The SmartMoney Guide to Long-Term Investing: How to Build Real Wealth for Retirement and Other Future Goals

by Nellie S. Huang, Peter Finch

The investment decisions you make today will determine the kind of life you will be able to enjoy once that regular paycheck stops rolling in. Designed to work as a flexible reference for all investors-no matter what stage of retirement planning you're in-The SmartMoney Guide to Long-Term Investing will help you retire on your financial terms.

Drawing on a decade's worth of financial knowledge and experience, The SmartMoney Guide to Long-Term
* Introduces you to the cornerstone of any wealth-building portfolio-stocks, bonds, and mutual funds
* Teaches you how to set up an asset allocation strategy that works for you
* Gives you the tools to estimate how much you need to save for retirement each year, depending on the lifestyle you intend to lead
* Reveals the names of outstanding mutual funds that will deliver the investment returns you need
* Shows you how to get the most from your 401(k) and introduces you to numerous real-life retirees, who offer important advice on the financial aspects of life after work
* Explores a long-term goal that usually conflicts with retirement savings-paying for your child's college education-and shows you how to deal with it
* And much more


When investing for your retirement, you can't afford to make mistakes. Pick up The SmartMoney Guide to Long-Term Investing and take control of your future.

336 pages, Hardcover

First published August 8, 2002

Reviews

[Mark Skinner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nellie & Peter:

This is a terrific book to better plan on how to build wealth through investing and your finances. It gives great suggestions on how to use what you have to provide a stronger future financially and with goals you set. It's broken into sections that are easy to digest and provides worksheets for you to complete annually to see what progress has been made and offers strategies to use after evaluating where you have moved from where you were before you set goals.

Thank you for sharing your insights and data you collected with your strategies and recommendations. This obviously is somewhat out of date with the specific fund suggestions as the infamous past returns do not guarantee future returns - but you explain what factors you considered in recommending what you put in the book and helps you evaluate current options in today's market climate. Look forward to reading more from you and setting goals for our family with what I learned and came away from with the reading.

[Daron · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first few chapters give a nice overview based on principles of how to manage your money and what investment vehicles make sense for the type of investor you are. After that, it dives into the specifics of which investments pass their tests and gives recommendations of what to invest in.
For the most part the recommendations make sense, but since it was published a few years back some of the recommended investments no longer exist, and the IRS rule book has changed.
A final positive I took away was that employees have the power to move their company to adjust their retirement plans if the investment offerings are not sufficient to garner returns they would expect from a retirement investment vehicle.

[Jenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of the recommendations make sense and basic understanding of each investment category are resourceful but, it was published over a decade ago and some of the recommended investments no longer exist, and the IRS rule book has changed. Be careful with the recommendations as well, as I said it was published over a decade ago and some of the recommendations are not good decisions.