Money Master the Game: 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom - Best Personal Finance Book for Wealth Building & Investment Strategies | Perfect for Budgeting, Retirement Planning & Financial Independence

I want to start off by saying that I'm not a follower of Tony's motivational literature. When I was younger my mother purchased some of his books and tapes and while they were somewhat inspiring, I never was one to draw my "passion for life" reading any book other than the Bible. I couldn't tell you what Tony's done or written since his 'Get the Edge' series that was mass marketed on television back in the late 90's.. but I can tell you what I'm pleasantly surprised with, and frankly glad I'm I came across this new finance book because a few of the chapters are "worth their weight in gold." These are Chapters 2 and 5, but please continue reading my review to understand why.-To give you some background I've been reading personal finance books since the late 90's starting with titles like 'Rich Dad Poor Dad' by Robert Kiyosaki, 'Automatic Millionaire' by David Bach, every Dave Ramsey and Ben Stein title ever written, most of Larry Burkett's scripture based Business and Finance books and Crown Financial information, Random Walk down wall street, etc. etc. To make a long story short let's just say I've read dozens of personal finance or retirement books starting from age 16 up until my present age of 31 so I can tell when something is new or old fluff, or just plain made up. I've also an investor so I have skin in the game.-Some people are reading these reviews and they just want to know if this book will help them manage their money or make money, and to cut to to the chase yes this book can both make you alot of money and save you even more money. After reading Tony's book I've placed it among the top 10 personal finance titles I've ever read and that list reads like the who's who of books that can actually make a huge impact on the financial future of the average American. If you don't like to read it doesn't matter, just buy the book and read Chapter 2 and 5 and then give it to a friend or delete it, but just read those two chapters.-What makes this book so valuable and easily worth the price I paid ($12 on Kindle). Let me summarize, and we're going to throw out all the chapters and information that was motivational jargon because I didn't buy this book to be motivated on living life to the fullest and I don't think most of you reading this did either.1. THE INTERVIEWS. Most of these interviews were not rehash's of what you could find in other books, and a couple of them could be downright life altering if people were to employ some of the advice given by a few of the men or start to follow a few of these men with regard to what they are doing with their investments. The possible life-changing and or interviews that offered terrific advice, tidbits of information that could save you time and money, stock market psychology, and or getting insight into those with your interest at heart. If you browse Yahoo finance and or blogs you can occasionally glean tidbits of gold regarding finance wisdom from some of the best of the best who have both integrity and the average joe investor in mind when they are giving out advice. These are some of the men who realize that most people who need this information are not making a 6 figure income and yet while most of them have wealth in the 7 figure range they don't forget about the rest of us and want to help us to avoid mistakes with our money.Carl Icahn. Rarely does this man give longer interviews, but Tony Robbins just may have one of the best interviews ever done with Carl Icahn. Carl Icahn is an activist investor. This type of investor attempts to take control of companies they believe are underperforming(usually due to poor management) and then take them over or make changes that will benefit both the shareholder and the activist. As a result in most cases employees and customers benefit also. Carl Icahn is one of the few power brokers on Wall Street who by following you can make quite a bit of money because he will make a poorly operating company do better by holding management accountable, and as a result he has and will continue to help the American People by making our companies more efficient and better which can enrich everyone. After you read this interview you will understand why it's important to follow the moves this man makes.David Swensen. Great interview, a good overview of asset allocation and risk management, shows why playing it safe for a long time is smart. Great tidbits to learn.Ray Dalio. Just getting the broken down into easy terms "All Weather Portfolio" is worth the price of the book alone and much more. This information is covered in Chapter 5. He must have owed Tony a huge debt to give out this information. Next to an index fund this is the best portfolio I've ever seen and the results it has brought prove it. You won't find anything better, but most people should have a broad ranged index fund before attempting to copy an allocation like the all weather.Paul Tudor Jones. Some of the investing psychology(not stock picking advice, but market psychology) he gives in his interview is as if you are sitting in a premier top 10 MBA rated program's class and studying under his stock market tutelage. You simply can't hear these things anywhere else and unless your in a very elite group that are getting MBA's at the very top finance schools you probably never will.John Bogle. What more can anyone say, he revolutionized investing for the common man by introducing the index fund and if you don't have one you really need one ASAP. Watch every interview with John Bogle you can find on youtube if you want a quick study in long term investing with the best possible outcome for the average person. I personally believe John Bogle has made more of an impact on the finances of the average American than anyone in history ever has or ever will, he truly is both a pioneer and a sort of modern day hero who put the common man above greed and reshaped Wall Street and investing forever.Warren Buffet. I can tell in this interview Mr. Buffet was just doing Tony a favor by giving a short interview to a friend but he didn't really give any advice you couldn't find anywhere else nor did he dive into any strategies or ideas for the common person. I put him with these others because of his track record. If you purchase a few of his BRK-B stock shares and hold them for a very long time you will probably do pretty well, but Warren Buffet would tell all average investors to get an index fund and not try their hand at picking stocks. He basically will mimic what John Bogle says in most of his interviews but John Bogle goes much deeper, is more interesting, has more integrity, and just does it better.-Yes a few of the interviews were not very good and I discuss those below. They in my opinion revealed little information, did not know how to convey investment advice to the average person, or just came across as sort of a self pat on the back in my opinion and wouldn't make much impact to the future financial wellness of the reader. Remember, just because someone is ultra wealthy in no way means they have you interest in mind nor can their advice or circumstances be applied to your own life.-These people from this book in my opinion who you shouldn't listen to include:Marc Faber(Commodities speculator who is a very shrewd and astute insider, I don't think he can be trusted personally, but when it came to giving advice he came across as a guy just throwing information out there just to give an interview almost as if he wasn't really sure what to say, like he was picking random numbers out of his head and giving them to Tony.)T. Boone Pickens (Just talks about himself most of the interview, you can find better advice elsewhere.)Kyle Bass (Made most of his money off an incredible speculation and talks about purchasing millions in nickels with little information given for the regular investor. It's my belief he either isn't very knowledgeable when it comes to investing for regular people or he simply cannot convey the information in a manner with tools he has never used for the average person. He is an algorith based trader and has access to both tools and information most people don't have. I would never listen to his advice based upon his history even though he is successful, his success cannot be repeated.-I group these next three together because their interviews mainly went through their personal histories and discussed why the success occurred and the importance of integrity and a customer first approach in the finance world:Mary Callahan Erdoes, Charles Schwab, Sir John Templeton (Mostly discusses the type of work ethic, integrity, and fortitude needed to be successful and also to leave a legacy for your family or people who's money you are investing.-So what makes this book so valuable, and why am I saying you must include this in your collection if you're a person under 50 looking to improve your finances.2. Simply because of Chapter 2 and Chapter 5.-Chapter 2 covers some of the things you've read in other finance books before, usually John Bogle's or Ben Stein's, but it discusses the Myths of the market and advisor fees. It discusses investment broker actual returns and debunks many of the common beliefs among the uneducated majority regarding how to make money with investing or retirement plans. The way this chapter is organized regarding the myths of the market and annuities is invaluable. The information on annuities for anyone under 50 is pure gold, and I have yet to see even a handful of books that ever covered the Annuity, which is starting to grow like wildfire and probably the best option for most of us with less than $500,000-1,000,000 at retirement.-Chapter 5. This is the best chapter of the book bar none. Ray Dalio's all weather portfolio is simply unmatched and having an in-depth guide of why and how it was designed, and then actually broken down into easy to understand choices is truly incredible. Yes you can and should invest in an Index Fund, and by now we know that 95% of portfolio managers will never beat the stock market over a long time frame such as 20-30 years, but the all weather portfolio created by Ray Dalio's team just may give you better or at least safer returns with less downside risk than even a broad market index fund. I'm still left wondering how Tony got them to do this and give up this much information on this fund. On top of that, there is a larger annuity and retirement information section which goes in depth on the importance of the 3 year window into retirement and how just the stock market return of the first 3 years of a person's retirement can make or break them, and WILL... unless they read the information on annuities.-On top of all this great information, section after section has Tony giving good links on how to access both more information. Going through this book you can see that Tony actually cares to help the uneducated average investor gain the tools to invest both wisely and and safely. Most finance books give you the what to do(or at least attempt to), but Tony's goes beyond and actually gives you both tools and the where to go to get more information and possibly help.-To top of these great chapters there is also a chapter on the future of American technology which goes into the advances being made in healthcare and engineering with the creation of 3D printers and how people are continually living longer so what we do with our money today is very important for a potentially long tomorrow. On top of this unlike many finance books, Tony goes into the importance of giving and how it can change a person's life and bring more fulfillment far beyond any dream or desire to be rich. Tony actually explains how and why giving is so important, and it's refreshing to see even a non Christian hold such a high view of giving our time and resources back to those who are less fortunate.So take my review for what you will, as someone who's read dozens of finance books and will only give applause to something that is both different and worth reading and knowing. I believe this book is very good just for those 2 chapters, especially if you are under 50 and have a long term horizon to invest with and haven't made tons of mistakes yet. For those who ar e older they undoubtedly should discuss retirement with a financial planner and look into insurance/annuities and stable funds. Below I will list my top Finance guru's and what I believe are some of the must read books in this field that all have information that can change your financial future as this book can do.Best personal finance guru's, the very best of the best who's work you must read and I will include one book from each. These people have care about the common investor above selling books or making money. While some of the information may be a little outdated in one or two of these books, these are still the best of the best by far.Must reads for personal finance with investment advice alsoJohn Bogle (The Little book of common sense investing, watch his interviews on youtube or yahoo)Larry Burkett (The complete guide to managing your money, planning for Retirement, Business by the Book)Ben Stein (How to retire comfortably, The little black book of investing, how to ruin your financial future, most of his books)Great books on investing that don't cover personal financeBurton Malkiel (A Random Walk down Wall Street)William Bernstein (The Four Pillars of Investing)Honorable Mentions for personal finance, financial lifestyle etc.Dave Ramsey(We all know about his books, very good for basic advice regarding personal budgeting, not better than the previously mentioned writers or their titles though)David Bach (Automatic millionaire, Fight for your Money)Robert Kiyosaki (Rich Dad, Poor Dad)Ramit Sethi (I will teach you to be rich)Thomas Stanley (Millionaire next door)Are there any people you should be watching when it comes to how they are investing their money?Only two in my opinion. Warren Buffet and Carl Icahn. Both of their basic stock offerings are in the 100's still. I believe Carl Icahn's IEP is up over 1000% since inception and Buffet's BRK-B is up 24% this year alone. Watch what Warren Buffet does because he has insider access to large changes in the economy and the government, and watch Carl Icahn because he creates huge changes in companies by forcing their management to become better in every way and with that usually comes great returns for shareholders.This guy likes to ramble on just to hear himself talk. He writes the same way he talks - says a bunch of things that sound good but most of it is impractical, incomplete, misleading, and at times, manipulative. The interviews included in the book were useless - nothing material or insightful.One reviewer on here claimed Ch.2 and Ch.5 are worth both "their weight in gold" and the price of the whole book. Either this reviewer fails to understand what he reads or likes to dramatize insignificant chapters.First, the interviews are cookie cutter questions and answers such as diversify, do not try to time the market, buy when the market is cheap, and hold for the long term. All of this is general advice that is mostly unhelpful when you sit down and try to apply the advice in real life.Further, this same reviewer claims "he cannot believe" the chapter that discloses Ray Dalio's All Weather allocation. First, just like he generally discloses in this book, Ray Dalio has publicly disclosed his All Weather's general asset allocation (just search the web): about 40% long-term bonds, 15% intermediate bonds, 7.5% gold, 7.5% commodities, 30% stocks.Moreover, generally disclosing the asset classes fails to disclose the most important part: what specific assets to purchase? Which bonds? 10 year? 30 year? Which commodities? Corn? Wheat? Copper? Crush? Lumber? Even if you decide which commodities, then how do you invest - futures? ETFs? mutual funds? Even if you decide how to invest, which specific future period, or which specific ETF? So you see Ray Dalio does not give away the secret sauce to his $180B+ All Weather Fund.If you want advice on how to manage your money then go directly to the source - listen to Warren Buffet, Charlie Munger, Paul Tudor Jones (& yes, I know this guy gives therapeutic counseling to Paul), Stanley Druckenmiller, Joel Greenblatt, George Soros (minus his insider trading), Jim Rogers (more of a 10+ year, long term, investor), Peter Lynch, and Ray Dalio - just to name a few.The following lists some great investing books that I read:1. The entire Market Wizards series written by Jack Schwager (a great series if you want to get into heads of the greatest traders & consistently most profitable over the long term). a. Market Wizards (1989). b. The New Market Wizards (1992). c. Stock Market Wizards (2001). d. Hedge Fund Market Wizards (2012).2. One Up On Wallstreet by Peter Lynch (a great read if someone wants to more actively research individual companies). 3. You Can Be a Stock Market Genius by Joel Greenblatt (on point if you want to manage your money & yes, I hate the book's title but love the content - some readers of this book have gone on to become hedge fund managers).4. Renaissance of a Stock Operator by Edwin Lefèvre (a classic).5. The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers by Paul Kennedy (more of a long term, 50+ years, look on economic cycles).6. Two great books on behavioral finance are The Crowd by Gustave Lebon and Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Charles MacKay.7. Hot Commodities by Jim Rogers (gives some of the basics of commodities and hints at how to invest - expect to gain some insights but no where near enough to invest individually).8. Investment Biker by Jim Rogers and Adventure Capitalist also by Jim Rogers (more entertainment than about investing - Jim traveled the world looking for undiscovered investments, twice).9. Principle by Ray Dalio (about having the right mindset - not about investing directly).10. A Random Walk Down Wallstreet by Burton Malkiel (I do not agree with author's thesis but his own ideas help show the market acts inefficiently).11. Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits by Phillip Fisher (about how to research companies to determine whether you should invest or not - fair warning, not the best writer but top notch material).12. A Complete Guide to the Futures Market by Jack Schwager (if you want to invest or trade futures then you must read this book. If you can read through the book then you MAY have a chance at successfully investing or trading futures. Commodity investing firms used to require their new hires to read this book - some people quit their commodity jobs after reading several chapters).13. Why the Best-Laid Investment Plans Usually Go Wrong & How You Can Find Safety & Profit in an Uncertain Worldby Harry Browne (more about general ideas and its pitfalls - written in 1987 but directly applicable to today).14. Why Stocks Go Up And Down : A Guide to Sound Investing by William Pike (about the accounting side of investing - people like Warren Buffet would say the most important part).15. The Big Short by Michael Lewis and Liars Poker by Michael Lewis (both more entertaining than about how to invest).16. Security Analysis by Benjamin Graham (1934 edition) (the bible of value investing - how to value companies. Ben was Warren Buffet's mentor).17. The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham (basically about 40% of the same thing Security Analysis says).18. A Treasury of Wall Street Wisdom by Harry Schultz (similar to Market Wizard series but not as in-depth but Harry interviewed the greatest investors between the early 1930s including Charles Dow - if you ever heard of the Dow Theory then this is the same guy).You can also read all of Warren Buffet's annual letters to his shareholders (going back to 1977) for free on the Berkshire Hathaway website (Buffet gives sage advice that is directly applicable to today). Importantly, Warren Buffet recommends that the average investor is better off investing in the S&P500 ETF (such as SPY) because a majority of the hedge funds, mutual funds, and individual investors under perform the S&P500. Why pay fees when most of them underperform.On the other hand, even when Peter Lynch managed the Megellan Fund at Fidelity from 1977 to 1990 (the most successful mutual fund in the world), averaging 29% return per year (double the return of the S&P500), most investors who invested in the Megellan Fund lost money. How you ask? How in the world did most investors lose money when the Megellan Fund averaged 29% per year? Because when the fund was down, investors pulled money out (sold), and when the fund was up, investors piled money in (bought). In other words, the average investor's physiological mind told herself (or himself) to sell low and buy high.The crowd mentality and their delusions and the madness is in human nature that will unlikely change. I think most investors will continue to lose money as they search for the nonexistent "holy grail" to get rich quickly. When your neighbor tells you about a great stock to buy and how you cannot lose money then close your wallet and run the other way.Looking at things another way, when everyone around you thinks the same thing and invests in the same thing, maybe you should ask yourself whether you are part of the herd that is about to get slaughtered.Making money in the market is probably one of the hardest things you can do. People who say they are going to make money in the market on the side is like a someone saying they are going to make extra money on the side by performing brain surgery on the weekends. The average investor has a better chance of making the Olympics than consistently making money in the market. These are the harsh truths that people will refuse to listen to.Thus, the market will continue to act irrationally and create bubbles such as the Tulip bubble, the South Sea Company bubble, the Dot-Com bubble, the 2007 Housing bubble, and the most recent bubble, the Bitcoin bubble (still in progress and not to be confused with blockchain technology).I may have gone off on a tangent here but with so many great books out there, I do not see how you could have the time to waste reading this book.*Generally About Me (it is fair to wonder who the author of this post is)*I started investing when I was 19 years old (I blew multiple accounts and learned my investing lessons the hard way). In the past, I worked as an investment banker and stockbroker (I worked my way up from the bottom).After spending over 10 years in the securities and financial markets, I began to understand how difficult it is to consistently make money in the market (if you look at the market and see dollar signs then you are in trouble; if you look at the market and see danger signs everywhere then you are on the right path).For the last 5 years, my average annual return is 30%+ (S&P 500 is about 8.9%). However, you should not think that I easily averaged 30% per year. Quite the contrary. I spent countless hours researching and analyzing my investment ideas. I constantly thought about different scenarios. Even after I invested, I continued to research and analyze any new developments and re-assessed my own thoughts. I invested only if I 100% understood what I was doing. I invested only if the odds were significantly in my favor. Above anything else, I protected my capital. Even if it meant watching opportunities go by (and I watched many do so). In short, investing is not a hobby for me. It is my profession.Investing is what I love to do (I know it sounds cliche). But if I did not love "the investing game," I would have to be crazy to spend so much of my time and effort fighting through obstacles and problems to succeed. My love of the investing game is what kept me going where most other people gave up. I spend years trying to learn how to invest. Years. Think about that. Years. And I do not mean, on and off. I mean a majority of the 365 days.I think this principle applies to almost anything in your life (not just investing). Do what you enjoy - not for the money, for the glory, not for the bragging rights, not for anyone else, not for anything — other than for youself.Money Master the Game is an excellent book. Pretty much everything Tony Robbins does is excellent. The information is specific. It helps to expose some of the myths behind growing your money and provides healthy, responsible, and specific alternatives. It seems apparent that Tony is certainly helping in lead generation for the investment companies he recommends...I mean, after all, why shouldn't he? However, in 2022, some of the links he provides to determine the health of your investment portfolio and the fees associated with it, are out dated. The links still work, but they lead to a page that requires your email and info in order to access and/or the tool no longer exists. This is not the case for all links, but some. All in all, its a great book and should be read by most people so they can understand what happening to their money.Did you ever watch somebody and thought "I really dont like this guy? He is so commercial, he is so fake!" Well, I started to watch an interview conducted by this guy and could not finish watching it. Then the marketing machine somehow hooked me and I bought his book.The book? Useless. I am not a native speaker but you don't need to be to see that this guy speaks waaay too much without actually saying anything. He has no respect for your time. Even the good ideas touched upon in this book such as the principles of compounding were presented in a way that left me unimpressed. The mighty idea of this book is that you should have bonds/equities/gold and commodities rather than just shares. In case you did not know, equities are much more volatile than bonds. 500 + pages just for this. Well, you heard it now. Read John Bogle or Benjamin Graham. This book ended in the bin.This is a great book and I have found a great admiration for Tony Robbins. It's pretty clear from reading his book and watching his interview that he really cares about helping other people through knowledge and money.The notion of investing in Mutual Funds was completely obliterated, this I definitely support. Just index guys, through DCA in my opinion. Another thing I like about this book is when he asked about what amount of money will satisfy you? One guy said a billion dollars and instead of just ignoring his, Tony went ahead and showed him how it doesn't take much money (critical mass) to maintain your dream level of lifestyle.Many concepts in this book are American so Indian readers should search for Indian equivalents of those concepts and the Ray Dalio portfolio diversification, well someone should backtest that on the Indian market.Either way, you can just index with NIFTY or SENSEX with Dollar-Cost averaging.If you know how to invest and how to not get emotional during mass pessimism, then this diversification is not for you and you are massively limiting yourself. Cautionary note, you should really be able to invest yourself though, not trading but INVESTING.The best part of the book in my opinion were the final chapters, the act of giving. So whoever says money can't provide happiness is dead wrong. It enables you to help those in need and that will definitely make you happy, more than any amount of money will ever be able to do.On a final note, this is a definite read and Indian folks, look for Indian equivalents of these American plans and be sure to apply these principles in your personal life, "Knowledge is not power, it's potential power. Application of knowledge correctly in your life is power".Tony Robbins is cashing out on his brand. This book has no value for people looking to become rich. It’s a promotional marketing campaign for his investment companies.It is only good for the middle class fixed salary people who don’t have the courage or knowledge to start their own business and want to park a part of their salary in Tony Robins finance firm.And Nothing about real Money.Its tips with references about how to park money with mediocre returns. I feel a usual banks FD will be much safer and hassle free than all the other low return investment tools shown in this book in the Indian context.I am a solid Tony Robbins fan and have all of his books from Unlimited Power, Unleash... and watched every one of his videos, audibles.This one was really disappointing, I must say Tony should not do content related to Money Making.Tony is good with motivation, inspiration and positive psychology but not with money related topic.I love how this book is written. If you have ever seen Tony Robbins on YouTube you know it is in his own words and entertaining as well as informative.This book has made me want to save in way of investing. This book shows you that investing is the the smarter way to be rich even if the interest rates go up!I am not very good at maths and technical finance stuff and saving. This book is presented in a way in which everyone can understand and Tony Robbins really goes out of his way to make sure the average Joe can understand. So I understand the maths plus the financial stuff. In fact, there is an app which is free to use and referenced in the book that does all the maths for you when it comes to compound interest. Furthermore, now I understand how compound interest works and using the app to find out what my predicted results will be I am saving my money by investing it. The app even encouraged me to save more than I would have typically. This is because of the results it shows you which are possible and that you can do the process of this on the app over and over again to see the difference in how much it will be worth. Additionally, the app and the book makes you look at ways you can tweak your current finances to save more for your future.This book is highly motivating and useful to those who already save regularly or people like me who were not saving anything.An added bonus is that buying the book you are feeding people as Tony Robbins is not making money on this book. Instead, he is using the money to feed people who are in poverty.I really have nothing negative to say about this book!The item arrived promptly and well packaged.Some excellent info ... however a good few chapters don't translate to the U.K. Audience