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Here's That Rarity -- Money-Making, Money-Saving Investment Advice That's Worth Paying For

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A NEW BOOK by legendary life coach Tony Robbins, Money: Master the Game--7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom (Simon & Schuster, $28), will be that rare gift that keeps on giving. Robbins has done a phenomenal amount of research, as well as interviewed notables from John Bogle, creator of the first index fund and founder of the ultra-low-expense Vanguard Group of mutual funds; to David Swensen, who in managing Yale's endowment fund pioneered the art of asset allocation among various asset classes, which has produced spectacular returns and been widely imitated; to such investing giants as Carl Icahn, Paul Tudor Jones and Ray Dalio.

Remarkably, Robbins has produced a book that will appeal to both the beginner and the most sophisticated money jockey overseeing multibillions of dollars in assets.

He lays out persuasive, commonsense ways in which people can build up their assets. He rightfully targets the plethora of expenses that ruin returns for most individual investors. Even more impressively, Robbins tackles the challenge--one that's even more formidable than losing weight and keeping it off--of allowing emotions to sway your investment decisions. Emotions are the enemy: Individuals pile into the market when stocks are surging and bail out when the market breaks. This is the reason that individual performance in mutual funds not only lags the market but also the funds themselves--shockingly, by a wide margin.

One way to quash performance-ruining, emotion-driven actions is to follow the asset-allocation formula that Robbins pried out of Ray Dalio. It initially looks like a formula for stagnation: stocks, 30% of your portfolio; long-term U.S. Treasurys, 40% (that's not a misprint); intermediate Treasurys, 15%; gold, 7.5%; and commodities, 7.5%.

Robbins engages in a productive discussion of annuities, which done right (once again, beware of those countless fees) can be very helpful in providing retirement income. The fairly new fixed-index annuity should be especially appealing to baby boomers.

Another tool to consider: longevity insurance.

Robbins rightfully whacks several financial myths, including target-date funds. And he has sober warnings about potential pitfalls in 401(k)s.

If there were a Pulitzer Prize for investment books, this one would win, hands down.

(See Steve Forbes’ new book, Money: How the Destruction of the Dollar Threatens the Global Economy—And What We Can Do About It.)