Free Read (Scribd) - Debt Hope

For a limited time, you can read the full text of Debt Hope: Down and Dirty Survival Strategies ($8.99 Kindle), by Mark S. Hankins, online at Scribd. This is a PDF version of the book, but no downloads are allowed. It's a pretty nice idea - you can preview any part of the book you wish, but to study it in depth, you'll want to buy a copy to keep (and read more comfortably than in Scribd's viewer).

Book Description
The official e-book of the Debtors' Revolution. 140 pages of inside information and actionable strategies. 180 footnotes hyperlinked to source material on the web. Ann Minch says "You Need This Book!"

The American middle class is being destroyed by credit card debt. As of December 2009 we are looking at 11% or better chargeoff rates overall through Summer 2010 according to Moody's and Fitch. Debtors need to know how to get through the pandemic of ratejacking and fee harvesting that the major credit card banks are using to shore up their sagging balance sheets. If you can't pay, you need to know what's coming and how to handle it. Bankruptcy is harder to use and provides less relief than it once did. To protect yourself and your family when you have defaulted debt in your life you need to understand who you're going to come in contact with and how to handle them.

Where other books are 90% polemic and 10% practical solutions, this book provides key information regarding the industry, its tricks, traps and vulnerabilities. It's what you need to know before you head into the rapids.

Click HERE for the free read.

Free Audiobooks at Audible

Besides the free course in Haitian Creole and FREE: The Future of a Radical Price, by Chris Anderson, there are a few other interesting audiobooks amongst the current free offerings at Audible.

The Conservative Nanny State: How the Wealthy Use the Government to Stay Rich and Get Richer, by Dean Baker, narrated by Sandra Swafford.

Book Description
In his new book, economist Dean Baker debunks the myth that conservatives favor the market over government intervention. In fact, conservatives rely on a range of "nanny state" policies that ensure the rich get richer while leaving most Americans worse off. It's time for the rules to change. Sound economic policy should harness the market in ways that produce desirable social outcomes: decent wages, good jobs, and affordable health care.

A Study in Emerald, by Neil Gaiman, narrated by Neil Gaiman is a short story.

Book Description
Alluding to both the Sherlock Holmes canon and the Old Ones of the Cthulhu Mythos, this Hugo Award-winning short story will delight fans of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, H. P. Lovecraft, and of course, Neil Gaiman.

A Study in Emerald draws listeners in through carefully revealed details as a consulting detective and his narrator friend solve the mystery of a murdered German noble. But with its subtle allusions and surprise ending, this mystery hints that the real fun in solving this case lies in imagining all the details that Gaiman doesn't reveal, and challenges listeners to be detectives themselves.

Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us, by Seth Godin, narrated by Seth Godin

Book Description
A tribe is any group of people, large or small, who are connected to one another, a leader, and an idea. For millions of years, humans have been seeking out tribes, be they religious, ethnic, economic, political, or even musical (think of the Deadheads). It's our nature.

Now the Internet has eliminated the barriers of geography, cost, and time. All those blogs and social networking sites are helping existing tribes get bigger. But more important, they're enabling countless new tribes to be born - groups of ten or ten thousand or ten million who care about their iPhones, or a political campaign, or a new way to fight global warming.

And so the key question: Who is going to lead us?

The Web can do amazing things, but it can't provide leadership. That still has to come from individuals - people just like you who have a passion about something. The explosion in tribes means that anyone who wants to make a difference now has the tools at her fingertips.

If you think leadership is for other people, think again - leaders come in surprising packages. Consider Joel Spolsky and his international tribe of scary-smart software engineers. Or Gary Vaynerhuck, a wine expert with a devoted following of enthusiasts. Chris Sharma leads a tribe of rock climbers up impossible cliff faces, while Mich Mathews, a VP at Microsoft, runs her internal tribe of marketers from her cube in Seattle. All they have in common is the desire to change things, the ability to connect a tribe, and the willingness to lead.

If you ignore this opportunity, you risk turning into a "sheepwalker" - someone who fights to protect the status quo at all costs, never asking if obedience is doing you (or your organization) any good. Sheepwalkers don't do very well these days.

Tribes will make you think (really think) about the opportunities in leading your fellow employees, customers, investors, believers, hobbyists, or readers....It's not easy, but it's easier than you think.

Millionaire Upgrade , by Richard Parkes Cordock, narrated by Nigel Acheson.

Book Description
Do you ever wonder if you have what it takes to become a millionaire?

Imagine finding yourself sitting next to a self-made millionaire for eight hours on a long-haul international flight. Imagine that person was prepared to share with you the secrets of their success. For one lucky person this actually happened. Inspired by a true story, Millionaire Upgrade is the tale of one very experienced entrepreneur and one very lucky passenger.

The story unfolds mid-air at 35,000 feet as Michael, the savvy self-made millionaire, shares his wisdom, eight-step approach, and magic ingredients for success with Tom, the aspiring entrepreneur. Their mid-air conversation contains all the secrets and practical insight you need to help you make your first million. It shows how you can turn your strengths and passions into an exciting, rewarding, and challenging enterprise.

Better than any in-flight movie, Millionaire Upgrade gets you inside the minds of successful entrepreneurs and self-made millionaires giving you the inside track on how they think and act.

Extraordinary Leadership, by Robin Sharma is a speech, rather than a book, but looked interesting.

Book Description
In a constantly changing, hyper-competitive world, leadership is more important than ever. Yet few people have what it takes to inspire, develop, and guide others. In this presentation, Robin Sharma shares the leadership lessons that he gives to clients such as Nike, Microsoft, and NASA.

Kindle Bargain Ebook Roundup - Finance/Money

Young Bucks: How to Raise a Future Millionaire ($4.93), by Troy Dunn

Book Description
Young Bucks: How to Raise a Future Millionaire is on the cusp of an important new way of understanding how we earn, keep, and spend money. It is a straightforward, practical, and entertaining manual that debunks a number of parenting myths that work against financial independence, such as allowances. This book also teaches parents how to identify the entrepreneurial skills that, to some degree, every child has and guides them to strengthen those skills. A self-made millionaire and father of seven, Troy Dunn gives you practical templates for easy, kid-friendly businesses that you can introduce to your children so that they can start earning their own money quickly. Young Buck$ includes everything Dunn has learned during his very successful business career as an entrepreneur and in his work with thousands of young people seeking business guidance. It features chapters on age-appropriate, step-by-step action plans for you to help your children find and implement great money-making ideas. Additional chapters explain what schemes you should avoid, how to spot business scams, why lotteries are a terrible place to put your money, why it's good for kids to invest in the stock market, and practical advice on the legal aspects of owning a business.

20/20 Money: See the Markets Clearly and Invest Better Than the Pros ($4.52), by Michael Hanson

Book Description
To truly outperform today's markets, you need to see the investment landscape clearly. 20/20 Money—the latest title from Fisher Investments Press—can help you achieve this goal.

Designed to make you think differently about your investing choices, this reliable resource addresses new ideas and challenges widely held conventions. With 20/20 Money as your guide, you'll quickly learn how gaining a firm understanding of various concepts—from stock market and systems theory to neuroscience and psychology—can put you in a better position to excel in today's turbulent investment arena. Along the way, you'll also discover some of the most successful strategies for thinking and learning, and how they can improve your overall investment endeavors.

To better protect your portfolio and increase opportunities for superior long-term returns, you have to have the discipline to make tough choices—choices that may not always be in line with others. But with the approach outlined throughout these pages, you can gain the vision to make the most informed investment decisions possible and help improve your long-term results.

Get Real, Get Rich ($3.07), by Farrah Gray

Book Description
Raised in the impoverished South Side of Chicago, Farrah Gray defied the odds and became a self-made millionaire by the age of fourteen. His success is due, in part, to his emphatic rejection of the most pervasive lies about what it takes to succeed. In Get Real, Get Rich, Dr. Gray debunks seven common myths that people perceive as barriers to achieving their goals, in chapters such as The Born Lucky Lie, The Money Lie, and The Work Hard Lie. Listeners are presented with a new way to think about the road to wealth, as well as practical strategies they can use to propel themselves toward success.

Billion Dollar Green: Profit from the Eco Revolution ($2.37), by Tobin Smith

Book Description
Most Americans have no clue how quickly our internal supplies are crumbling. Tobin Smith will give you the facts and forecasts on growth in the "green investing front" and let you see for yourself just how large this opportunity is - right now and for years to come. This is the fastest growing sector - 13-fold over the next decade! Clean UP will show you how to make a small fortune now from "bridge green technologies," closing the gap between traditional and alternative fuels. Smith will also introduce you to a number of segments of the green investing world--taking you inside these agents of change and detail 8 to 10 companies who are real growth stocks with investment profit potential. This book is for anyone interested in investing in the companies that will make billions from the solutions to the billion-dollar problems in the green technology space.

$700 Billion Bailout: The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act and What It Means to You, Your Money, Your Mortgage and Your Taxes ($1.35), by Paul Muolo

Book Description
The book is an analysis of the controversial Emergency Economic Stabilization Act and explains in easy to understand language what the bailout bill means for individuals. $700 Billion Bailout answers questions such as:

* What does the bill say, exactly?
* Who is making decisions about how the $700 billion will be spent, and what does it mean now that the government is investing directly in our banks?
* Who’s footing the bill?
* What is the impact on homeowners, businesses, retirement, and taxes?
* Where do I put my money in the meantime?

Veteran reporter Paul Muolo shows both the challenges and opportunities of the credit crisis and proposed bailout.

Free Book - Get Rich Slowly Guide to Roth IRAs

The Get Rich Slowly Guide to Roth IRAs, by J.D. Roth, is a short book, about 30 pages, and most of it has been on his blog over the last few years, but he gathered together into one volume last year, edited it a bit and offered it as a $7 download on the Web Warriors website.Now it is available for free (no signup required, either) on his website, HERE.

J.D. has also gathered together some links for what he considers the Essential Personal Finance E-books, including Robert Pagliarini's Plan Z: How to Survive the Financial Crisis, the free e-books Thriving on Less in a Tough Economy and Tips for Change into a blog post, HERE. He mentions Investing Made Simple, which is no longer available for free, so hopefully you grabbed it last month, when I mentioned it here. And although he's included in the the not-quite-free section of the post, you can get The Insider’s Guide To Frugal Food & Fitness! as a free download as well, HERE.

Free from Suze Orman - Will & Trust Kit

This one isn't a book or a download, but it is a nice package that you may find of use. Suze Orman is offering her Will & Trust Kit/Ultimate Protection Portfolio (a $13.50 value), for free with a gift code. This kit is used entirely online, so you can access it from anywhere. You fill out the entire thing online and it generates the documents you need for a Will, an Advanced Directive & Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care, a Revocable Trust and a Financial Power of Attorney. Each section contains more than just the basic document. For example, in the Will section, you also get

• Letter to Your Executor
• Final Instructions Form
• What to Do When Someone Dies Checklist
• Funeral Cost Worksheet

The last two, of course, aren't of much use to you once your will is being read, but may be something you need several times before then.

To get the kit for free, click HERE. You will see a space for entering a “Gift Code”, enter the code: 898989. You'll get a confirmation code, which you only need to write down if you don't activate the kit right away (which I recommend you do; once activated, all you need is your login and password, which you create during activation). After activating the kit, you'll be offered some options on how much data is stored. Since Wills and Trusts and some of the other forms need personal information such as a social security number and birthdate, you have the option of not saving them (or even any of the information). You will need to enter something while using the site (use fakes, if you want, until you are ready to print the actual documents), but the site is a secured one and it seems reasonably safe.

This will only be available for FREE thru October 3, 2009. Also note that if you are married, each person will need to register for the Kit. Although it will create Trust documents for a married couple, all the other documents must be created individually.

Free Book (PDF) - Investing Made Simple

Investing Made Simple: Investing in Index Funds Explained in 100 Pages or Less, by Mike Piper, is available as a free download this month. The book hasn't yet been released at Amazon, so you get it early; most of his other books are in paper only and in the $11-$13 range.

As the title says, the book explains how to use index funds to simplify your investing (and why you should). It's probably a bit too basic if you have already switched to index funds, but a good intro if you have not (or want a book for your kids to read).

Who This Book is For:

Anyone who has questions about investing, but who doesn’t want to trudge through a 300-page textbook.

What You Will Learn:

• Asset Allocation: What does it mean, why is it so important, and how should you determine your own?
• How to Pick Mutual Funds: Learn how to choose funds that are mathematically certain to outperform the majority of other mutual funds.
• Roth IRA vs. Traditional IRA vs. 401(k): What’s the difference, and how should you choose between them? Financial Advisors: Learn what to look for as well as pitfalls to avoid.
• Frequent Investor Mistakes: Learn the most common mistakes investors make and what you can do to avoid them.
• Calculate Your Retirement Needs: Learn how to calculate how much you’ll need saved in order to retire.

What the Book is Not:

• This book is not a great work of literary art.
• This book is not going to make you an absolute expert on the topic, and
• This book is not going to provide you with a way to get rich overnight.

What it will do (hopefully) is provide an easy-to-understand, concise introduction to the topic of prudent investing.

Click HERE for the free download.