Book Review: Where to Put Your Money NOW; Bad Times Shouldn't Mean the End of Your Financial Dreams and Security

"Where to Put Your Money NOW" by Peter Passell is an easy-to-read investment primer updated to address today's financial crisis. The initial chapters contains a particularly clear and concise explanation of how we got ourselves into this fiscal mess. Passell details the underlying factors that contributed to the many asset bubbles that began bursting in 2007. His down to earth, though slightly populist, explanation is probably the greatest value of the book. Passell's central thesis is that things just got too complex for senior executives and regulators alike. But with the money rolling in there were strong incentives to not rock the boat. But bubbles always burst as this one did.

Subsequent sections attempt to help you decide where to best put your money. Passell does this through a combination of explaining how various asset classes and investment vehicles work and also to trumpet diversification. This last concept cannot be overstated. If there was any single lesson that needs to be learned is that diversification must be a guiding principle of any investment strategy (or as he notes "don't put all of your investment eggs in the same basket.").

"Where to Put Your Money NOW" is a quick read (took me just a couple of hours) and recommended for anyone who's trying to get a handle on what has happened to their 401k and what they should be doing about it.

Amazon Link: Where to Put Your Money NOW: How to Make Super-Safe Investments and Secure Your Future