There is plenty of ‘investment advice’ floating around im books, in newspaper ads and, yes, even in blogs!
You know you need the financial education to get ahead, so how do you tell the good from the bad?
For a start, try the Fedral Trade Commission’s Test Your Investment IQ …
Done? Now take a look at this BS Detector – it’s aimed at real-estate ‘gurus’ but will work pretty much for any type of financial advice.
And, if you have an interest in investing in real estate, and want to read some books, here is a very opinionated assessment of a number of the s-called real estate gurus out there and some of their books.
You might be surprised at some of the names ….
It seems that this guy doesn’t like ANYBODY, but he has some interesting things to say about them.
If you’ve been to some of these seminars or read some of these real-estate investing authors, let me know what YOU think.
Not to speak for Mr. Reed, but it isn’t true that he doesn’t like anybody. There are a few that he likes, some he’s ambivalent to, and many he feels are outright hucksters. If you look at his color coding for the names, it’s pretty obvious (e.g. green, black, red).
Frankly, I found his site a nice dose of reality. He has a reasonable view of how he feels you can get ahead via real estate investing (of course he has his own products he’s selling) and the risks you are taking when you go for it. Since I’m not interested in flipping homes or becoming a landlord, I can’t give a real nod to his books one way or the other. However, the few articles I’ve read on his site gave me more information and more to think about than the “rah rah, you can do it, just buy more of our crap to find out how” sites many of the folks he’s down on provide.
I will say, I read a certain popular guru’s book a long time ago. It got me excited and fired up, so I also attended a free seminar which promised to show the “secrets” of the author’s technique (this was at least twelve years ago). All I can say is that I couldn’t wait to see more information than was in the book, and instead got a regurgitated version of what I’d already read with nothing new, except for the unbelievably heavy sales pitch for all the items that had miraculasly appeared on the tables in the back while the speaker kept us focused up front for an hour.
It was a scam. I’m sure eventually, if you pay enough, they’ll outline some actual techniques for handling the deals and really finding the bargins, but I’m sure their general applications, or don’t apply where you live, etc..
In the end, these systems only work if you get excited, get motivated, and get moving. However, that applies to any career, any business, and any endevour you want to have succeed. There are very few rags to riches stories about people just ambling along and suddenly everything falls into their laps. You have to work for it.
Thanks for your comment, Peter. I’m not sure that there’s any ‘rah rah’ in making money:
Save more than you spend; pay off your consumer debts as quick as you can; keep saving; increase your income any way that (safely and ethically) turns you on; save some more; buy passive income assets; repeat until you have enough to stop working … that’ll be $10k thanks!