3.0 out of 5 based on 2 reviews. – Customer review on 30/11/2009

For the type of topic, Letters to Aston (the author's grandson)is a very different way of presenting financial guidance. It is written as a "words of wisdom" guide for his grandson who is 2 years at present. The style of the book make the topic easy and engaging reading especially if your eyes normally glaze over at the mention of words like equity, liquidity, investment, inflation etc!

The advice is summed up well in the description shown next to the book above, and in particular focuses on building wealth steadily, avoiding bubbles and the lastest "get quick rich schemes". It would have been the kind of advice that most of us could have done with much earlier in our lives! However, there are still some key points that I think most people could pick out that are relevant to whatever your age and circumstances.

4.0 out of 5 based on 2 reviews. – Customer review on 28/01/2010

Good investment 101 book.
Written in a very simple and easy to follow manor that keeps you interested unlike any finance text books I've read.

It is very high level and outlines the four areas of investment: equity, property, bonds and cash, outlining the pros and cons of each and at which stage of your life you should be investing in each.

It's not about what to invest in today to get rich quick, it's quiet the opposite. It's about forgoing a little bit of expenditure every day and putting it away (wisely) so in 20 - 30 years time you can enjoy the good life. (Easier said than done for most).

One thing I really took away from this book was: When everyone appears to be making millions and living off the hog and investing into anything and everything because everythings going up, that's the time to cash up and wait on the sidelines. Because the crash will be coming and when it does people will be hurting, developers going under, mortgagee sales and the entire NZX dropping 40% (as it just did and has already rebounded a lot of that back) - that is the time to get in. Hard bit is waiting on the sidelines cashed up waiting for the next crash whilst everyone else is rejoicing.