Beyond Wealth: The Road Map to a Rich Life

Alexander Green is really good at what he does for a Living: He analyzes the financial balance sheets of corporations and has helped a couple of hundred thousand people invest prudently. For this service he has been very successful, financially.In his spare time he enjoys writing essays. According to Wikipedia "In some countries (e.g., the United States and Canada), essays have become a major part of formal education. Secondary students are taught structured essay formats to improve their writing skills; admission essays are often used by universities in selecting applicants, and in the humanities and social sciences essays are often used as a way of assessing the performance of students during final exams." In other words, an essay can make or break a person's life, open doors, or slam them in our faces. They are brief bodies of deeply felt and thoroughly researched personal knowledge. Often an essay works magically as a song or a poem.The author has collected six scores of his best essays; they are thoughtful, respectful and helpful. They are readable by almost any person, of any age and background. The insights offered are honest, personal and resonate as only wisdom can sing.He quotes Dr. Joel Primack, a distinguished professor of physics at the University of California: Without a meaningful, believable story that explains the world we actually live in, people have no idea how to think about the big picture. And without a big picture, we are very small people.' p.269It took this reader 2011-2021 to read, reflect upon and digest these Six Scores of essays. They have all been worth infinitely more than the monetary cost of the book: The author quotes Robert Louis Stevenson, the author of Treasure Island, "To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end in life. p. 283.The essays are brief read-alouds that would work well with a book club, a high school or college literature, philosophy or comparative world religion class. Where relationships permit it, they are inspiring Socratic Blessings between Elders and young people.Alexander Green has made enough money to be 'rich,' but he has discovered that creating a 'rich' personal life is an entirely different challenge. It is 'beyond wealth.'

Every one of Green’s books and essays has struck a chord with me and I look forward to reading everything he puts out in the future. This book is a collection of short essays about our relationship with money and how to live a “rich” life. Although many of the ideas presented are timeless, Alex Green brings a new and insightful light to them. I really enjoy Green’s straight forward writing style. He doesn't write to impress, he writes to succinctly present and prove his points. This book covers the gamut: from money management to personal psychology to ancient religion. As a young person still trying to find his way in the world I devour books and articles written by people who seem to have it all figured out.

Having read "The Secret of Shelter Island" by Alex Green I found this rather similar and covers the same themes. A good read if you have not read other book.

okay read

I have been investing for myself since 1983, and, when I began, I invested in America's Finest Companies, according to Bill Staton. I did well, it was slow and boring, so, when Bill retired (probably to start spending his money), and I totally lost focus. The stock market was on fire, and there were so many things and sectors that were doing well.Not to disparage Money Magazine, but it became my stock advisory. Believe it or not, on its recommendation, I bought 2 shares of Berkshire Hathaway at $8,000, and, when it hit $13,000, I sold it, but I needed that money to pay income taxes. I thought I was a stock-picker, a real guru, and it worked for a long time. My portfolio really took off. Live and learn. While I didn't lose my shirt when the tech bubble burst, because I pretty much stayed away from them, I lost half the value of what was, at least for me, a pretty good foundation for a retirement plan. Then, I started gambling, and I subscribed to a handful of stock advisory newsletters. I invested and lost a lot more money in Chinese stocks that sounded too good to fail, but did. That did it for me. I had a big wake-up call and realized that, what had been going well for me in the beginning, was still going well. I had been chasing rabbits, and it was exciting while it lasted, but the slow-moving tortoise beats the hare every time. You must believe that, and, while watching a race between them may not be very exciting, if you invest in large, blue-chip American companies, with international exposure and long histories of paying and growing their dividends, you cannot go wrong. Now, I'm back where I started, and I kick myself for not staying the course for the past 30 years. If I had, I'd be wealthy enough to think that I just might be able to retire. This book is good, it's easy to read and it lives up to it 's title.