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 Even better than More Wealth Without Risk!
Charles Givens never claimed to have some sort of get-rich-quick scheme, it's a get rich quicker and how to win the fight for financial freedom program. In Financial Self DeFense, Givens shows people how to hold on to their money and how to keep banks, insurance companies and the IRS out of our pockets, using proven and legal methods that most people are just not aware of. Since reading Financial Self DeFense, we went from a 10 year old Chevette to a 3 year old Intrepid. Refused the service contract which saved us nearly $1,000.
Thanks to the advice in Financial Self DeFense, we are saving $200 a year on auto insurance and a whopping $1,000 on life insurance from using the Life Insurance Clearinghouse as suggested in the book. We shopped and they had the best rates. So what if Givens had a business interest in the Life Insurance Clearinghouse? He save us a bundle, and we have no problem if Givens made a profit in the process!
I found it interesting that a article appeared in Forbes attacking Mr Givens claim of 15% returns with mutual funds. Forbes said it was impossible. We have earned an average of 30% over the last five years in no-load mutuals and were safely out of stock funds over the last two years thanks to the money movement strategy. So much for Forbes!
I believe that success brings criticism. With the exception of More Wealth without Risk, Financial Self DeFense was a best seller far outpacing other financial books. And the advice is more beneficial than listening to financial planners, insurance agents, brokerage firms, automobile sales people, bank loan officers etc.
Were were also able to use Mr. Givens advice with the IRS and won!
Our family is Chuck_full_of_Givens only for one reason--Chuck Givens was a brilliant financial strategist and his techniques work.Rest in peace Chuck and thank you for teaching us Financial Self DeFense
Become Financially Bullet Proof!
I was introduced to Mr. Givens back in January 1989 on one of his many
appearances on "The Today Show." At that time Mr. Givens was promoting this book, Wealth Without Risk and the stock market was still on most people minds after that huge crash that had occurred in October 1987. We bought Wealth Without Risk in January of 1989.
To say that I was skeptical, would be an understatement. Nonetheless, I went out and bought his book and passively applied some of the strategies.
Several months later, I had moved from Pennsylvania to Orlando, FL and came in contact with Dennis Jumper, a Givens member and Share The Wealth rep.
Dennis convinced me of the increased opportunities available via the
membership so I joined. Also that day, I met Mr. Givens for the first time.
He was very dynamic and charismatic.
Prior to studying the Financial Library and applying the Givens Power
Strategies, I was like a gerbel in a cage! Earning money was the easy part. hanging on to what to what I made and keeping ahead of taxes and inflation was the hard part. I found that the more money that I had coming in the front door, the faster it went out the back door!
After reading Wealth Without Risk and pouring into the Financial Library, my wife and I found that it was very easy to stack strategies i.e. use the personal finance and tax reducing strategies and increase our contrbutions to our company 401(k) thereby reducing our AGI and being eligible for deductible IRA'S. Taking the savings from auto insurance and putting the profits into our insurance companies annuity and seeing our insurance premiums go even LOWER!
Then Financial Self Defense came out in 1991 and we learned even more! We became more aware of the schemes and scams out there and the many mistakes we were making in our financial lives. FSD offered strategies and techniques not available anywhere else. Later that year Givens added the strategies from FSD in his financial library and offered it to his members.
We had our son help us in our family business and pay him a "tax
deductible" salary instead of a "non deductible" allowance. Used our
automobile in our business and go from a zero allowance to a 80% tax
deduction, this includes service and maintenance costs. Take "tax
deductible" business trips instead of non deductible vacations, even cruises and more. Even though there have been changes in the tax law, the techniques that Givens teaches here still work and are still be used today. A more recent book to read would be Slash Your Taxes by Sonny Bolkin.
We also moved from a local bank checking account to a money market mutual fund to take advantage of the higher interest and flexibility.
We were amazed to see how money we were saving from restructoring auto,
health and homeowners insurance PLUS modifying our W-4 form at work. All of this "new found money" went into our money market mutual funds for
emergencies while also funding our IRA's and regular mutual fund accounts.
We actually had investments that were growing for the first time. In fact one of our no-load, low expence stock mutual funds, recommended by Mr. Givens grew by more than 87% in one year! After so many years of losing money, we were flabbergasted to say the least.
With our business, we also set up a SEP IRA for my wife and I and we are contributing the maximum and also have IRA's set up for our son directly from salaries from helping us and of course we take a tax deduction.
We also fired our financial planner. In 1987 he put us in bad loaded stock mutual funds which dropped a lot as did the overall market that year. Then he put us in bonds at the absolute worst time and we missed out on part of the market rebound in 1989. Had we been aware of Mr. Givens and his strategies we, as Givens members had, pulled our money out of stock mutual funds and avoided the big stock market crash of 1987.
Now, all of our investments are in NO-LOAD MUTUALS only and we are our own Financial Planners! We are using the Givens Money Movement Strategy as our guide and estimate that we are on track to have a retirement income well in excess of six figures just from our investments.
We follow the money movement strategy and that kept us from losing money in 1989, 1995, 2000 and 2007 and more recently in 2008 and 2009. In 2000, we pulled money out of stock mutual funds and individual stocks, moved into a money market fund and then into a zero coupon bond mutual fund. One of Mr. Given's mantra's was,
"When interest rates are high, stocks will die." So when Greenspan started raising interest rates, we pulled out of stocks and moved into money market mutual funds. As expected, stocks fell and fell hard with the Dow Jones dropping from nearly 12,000 to 8,000 and the Nasdaq from 5300 to under 2,000. Likewise, when interest rates started going up again we once again moved out of stocks and missed the stock market slide we have had in 2008 and 2009. Mr. Givens money movement strategy works everytime.
Mr. Givens also has another mantra that goes like this:
"Everytime interest rates drop 1% all bonds appreciate 10%." We made 45%-50% on our bond fund while others were chasing stocks and buying on the dip or using the old "buy and hold" strategy. And since we used the recommendations by Mr. Givens and the Givens Org. we had investments that were growing and paid no commissions -we used only NO LOAD FUNDS and in particular, invested only in the low cost funds that Mr. Givens recommended. Isn't it funny how so many of these other so called "financial experts" forget to tell you about expences on NO LOAD FUNDS??
The Money Movement Strategy is a winning strategy that has been working since 1979 and still works everytime. A study was done on the money movement strategy and showed that investors who used this technique from 1979 to 1994 made on average over 25%, far superior to investors as a whole. People who criticize the money movement strategy either haven't used it, don't understand it or are not real investors.
Mr. Givens also recommends strategies outside the stock market and perfect for this economy like discounted mortgages and tax lien certificates. Powerful, high yielding investments without risk.
It should be noted that the original book, Wealth Without Risk was written in 1988 during a very bad economy and Americans still reeling after the huge stock market crash of October 1987. Those who were a part of the Givens Org.,bypassed the economic recession and missed the Stock Market Crash of 1987. Overall, the strategies are just as applicable today as they were 20 years ago. People who attack the Money Movement Strategy either don't understand it, haven't used it or are not real investors. I know that my portfolio has grown throughout the stock market decline in 2007 & 2008 while everyone else I talk to have porfolios that are bleeding red from following the old "buy & hold" strategy and following advice from their financial planners and brokers.
As Mr. Givens used to say, "The reason these guys are called brokers is because they are usually broker than you are!" And I would add that they also make you broker. Will Americans ever learn?
I also dropped a whole life insurance policy and moved into a LPT policy.
More money to invest and/or build on our lifestyle.
If I had to choose the single most important strategy, it would be "The
Dreams List" Strategy. This is what ! got us to take action and make
everything possible. The Dreams List also kept us motivated during many
difficult times and kept us on track.
In 1991, I had one of those unfortunate reversals in my life. Fortunately at that time I was not only a Givens (IAS) member but also associated with Share The Wealth, the direct selling division of the Givens Org. and had qualified for a Managers Conference. Part of that included going to Mr. Givens home. I meekly approached Mr. Givens while he was entertaining
approximately 80 other guests and asked him if I could have a few minutes of his time, that I had a personal issue and needed some advice.
He was gracious, politely excused himself from his other guests and spent about 30 minutes with me discussing my situation. His advice worked and to this day I can recall his look of concern and sincerity in wanting to help me. Mr. Givens was a one of a kind guy.
Finally I would suggest that you focus on the message and not the messenger. No matter what I and the other 5 star reviewers say, many people will have an issue with Mr. Givens based on whatever reason. The strategies work, for for everyone and work everytime.
This book should be renamed THE SUPERFINANCIAL BIBLE because for us,
it has helped us reach financial goals that we consider SUPER and wouldn't have achieved without the Givens Strategies. Mr. Like Think & Grow Rich, there can never be another book like this again (although there are many imitators) More Wealth Without Risk will go on for decades to come. As well it should. Mr. Givens, RIP and thank you!
Tony DeFrancisco
Winter Park, FL
Good man, good info. Is really trying to help you.
Charles Givens died before his time. I appreciated his way of explaining things. Because he spoke with authority, he actually lived what he was talking about. And I believe he was genuinely attempting to help people see the way to get out of their mundane 9-5 debt slavery and see a brighter way. I know he got into trouble in later years, but from reading all his books and getting to know him from his writings, I believe he was a decent person who cared. I think everyone needs to know what is in this book. Granted some references are dated, but that is only because he is dead and can no longer update his work. Would highly recommend this book as one of many references to the road to independent wealth, many people just dream about it, the real deal busts his backside getting the info he needs to attain his goal. Because knowledge is indeed power.
Read this along with More Wealth Without Risk
This great book by the late, great Charles Givens along with More Wealth Without Risk is all the protecion you need to save yourself from dangerous advice disseminated from brokers, insurance salesmen, car dealers, financial advisors or planners.Financial Self Defense is actually even more hard hitting that More Wealth Without Risk. One area that I saved was in buying cars. Following the advice in this book, I bought my dream car, sold my old car myself and pocketed nearly $10,000 in savings compared to what I would have spent had I followed conventional wisdom. Great book Mr. "G". Rest in peace and thank you.
Great companion to More Wealth Without Risk
If you have already read More Wealth Without Risk, you probably think you have all of Mr. Givens best strategies. Not so. Financial Self Defense is even better and offers more strategies to reach your financial dreams.In Financial Self Defense, Givens goes right after banks, brokers, auto salesmen and even the IRS, exposing the schemes and scams perpetrated by these people. My son was going to buy a car. I loaned him Financial Self Defense and he saved over $6,000 with the advice. A $14 book saved $6,000. Now that's not bad! Most of us are wasting an easy $1,000 per month in financial mistakes. Givens shows you how to plug up the dike and use that money to invest or improve your lifestyle. More Wealth Without Risk is excellent and Financial Self Defense is in many ways even better. Read both and prosper.
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