Andrew TobiasRecensioni

2.5! rating will probably change since this is the first book I've read about investing, and I don't know what else is out there.

bleh:

-too long,
-lots of jargon
-confusing
-too many stories (where is the substance?)
- title bold, considering that if you're young or just getting into stocks, the book is too esoterically written to understand
-overall opinion rather than.... well, something other than an overall opinion.

ok, yeah:

-charismatic
-quips
-some ok (if not obvious) tips on managing your money wisely (buy bulk, live within your means, don't buy a yatch etc. etc.)

um? :

-opinion section on taxes and politics
-specific investment suggestions (don't know enough to comment on if they're good or not)
-statistics and other examples that I haven't looked into

A book I wish I'd read earlier in life as I struggled with many of the same issues that the author did. This is a coming out story that shows how scary and often depressing it can be dealing with society's expectations and our reactions to the various strategies it uses to try to control us. Often leading double lives, we can sometimes be forced into acting like spies - lying to ourselves and others in the process. Meanwhile the process itself often accentuates the negative aspects of being part of a minority. Also, covers the conflicts that arise when we know we are gay but fail to find anyone we're really attracted to or that is compatible sexually - which can delay things...Second half of the book a bit tedious...

Humorous overview of getting estate in order as well as general information on how to approach the stock market. Financial quips to help hold up your end of conversation. If you need a break from the serious side of investment, read this book.½

I was concerned about picking up this updated version, having read the first one in the 70s when Tobias first wrote it, but was not disappointed for going through this quick read again. I picked it up because several of my 20-something children were asking for some good references as they begin their investing lives, and was vetting it to see if I might recommend it.

Tobias has updated it, and he speaks plainly about what has changed and what has stayed the same. I found the earlier parts of the book the most useful as they spoke to personal finance and planning. The latter part of the book focused on the stock market, and while very important to the investor, because of my age and experience in the market I was bored. I suspect that if my children read it that they too will be bored by those parts, and may skip over them. They really shouldn't, as they can learn something from Tobias here, but I found myself wondering if someone more "Cramer-like," bombastic, loud...might resonate more. I didn't find it the perfect book to recommend for those 20-somethings, but lacking a good substitute I suppose I will with appropriate caveats.

Not the only one, but very helpful, very readable. It changed my way of looking at investing and preparing for retirement.

Very basic primer on financial management.

HG8531 .T6 (INS)MISSING

I feel there are a lot of personal retirement books out there and this is just another one of them. They do a good job in the beginning showing different ways on the web to save money. That was at least a little helpful

Found this book at an AAUW booksale and bought it on the strength of its first few pages. And it was a deal, even if only for the first half. Tobias/Reid is an engaging writer with a terrific, self-deprecating sense of humor, which comes across wonderfully. TBLBITW is, I think, an excellent primer for non-gays like me about the heartaches and difficulties of growing up gay in the 1950s and 60s - and probably before that too. Tobias conveys a real and vivid sense of just how awful it was to pretend to be straight for the first 21 years of his life, and I felt for the guy. It is his sense of humor which ultimately saves the book, and makes it eminently readable for the most part. And it was, I'm sure, that same healthy sense of humor that saved Tobias himself as he was going through all those terrible and trying years of growing up, first groping for, then finding his true sexual identity and trying to figure out how in the hell he was supposed to live. It was only the second half of the book, after he "came out" following his college years, that the narrative became rather self-absorbed and even tedious, as he gave in to his compulsion to tell all about the various couplings and sexual practices of the gay community - in NYC, Boston, Provincetown, etc in that pre-AIDS era of the 70s. I know he'd been missing all this "fun" for ten-plus years, but sometimes "TMI" can be an apt objection. So I did some skim-reading for the last 50 or 60 pages. That said, this was a better, more readable book, in many ways, than Edmund White's gay autobiography, MY LIVES. But not quite as good as FAMOUS BUILDER, by Paul Lisicky, who knew where to draw that line. So I'll recommend the first half of the book, and the second half with reservations.

A quarter of a century ago, shortly after receiving his MBA from Harvard, Tobias wrote The Best Little Boy in the World. Already established as a finance writer (The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need), he decided to write his account of growing up gay under the name John Reid. The book's publication and reception led Tobias to question his closeted life and slowly undertake the careful and selective coming-out process that is the crux of this loosely spun and overly anecdotal memoir. Via accounts of his coming-out experiences with family, friends and colleagues and various trials and tribulations of dating and relationships, Tobias sketches the shifting landscape of homophobia in America.

When I read this book in 1983 interests at least gave you some money. Now you can't count on even 3 per cent. Perhaps the most useful section for me right now is simply saving what I have. A great book in its eay,but nowthings have changed

I have a lot of personal finance/investment books, but this one is the best or close to it. Tobias writes in an entertaining style to keep you reading and includes lots of great info. He explains all kinds of bonds and stock investment strategies that no other book I've read does. He also includes info on retirement plans, college saving plans, etc and has a very good section on how to teach kids about money. If you want to read about personal investing, this is the book!!!

I was expecting this book to be dry and boring, and hard to get through, since I suck at reading non-fiction. But I was pleasantly surprised. Yes there are some boring parts (bonds, tax strategies, zzzzz), but overall Andrew Tobias lays out all your investing options in a clear manner, and he's not afraid to come right out and tell you NOT to invest in some of them. I gleaned a good amount of advice from the book and hopefully will be putting it to good use in the future.

A fascinating read. Written in 1982, some of the information is outdated (for example, there are no big mutual companies left) but many of the observations are still salient.½

To read #4: Compound interest; examines specific stock market strategies.

Rated: B+