Perigee Bookmarks

Some Words of Advice for Prince William and Kate Middleton on Their Special Day…

Posted by Maria Gagliano

All this talk about Prince William and Kate Middleton’s Royal Wedding made me realize that my own one-year wedding anniversary is just a week away. I don’t know how things work in the Royal Family, but around these middle-class parts, we write our own thank-you notes in appreciation of our guests’ thoughtfulness and good wishes. I can only wonder whether Will and Kate will be hand-writing their own cards, or if their royal situation allows them the luxury of a little help (based on this guest list, they have a lot of writing to do!).

Etiquette expert Emily Post says you have three months to send a thank-you note after a wedding gift is received. Whether they have help or plan to write notes themselves, I can only hope that Will and Kate don’t let their first year of marriage fly by as quickly as I did. Yes, 51 weeks after my wedding, I still have a solid stack of thank-you notes collecting dust on my desk. Every weekend I promise I’ll finish them and every weekend the layer of dust thickens. It’s not that I’m not thankful to everyone who came to our wedding. I felt so incredibly blessed and grateful! I can’t explain how the days and weeks and months (and year?!) pass. I’m more than a little embarrassed.

So, Will, Kate, in an effort to keep you from treading down the dark and unintentionally tasteless path that I did, I’m sending you some sage advice from our veteran etiquette expert, Rosalie Maggio. Her book, How to Say It, offers tips on what to say (and yes, how to say it) in any situation, from business letters to thank-you notes. Take her advice, and you’ll remain as classy as only a member of the royal family could be:

 

How to Say It When Writing Thank-You Notes:

• Describe in some detail what you are grateful for (not just “the lovely gift” or “the nice present”).
• Express your gratitude in an enthusiastic, appreciative way.
• Elaborate on your appreciation. Tell how useful or appropriate it is, how you plan to use it, where you have placed it, or how it enhanced your life, home, etc. Be specific about what pleased you.
• Close with one or two sentences unrelated to the object of your gratitude (expressing affection, promising to see the person soon, sending greetings to family members, saying something nice about the donor).

How NOT to Say It When Writing Thank-You Notes:

• Don’t dilute your thanks by including news, information, questions, and comments; save them for another time.
• When you receive duplicate gifts, don’t mention this to the givers.
• Don’t mention the amount of a monetary gift. Instead, speak of the giver’s kindness, generosity, or, perhaps, extravagance.
• “Never express more than you feel” is a good guideline, especially in thank-you letters, where we try to make up in verbiage what we lack in enthusiasm. A simple “thank you” is effective.

 

How to Say It by Rosalie Maggio

Why a Ten-Year-Old Boy Was Giving Advice to a Congressman

Posted by author Lisa Earle McLeod

“Why do Congressmen say such mean things about each other?  We’re not allowed to act like that in my school. My teacher helped us come up with rules about respecting each other and not calling each other names. Why don’t you all have rules like that?”

He was only ten years old, but his question made the Congressman squirm.

His name is Colynne.  He and his mother were part of a group of private citizens who flew to Washington, D.C. with me to meet with several members of Congress.

How did a group of business people, parents, and kids wind up sitting down with members of Congress?

It started with the 2004 election.  

It was Bush versus Kerry and, like so many of our elections, it was extremely polarizing. At the time I was part of two groups, one very conservative and one very liberal.

Because both groups considered me a like-minded peer, they spoke freely about the other side.   I got to hear their unfiltered assessment of  “those people” who don’t share our values and who don’t care about our country the way we do.   Both sides were equally self-righteous and judgmental.

The “I’m right so you must be wrong” mentality had become our default.  I came to realize that this wasn’t a politics problem; it was a people problem. 

I knew there had to be a better way.

So I spent the next five years researching the world’s greatest problem solvers, people like Albert Einstein, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams.  I dissected conflict after conflict to identify which behaviors enabled people to solve their problems and which behaviors kept them stuck.

The result:  The Triangle of Truth: The Surprisingly Simple Secret To Resolving Conflicts Large and Small.  It provides seven Best Practices for solving problems.

I got the idea from watching politics. But I didn’t write it for members of Congress, I wrote it for everyday people to help them become more successful at work and in life.

But as I did workshops for businesses, politics kept coming up.

That’s where Colynne come in.   His mother is client of mine.  She runs a major sales organization.  After I did a program for her team, she took a copy of the book home, where her son read it. 

Flash forward a few weeks, and Colynne is asking his mother if he can go to Washington to give a copy of The Triangle of Truth to his Congressman because “I think he could really use it.”

From that point forward events seem to take on a life of their own:

• People start a Facebook Group: The Book That Will Fix Congress.
• Perigee publisher John Duff agrees to donate copies of The Triangle of Truth.
• Several newspapers run stories about it and private citizens—Republicans and Democrats—come forward offering to pay their own way to D.C. to hand deliver the books to every member of the House & Senate.
• My father, a 75-year-old Navy veteran, says he’d like to come with us, lending an element of patriotism.
• My Congressman—Rob Woodall—offers to host the group and provides his office as a staging area for the cases of books.
• People start writing and calling their Congressmen and Senators.
• The week before we leave, The Washington Post picks The Triangle of Truth as a top 5 book for leaders.
• Our group is able to get appointments with members and their Chief’s of Staff.

That’s how Colynne and I, along with my Dad, my daughter, and an assorted group of citizens ended up meeting with members of Congress. 

We had one goal: Get Congress to establish best practices for restoring civility.  As a business consultant, I know that talk is cheap.  But when you establish best practices, you’re forced to hold each other accountable.

During our trip last month, we met with more than 100 congressional officers.  Colynne and the team made such an impression that the 16 Republican and Democratic Congressmen who represent Georgia have agreed to call a meeting of the Georgia Caucus to discuss the issue.

If a ten year old and a group of private citizens can get leaders from both sides of the aisle to come together to talk about civility, who knows what might happen next?

Are we done?  No, we’re just getting started.  If you want Congress to stop fighting and start solving problems, join the Facebook group.

Be sure to check out the pictures of Colynne with all the Congressmen.  Trust me, you’ll see those faces again.

Lisa Earle McLeod is the President of McLeod & More, Inc. an international training and consulting firm and author of The Triangle of Truth: The Surprisingly Simple Secret To Resolving Conflicts Large and Small (Penguin 2010) www.triangleoftruth.com

 

How to Get Started on Your Reinvention

Pamela Mitchell, author of The 10 Laws of Career Reinvention, is a career coach who specializes in helping people reinvent their career path. Perhaps you’ve found yourself at a stand-still in your job, knowing you want to do something completely different but convinced that your current skills would never translate to what you really want to do. That’s where Pamela comes in. She’s helped hundreds of people look within themselves and find the potential to do whatever they want. And just as important, she’s helped them realize that their current skills can be made relevant to any career—whether you’re a lawyer who wants to become a baker, or an accountant who dreams of interior design. Here is a bit of advice from Pamela for getting started, for anyone who has wished they could steer their career in a new direction.

 
Posted by Pamela Mitchell

One of the most common questions is “Is it possible for me to reinvent my career, even though I’ve spent (5-10-20+) years in my current field?” The answer to that question is YES! It is never too late to launch a career reinvention if you know how to do it.

The “how” of reinvention can seem daunting; like standing at the base of a sheer wall of rock, wondering how you’ll climb to the top. But take a page from the playbook of rock climbers: When mapping out a plan to reach the summit, they don’t try to figure out every handhold in advance.

Climbers understand that the question is not “How do I get to the summit?” but “How do I get to the next handhold?” They know that the most important thing is to get on the rock; only then can they plot their next move. By answering the question in front of them, “How do I take the next step?” over and over again, they know they’ll eventually reach the peak.

Like rock climbing, career reinvention is a matter of figuring out: (1) what questions need to be answered, and (2) the order in which they need to be answered. Answering the “how” for your next move, step-by-step, is the way to reach your ultimate goal.  Here are the questions you’ll need to answer on your reinvention journey:

1. What’s my dream career?

When reinventing your career, the first question that must be answered is: “What do I want to do?” Don’t fall into the trap of thinking there’s only one possible career option that will bring satisfaction and fulfillment! Picking your reinvention target is the equivalent of deciding which peak to climb—there are multiple alternatives, all of which can deliver an exciting adventure. You’ll need to identify several possibilities.

2. What about the money?

The second question is a biggie: “How do I fund my reinvention?” It’s tough to focus on career reinvention when you’re worried about making the mortgage! You’ll need a plan to cover your living expenses while you make the climb. Don’t forget to include the costs associated with exploring your new career; you may need to take a class, invest in new business cards, or join an industry organization.

3. How do I get moving toward my goal?

The third question of career reinvention is “How do I take my first step?” Here the temptation may be to dive into action—any action—just to get things moving. Don’t make the mistake of jumping onto the mountain right away by sending resumes and trying to land interviews. You must prepare yourself for the climb; mapping out the lay of the land provides essential data for your ascent.

4. How do I combat my fears?

Here’s a reality check: fear (apprehension, worry, uncertainty—whatever you want to call it) is an unavoidable part of the career reinvention process. Ask 100 people who have successfully reinvented themselves, and 100% will tell you they’ve experienced times—sometimes extended ones—of terror. Similar to hanging on a cliff and looking down, it’s not the feeling that’s the problem, it’s what that feeling causes you to do that matters. Do you experience fear as an opportunity to recommit to doing whatever it takes to reach the summit, or does it cause you to go into freefall? If you make the choice in advance about what you’ll do in that moment, you’ll know what to do when fear shows up.

5. How do I deal with other people’s comments about my reinvention?

Understand that the idea of career reinvention scares many people, not just you! These well-meaning (or not so well-meaning) folk will make it their business to let you know the potential hazards you’ll face should you undertake such a difficult endeavor. They’re usually giving voice to your innermost fears, which is why their comments seem so threatening. But as a general rule these people have never actually reinvented their own career, so they have no experience ascending the mountain you plan to scale. Rock climbers expect people to freak out when they mention their plans. They don’t internalize the fears of “armchair experts”; instead, they talk about their plans with other climbers. Take a page from their playbook and talk about your career reinvention plans only with others who have climbed the same peak.

Six Ways to Unify People for a Common Goal

Posted by Chris St. Hilaire. Originally published at The Women on the Web (wowowow.com)

I’m on a mission to change the way the world views persuasion. Despite the fact that we use persuasion in nearly every conversation – at work, at home, with friends, in stores and restaurants – this basic communication skill has gotten a bad rap. Say "persuasion" and people think "used-car salesman." Yet whether you’re trying to convince your teenager to drive safely, your spouse to take a few days off work or your colleagues to try your latest strategy, you’re using persuasion all the time. And chances are, you’d like to be better at it.

True persuasion isn’t about arm-twisting or manipulating. It’s not about tricking people or bullying them. It’s about unifying people around a goal. Unity is the key, and the way to get there is by looking Eastward, toward the Buddhist concept of the ego. According to Eastern thought, inside each of us is a constant struggle between the ego that says, "I’m different. I’m special," and the spirit that knows we’re all the same. The ego wants to separate from others; it’s fear-based. The spirit wants to unite. When you’re trying to persuade, coming from the spirit – from a place of unity and inclusion – is the most effective approach. The following six New Persuasion strategies will make your listeners feel safe, included, and eager to unify around your goal.

Put your ego aside and focus on the egos of others. In order to persuade, you must first make sure your listeners feel safe and included. So use the first five minutes of any meeting to put others at ease, not to impress them with your own wonderfulness. If it’s your coworkers, thank them for taking a few minutes out of their hectic day to meet with you. Ditto if you’re calling on a new client – and mention something positive about their organization or their personal accomplishments. (You’ve researched them first, of course.) That teenager? Bring food. No one’s too old for ice cream, and they can’t argue if their mouth is full. At least for a few minutes.

Focus on the goal, and let others define it. Confusion and discord make people feel anxious and threatened, and unity makes them feel safe. People unify around a goal. Positive persuasion means letting the goal evolve from the group, not simply presenting your idea. To do this, ask, "What’s our goal? What are we trying to accomplish here today?" Let people give you the answer, and repeat what they say to make sure you’re all on the same page. Give people choices (first making sure you’ll be comfortable with either choice). Use their points to support your goal, and tie points together using other people’s suggestions. Finally, boil the goal down into one or two simple sentences that everyone agrees with. Now they’re invested – it’s their goal too.

Aim for the undecideds. Most people think of "undecideds" in terms of politics, where undecided voters often make the critical difference. There are undecideds in every group, and they are always important when you’re aiming to persuade. Undecideds typically see both sides of an issue to a fault – they truly cannot make up their minds. Winning them over requires subtlety. You can’t just go around the room urging the undecideds to take a stand. Instead, you must let them witness the action from the sidelines, especially the way you handle people who disagree with you. The more inclusive and evenhanded you are when dealing with your opposition, the more the undecideds will trust you because they’ll see that you can listen to all sides. You may never win the support of every single person in the room, but you don’t need to. You just need to win enough undecideds to sway the majority in your direction.

Validation to bolster your plan. If you’re making a presentation, third-party validation will help your listeners overcome their natural fear of being the first to support your idea. The validation can come from a colleague ("Marissa over in sales was especially excited about this product"), clients ("The reason we have so many good quotes on our website is …") or statistics ("According to the Times, this sort of promotion can increase sales by 25 percent in the first month"). Risk makes people feel vulnerable, and third-party validation makes your idea less risky.

Don’t say no; say, "Let’s try this." There are plenty of bad ideas out there, often bursting from the lips of your colleagues or clients (or family). Understandably, none of them wants to hear you say no. No is a rejection. It makes people feel threatened. Buddhism advises never to swim against the tide, but instead, to redirect it. Rather than nixing a bad idea, make sure you and the other person agree on the goal, then suggest other ways to achieve it. Add to their plan, don’t destroy it. If your client wants you to run an ad touting exaggerated claims for his product, don’t say no. Instead suggest an ad with quotes from satisfied customers. If your husband wants to have a party and you can’t stand the thought of all that prep, redirect the idea and add to it. First, agree with the goal ("I’d love to see those guys!"). Then, redirect it ("How about if we all go to the game together that night?"). Open up the discussion and keep adding ideas until you find one you both like.

The New Persuasion is all about recognizing that other people have egos, points of view and great ideas that will make your idea stronger. Learn to persuade through unifying, and your life will become less stressful and a whole lot more satisfying.

Chris St. Hilaire is the author (with Lynette Padwa)of 27 Powers of Persuasion: Simple Strategies to Seduce Audiences and Win Allies (Prentice Hall Press). He is an award-winning message strategist who has developed communications programs for some of the nation’s most powerful corporations, legal teams, and politicians. The first marketer in the courtroom, Chris is the founder o f Jury Impact, a national jury consulting firm, and M4 Strategies, a California-based messaging firm. Chris’s persuasion advice has been featured in Investor’s Business Daily, and he has provided legal and political commentary in USA Today and on national news broadcasts, including NBC, C-SPAN and Fox News. He lives in Long Beach, California.

27 Powers of Persuasion is available now.

How to Use Silence

Posted by Maria Gagliano

 

Today marks the on-sale date of 27 Powers of Persuasion by Chris St. Hilaire. It’s a handy guide that will help you convince anyone of anything—whether it’s your spouse or a boardroom of executives. As I flip through my desk copy, I’m reminded of how Chris’s advice is applicable in just about any situation. A perfect example is Power #20: Learn How to Use Silence. It’s amazing to realize how such a simple thing can have such an impact; and a little alarming to think of how many times we’ve all been swayed by silence (and not in our favor).

 

Seeing as how it’s also the Tuesday after Labor Day—meaning back to work and back to school for many of us—the timing is perfect for a little advice on how to make the most of our hard work. Here is one of Chris’s twenty-seven powers. Use it with confidence, and be amazed by how far you’ll go.

 

POWER #20: Learn How to Use Silence

 

Excerpted from 27 Powers of Persuasion by Chris St. Hilaire with Lynette Padwa

 

All the great communication experts use silence to persuade. Salespeople, journalists, and politicians are especially good at it. In fact, there’s an excellent chance you have already experienced silence as a sales tool. Ever buy a car at a dealership? The typical scenario is that you’ve selected the car and now you’re seated across the desk from the salesman. He waits. You make an offer, trying to sound as macho and confident as you can. He listens to your offer, shakes his head a little, frowns slightly, and says nothing. The minutes tick by until you finally blurt out something like, “I could maybe go a little bit higher.” It’s the classic negotiator’s ploy: the first one to speak loses. Unless you’re a skilled negotiator yourself, you have little chance of waiting him out, because the silence becomes unbearable. He has just used silence to persuade you to raise your own offer.

 

Reporters use silence to draw information from interview subjects. They’ll smile, nod, go “Mm-hmmm” a lot, and if the other person stops talking, they’ll nod again and say nothing for a few more seconds until the interviewee feels compelled to start talking again. Veteran journalist Bob Dotson has described how he uses silence to get the most memorable quotes: “People nearly always answer questions in three parts. First they tell you what they think you’ve asked. Then, they explain in more detail. If you don’t jump right in with another question, if you let the silence between you build, they figure you don’t yet understand and make an extra effort to explain their thoughts more concisely. Often, they make their point more passionately and precisely the third time.” *

   

When I’m conducting focus groups, I do a version of the same thing. I keep asking, “Why?” in order to get to the core beliefs of the participants, and if people don’t answer, I don’t speak until they do. In a business setting, you can use Dotson’s strategy by asking a question and waiting long enough to hear all three parts of the answer, perhaps nudging the person along with a “Hmmm, ” or “Really?” and then staying quiet.

   

As a political consultant, I frequently coach my clients on when not to respond to a reporter’s questions. Politicians love to talk, so this is a crucial survival skill they need to develop. “They can’t print it out of context if you never say it in the first place,” I tell them. Tolerating a reporter’s silence also helps the politician figure out how good a journalist he or she is dealing with, because the best reporters can wait out anyone, no matter how rich, famous, or powerful.

   

Experienced politicians are also skilled at using silence. Thanks to YouTube, you can watch them in action. Observe the way Bill Clinton pauses and ponders his reply in order to make a reporter feel as if he has just asked an unexpected, thought-provoking question. (Do you really think there are many questions Clinton doesn’t anticipate?) You can use the same technique when making a presentation to a group. If you know what the objections are likely to be and have already developed answers for them, the strategy is simple. Listen to the objection, wait a few beats, ponder it, and then say, “So you’re saying that if we do X, Y could be the result. Good point.” Wait another beat or two. “What if we handled it like this?” You have recognized the person’s reality, boosted his or her ego, and dealt with the objection.

   

Silence is useful in other ways too. If someone is dominating a discussion, let the person finish a sentence, then wait a few moments before you respond. It puts you back in control. (No matter how you feel about the people in the room, always let them finish their sentences. If you cut them off, it will seem as if you don’t care about what they have to say or haven’t been listening. Since the ultimate goal is to soothe egos and unify the room, you don’t want to insult anyone.)

   

Once you’re aware of the power of silence, you will see how often it can be used to your advantage. If someone attacks you or your idea, simply let the person’s words hang in the air for a few moments before you respond. Silence always feels longer to the person who is speaking, so that person will already be squirming a little by the time you talk. If you’re making a sales call, rather than bombarding the customer with every detail, leave plenty of spaces for the customer to fill in with a comment or question. That’s what gets the customer invested in the process. Finally, being comfortable with silence signals that you’re comfortable with yourself. Whether you’re walking down a hall with a colleague or flying across the country with him, he will be calmed and reassured by comfortable silence. It’s a lot easier to live with than nonstop chatter.

   

The other side of understanding silence is knowing how to interpret it. Every so often I’ll wrap up a presentation and the only sound will be the hum of the air conditioner. I’ll say, “Judging by the silence, I must have covered this topic brilliantly,” which usually gets a laugh. The natural tendency is to panic and assume that your audience hasn’t understood the presentation or hasn’t liked it, or that you have somehow failed. That’s not how you want to feel when you’re trying to persuade a group. Where does the truth lie? It could be that they didn’t understand you, that they don’t agree with you, or that you actually did cover it brilliantly. Don’t assume that the silence is a bad sign and don’t take it personally.

   

It seems to be a human inclination to confuse silence with intelligence or wisdom. I learned that the hard way. Silence is such a powerful force that I once hired a man who was relatively mute during his job interview. He conversed a little bit, he looked presentable, and he smiled and nodded knowingly to all my comments, so I assumed he was intelligent. I found out later he was nodding because he didn’t have a clue what I was talking about.

   

I’ve thought about that interview many times, because if anyone should have been alert to the possibilities of silence, it was me. Yet because of my ego—he nodded and smiled and generally boosted mine—I forgot to actually listen to him. The experience reminded me that whenever I’m not sure what to say, I should probably keep quiet. People will assume I’m intelligent unless I prove them wrong.

 

_____

*Bob Dotson, “Better Writing at the Speed of Spot News, ” www.rtnda.org.

 

 

27 Powers of Persuasion

Get Smart About Your Money: A Conversation with Dan Solin

Posted by Anita Thompson, Editorial Director, Costco Publishing

Reprinted from The Costco Connection, with permission

 

From the volatility of the stock market to the low returns on savings accounts, how to handle one’s money is a common challenge these days. We turned to Costco member and New York Times bestselling author Daniel R. Solin, senior vice president of Index Funds Advisors (www.ifa.com), author and financial columnist with the Huffington Post and AOL, for his take.

Solin’s national bestsellers, The Smartest Investment Book You’ll Ever Read and The Smartest 401(k) Book You’ll Ever Read are available in trade paperback at Costco warehouses, as is The Smartest Retirement Book You’ll Ever Read, also available at Costco.com.

 

The Costco Connection: You stress the importance of asset allocation as key to maximizing one’s investments. What is asset allocation, and how do you determine what’s best for your situation?

Daniel R. Solin: Asset allocation is the division of your portfolio between stocks, bonds and cash. It’s critical for investors to have the correct asset allocation in their portfolios. It’s far more important than stock picking and market timing, yet investors spend much more time on these less important factors.

 

Fortunately, determining the right asset allocation is not difficult. There are many asset allocation questionnaires on the Internet. I have one on my website www.smartestinvestmentbook.com.

 

 

CC: You write that an immediate annuity is a good retirement vehicle. Could you explain what that is and why it’s a good choice?

DS: If you ask most retirees what they fear most, it’s running out of money. That’s where immediate annuities come in. With an immediate annuity, you give an insurer a lump sum. It gives you a monthly, quarterly or yearly payment for the rest of your life, or for the rest of your life and your spouse’s life, or for a specified length of time (like your expected lifespan plus a stated number of years).

 

You can also purchase a fixed or an inflation-indexed immediate annuity. Of course, you pay for the inflation protection. Your periodic payments will be as much as 30 percent lower than the ones you would receive for a fixed annuity that is not inflation indexed.

 

A prudent approach to immediate annuities might be to compute your monthly expenses, deduct income from all sources and purchase an immediate annuity to cover the difference.  

 

The industry leaders in low-cost immediate annuities are Vanguard and TIAA-CREF.

 

 

CC: What is a common mistake people make in their estate planning, besides not having a will?

DS: There are many mistakes people make in their estate planning. Here are the most common ones:

• Not taking advantage of trusts to avoid or minimize probate

• Not naming a beneficiary for retirement accounts (or not having the beneficiary designation current)

• Not creating payable-on-death accounts, or transfer-on-death registrations, which would automatically transfer ownership of cash or securities accounts to one’s heirs

• Not having a prenuptial agreement in place, particularly for second marriages or marriages that occurred later in life

 

 

CC: You have a chapter in one of your books which basically states, “Don’t trust the government.” What do you advise instead?

DS: Most investors don’t understand the awesome power of the government and how it can affect their retirement nest eggs. For example, it’s perfectly legal for the government to pass retroactive tax legislation going back as far as 10 years! Low-hanging fruit for this kind of taxation are 401(k) plans and IRAs.

 

Investors should be aware of the possibility that the tax rules for these (and other) investments could change dramatically. It might be prudent not to put all of your investment eggs in any one retirement basket. Instead, spread out your investments among 401(k) plans, traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs (if you qualify) and after-tax accounts.

 

CC: We’re in a season of turmoil economically. What’s ahead, and how should people prepare? What do you see on the financial horizon?

DS:We need to fundamentally change the way investors invest and even think about investing. There is no investment guru who has the ability to predict what will happen to the markets, to the economy or to the price of any individual stock.

 

Markets are random and efficient. What drives stock prices is tomorrow’s news, and no one knows what that news will be. Want proof? British Petroleum started the year with its stock priced at $60 per share. It’s now hovering around $30. Obviously, the decline was caused by the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. No one could have predicted that catastrophe.

 

You need to tune out short-term noise and focus on long-term data. If you have less than five years before you will need 20 percent or more of your invested funds, you should have no exposure to the stock market. If you have a time horizon of five to 12 years, you should take an asset allocation questionnaire and determine an asset allocation appropriate for you. It will range from a high of 100 percent stocks to a low of 15 percent stocks. Be sure your funds are invested in a globally diversified portfolio of stock and high-quality bond index funds.

 

Lastly, ignore the daily financial news. Just sit tight and benefit from the long-term returns you earn by participating in the capital markets.

 

 

Copyright 2010 The Costco Connection

 

 

The Smartest 401(k) Book You'll Ever Read

 

 

 

 

 

The Smartest Investment Book You'll Ever Read

 

 

 

 

 

The Smartest Retirement Book You'll Ever Read

The Hidden Pay-off in Financial Books

Posted by author Daniel R. Solin

There is certainly no shortage of financial books. I have contributed to the glut by publishing four of them:  Does Your Broker Owe You Money?, The Smartest Investment Book You’ll Ever Read, The Smartest 401(k) Book You’ll Ever Read, and The Smartest Retirement Book You’ll Ever Read.

My background is in law and not in investing or finance.  I learned about the securities industry from representing investors whose portfolios were decimated by the misconduct of stock brokers (who disavow that name and have much fancier titles, like “financial consultants”). 

I was shocked by what I learned about how money is managed.  Brokers are salesmen.  Their goal is to generate profits for their employers.  The brokers I encountered knew less about finance and basic principles of investing than I did.

I did a survey of financial books.  Most of them were so complicated and densely written that I couldn’t understand them.  The point seemed to be that investing is terribly complicated -- far beyond the expertise of the ordinary investor. What was the option?  Retain the author and his firm to handle your investments.  After all, he wrote the book.

My experience with trying to get back money lost due to broker misconduct was not a positive one for many of my clients.  When they opened their brokerage accounts, they agreed to mandatory arbitration run by the very industry they were suing.  The results were predictable.  Many investors who were victimized by their brokers were revictimized by this arbitration process.

I struggled with these issues.  Investing with brokers made no sense to me.  Subjecting yourself to mandatory arbitration seemed to be like giving your broker a gun and asking her to shoot you.

I proposed a solution in The Smartest Investment Book You’ll Ever Read.  The title says it all, but it is often misunderstood. It’s not that I was arrogant enough to believe my book was the smartest investment book ever written. I saw a need for a book about investments that everyone could read, understand and implement, without using any broker or adviser.  I didn’t want my readers to become part of a system I believed was fundamentally flawed.  I wrote the book in a different style.  I keep the chapters very short and the advice very simple.  I provided extensive academic support for the recommendations in the book.

The reaction, which has continued with the publication of the other Smartest books, has been very gratifying.  The most common feedback from readers is they wish they had read my books thirty years ago.  Many told me they bought copies for their children.  Tens of thousands changed the way they invest and adopted the simple indexing strategies I recommend in my books.

When I wrote the Smartest Investment Book in early 2006, I did not anticipate the greatest recession in fifty years occurring in 2008.  Readers of my books were not spared losses.  However, their losses were far less than those who ignored the basic principles in my book, and they were prepared to wait out the recovery, which occurred faster than anyone anticipated in 2009.

The positive impact my books have had on so many readers has been -- by far – the most rewarding experience of my life.  I am so grateful I had this opportunity.

Visit Dan’s website at http://smartestinvestmentbook.com/

Follow Dan Solin on Twitter @DanSolin

Books by Dan Solin:

The Smartest Investment Book You’ll Ever Read

 

 

 

 

 

The Smartest 401(k) Book You’ll Ever Read

 

 

 

 

 

The Smartest Retirement Book You’ll Ever Read

 

 

 

 

 

Now available as an eBook: Does Your Broker Owe You Money?