Thursday, January 04, 2007

New Personal Finance Books for 2007

It's that time of year again... Publisher's Weekly recently did an article previewing some highlights from among the many new personal finance and investing books that will be hitting the shelves early in 2007. There were also some interesting insights about the market for finance books-- when the stock market is doing well, more people buy finance books because "when there's money to be made, investors are willing to spend on books," they theorize. How is today's outlook? The editorial director of Portfolio points out that although the Dow and S&P are hitting historic highs, the NASDAQ is at less than half of its all-time high, meaning "investors are more cautious and book buyers have become more cynical." But he also points out that more people are in the investing game today, as online services have made trading commissions less than the price of a Manhattan movie ticket... or, for that matter, less than half the price of a hardcover book. Either way, I think the outlook for the forseeable future is that there will be a bumper crop of new personal finance books every year!

Here are the featured new titles:
Jim Cramer's Mad Money: Watch TV, Get Rich (ugh, could they have a more odious subtitle?)
Women & Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny by Suze Orman (Nice, but when is someone going to write a book specifically for MEN who are clueless about money? I'm getting tired of this whole "even smart women can't get their financial act together" schtick.)
The Only Three Questions That Count: Investing by Knowing What Others Don't by Ken Fisher
Do This, Get Rich: 12 Things You Can Do Now to Gain Financial Freedom by Jim Britt (doesn't seem to be on Amazon yet-- somebody's online marketing person is in deep doo-doo!)
What Color is Your Parachute: For Retirement by Richard Nelson Bolles and John E. Nelson
Saving for Retirement Without Living Like a Pauper of Winning the Lottery, by Gail MarksJarvis
You Can Do It: The Boomer's Guide to a Great Retirement by Jonathan D. Pond (says that boomers are actually more prepared for retirement than the preceding generation-- good news, if it's true!)
Money Can Buy Happiness: Learn How to Spend to Get the Life You Want by M. P. Dunleavy
Financial Bliss: A Couple's Guide to Merging Money Styles and Building a Rich Life Together by Bambi Holzer (I wish she'd written this 40 years ago for my parents!)
Financial Armageddon: Protecting Your Future from Four Impending Catastrophes by Michael J. Panzer (I want to know what the 4 catastrophes are! Sounds scary!)
The Millionaire Maker's Guide to Wealth Cycle Investing, by Loral Langmeier (see my post about her first book)
The Millionare Zone: Seven Winning Steps to a Seven Figure Fortune by Jennifer Openshaw
The Last Chance Millionaire: It's Not Too Late to Become Wealthy by Douglas R. Andrew (says that pre-paying your mortgage and maxing out your 401k may actually be a bad thing for retirement savings?!?)
Mommy Millionaire: How I Turned My Kitchen Table Idea into a Million Dollars and How You Can, Too by Kim Lavine
Detox Your Finances: Earn More, Spend Less, and Make Your Money Work as Hard as You Do by John Middleton (Part of a series called "52 Brilliant Ideas")
The Big Investment Lie: What Your Financial Advisor Doesn't Want You to Know by Michael Edesess
The Last Link: Closing the Gap that Is Sabotaging Your Business by Gregg Crawford
Finding the Next Starbucks: How to Identify and Invest in the Hot Stocks of Tomorrow by Michael Moe (I might have to read this one, speaking as someone who was tipped off about Starbucks when I had never heard of the company and had no interest in investing-- oh, for a time machine...)
Grande Expectations: A Year in the Life of Starbucks' Stock by Karen Blumenthal (this sounds interesting-- a behind-the-scenes narrative look at the company's progress throughout 2005, and how its stock price was affected by various things. It aims to give readers "a much stronger understanding of key factors of investing.")

It certainly sounds like there will be something for everyone...Happy reading!

4 comments:

Tiredbuthappy said...

Nice to see M.P. Dunleavy has a book out. Her column on MSN money was what got me started reading financial articles. I've been less than thrilled with her work since she started doing the Women in Red series (dumb name, dumb group) but a couple years ago it was a major revelation that there was actually financial advice out there for people like me. Before that, financial articles interested me but they always seemed geared toward the affluent white middle-aged man. I was trying to figure out how to invest with my 10K a year retail salary. Dunleavy's work was really spot on.

But will I buy the book? I dunno. I'll probably get it from the library.

Stephanie said...

I'm in the same boat!! I like MP and started reading her column first. I don't know if I'll buy the book either, but I might check it out from the library. I am not crazy about the Women in Red series either.

Thanks Madame X for posting the list. I'll have to check a couple of these out later this year.

Anonymous said...

Librarian here. Thanks for your list! Go get them at the LIBRARY!!!! best bargain in town for your tax money. fer sure.

Anonymous said...

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