Money Master The Game
TONY ROBBINS
NOTES
Tony Robbins is a public speaker and it shows through his writing. He is very long winded and likes to tease information. The first 300 pages are to get the reader invested with an emotional response. My first notes were taken from page 216 when he breaks down the different levels of financial success. Then on page 329 with the first of several promised index fund portfolio recommendations.
If you want the emotional response, deeper explanations, and have the time, I recommend reading the book. Otherwise check out my notes.
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These are just quick notes that I have pulled from Money Master the Game. If you are interested in more please read the book. I am using $ since Robbins writes about US personal finance. This should work for any currency.
Pick it up on Amazon
*Affiliate links give a direct link to you at no extra cost. I earn a small commission which helps me buy more books.
Summary
Tony Robbins grew up poor and did not have a positive financial role model. He takes you through his story and promises to share the insights of 12 of the most successful self-made millionaires and billionaires. Before he can spill their knowledge, Robbins sets the scene of psychological hurtles and financial tools.
My Thoughts
Money Master the Game has over 600 pages of content, and that is not because he dives deep into the subject matter, but rather because he is a long winded story teller. I understand that as a motivational speaker, Robbins strong suit is evoking an emotional response from his audience. I found his teasing of information annoying. When I finally reached the promised information the sections were vague and more about the story than conveying information. Fluff aside, I trudged through the pages and was able to pull out some really helpful sections.
p. 216 Levels of Financial Goals
Basic Monthly Expenses (BME)
Housing $ /mo
Food $ /mo
Utilities $ /mo
Transportation $ /mo
Insurance $ /mo
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Total $ /mo
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Financial Security = BME x12 = $ /yr
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Financial Vitality = [BME + (luxuries /2)] x 12 = $ /yr
Luxury categories
Clothing $ /mo
Entertainment $ /mo
Other $ /mo
Total $ /mo
Financial Independence = Total Spend in a year
BME
Luxuries (full)
Savings
Fees
Financial Freedom = Total Spend in a year + 2 additional luxuries
Indexfund Portfolio Allocation Suggestions
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p. 329 David Swensen
p. 407 Burton Malkiel
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Both recommended portfolio allocations have similar percentages of Domestic, International, Emerging, and REIT index fund.
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p. 393 Ray Dalio's All Weather Portfolio: stocks, bonds, gold, commodities - balance annually.
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Robbins spends a lot of time emphasizing the success and importance of a well diversified portfolio that mimics that of the All Weather Portfolio.
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p. 408 John "Jack" Bogel keeps it simple with just US and Internal.
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Financial Tools
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Investment portfolio - section 5 p. 371
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Annuities:
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p. 426 Immediate Annuities, for those ready to hand over a large chunk of their life's savings to an insurance company in exchange for calculated life time returns.
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p. 429 Deferred Annuities, paying either a lump sum, or over time for the insurance company to invest for you to be pulled from at a later date.
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p. 431 Variable Annuities, not recommended.
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Private Placement Life Insurance - p. 446
"-unlimited deposit amounts (with no income limitations)
-no tax on the growth of your investments
-no tax when accessed (if structured correctly) and
-any money left over for your heirs cannot be taxed." p. 446
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p. 450 tiaa-cref.org has Private Placement Life Insurance for people with a few thousand to invest instead of a million dollars. The key is to acquire a fiduciary advisor to assist you in setting up a policy.
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Living Trust p. 451
Protect your assets from probate court upon your death.
- http://getyourshittogether.org for a free template
Billionaire's Playbook
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p. 460 Carl Icahn
Calls himself a "shareholder activist"(p.461). Icahn looks for public companies that are under performing due to corporate management. He buys up enough stock to sit on the board and leverage change.
p.470 David Swensen
Swensen values low liquidity, because liquidity lowers returns. He emphasizes fiduciary responsibility of financial managers and accountants. He names Vanguard and TIAA-CREF as the only companies that truly have no conflict with investor's interests since they are non-profit.
Swensen's three investor tools:
1. Asset allocation - keep and hold investments. Explains 100% of returns based on fees and turnover. Index funds give diversity with low turnover which results in low fees and taxes.
2. Market timing - "short-term market - timing bets" (p.473)
3. Security selection - bond/stock portfolio
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p. 479 John C. Bogel
Bogel founded Vanguard and created index funds. He reiterate
s that money managers are average and expensive. Bogel explains that the benefit of buying stock is for the dividend yield. He explains "that over the long term, half of the return in the stock market has come from dividends." p. 481 He also emphasizes fiduciary responsibility and standards for financial institutions.
p. 485 Portfolio Core Principles
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asset allocation based on risk tolerance.
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use low-cost index funds to diversify
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invest in more bonds than you think. He uses your age as a rough benchmark.