Bernard Meltzer Solves Your Money Problems

By Bernard Meltzer

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0671253433
• ISBN13: 9780671253431
• Release Date: June 1982
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 220 Pages
• Weight: 0.20 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Bernard Meltzer has good common-sense advice and a guide to major financial decisions, but dated

Bernard Meltzer's book is dated, but some of what he says is still useful, such as his step-by-step discussion of all the processes involved in buying a house, the difference between a contract and a binder, etc. Also still useful is his advice about building a good credit rating. The financial landscape has changed quite a bit in the years since this book was published, including the inflation situation. Back then, it was difficult for young people starting out in their careers to afford a house, car, etc. and make it to the major financial milestones. Now it is next-to-impossible. Meltzer makes it clear that having a certain amount of debt is OK if you have the capability to pay it off and the debt incurred comes from a purchase (such as a house for a family or the decision to have children) which provides for an emotional need. On the other hand the range of financial products has expanded since then, and there are many more intended for young people, the self-employed, and small savers, as the SEP, the Roth IRA and the low-minimum savings or money market account. I don't think Bernard Meltzer could have dreamed of telephone banking, online savings accounts, credit card transactions over the internet, etc. but I'm sure he would have approved of the legitimate savings/money market accounts that are available to small savers today. CDs and money market accounts were an option for fewer people than they are now, and I think that the fact that there are providers who offer these products with low minimum balances is a positive step forward which encourages the low-income (if they know about these products) to put their money in a bank rather than just carry or keep a lot of cash at home. What he makes it clear that he does not approve of are the stock market, currency, and commodities markets for "those who cannot afford to gamble", and he does not address these investments. While this is debatable, this is his position. (I personally don't think these and other investments should be entirely discouraged, but you should only use money you can afford to lose because there is a degree of risk that isn't in FDIC insured savings accounts in an established and legitimate bank). Meltzer does talk about the gold coins and other gold-related investments available at the time, including gold mining company stocks. This book is still good to read, if only for Meltzer's injection of personal history and life experiences into it.

From back cover~

In this book I'm going to talk to you about how you can actually profit from inflation. The basic strategy-the general plan--is both to buy and to invest with borrowed dollars. The reason for that is because of inflation you pay back your loan with dollars that shrink in value from month to month, from year to year. In actuality, inflation makes it possible to pay back a dollar with a dollar worth 90 cents, the 80 cents, then 70 cents and so on. I'm also going to talk to you about credit strategies that can go to work for you when you buy virtually anything and when you put borrowed money (as well as your own) in safe investments that are certain to bring in returns higher than the rate of inflation. After my introductory section, this book is composed of three sections. They are: Solving Your Borrowing Problems: How to Get the Money You Need When You Need It, where you'll find everything you ever wanted to know about borrowing, including how to get your loan requests approved. Solving Your Buying Problems: How to Buy Your Home, Your Care and Almost Anything You Need on Credit, which contains detailed information on the two most important and costly purchases you're likely to make, your home and your car, plus guidelines on how to turn your credit card into one of the most valuable financial tools ever invented. And . . . Solving Your Investment Problems: How to Make the Safest, Most Profitable Investments--Using Borrowed Money (and Your Own), from which you'll obtain prudent advice on inflation-beating investments from CDs to gold. I don't know of any other book which links together all the aspects of your financial life--borrowing, buying and investing--with a strategy for profiting from inflation. That strategy is the basic answer to all your money problems.