Some of you may already know Robert Hsu, whose book on investing in China came out earlier this year.  You can read a review of it that I wrote - just click on the “books” link in the top right and then check out my post on the books I’ve read since January.

Well, Robert Hsu also runs an email-list-serve-type newsletter (it’s free) which is basically an advertisement for his real newsletter which costs upwards of $99/year (I think; if you get it on sale).  It’s touted as the best investment newsletter for China right now.  Hsu is from China and goes back there regularly.  He likes to remind us that he has “people on the ground” there who know what’s really going on.  And I believe him - I read his book in about four days flat, soaking it all up.  There’s a lot of good info in it and I recommend it to people who aren’t that familiar with China.

I receive Hsu’s newsletter in my email, but I don’t always get around to reading it lately.  Have you read it?  What’s your opinion on Hsu and his advice?

Just to give you a bit of a taste of the sort of things he writes about, I’ll quote a little bit from it here.  It includes a list of some of the stocks he’s been promoting since writing his book.  Be warned, though: he’s not a buy-and-holder - he trades in and out.  So when it says he’s gained 54% or whatever, that will be from a one-time jump.  Anyways, you can judge for yourself:

Excerpt from Robert Hsu, ChinaProfitStrategy

When you consider the U.S. economy is projected to contract next year while China is on track to grow at 8%, you don’t have to be an Einstein to know that the surge in China stocks will form the foundation for a turnaround in the U.S. stock market as many leading China stocks are traded right here on the NYSE and NASDAQ.

The bottom line is this:

In a world that’s been crippled by the U.S. financial crisis, the Fed bailout and collapsing consumer and investors confidence, the flood of capital pouring into China will not only put powerful upward pressure under the stock prices of companies that are fueling China’s new growth…but also change the face of Wall Street forever.

Which is why I’m telling my readers to expect…

20%—40% Profits
In The Next 12 Months

The Biggest Move Will Come
In The Next 15 Days

As you know, nobody rings a bell to tell you when the big buying wave will begin, but I can tell you this:

Our time-proven, momentum-based stock-picking system continues to deliver profits for our readers, not only beating the market by more than $8-to-$1 since 2005…but also thrashing the market by $7-to-$1 last year, specifically with 35% returns vs. 5% for the Dow.

Our biggest winners to date include:

CNOOC, +30%
Aluminum Corp of China, +285%
New Oriental Education, +127%
Mindray Medical, +20%
Sinopec, +58%
SPDR Gold, +27%
Apple, +118%
Las Vegas Sands, +52%
Yum Brands, +12%

Now with China’s second wave set to deliver even greater growth, even these great gains could look like a drop in the bucket.

Frankly, no other investment newsletter advisory in the world knows the China market like we do, spends as much money on research as we do or makes as much money in China as we do.

Which is why I can tell you with unmatched certainty that our research shows there’s a buying wave forming within the next 15 days.  That is also why you can invest in our recommendations with confidence that you’ll grow 20%-40% richer in the next 12 months.

I have to say that lately it feels like I’ve read everything there is for me to read as far as financial books go at this time. I’m not about to invest in real estate yet, so I don’t need to read those books (it would be a bad distraction right now anyway, when I have more important things to sort out). There are all the books on trading forex and options, too. I’m going to be learning about forex, but not quite yet. There are other financial things I have to work out first. So this basically leaves the all-generic categories of wealthbuilding, budgeting, and the stockmarket. I’ve read so many great books that I really feel I have all the information that I think I need. But I’d still like to find a great new page-turner that inspires me about fixing up my finances and rockets me sooner to wealth. So I keep browsing through the financial section anyway.

Recently I came across a gawdy-looking hardcover entitled Millionaire By Thirty: The Quickest Path to Financial Independence. I picked it up because the title was so close to Alan Corey’s bestseller A Million Bucks by 30 (read my review of this awesome book here) and I was wondering how this one would be different. This one is published this year, 2008, and written by a father and his two sons - they’re all financial planners living in Salt Lake City. Maybe they’re even your neighbour? They’re churchgoers, they tithe, the one son has married early and they’re both still in their twenties. They’re all millionaires. The oldest son is only about 28 years, I think. They look a bit older in the photo on the jacket, however.

Well, guess how they became millionaires by 30? Same way Alan Corey did. Real estate! There’s a definite pattern here.

Here are some of the highlights of the book (which I’m not done reading yet, but it’s not a slow read. You could easily finish this book in two days if you’re into it):

-it’s fresh and relatively undogmatic: “not your typical financial advice”
-strategies for using preferred debt and getting rid of your non-preferred debt
-become a homeowner as soon as possible: tells you why and shows you how
-how you can legitimately buy a home even if you don’t have a credit history
-shows how to become a landlord and rent out rooms from a second home
-shows you how to save some serious money on taxes
-why IRAs and 401(k)s aren’t really that great of a deal for you
-and more that I haven’t got to yet!

You might be thinking, “wait, isn’t this the kind of wheeling and dealing that got us into the sub-prime housing mess”? Well, to that I can just say that this book was published in 2008, so I am sure the authors were/ are well aware of the housing mess and they’ve said nothing in this book to suggest that they were a part of it or that their techniques are implicated in it or that you shouldn’t follow this sort of advice because it might lead to foreclosures. I’m sure that many people have tried to do some of these techniques and that they fell into fiscal ruin because of it. As with everything, you have to check it against your own situation and see how it could work for you. These authors are advocates of fiscal responsibility by any measure.

Which is why I should add a few “bigger picture” items regarding the context in which this book makes sense. First of all, if you’re not interested in owning a second home and/or being a landlord (having tenants in one home), then this book probably doesn’t have anything for you. They don’t have solutions as to how you can become a millionaire by investing in the stock market alone. You need to rent out rooms. (Mind you, this isn’t all their book is about, for sure!).

The best part so far is how they show you how to race ahead financially by stopping “driving with your car in neutral.”

No, it’s not about making sure you’re not paying fees like crazy on your mutual funds (although that would certainly fit here too). They show you how to not pay more tax to the government than you have to and how to properly utilize the concept of “financial drag” in order to rocket yourself ahead sooner. You might have all the wind at your back, lifting your sails, but if you don’t know how to employ “drag” and “thrust” you’re not going to get anywhere quickly or in the direction that you want.

Overall, this isn’t a paradigm-shifting, shoot-you-to-the-moon financial fix book (though it could easily be if you’re younger or haven’t read many financial books yet). But it is a very accessible resource for how to just plain start getting ahead financially. There are some new and informative concepts and ways of looking at “getting ahead” that have already been useful for me. And don’t think that the book doesn’t apply to you because you already own a home or because you’re in your forties or fifties or sixties. In fact you’re probably already in a better position for putting these ideas into practice since you DO already have one home and a good credit history, etc.

Check back in here again, because I might have more to say about this book in the next few days. I also came across another great book that I’m really looking forward to reading and telling you about - and it fits right in line with the moneyenergy philosophy. Interestingly, it’s also a book from almost ten years ago. But you know, that’s not really that old when you’re dealing with ideas and paradigm-shifting techniques. These apply in all ages and for all ages.

If you’re new here don’t forget to subscribe (it’s free, of course!) for more updates on the books I’m reading, and/or make a comment below. I’d really like to hear your opinions and thoughts. Have you read this book or the other Andrews’ books? Are you reading a similar book right now? Is there another book that I should be reading? Let me know.

Do you want to hear from current/ past landlords and those bringing in portfolio income (i.e., income from real estate properties)? Check out these blogs:

The World of Wealth
Monetary Maladies (the MoneyBlogga)
The Money Kings

(If you’re a blogger who’s also got real estate investment properties and I’ve missed you, let me know! I’d like to learn more about RE from those currently doing it; perhaps there’s a way I can get started while finishing my PhD even though I don’t have a salary (just research and teaching employment).)

Dominguez and Robin (the authors of Your Money or Your Life - see my previous post) make a good point in regard to sharpening our focus around money, that is, in regard to increasing our money consciousness. They talk about having spiritual discipline.

“Religions, ancient and modern, and the personal growth workshops of the human potential movement all have techniques for training the mind to be here now, “in the moment.” For example, “counting breaths, keeping the attention on each incoming and outgoing breath; repeating a phrase over and over in order to focus the wandering mind…

“To this list we add another discipline designed to sharpen awareness - one that is… more easily accepted by our grounded, materialistic Western mentality than some of the more “esoteric” practices.

Instead of watching your breath, you watch your money… Keep track of every cent that comes into or goes out of your life.

I agree with these authors. This seems like an exercise that is equally difficult to do but could have just as much ability to “train” you. It’s much more rigorous than simply keeping a general budget. And if you already balance your books, do you really do it down to the last penny? If so, that’s great. It’s something I will have to work on. But I like thinking about it in this context. It makes much more sense and I can see the rewards more clearly than just doing a balancing act for balancing’s sake. This would make you spiritually accountable in some sense - which is also financially accountable, since money = your life energy.