Money Dynamics for the 1990s

By Venita Vancaspel

VanCaspel, bestselling author and host of the PBS series "The Money Makers," explains why people must totally rethink and reposition their assets for maximum gain and reveals why many of the old rules... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0671661582
• ISBN13: 9780671661588
• Release Date: March 1988
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 544 Pages
• Weight: 2.42 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 1.5" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

Good Primer on Investment Strategy and Implementation

As an introductory text on financial planning, I give it a B. I got my first taste of financial planning back in 1979 when I attended an adult education class in financial planning. It was taught by an Edward D. Jones financial planner and he used Venita's book The New Money Dynamics as the course text book. This first edition was updated several times including Money Dynamics for the 1990's. This adult education course got me interested in financial planning and it has been my hobby for the last 26 years. Some key concepts I first learned about with this book including "own versus loan" to become wealthy. Successful investors increased their net worth by owning assets, not loaning out their money. Another key concept was the power of compound interest. Venita's concept of your investment creating children (interest) who beget another generation of children still sticks in my mind 26 years after first hearing the concept. Her book was also the first time I really saw insurance analyzed from the perspective of an investor. I learned the advantages of term life insurance versus whole life. This book is also where I first learned about mutual funds and their advantages. She also does an excellent job of explaining the ravages of inflation to your investments. The only negative thing in her book was limited partnerships. Venita got her start in the 1970's as a financial planner and grew up in the age of tax-advantaged limited partnerships. After taking the adult-ed class, I invested small amounts in 2 limited partnerships. When Congress wiped out the tax advantages of limited partnerships in 1986 and the price of oil fell, the value of existing limited partnerships was wiped out. I escaped with relatively small losses on my 2 limited partnerships, but never again will I touch relatively non-liquid investments whose value can be wiped out with 1 tax law change. Venita got herself in some hot water in the 1980's, primarily due to investors who lost their money in limited partnerships she recommended. See the June 25, 1990, edition of Forbes magazine pages 252-254 for details of her woes. As hard and complicated as Wall Street tries to make investing..... to make you think you need a broker or active mutual fund manager, the steps for successful investing are very basic. Venita's book does hit some of the basic steps correctly. #1 is to live below your means so you can save at least 10% of your gross each year and invest it. This sounds easy, but it apparently is not since the average U.S. household credit card debt is now around $8,000 saving rates are below 1%, and average household net worth is below $100K. The book should have mentioned the classic book The Richest Man in Babylon with regards to the merits of living below your means so you have money to invest. Venita doesn't recommend a specific percentage of gross income to save but does recommend saving and investing. #2 is to use automatic investment so you pay yourself first. If

One-stop primer on finance.

Venita Van Caspel writes a basic financial planning primer that everyone should read. She explains the insurance and investment products that everyone needs and the reasons why they need them. Her prose is easily understood without the jargon and spiced with humor. I have suggested this book for my classes in financial planning.