Product Description

From financial expert Douglas R. Andrew comes an extraordinary book that challenges the most basic and fundamental concepts of personal investing in a user-friendly format.In the 30 years Douglas R.Andrew has worked as a successful financial analyst, lecturer, and retirement consultant, he has routinely questioned and challenged the accepted tenets of personal finance. His conclusions are absolutely startling. In 23 informative chapters, Andrew reveals his no-nonsense, yet unconventional, financial growth strategies that challenge widespread money myths and make his clients rich with advice like: * You shouldn't pre-pay your mortgage* Don't expect your 401Ks and IRAs to cover retirement* You can (and should) buy a home with no money down* and more!Originally self-published as MISSED FORTUNE (Paramount Publications, 7/03) and targeted towards a more professional financial audience, the first edition of this book sold 10,000 copies. In 4/04, it was published in Warner Business Books trade paperback (0-446-69350-2). This new hardcover edition has been significantly condensed to appeal to the average personal investor.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #64572 in Books
• Published on: 2005-01-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 304 pages

From AudioFile
The author's voice and the snappy clarity of his writing have a wonderful optimism that serves his ideas well as he makes useful and detailed suggestions on the process of attaining wealth. His main points are expertly organized into the four phases of the wealthy life: contributing to a retirement nest egg, investing or multiplying the amount of money in the nest egg, distributing it for use when the time comes, and transferring it to others at death with as little taxation as possible. He offers tips and strategies on using home equity, life insurance, tax breaks, and investment vehicles, as well as offering rationales that are comprehensible and powerful. He's especially good at laying out lengthy discussions of financial logic without losing his listeners' attention. T.W. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Customer Reviews

A foolish scheme
Horrible, awful advice from an insurance pitch-man. He conducts these "seminars" around the country where insurance agents and mortgage brokers are invited, and they are encouraged to bring potential clients so that the missed fortune people can make money, insurance agents can generate giant commissions on worthless products, and mortgage brokers can write up re-fi loans.

There is NO SUCH THING as "investment-grade life insurance." It's a made-up term. My sandwich I had had for lunch is "investment grade." What does that mean? Nothing. People who don't know any better are suckered into this scam by a huckster who is making money from this book and the seminars.

Do NOT be fooled by this scam. Don't buy the book, and certainly don't buy the "advice." This author is clueless.

Not full disclosure
I have read both of the MF101 books and find that they do not fully disclose the potential pitfalls of equity harvesting. I believe as a mortgage planner, it is my duty to introduce my clients to the concept of equity harvesting; however, under full disclosure. Equity harvesting can be a powerful wealth building tool, but before implementing equity harvesting, one must be aware of the pros and cons. I believe many advisors unknowingly may be opening themselves up to potential lawsuits by not fully disclosing the potential downsides to equity harvesting.


MF101 seems too much like a salse book created to sell life insurance products. Missed Fortune 101 implies that someone would be an idiot if they did not refinance their home and invest it in life insurance contracts. Can equity harvesting be a viable option for wealth building? Absolutely. However, the fact is that equity harvesting is not for everyone; therefore focusing on becoming debt-free, including paying your mortgage off early, is often times for many, the best course of action to take.

MF101 is nebulous in many of the concepts, and does not give full disclosure.

New Ideas that seem like commn since once explaind by Dough Andrew in this book.
Dough Andrew has many ideas that seem to go against traditional ideas of investment. But once you read his book it seems like common since and you wonder why no one has presented these ideas before.

Very respectfully,

Marty Burbank, JD, LLM(tax)