chapters on assessing personal finance fitness ("naked in front of the mirror"), describing various investments as the four basic food groups, etc. What might get lost in this extended metaphor are her definitions, explanations, and suggestions, which are comprehensive and excellent. In addition to covering the basics, the author (a financial advisor with JPMorgan Chase) provides surprisingly in-depth information about investment strategies. Of the books reviewed here, it's the only one I'll give to a friend with investing questions—although only as a loaner, since I also want to keep it.
Ramsey, Dave. The Money Answer Book: Quick Answers for Your Everyday Financial Questions. Thomas Nelson. 2010. c.176p. ISBN 9780849996191. pap. $12.99. BUS
In this reprint of a 2004 title, Fox Business network show host Ramsey (The Total Money Makeover) promises answers to 100 financial questions he is frequently asked. For readers struggling with basic finance issues, including incurring and getting out of credit card debt, Ramsey provides solid advice (tops on his list: "say no to credit cards"). However, readers are cautioned on two points: Ramsey isn't shy about making numerous religious references; and, on page 139, he states that "you can invest $3000 per year per individual" in a Roth IRA retirement account. This is a serious error (as of 2010, individual limits are $5000) and makes this reviewer wonder what other inaccuracies exist in the text.
Singer Gordon, Rachel. Point, Click, and Save: Mashup Mom's Guide to Saving and Making Money Online. CyberAge: Information Today. 2010. c.288p. bibliog. index. ISBN 9780910965866. pap. $19.95. BUS
Trust a former librarian to write a well-organized and practical guide to not only saving money but also finding ways to generate cash flow at home. Reinventing herself as the "Mashup Mom" (and writing a blog by the same name), Singer Gordon here offers chapters on living frugally, couponing, and finding deals, rebates, and freebies online. What really sets her book apart from many other thrifty-living titles, however, is its second half, in which she explores money making and freelance opportunities. Packed with resources and examples, this book is easy to read, and my only complaint is that it seems too narrowly focused—anyone looking to shop a little smarter or supplement an income, not just stay-at-home moms, might find much of value here.
Vanston, John H. with Carrie Vanston. Minitrends: How Innovators & Entrepreneurs Discover & Profit from Business & Technology Trends. Technology Futures. Sept. 2010. c.216p. index. ISBN 9781884154362. pap. $19.95. BUS
Vanston's company, Technology Futures, has been making predictions about technology and business trends since 1978. Here, he describes how individual entrepreneurs, as well as companies, can find and exploit "minitrends"—small trends (not yet recognized by the public) that have the potential to grow. In five sections, he describes them and where they can be researched, lists a few he thinks have promise (such as providing facilities for growing numbers of freelance workers), and concludes with methods for developing products and services that exploit these trends. Although perhaps beyond the scale of most individuals or investors, this title offers a new take on possible product development and investment avenues (similar to James Altucher's 2009 The Forever Portfolio, which suggested following demographic trends for investing ideas).—Sarah Statz Cords, The Reader's Advisor Online
