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The index fund wouldn't be jack without Jack. It was just one innovation fueled by The Vanguard Group founder Jack Bogle's radical idea in 1975 to make investors the actual owners of his new fund company. While the move was as much to save his job as it was to save investors, the end result was powerful: a fund company for the people and by the people. Bogle began a 50-year process of lowering costs inch by inch, which ultimately unleashed a populist revolt that has saved average investors trillions of dollars while reforming and right-sizing much of the entire financial industry.Today, nearly every dollar invested in America goes to either Vanguard funds or Vanguard-influenced funds. But Bogle's impact and this “great cost migration” reaches well beyond index funds into many other areas, such as active management, ETFs, the advisory world, quantitative investing, ESG, behavioral finance and even trading platforms. The Bogle Effect takes readers through each of these worlds to show how they—and the investors they serve—are being reshaped and reformed.While hundreds of fund providers have copied the index fund that Vanguard made popular no one is yet to copy its “mutual” ownership structure. Why? This book explores that question as well as what made Bogle such an anomaly—seemingly immune to the overwhelming magnet of ambition that dictates Wall Street, made famous by movies like Wall Street, The Big Short, and The Wolf of Wall Street. On the flip side, Bogle wasn't perfect by any stretch—he could be moralizing, cantankerous, and tended to make virtue out of necessity.The Bogle Effect is animated by the author's hours of one-on-one, exclusive interviews with Bogle in the years before he passed, which reveal his philosophy, vision, intellect, and humor. Dozens of additional interviews with people who worked with him, lived with him, were influenced by him, and disagreed with him round out a portrait of this revolutionary figure.You will never look at the financial industry or your portfolio the same way again.

Get the Summary of David Carey & John E. Morris'King of Capital in 20 minutes. Please note: This is a summary & not the original book. Original book introduction: In King of Capital, David Carey and John Morris show how Blackstone (and other private equity firms) transformed themselves from gamblers, hostile-takeover artists, and ‘barbarians at the gate'into disciplined, risk-conscious investors while the financial establishment—banks and investment bankers such as Citigroup, Bear Stearns, Lehman, UBS, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley—were recklessly assuming risks, leveraging up to astronomical levels and driving the economy to the brink of disaster. Now, not only have Blackstone and a small coterie of competitors wrested control of corporations around the globe, but they have emerged as a major force on Wall Street, challenging the likes of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley for dominance.

In 2015, the Social Security Administration estimated that each day for the next 15 years, an average of 10,000 Americans will turn 65. In this context, the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued a report to help broker-dealers assess, craft, or refine their policies and procedures for senior investors as they prepare for and enter into retirement. This book includes observations and practices identified in examinations that focused on how firms conduct business with senior investors. The examinations by the SEC's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) and FINRA focused on the types of securities purchased by senior investors, the suitability of recommended investments, training of brokerage firm representatives, marketing, communications, use of designations such as “senior specialist,” account documentation, disclosures, customer complaints, and supervision.

HOW TO SEPARATE THE NEWS FROM THE NOISE: WHAT EVERY INVESTOR NEEDS TO KNOW There is no shortage of financial advice these days. From cocky cable pundits to nattering news columnists to off-grid online bloggers, there are more so-called experts than ever before--and the noise can be downright deafening. This no-bull, bottom-line guide from'The Reformed Broker'Josh Brown and Yahoo Finance's Jeff Macke will help you cut through the cacophony and make the most of today's media news. It's an eye-opening crash course in separating financial facts from fiction—featuring interviews with some of the world's most influential investors, including: JIM CRAMER (Mad Money) takes you behind the scenes of his polarizing TV program--and talks about his clash with Jon Stewart on The Daily Show. HENRY BLODGET (Business Insider) shares anecdotes about tangling with Eliot Spitzer, covering the Martha Stewart trial, and launching his Business Insider site as a'marked man.'BEN STEIN (Win Ben Stein's Money) reveals how he really feels about Bernanke, Bogle, Buffett, and bailouts. KAREN FINERMAN (CNBC's Fast Money) exposes the hype behind the headlines—and the'show biz'demands on television news pundits. HERB GREENBERG (TheStreet.com) explains why investors need to follow social media, where the'real'news is disseminated. BARRY RITHOLTZ (Bailout Nation) reveals his secret for'watching'financial TV. You'll also find invaluable insights from the original father of financial TV, Jim Rogers, and from James Altucher, the most shockingly honest commentator in the history of the medium. And you'll get a front-row seat for the processing and packaging of the news and learn everything you need to know about the talking heads who shape each day's narrative. Up-close. In-depth. All-true. Clash of the Financial Pundits is the one guide that will change the way you look at markets and investing forever. PRAISE FOR JOSH BROWN'S BACKSTAGE WALL STREET'Much like Michael Lewis's Liar's Poker captured the essence of 1980s institutional Wall Street, Brown's Backstage Wall Street re-creates the boiler room retail brokerage culture of the 1990s and early 2000s in vivid color.'-- FORBES'Joshua Brown may be the funniest writer on finance today, but Backstage Wall Street could make you cry more than laugh. The buffoons, manipulators, and incompetents Brown parades before us are the stewards of our retirement accounts.'-- BARRON'S'Run don't walk to read Brown's chronicles of deception [perpetrated by] those wonderful folks on Wall Street, who nearly bankrupted the world's financial system a few short years ago.'-- DOUGLAS A. KASS, Seabreeze Partners Management, Inc.

If you've ever bought a personal finance book, watched a TV show about stock picking, listened to a radio show about getting out of debt, or attended a seminar to help you plan for your retirement, you've probably heard some version of these quotes:“What's keeping you from being rich? In most cases, it is simply a lack of belief.” —SUZE ORMAN, The Courage to Be Rich“Are you latte-ing away your financial future?” —DAVID BACH, Smart Women Finish Rich“I know you're capable of picking winning stocks and holding on to them.” —JIM CRAMER, Mad MoneyThey're common refrains among personal finance gurus. There's just one problem: those and many simi­lar statements are false.For the past few decades, Americans have spent billions of dollars on personal finance products. As salaries have stagnated and companies have cut back on benefits, we've taken matters into our own hands, embracing the can-do attitude that if we're smart enough, we can overcome even daunting financial obstacles. But that's not true.In this meticulously reported and shocking book, journalist and former financial columnist Helaine Olen goes behind the curtain of the personal finance industry to expose the myths, contradictions, and outright lies it has perpetuated. She shows how an industry that started as a response to the Great Depression morphed into a behemoth that thrives by selling us products and services that offer little if any help.Olen calls out some of the biggest names in the business, revealing how even the most respected gurus have engaged in dubious, even deceitful, prac­tices—from accepting payments from banks and corporations in exchange for promoting certain prod­ucts to blaming the victims of economic catastrophe for their own financial misfortune. Pound Foolish also disproves many myths about spending and saving, including: Small pleasures can bankrupt you: Gurus popular­ized the idea that cutting out lattes and other small expenditures could make us millionaires. But reduc­ing our caffeine consumption will not offset our biggest expenses: housing, education, health care, and retirement. Disciplined investing will make you rich: Gurus also love to show how steady investing can turn modest savings into a huge nest egg at retirement. But these calculations assume a healthy market and a lifetime without any setbacks—two conditions that have no connection to the real world. Women need extra help managing money: Product pushers often target women, whose alleged financial ignorance supposedly leaves them especially at risk. In reality, women and men are both terrible at han­dling finances. Financial literacy classes will prevent future eco­nomic crises: Experts like to claim mandatory sessions on personal finance in school will cure many of our money ills. Not only is there little evidence this is true, the entire movement is largely funded and promoted by the financial services sector.Weaving together original reporting, interviews with experts, and studies from disciplines ranging from behavioral economics to retirement planning, Pound Foolish is a compassionate and compelling book that will change the way we think and talk about our money.

Wall Street Research: Past, Present, and Future provides a timely account of the dramatic evolution of Wall Street research, examining its rise, fall, and reemergence. Despite regulatory, technological, and global forces that have transformed equity research in the last ten years, the industry has proven to be remarkably resilient and consistent. Boris Groysberg and Paul M. Healy get to the heart of Wall Street research—the analysts engaged in the process—and demonstrate how the analysts'roles have evolved, what drives their performance today, and how they stack up against their buy-side counterparts. The book unpacks key trends and describes how different firms have coped with shifting pressures. It concludes with an assessment of where equity research is headed in emerging markets, drawing conclusions about this often overlooked corner of Wall Street and the industry's future challenges.

Chances are you haven't been making the best investing decisions. Why? BECAUSE THAT'S HOW WALL STREET WANTS IT Wall Street is very good at one thing: convincing you to act against your own interests. And there's no one out there better equipped with the knowledge and moxie to explain how it all works than Josh Brown. A man The New York Times referred to as “the Merchant of Snark” and Barron's called “pot-stirring and provocative,” Brown worked for 10 years in the industry, a time during which he learned some hard truths about how clients are routinely treated—and how their money is sent on a one-way trip to Wall Street's coffers. Backstage Wall Street reveals the inner workings of the world's biggest money machine and explains how a relatively small confederation of brilliant, sometimes ill-intentioned people fuel it, operate it, and repair it when necessary—none of which is for the good of the average investor. Offering a look that only a long-term insider could provide (and that only a “reformed” insider would want to provide), Brown describes: THE PEOPLE—Why retail brokers always profit—even if you don't THE PRODUCTS—How funds, ETFs, and other products are invented as failsafe profit generators—for the inventors alone THE PITCH—The marketing schemes designed for one thing and one thing only: to separate you from your money It's that bad... but there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Brown gives you the knowledge you need to make the right decisions at the right time. Backstage Wall Street is about seeing reality for what it is and adjusting your actions accordingly. It's about learning who and what to steer clear of at all times. And it's about setting the stage for a bright financial future—your own way.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A former Galleon Group trader portrays an after-hours Wall Street culture where drugs and sex are rampant and billions in trading commissions flow to those who dangle the most enticements. A remarkable writing debut, filled with indelible moments, The Buy Side shows as no book ever has the rewards—and dizzying temptations—of making a living on the Street. Growing up in the 1980's Turney Duff was your average kid from Kennebunk, Maine, eager to expand his horizons. After trying – and failing – to land a job as a journalist, he secured a trainee position at Morgan Stanley and got his first feel for the pecking order that exists in the trading pits. Those on the “buy side,” the traders who make large bets on whether a stock will rise or fall, are the “alphas” and those on the “sell side,” the brokers who handle their business, are eager to please. How eager to please was brought home stunningly to Turney in 1999 when he arrived at the Galleon Group, a colossal hedge-fund management firm run by secretive founder Raj Rajaratnam. Finally in a position to trade on his own, Turney was encouraged to socialize with the sell side and siphon from his new broker friends as much information as possible. Soon he was not just vacuuming up valuable tips but also being lured into a variety of hedonistic pursuits. Naïve enough to believe he could keep up the lifestyle without paying a price, he managed to keep an eye on his buy-and-sell charts and, meanwhile, pondered the strange goings on at Galleon, where tens of millions were being made each week in sometimes mysterious ways. At his next positions, at Argus Partners and J.L. Berkowitz, Turney climbed to even higher heights – and, as it turned out, plummeted to even lower depths – as, by day, he solidified his reputation one of the Street's most powerful healthcare traders, and by night, he blazed a path through the city's nightclubs, showing off his social genius and voraciously inhaling any drug that would fill the void he felt inside. A mesmerizingly immersive journey through Wall Street's first millennial decade, and a poignant self portrait by a young man who surely would have destroyed himself were it not for his decision to walk away from a seven-figure annual income, The Buy Side is one of the best coming-of-age-on-the-Street books ever written.

Millions of Americans every year have troubles with their finances. They turn to experts in droves, asking for help in filing their taxes, consolidating their debt, or just planning how they will pay their bills and invest their retirement funds. This book was written for anyone who has ever wanted to dip their foot into financial planning but did not know where to start. Through hours of meticulous research, the author has compiled countless resources for potential planners that will guarantee a successful start for your new business. You will learn the fundamental basics of financial planning, starting with the very process that most planners use to organize their own finances. You will learn how to organize financial statements and to create plans and how to properly manage taxes to great effect. You will learn how to manage basic assets such as cash, savings, home equity, and automobiles. You will learn how to effectively manage credit and how to deal with insurance including life insurance, health insurance, and property insurance. This complete manual will arm you with everything you need, including sample business forms; contracts; worksheets, opening, and running day-to-day operations; and more. For all prospective financial planners, this guide will give you a complete walkthrough and timeline of what you need to accomplish to be effective. The companion CD-ROM is not available for download with this electronic version of the book but it may be obtained separately by contacting Atlantic Publishing Group at sales@atlantic-pub.com, Atlantic Publishing is a small, independent publishing company based in Ocala, Florida. Founded over twenty years ago in the company president's garage, Atlantic Publishing has grown to become a renowned resource for non-fiction books. Today, over 450 titles are in print covering subjects such as small business, healthy living, management, finance, careers, and real estate. Atlantic Publishing prides itself on producing award winning, high-quality manuals that give readers up-to-date, pertinent information, real-world examples, and case studies with expert advice. Every book has resources, contact information, and web sites of the products or companies discussed. This Atlantic Publishing eBook was professionally written, edited, fact checked, proofed and designed. You receive the same content as the print version of this book. Over the years our books have won dozens of book awards for content, cover design and interior design including the prestigious Benjamin Franklin award for excellence in publishing. We are proud of the high quality of our books and hope you will enjoy this eBook version.

A compelling narrative on what went wrong with our financial system—and who's to blame.From an award-winning journalist who has been covering the industry for more than a decade, The Devil's Derivatives charts the untold story of modern financial innovation—how investment banks invented new financial products, how investors across the world were wooed into buying them, how regulators were seduced by the political rewards of easy credit, and how speculators made a killing from the near-meltdown of the financial system.Author Nicholas Dunbar demystifies the revolution that briefly gave finance the same intellectual respectability as theoretical physics. He explains how bankers worldwide created a secret trillion-dollar machine that delivered cheap mortgages to the masses and riches beyond dreams to the financial innovators.Fundamental to this saga is how “the people who hated to lose” were persuaded to accept risk by “the people who loved to win.” Why did people come to trust and respect arcane financial tools? Who were the bankers competing to assemble the basic components into increasingly intricate machines? How did this process achieve its own unstoppable momentum—ending in collapse, bailouts, and a public outcry against the giants of finance?Provocative and intriguing, The Devil's Derivatives sheds much-needed light on the forces that fueled the most brutal economic downturn since the Great Depression.

A compelling narrative on what went wrong with our financial system—and who's to blame.From an award-winning journalist who has been covering the industry for more than a decade, The Devil's Derivatives charts the untold story of modern financial innovation—how investment banks invented new financial products, how investors across the world were wooed into buying them, how regulators were seduced by the political rewards of easy credit, and how speculators made a killing from the near-meltdown of the financial system.Author Nicholas Dunbar demystifies the revolution that briefly gave finance the same intellectual respectability as theoretical physics. He explains how bankers worldwide created a secret trillion-dollar machine that delivered cheap mortgages to the masses and riches beyond dreams to the financial innovators.Fundamental to this saga is how “the people who hated to lose” were persuaded to accept risk by “the people who loved to win.” Why did people come to trust and respect arcane financial tools? Who were the bankers competing to assemble the basic components into increasingly intricate machines? How did this process achieve its own unstoppable momentum—ending in collapse, bailouts, and a public outcry against the giants of finance?Provocative and intriguing, The Devil's Derivatives sheds much-needed light on the forces that fueled the most brutal economic downturn since the Great Depression.

This is the eBook version of the printed book. This Element is an excerpt from Who Can You Trust With Your Money? Get the Help You Need Now and Avoid Dishonest Advisors (9780137033652) by Bonnie Kirchner. Available in print and digital formats. A practical guide to interpreting the meaning and value of your financial professionals'licenses, designations, and certifications Financial professionals who have more letters after their names don't necessarily offer higher quality advice. Some designations carry more clout because they require more dedication to obtain and maintain. Some are general and others specific. Depending on your needs, some will be more important to you than others. Here are some of the longest lived and more common designations, and what they mean.

This is the eBook version of the printed book. This Element is an excerpt from Who Can You Trust With Your Money? Get the Help You Need Now and Avoid Dishonest Advisors (9780137033652), by Bonnie Kirchner. Available in print and digital formats. When to file a complaint, how to do it, and what to expect after you do. Investors may not be aware that they are being taken advantage of because there hasn't been obvious misappropriation of their funds, and the only clues may be disappointing investment returns. According to FINRA, you should be aware that certain types of conduct in the securities industry are prohibited, including the following…

This is the eBook version of the printed book. This Element is an excerpt from Who Can You Trust With Your Money? Get the Help You Need Now and Avoid Dishonest Advisors (9780137033652), by Bonnie Kirchner. Available in print and digital formats. Recognizing the red flags that can appear while you're searching for a financial advisor. Red flags can pop up at various stages during your journey in search of the perfect advisor. Pay attention to them: They'll help you narrow down your list of potential candidates, and they might save you a lot of grief down the road. First, as you collect names of potential advisors to interview, do a FINRA broker check.

This is the eBook version of the printed book. This Element is an excerpt from Who Can You Trust With Your Money? Get the Help You Need Now and Avoid Dishonest Advisors (9780137033652), by Bonnie Kirchner. Available in print and digital formats. The components of an integrated financial plan--and how to start putting them together. Like doctors, there are many different types of financial advisors out there. Typical areas of expertise and the planning that can be incorporated, depending on your situation, include tax planning, estate planning, investment strategy, cash flow and budgeting, retirement, risk management, and college funding....

This is the eBook version of the printed book. This Element is an excerpt from Who Can You Trust With Your Money? Get the Help You Need Now and Avoid Dishonest Advisors (9780137033652), by Bonnie Kirchner. Available in print and digital formats. Understand your financial advisor's relationships to other financial institutions--and what those connections mean for you. When you engage with a financial advisor, you are also creating connections to various financial institutions. Understanding the various roles of financial institutions and how they are associated with different products and services can give you clues as to whether you are receiving the appropriate communications and help you spot red flags....

This is the eBook version of the printed book. This Element is an excerpt from Who Can You Trust With Your Money? Get the Help You Need Now and Avoid Dishonest Advisors (9780137033652), by Bonnie Kirchner. Available in print and digital formats. A concise guide to recognizing your financial advisor's possible criminal behavior—or non-criminal behavior that might still be costing you a fortune. Financial professionals who are actually participating in criminal behavior aren't easy to spot, as their illicit activities are likely to be well covered. Hopefully, you now have the tools to keep your hard-earned assets away from any situation that may seem peculiar, and you are certainly better off safe than sorry. Pay attention to red flags, such as avoiding financial professionals who…

This is the eBook version of the printed book. This Element is an excerpt from Who Can You Trust With Your Money? Get the Help You Need Now and Avoid Dishonest Advisors (9780137033652), by Bonnie Kirchner. Available in print and digital formats. Understand the field of financial planning, so you can get the advice you need--and can rely on. Financial planning includes many components, and it is difficult for any one advisor to be expert in all of them. It's similar to medicine. Some advisors with a broad base of knowledge act as generalists, often working with clients in a holistic manner--but they might have to find “specialists” in more complex situations. Whoever you work with, though, you need an integrated financial plan....

With the immediacy of today's NASDAQ close and the timeless power of a Greek tragedy, The Quants is at once a masterpiece of explanatory journalism, a gripping tale of ambition and hubris, and an ominous warning about Wall Street's future. In March of 2006, four of the world's richest men sipped champagne in an opulent New York hotel. They were preparing to compete in a poker tournament with million-dollar stakes, but those numbers meant nothing to them. They were accustomed to risking billions. On that night, these four men and their cohorts were the new kings of Wall Street. Muller, Griffin, Asness, and Weinstein were among the best and brightest of a new breed, the quants. Over the prior twenty years, this species of math whiz--technocrats who make billions not with gut calls or fundamental analysis but with formulas and high-speed computers--had usurped the testosterone-fueled, kill-or-be-killed risk-takers who'd long been the alpha males the world's largest casino. The quants helped create a digitized money-trading machine that could shift billions around the globe with the click of a mouse. Few realized, though, that in creating this unprecedented machine, men like Muller, Griffin, Asness and Weinstein had sowed the seeds for history's greatest financial disaster. Drawing on unprecedented access to these four number-crunching titans, The Quants tells the inside story of what they thought and felt in the days and weeks when they helplessly watched much of their net worth vaporize--and wondered just how their mind-bending formulas and genius-level IQ's had led them so wrong, so fast.

Why corporate stars often lose their luster after changing jobsIt is taken for granted in the knowledge economy that companies must employ the most talented performers to compete and succeed. Many firms try to buy stars by luring them away from competitors. But Boris Groysberg shows what an uncertain and disastrous practice this can be.After examining the careers of more than a thousand star analysts at Wall Street investment banks, and conducting more than two hundred frank interviews, Groysberg comes to a striking conclusion: star analysts who change firms suffer an immediate and lasting decline in performance. Their earlier excellence appears to have depended heavily on their former firms'general and proprietary resources, organizational cultures, networks, and colleagues. There are a few exceptions, such as stars who move with their teams and stars who switch to better firms. Female stars also perform better after changing jobs than their male counterparts do. But most stars who switch firms turn out to be meteors, quickly losing luster in their new settings.Groysberg also explores how some Wall Street research departments are successfully growing, retaining, and deploying their own stars. Finally, the book examines how its findings apply to many other occupations, from general managers to football players.Chasing Stars offers profound insights into the fundamental nature of outstanding performance. It also offers practical guidance to individuals on how to manage their careers strategically, and to companies on how to identify, develop, and keep talent.

Mutual funds form the bedrock of retirement savings in the United States, and, considering their rapid growth, are sure to be more critical in the future. Because the size of fees paid by investors to mutual fund advisers can strongly affect the return on investment, these fees have become a contentious issue in Congress and the courts, with many arguing that investment advisers grow rich at the expense of investors. This ground-breaking book not only conceptualizes a new economic model of the mutual fund industry, but also uses this model to test for price competition between investment advisers, evaluating the assertion that market forces fail to protect investors'returns from excessive fees. Highly experienced authors track the growth of the industry over the past twenty-five years and present arguments and evidence both for and against theories of adviser malfeasance. The authors review the regulatory history of mutual fund fees and summarize leading case decisions addressing excessive fees.Revealing the extent to which the governance structure of mutual funds truly impacts fund performance, this book provides the best understanding of today's mutual fund industry and is a vital tool for investors, money managers, fund directors, securities lawyers, economists, and anyone concerned with the regulation of mutual funds.

The story of Steve Schwarzman, Blackstone, and a financial revolution, King of Capital is the greatest untold success story on Wall Street. In King of Capital, David Carey and John Morris show how Blackstone (and other private equity firms) transformed themselves from gamblers, hostile-takeover artists, and ‘barbarians at the gate'into disciplined, risk-conscious investors while the financial establishment—banks and investment bankers such as Citigroup, Bear Stearns, Lehman, UBS, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley—were recklessly assuming risks, leveraging up to astronomical levels and driving the economy to the brink of disaster. Now, not only have Blackstone and a small coterie of competitors wrested control of corporations around the globe, but they have emerged as a major force on Wall Street, challenging the likes of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley for dominance. Insightful and hard-hitting, filled with never-before-revealed details about the workings of a heretofore secretive company that was the personal fiefdom of Schwarzman and Peter Peterson, King of Capital shows how Blackstone and private equity will drive the economy and provide a model for how financing will work in the years to come.

Bonus content'Getting the Financial Help You Need'included in this digital edition. Is Your Financial Advisor Honest? Are You Sure? Learn how to: Choose an honest, qualified financial advisor and avoid the crooks Spot the warning signs that you're being ripped off Empower and protect yourself, and get more help for your money Is your financial advisor the next Bernie Madoff? Can you afford not to know? Get this book, and find out! Read Bonnie Kirchner's unforgettable personal story: Her sudden realization that she was married to one of the nation's worst financial fraud artists. Then, follow Kirchner's journey…learn what she learned about detecting financial scammers…discover the questions you must ask and the steps you must take so it never happens to you!

This is the eBook version of the printed book. This Element is an excerpt from Who Can You Trust With Your Money? Get the Help You Need Now and Avoid Dishonest Advisors (9780137033652), by Bonnie Kirchner. Available in print and digital formats. “How could I not have known?” What you can learn from Bonnie Kirchner's tragic, deeply-personal experience with one of the nation's most notorious financial scammers For years, I had been reporting on financial scandals. I would cringe every time I had to do another story on a corrupt financial planner taking advantage of unsuspecting citizens, discrediting the field to which I'd dedicated much of my life. Little did I know, my own life was encased in a bubble of deception that was about to burst...

This is the eBook version of the printed book. This Element is an excerpt from Who Can You Trust With Your Money? Get the Help You Need Now and Avoid Dishonest Advisors (9780137033652), by Bonnie Kirchner. Available in print and digital formats. How scam artists fool even the smartest people (the secret: they're not at all what you expect)… Most of us like to believe we are somewhat savvy and can spot a phony or sense if something is not quite right. It is because successful scam artists are so incredibly good at making people feel comfortable that they are able to execute without suspicion. This was certainly the case with my ex-husband, Bradford Chester Bleidt.

This Element is an excerpt from Who Can You Trust With Your Money? Get the Help You Need Now and Avoid Dishonest Advisors (9780137033652), by Bonnie Kirchner. Available in print and digital formats. Lessons from the Bernie Madoff catastrophe: how you can keep “the next Madoff” from happening to you Like my ex-husband, financial scammer Brad Bleidt, Bernard Madoff was charming and innovative and influential in certain circles. Both men utilized their influence within these networks to recruit victims. They both provided consistently good performance in good times and bad. What is different about Madoff? He not only took advantage of inexperienced investors, but also fooled the investment community...

An insider's look at the changing balance of power on Wall Street The Battle for Wall Street follows the struggle for power between two giants: the sellers, traditional commercial and investments banks; and the buyers, upstart hedge funds, private equity firms and the like. The battle is about winning the hearts, minds, and – yes, the wallets – of global investors. This battle is still running its course, and with the insights of industry veteran Richard Goldberg, who has had a front row seat, readers will gain a detailed understanding as to what, exactly, is going on within this dynamic arena, specifically the forces behind the shift of power from the old sell side gatekeepers to the new buy side players. The book will play out in three acts: Act One will examine the instruments of change – liquidity and financial technology – along with their influence on the sell and buy sides. Act Two will look at the agents of change – hedge funds, private equity, financial entrepreneurs, endowments, exchanges and sovereign wealth funds – and their impact on the sell and buy sides. In Act Three, Goldberg will take out his crystal ball and walk through the strategic implications for the winners and losers in this battle, against the dramatic backdrop of the subprime mortgage crisis and the resulting shakeup of global firms like Bear Stearns. But Wall Street isn't simply about institutions or corporate battles. It's a landscape dominated by personalities. Goldberg's unique access to major players will bring this book to life with amazing anecdotes and stories about the financial generals who have left their mark in The Battle for Wall Street.

Blood on the Street is a riveting account of the Wall Street scam in which ordinary investors lost literally billions of dollars -- in many cases their life savings -- in one of the greatest deceptions ever, by the crack reporter who broke the original story. In one of the most outrageous examples of dirty dealing in the history of Wall Street, hundreds of millions of dollars in illicit profits were made during the booming 1990s as a result of research analysts issuing positive stock ratings on companies that kicked back investment banking business. Now, for the first time, award-winning journalist Charles Gasparino reveals the whole fascinating story of greed, arrogance, and corruption. It was Gasparino's front-page reporting in The Wall Street Journal that brought the story to national attention and spurred New York State attorney general Eliot Spitzer to launch an official probe. Now, Gasparino goes behind his own headlines to tell the inside story of this spectacular swindle -- with revelations from his unprecedented access to never-before-published depositions and documents, including e-mail exchanges leading all the way up to Citigroup CEO Sanford Weill. Drawing on his research and interviews with industry insiders, Gasparino takes readers into the back rooms of Wall Street's top investment firms and captures the outsize personalities of three key players: Salomon Smith Barney's Jack Grubman, a braggart with one of the largest salaries on Wall Street; Merrill Lynch's Henry Blodget, the Yale graduate who hyped his way to the top of the research pyramid; and Morgan Stanley's Mary Meeker, the'Queen of the Internet,'who foresaw the market catastrophe but gave in to the pressures Blood on the Street shows how regulators, like former SEC chairman Arthur Levitt, allowed the deceptive practices to fester and grow during the 1990s bubble, leaving the door open for a then- little-known attorney general from New York State to step in and make his mark by holding Wall Street accountable. Gasparino provides the first major account of Spitzer's rise to prominence, detailing how the attorney general pursued key players to build his case against Wall Street, including his shifting allegiance to the powerful New York Stock Exchange chairman Richard Grasso. A fast-paced narrative rich in sharp insights, Blood on the Street is the definitive book on the financial debacle that affected millions of Americans.

There has never been more opportunity for financial planners--or more reasons for financial professionals to consider switching the direction of their careers into this lucrative field. Today's planners will cash in on the huge surge of baby boomers preparing for retirement in the decades ahead. And as the number and complexity of investments rises, more individuals will look to financial advisers to help manage their money. In the new paperback edition of this guide, Jeffrey H. Rattiner, a practicing financial planner and educator, provides a complete, systematic, turnkey framework for the aspiring planner to follow. Starting from the key question,'Why do you want to be a financial planner?'the author guides you through the development of an effective infrastructure and client management system for your practice. The many essential concepts are clearly illustrated with examples from practicing professionals. Throughout this handbook, Rattiner provides personal insights on how and why a planner must develop a solid understanding of client needs before building a comprehensive financial plan. Getting Started as a Financial Planner has everything one needs to know—from how to set up a practice and communicate with clients to how to manage investments and market services—in order to launch a career in financial planning and to attain success in this high-growth profession.

'A guide for financial planners, includes: business plan development, client management, certification, legal compliance, client communication, and marketing strategies'--Provided by publisher

Uncover and invest in the best funds for today and tomorrow The number of mutual funds investors must choose from is now greater than the number of stocks listed on the NYSE. Selecting the right fund-and, just as important, the best manager-in a turbulent investment arena is more difficult than ever before. Revealing money-management secrets typically reserved for elite investors, top fund managers share their investment approaches, and provide in-depth explanations of their philosophies, disciplines, and backgrounds that can be applied by both individual and professional investors. R. J. Shook (Boca Raton, FL) is the popular and influential author of the Winner's Circle book series. He has authored six Wall Street-related titles, and writes a monthly column as well as a popular annual cover story-'The Winner's Circle Top Advisors'-for Research Magazine.

In 1892, John Elliott Tappan, a twenty-four year old Minneapolis lawyer, was worried how people saved their money. Out of these concerns, Investors Syndicate was born, one of the first of a new type of financial institution designed to meet the savings needs of the average person. Here is the story of this financial pioneer, whose innovation has today grown into one of the nation's largest financial services companies, American Express Financial Advisors. The book draws on Tappan's diaries, business correspondence, and various family oral histories. Tappan's life, work and ideas chronicle the changes in spending and savings, work and leisure, the culture of politics and money, that have given rise to our modern notions of consumer finance.