Admitting that he lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in the latest economic downturn “by doing everything exactly right,” Milevsky (Are You a Stock or a Bond?
) revises personal finance planning now that “all the received wisdom is out the window.” He introduces readers to a simpler model employing basic arithmetic: assessing the value of assets (addition), allotting funds for future liabilities (subtraction), planning for even spending over time (division), and preparing for unanticipated occurrences (multiplication). He examines the nine major money milestones including paying off student loans, having children, purchasing a home, and retiring—with a decidedly contrarian twist: he insists that most people should not purchase a home until they are in their 50s or 60s, when they have unlocked most of their labor or “human capital” and converted it into financial capital. With helpful chapter summaries and designed for readers to pick and choose which chapters are most germane to their current stage of life, this is a comprehensive and readable introduction to wealth management. (Feb.)
