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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: $0.98
You Save: $23.01 (96%)
Buy New/Used/Collectible from $0.98
Avg. Customer Rating:  (76 reviews)
Sales Rank: 27324
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:
 If we only had the money November 21, 2007
0 out of 1 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
0 out of 3 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
1 out of 3 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.
Unlike some advisors Mr. Andrew walks his talk! October 2, 2007
1 out of 5 found this review helpful
I have had the occasion to meet Douglas Andrew and he is his own biggest client. He seems to be one of the most straight forward, straight shooting people I have ever met. I was a stock broker with my insurance license, a mortgage wholesale rep, as well as a real estate broker and I have to say the strategies that are espoused in this book are all... right on! Hey, nothing is completely risk free but this comes close. I took my own home equity out [by selling my home] before the prices went down. I am glad I did. Most of it I will put into this strategy over the next 4 years and some will be saved for a down payment when I think housing prices have bottomed. When that home goes up I will take the equity out and start another plan like this. It makes little if any sense to have your home equity sitting there doing nothing. I mean would I leave $100K or more sitting in my checking account, earning zip? NOT! Well money that was sitting in my own home was making me nothing. It's the same to me. Hey, if I can borrow at a simple interest rate and have it accumulate and grow [even tax favored maybe] and compound over time into a large sum, I am all for it. The idea of using home equity to grow wealth is not new but until now I have never seen a strategy that I was comfortable with. This book turns life insurance upside down and shows us how to maximum fund a contract and therefore use it as a great 'living' benefit rather than buy the most death benefit for the least amount of money and possibly outlive the insurance just when we are nearing the 'benefit', if you want call it that, since one has to die to get it. But let's face it, we all need life insurance and I know no better way to have it. The way Mr. Andrew explains it, if structured properly Uncle Sam is paying for it. The strategies in this book are varied and flexible. He also shows us how our qualified plans [401K, IRA, 403b, etc] may very well not be serving our best interest. This book is a must read for anyone that is willing to think for themselves [outside the box] and especially if you have been around long enough to understand what Douglas Andrew means when he says 'sometimes it's what we don't know that we don't know that can hurt us.'
 Please be careful... October 2, 2007
6 out of 8 found this review helpful
I think I would sign up for this if I had a lot of money and have as a small part of my portfolio - but for the most of us this would mean putting all our eggs in one basket, and not be able to take them out again.
I had 2 telephone appointments with the author's son contemplating signing up with their method. I expressed our concerns about our liquidity if another disaster of some sort happens. When 9/11 happened our income went down significantly for 1-2 years afterwards, and if it happened again we would not be able to pay the much higher mortgage we would have if we re-financed according to his plan. He swiftly explained that we would just file for bankruptcy(!). We have worked hard for ten long years putting our sweat equity into making our little house our dream home that we never want to leave - you can't buy a view like ours for a mortgage of $800/month anymore - why would we want to gamble with that?? The negative amortization loan he suggested would easily be covered by the continually rising house values here in Southern California, he explained. I protested that nothing can keep going up and up forever, and I didn't want to sit with an upside-down situation in my house at re-finance time. He didn't agree - just look at history he said - it keeps going up! Fast forward a few weeks and the whole foreclosure heaven came down, and our house is worth a good $100.000 less than just a year before...
Boy are we happy we didn't put blinders on and get too gullable!
We will find another way to provide for our retirement, thanks.
Also his projections of payouts in retirement are not adjusted for inflation so it really doesn't tell you much. $70k might sound like enough today but what will it be in 30 years...?
Please look into your options, consult a few traditional financial planners and ask them to explain the differences and in particular the high fees associated with this method. We found out that we'd be pretty well off just by investing the difference between our current mortgage payment and the one we would have re-financed to. Also have an equity line on your house and you will have the liquidity the book tells you you can't have unless you go with their method.
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