Life can throw a lot at you. Two new books try to equip readers with the skills to tackle common challenges: resisting the lure of easy credit, and dealing with pressure.
“Credit 911: Secrets and Strategies to Saving Your Financial Life” offers a mortgage lender's perspective on lending industry practices that too often become debt traps for individuals. The book “Clutch: Why Some People Excel Under Pressure and Others Don't” explores the traits that enable some of us to thrive in win-or-lose situations. It's useful reading for those who often seem to crumble under pressure.
Another new title tries to demystify investing in commodities such as oil and gold. It's an area that's drawing renewed interest, now that stocks are so shaky.
The new titles:
‘Credit 911: Secrets and Strategies to Saving Your Financial Life'
Author: Rodney Anderson
Price: $24.95
Summary: Anderson, a mortgage lender, has seen customers trash their once-stellar credit scores by taking bad advice from bankers. He's seen compulsive spenders buy 20 pairs of shoes a day online. The common denominator is that while it's usually easy to get credit, it's also easy to end up deep in debt.
Anderson offers an inside look at the operations of banks, credit card companies and mortgage lenders. He also examines how predatory practices can trip you up. It's a practical book with clear examples on avoiding credit trouble; and how to maintain good credit and repair poor credit.
Quote: “From my vantage point, I see a growing crisis in our country, and it gets worse every time we turn on our computers and connect to the Internet. As good as the marketers and credit card companies are at influencing your spending habits, they probably couldn't have done such a thorough job of transforming the American consumer into a spending machine without the emergence of online shopping.”
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
‘Clutch: Why Some People Excel Under Pressure and Others Don't'
Author: Paul Sullivan
Price: $25.95 (Release date: Sept. 2)
E-book: Will be available for Kindle, Nook
Summary: We'd all like to be the “clutch” player, the go-to guy or gal who can get things done under pressure. But it's not in the cards for all of us, or maybe it is. In the forthcoming “Clutch,” Paul Sullivan, a columnist for The New York Times, examines strategies essential for remaining composed when the pressure's on. Sure, there are plenty of sports references.
But Sullivan uses those to illustrate larger points, such as the perils of overthinking. Anyone who feels they tend to lose their confidence when the stakes are high can glean something from this analysis. For many that might mean prepping for that all-important job interview.
Quote: “The trouble is, when financial pressure mounts, most people do not and cannot think dispassionately until it is too late. They choke. They wait too long, thinking their situation will improve, and when it doesn't, they have burned through their reserve funds and are still going to lose what they were struggling to keep.”
Publisher: Portfolio
‘The Little Book of Commodity Investing'
Author: John Stephenson
Price: $19.95
Summary: In the world of investing, a discussion of commodities can be about as dry as it gets. Though they're items that we're familiar with — like oil, wheat, and gold — learning about futures contracts can be off-putting to an average investor. But in this volume of “The Little Book Big Profits” series, Stephenson, a portfolio manager with First Asset Investment Management, makes the discussion both informative and accessible.
With gold and other commodity prices surging this year, this book can be a useful starting point for investors eager to learn more.
Quote: “If you want to swill vodka and eat caviar like a Russian oligarch, nothing will get you there faster than a well-timed investment in industrial metals. Whenever cars, washing machines, and fridges are selling like hotcakes you can be certain that metals and the mining companies that produce them will be moving higher.”
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
