Charles Schwab's New Guide to Financial Independence Completely Revised and Updated: Practical Solutions for Busy People

by Charles Schwab

"There are dozens of primers on investing, but Schwab's is straightforward and carefully organized. . . . The glimmers of his personal life are gems. . . . By now, Schwab is a financial brand name,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1400046793
• ISBN13: 9781400046799
• Release Date: June 2004
• Publisher: Crown Business
• Length: 296 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.3" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

An Absolute Gem

Schwab sent this book to me as a promotional offer to switch my brokerage and IRA services to them. I decided to stick with my current brokerage firm, but I did read the book in its entirety and I thoroughly enjoyed every single page. I have a good bit of experience with investing so a lot of the material that was presented here was nothing new. It did however serve as a great reinforcement and inspirational tool to continue to believe in the market and the U.S. economy as a whole. I would recommend this book to every new investor out there. Mr. Schwab breaks down all aspects of the financial world into a comprehensive, yet easy to understand format that will leave any person who is new to investing very excited and anxious to get in! As I stated earlier, I found the book to be a tremendous inspiration to keep believing in the market....especially during periods of volitility like we're experiencing now. WRT the reviewer citing a $10,000 minimum investment to open a brokerage, that is WRONG. There are certain mutual funds out there that do require a minimum of $10,000, but opening a Schwab brokerage account will require only $1,000 to get started. Nonetheless, this is a great book and I guarantee every new investor will be glad they read it.

Good book :)

I'm not sure that is accurate about needing $10,000 to open a brokerage account with Schwab. Maybe in the past, but I was inspired to open one after reading this book and I had no problem doing so, and did not see mention of a minimum start anywhere...I did see that no load mutual funds that are performing well are being offered at minimums of only $100(!) I had no idea you could even begin investing for such a small amount...which might say something about my investment knowledge prior to this book, but I am glad I am reading this and getting started. I am definatley picking up some valuable insights out of this book.

Excellent Reading for New Investors!

I am 30 and completely new to the investment world. This book offered excellent investment advice for even beginning investors. I totally disagree with the first reviewer who said this book is for the rich. Even if some of the book speaks to people with a lot of money, it clearly explains what the different types of investments are, defines terms throughout in case you forget what the key terms are so you don't have to flip back through the book when you forget what he's talking about, and offers insite from someone who's very successful at what he does. It's a great guide to start with. I would recommend this book to all beggining investors. It's excellent!

personal finance

This is a great book on personal finance. When most people think of Charles Schwab, one of the biggest names in finance, they think of investing in equities. However, Schwab has chapters on mutual funds, fixed-income securities, and taxes. He talks about how to get started in investing, the importance of it, and how to invest to meet your goals and needs. I use his services to manage my family's portolios online and it is cheaper than other services, unless you are a day trader. Other services require a minimum amount of trades per month, that is how they charge less for their trades. Schwab's services are ideal for anyone managing their IRA. You also get free S & P stock reports for companies, which gives you all of the historical data you need to make a wise decision. The previous reviewer didn't review the book, he reviewed the policies at Charles Schwab. If you are investing less than $10,000 and are trading more than a few times a year, taxes and transaction fees are going to eat up your returns no matter what. And since when is having $10,000 in savings rich? This is a great book for beginners and people who need some guidance with respect to their retirement investments. Definitely worth reading.