Rigged Money

Book excerpt: Today's financial landscape and what Wall Street doesn't want you to know Rigged Money is based on one simple truth: Wall Street needs money from Main Street, not the other way around. The financial industry has convinced the general public that investing across different asset classes is the only way to protect wealth, but this is an outdated rule that no longer applies. Since asset classes—small caps, large caps, international investments, gold, and bonds—now overlap when it comes to risk and volatility parameters, the diversification effect is gone. That's exactly what Wall Street doesn't want you to know—that the rules of the game have changed. Risk Isn't Constant: Pie charts lie when it comes to accurately describing the risk of stocks and bonds Dividends Are No Silver Bullet: They are designed to entice investors rather than to increase a company's value or your net worth Buy and Hold is Dead: The financial world (and all the companies and securities in it) moves too quickly and is changing too often for this theory to hold true today Gold Is Not an Investment: Gold is today's currency of fear, and this fear is driven by escalating government debt An unflinching look at this new financial world, Lee Munson's Rigged Money arms today's investors with the simple, smart, and clear advice needed to level the playing field.