Sudden Money: Managing a Financial Windfall Review

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Sudden Money: Managing a Financial Windfall ReviewThe topic of Sudden Money is not one that has been studied the way that it should be. The best book ever written on the subject was Amy Domini's "The Challanges of Wealth" which was written in 1989. It did what what Sudden Money should. It really talks about what is important in any sudden money situation, the ability to control your emotions, know who to listen to avoid well meaning advice from family and "friends".
I am President of a company who assist injury victims with their finances and have 19 years of study on the Sudden Money topic. I was hoping Sudden Money would be something to give to staff and clients but it is not even close.
There are two easy to read books that everyone from the secretary to the President of our organizations must read before they join us, A Piece of the Action by Joseph Nocera and the Millionaire Next Door by Tom Stanley. Nocera gives a history of personal finance and Stanley gives perspective as to why some people are wealthy and others are not. Read those and don't waste your money on Sudden Money.
The Sudden Money book does a good job of promoting what Bradley is selling, her seminars. There is not nearly enough detail of the emotional side of dealing with a settlement which is a LOT more important than picking the right products or advisor.
When it comes to picking the right products, Bradley shows she does not even know about even some basic techniques. In the whopping eight pages she devotes to insurance settlements ($200 billion a year is paid out in these settlements so it affects more people than discussing lottery winners) she does not even mention structured settlements, the most popular financial tool used on cases of $1,000,000 or more!
It is a tax free spreadthrift concept that only injured people can receive. $5 billion a year goes into structured settlements and after 19 years experience and writing numerous academic articles on insurance settlements, I can say with certainity is the best way for injured people to avoid a lot of problems. Bradley apparently has never heard of the idea. Maybe someone should go to one of her seminars and tell her about what is REALLY going on in the financial planning world.
Bradley is media savvy and a great self promoter. I hope her book is not too successful as the last thiing a person with Sudden Money needs is poor advice.
Don McNay...Sudden Money: Managing a Financial Windfall Overview

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Tested in the Trenches: A 9-Step Plan for Building and Sustaining a Million-Dollar Financial Services Practice Review

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Tested in the Trenches: A 9-Step Plan for Building and Sustaining a Million-Dollar Financial Services Practice ReviewThis book is an excellent book for someone who has financial planning practice for a few years like myself. A rookie could read it and get some basics from the book. A veteran could definitely implement the ideas from Ron to really grow his or her practice.I agree with so much that Ron says in the book. Ron has been one of the most successful financial advisors in the business and his strategies for success are great.
He breaks the book apart into a few different areas. The first part focuses on do you really have passion for this business. He gives you some tips on how to figure this out for yourself. For myself, I really love this business, and I wish I had started doing this many years ago. I love learning how to get better in my field. For example, I absolutely loved studying for CFP and now I enjoy the continuing education that I take to keep my CFP certification. The CE helps me get better which assist my clients even more.
The next part is really for someone who is independent or has more flexibility with staffing within a wirehouse. This part focuses on getting the right people on your team and removing the wrong people from your team quickly.
The next part focuses on managing your growing practice. As one grows, one needs systems to keep client satisfaction in check. I look forward to implement ideas from this section as I continue to grow my practice.
The next section is on time management. The best item from here is at the end of each day to list the top six things you have to do the next day in order of importance. Then, do them. I have tried this before and will try this again. This is difficult because so many fires come up everyday. But, it is important to make sure you get the major items done every day. That is, you must put the big rocks in the jar before you put in the little rocks. If you do it the other way, you will never have space for all your big rocks.
The next section focused on marketing and focusing the clients more on your services. I think this is critical. This business has become almost a commodity business; however, the big differentiator is personal service. This is probably the most important item on which I focus. If I am able to exceed my clients' expectations, they will in return refer me to their friends.
He also has a great section on referrals. He has a great script to let clients know upfront that you will expect referrals from them. I also like that he suggests doing client seminars and encouraging them to bring guests. This is better than just having prospect seminars in which you don't if people are just there for the free dinner.
The last section talks about focusing your activities on doing items you enjoy. I enjoy golfing, so I do golfing events for my clients and prospects. Ron likes wine, so he does wine tastings. Ron does suggest that you be very good at the hobby before you have these events. Unfortunately, I am not that good at golf, but I have fun playing and so do my clients and prospects.
It is great to read a well-written book from a top producer like Ron Carson who really shares his success strategies for this business. If you are looking for some methods of growing your business and you are willing to implement some new ideas, I would highly encourage you to read this book.
Tested in the Trenches: A 9-Step Plan for Building and Sustaining a Million-Dollar Financial Services Practice Overview

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Best Practices for Equity Research Analysts: Essentials for Buy-Side and Sell-Side Analysts Review

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Best Practices for Equity Research Analysts: Essentials for Buy-Side and Sell-Side Analysts ReviewMy friend Tom Brakke, liked this book and said I would too. He was right, and soon afterward, I heard the author speak at the Baltimore CFA Society. Hearing James Valentine speak is an advantage here. He summarized what is most important, which if you are reading the book, it would be chapter 20 (out of 27). It is his FaVeS framework: Forecast, Valuation, and Sentiment, in that order of importance. Remember that as a key to the book if you read it; it tells you what to focus on as an analyst.
Another key, since the book is long, is to look at the shaded summaries which are usually at the back of each chapter. If stretched for time, read those first, and then read the chapter if you didn't get it.
This book aims to focus analysts on information that matters. Aim for information that makes a difference, and that few others have. Create an information web that maximizes the value of your time, and creates value for your research.
This book covers both the buy-side and the sell-side, telling each how to best use the other side. As a former buy-side analyst, to me it means fewer analyses, and better analyses. Aside from that, it is a game: buy-side: identify the better sell-side analysts and listen to them. Sell-side: identify clients that will generate commissions and market their best insights to them.
Regardless, analysts must identify the few factors that account for 80% of the performance in a given industry, and focus on those intensely. It helps to get into the industry organizations, which can help drive insight into the industry as a whole, and provide a backdrop for questions to ask when talking with executives in the industry.
Learning this will give an analyst a leg up on other analysts. Analysts should also understand the basic accounting structures of their industry so that they can identify companies that are not playing fair -- over-reporting income. I would add don't get negative too quickly. Frauds can develop a momentum of their own. Wait until the fraud gets large relative to the size of the industry before issuing a sell call -- wait for price momentum to go to zero. (Note: for investigative journalists, this does not apply. Jump on early, so that you can say that you warned everyone.)
Basic forensic accounting skills help, as do modeling skills, and basic statistical skills. I was surprised to learn a bunch of Excel shortcuts that I haven't seen elsewhere, and I have used Excel for nineteen years at a high level. The summary of accounting deviations is cogent, as well as pointing readers to Mulford and Schilit.
One idea that I heartily agree with: set up your spreadsheets to differentiate data and formulas. Cells with data series should only contain data. Formulas should have no numbers in them, unless they are trivial. This makes analysis a lot easier and cleaner in the long run.
The book also brings out the need to consider multiple scenarios, which help an analyst to flesh out his analysis. Being willing to consider what can go wrong, or right, richens an analysis. Also, the book warns against common pathologies that overcome analysts, notably -- Confirmation bias, overconfidence, Self-Attribution-bias, Optimism, Recency, Momentum, Heuristics, Familiarity, Snakebite (won't go back to one that hurt you), Falling in love, anxiety, over-reaction, loss-aversion, etc. I have experienced a few of those myself, and would have benefited from thinking these through before becoming an analyst.
Quibbles
I would warn any analyst trying to use simple or multiple regression that they are playing with fire, unless they understand the weaknesses of the data, and the limitations of the general linear model. In twelve-plus years working on Wall Street, I never saw regression used right once.
The author seems to favor DCF over multiples. Truth, neither works well, and one must live with the weaknesses of any approach. DCF embeds a lot of assumptions that are known, though some may be wrong -- multiples embed unknown assumptions.
The author does not like price-to-sales. For industrials and utilities I would say look at a chart of price versus price-to-sales. In most cases, they track, because sales don't vary that much in the short run. If you know the high and low P/S ratios for companies in an industry (P/B for financials) you have valuable information. It gives you boundaries to look at in buy and sell decisions.
I would also warn analysts against using Damodaran and those like him. I don't think his models are wrong so much as impractical. I would rather use a simple model that catches 80-90% of the action, versus one that catches 100% of the action, bet cannot practically be calculated.
Who would benefit from this book:
All equity analysts would benefit from this book. It is detailed, and yet practical. Some of our competitors will benefit from it, and if you don't read it, you will wonder why.Best Practices for Equity Research Analysts: Essentials for Buy-Side and Sell-Side Analysts Overview

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