cover image Wealth in a Decade

Wealth in a Decade

Brett Machtig. Irwin Professional Publishing, $24.95 (258pp) ISBN 978-0-7863-1072-2

Writing with freelancer Behrends, Machtig, the senior portfolio manager in the Minneapolis office of Smith Barney, decries massively prevalent credit-card debt and argues that investors should be able to live on investment income alone within 10 years through systematic saving and prudent investing. The key is defining one's objectives and having a specific plan and sticking to both. Patience and compound interest do the rest. Machtig explains the intricacies of maintaining a sound investment portfolio: balancing risk against return through diversification, adjusting projected earnings for inflation, monitoring portfolio performance and so on. Graphs help make things clear, and forms are provided for planning and tracking investments. Citing technology, social trends and population statistics, Machtig is bullish on the coming millennial decade, a posture essential to his thesis. 50,000 first printing; author tour. (Oct.)