Payback Time: Making Big Money Is the Best Revenge Review

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(More customer reviews)I've read Rule # 1 back when it first came out and I thought it was excellent. I'm about halfway done with Payback Time and so far 90% of the information is simply rehashed information from his first book. The one thing that appears to have changed is that MSN now apparently gives 10 year data for free, which was not available when Rule # 1 came out (back then you had to pay a third-party company to obtain 10-year data about a stock and MSN and Yahoo only offered 5-year data if I remember correctly). So if you haven't read either book and are wondering which one to pick up I would say go for the second one (Payback Time). If you've read Rule # 1, reading the second book certainly won't hurt for repetition sake, just don't expect any major new information. The concept of stockpiling is nothing revolutionary. Simply buy more shares when the price goes down. Wow. The one thing I did not like about Payback Time is how Phil is constantly directing the reader back to his website for every little piece of extra information. And he doesn't tell you what link on his site to click on for each piece of information so you end up randomly clicking on his site until you find what you're looking for (not to mention the fact that you have to register in order to use the site in the first place and it keeps on logging you out every few minutes for some reason).
Having said that, I still have to give credit to Phil for his clear writing style. He has a special ability to take complex information and making it understandable to the average person. I also like the fact that he gives his email address in the book and encourages readers to contact him with any questions. I like that type of service. I will update this review as soon as I'm done reading the book.
3/16/10: As a side note, I also have noticed, like others, that many of the raving reviews for this book sound fake (some almost sound like an infomercial) and are from users who have only reviewed a single item (i.e. this book).
4/1/10: In chapter 5, "Eight Baby Steps to Wealth", Phil walks you through a tool on MSN's website called "Deluxe (stock) Screener" (also known as "Supercharge your search"). It's supposed to be a free stock screener that lets you find companies that match Phil's criteria for great companies (saves you a ton of time). Unfortunately, this tool no longer exists (MSN retired it back in November of '09!). However, Phil recently posted an entry on his blog saying that you can find the exact same information on google's website. If you go to "Google Finance" look for Stock Screener. It's supposed to be just as good as MSN's Deluxe Screener. I will be playing around with this tool and will post an update soon.
5/26: Remember how I said that Phil gives out his email address in his book and encourages readers to ask him questions? Well, I sent him a question (regarding the use of Google Finance - see my post from 4/1) in late March all I got was an automated reply saying that someone would get back to me and no one ever did. So much for that. So if you have any questions, I would call the number listed on Phil's website. They will answer your questions.

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Don't get mad, get even… Phil Town's first book, the #1 New York Times bestseller Rule #1, was a guide to stock trading for people who believe they lack the knowledge to trade. But because many people aren't ready to go from mutual funds directly into trading without understanding investing—for the long term – he created Payback Time. Too often, people see long-term investing as "mutual fund contributing" – otherwise known as "long-term hoping." But the sad truth is that mutual fund investors are, to a stunning degree, pinning their hopes on an institution that is hopeless. It turns out that only 4% of fund managers consistently beat the S&P 500 index over the long term, which means that 96% of fund investors see a smaller return on their nest egg than a chimpanzee who simply buys stocks in the 500 biggest companies in America and watches what happens. But it's worse than that. The net effect of hitching your wagon to mutual funds is that over a lifetime they'll fritter away as much 60% of your nest egg in fees. Once you understand how funds engineer this, you'll rush to invest on your own. Payback Time's risk-free approach is called "stockpiling" and it's how billionaires get rich in bad markets. It's a set of rules for investing (not trading but investing) in the right businesses at the right time -- rules that will ensure you make the big money.

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