Secrets of the Wealth Makers: Top Money Managers Reveal Their Investing Wisdom

I have read them all, and this is by far the best.

This book does not convey any new ideas, but is a good overall summation of some very sound wealth creation techniques and theories.

"If I were a rich man," goes the song. Well, if you were, this is how you would invest. Michael F. Lane draws on the advice of top money managers and financial planners to help readers in five key areas: 1) wealth planning, 2) wealth accumulation, 3) wealth without tax, 4) wealth transfer and 5) wealth protection and preservation. The book is aimed at the individual investor with a relative lack of experience in the financial marketplace. The broad overview includes basics of planning your portfolio, E-trading, making investments more tax efficient (for U.S. investors) and estate planning. This solid guide emphasizes fundamentals, although sometimes the discussion becomes repetitious. And, when different advisers give contradictory advice, the diversity of opinion can seem confusing. Lane might have done more summarizing and synthesizing, but we [...] recommend his solid book as a generally good guide for prospective and new investors who want a reason to sing.

I found Michael Lane's book "Secrets of the Wealth Makers" to be very informative and an easy read. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in accumulating wealth or understanding how to protect and transfer their existing wealth.

As one of the Registered Investment Advisors (RIA's) interviewed by Michael Lane for his newest book, "Secrets of the Wealth Makers", it was with a certain level of excitement that I spent my weekend reading it cover to cover. Although I recognized some of the other advisors by name, I had never met nor talked to any of them. Thus, I was pleasantly surprised by the consistency of our advice. It is important for any reader of "Secrets of the Wealth Makers" to understand that this is not a technical manual on the latest investment strategies or a "how to" book on managing your money. There are plenty of those out there, even though most of the recommended strategies are far from proven. In contrast, Lane focuses on an investor's human relationship with the investment marketplace. It looks at both the intellectual as well as the emotional issues that individuals must deal with to be successful investors. In keeping with his relationship theme, Lane does an excellent job of helping the reader understand the role a professional Registered Investment Advisor plays in the search for financial peace-of-mind. This book is also helpful in identifying the issues that need to be considered when an investor selects a professional advisor. But don't confuse this book with one of the many available about investment gurus. None of the advisors cited by Lane here professes to be a guru and, in fact, Lane seems to suggest that successful gurus (over the long run) don't exist. Instead, Lane identifies "top advisors" as those who are genuinely concerned about their clients' well being. These advisors clearly understand the human side of investment issues. One of the best elements of "Secrets of the Wealth Makers" is that it encourages readers to raise their expectations of service from any investment professional they're considering. In this day, with everyone from stock brokers to insurance agents to bankers calling themselves financial advisors, prospective clients need as much information about evaluating these professionals as they do about investment techniques. "Secrets of the Wealth Makers" also provides broad coverage of most of the wealth management strategies currently in use, and has an excellent index for reference. With Michael Lane's easy to read style, combined with interesting stories from top money managers, you'll find this book not only a quick read, but one you'll want to refer back to often in your search for a professional investment advisor or in evaluating your existing advisor. Another good book you might consider is "Twenty Five Myths You've Got To Avoid If You Want To Manage Your Money Right" by Jonathan Clements. It is real information about the real world of investing, debunking the hype.