My favourite gifts

by Noel Whittaker

The book you don’t read won’t help.
JIM ROHN

Christmas is fast approaching and with it, the usual challenge of finding an appropriate gift that won’t break the bank. My favourite gifts have always been books because the cost is relatively small, they can be a permanent reminder of the occasion of the gift if you inscribe it, and if chosen well can be of lasting benefit to the recipient.

And to show the effect of books let me quote from an email I received yesterday.

“I read the first book authored by you when I was in my early twenties.  It was given to me by my late father.  I am now in my 40’s. I bought your book bundle earlier this year. Thanks very much for these books.  Now I have read them, some for the second time. I might even re-gift them and give someone else the gift of your knowledge and wisdom!

I have spent the last 20 years bartending and waiting tables.  I just took some long service leave and now am taking some time off having just resigned.

Truth be known, I wouldn’t be in the financial position to do so, but for your wisdom.  If I had followed your advice even better than I did, I would be even better off.  But alas I’m not the brightest candle on the table.  Fortunately, enough of you book sunk in and I have done okay for myself.”

Yes, books can change a life. So what follows is a quick summary of some of my books, three other books which may be useful to you, and also our latest offering in e-books.

 

Making Money Made Simple

This was my first book and still sells constantly. World-wide sales are in excess of two million and I continually receive emails, like the one above, telling me what a difference the book has made to their lives. The key message of the book is that anybody can have far more than they thought possible if they make the best use of what they have now starting today. The purpose of this book is to teach basic money principles in a simple way.

This is the perfect gift for somebody aged between 25 and 45.

 

Beginners Guide to Wealth

This book started its life as Getting It Together and was first published in 1993. The idea for the book came to me when I was at a 21st birthday party for the daughter of a wealthy friend, and spent much of the night chatting to bright young people from good homes. I was astonished to discover they faced a future with trepidation, and were not sure what direction they should be taking.

I started myself from a fairly impoverished background but got to where I am today by studying the basic principles of success and then putting them into practice. One of the major books on the journey was Think and Grow Rich which I have mentioned many times before. I decided to write Getting It Together to put all the Napoleon Hill principles in a simple form which could be easily absorbed by younger people. The book was highly successful, but there came a time when we decided the book needed to be updated.

We changed the title to Beginners Guide to Wealth because that more truly reflected the nature of its contents. At that stage my son James, now age 34, became co-author and helped me update the book so it was more relevant to a younger audience.

This is a fantastic present for anybody from the age of 12 years of age upwards.

 

25 Years of Whitt and Wisdom

In 2016 I decided to write a legacy book that would contain the best of the hundreds of articles totalling over two million words that I have written in the last 30 years. There is an old saying “birth is easier than resurrection” and it was certainly true of this project.  My editor Helena Bond and I worked for weeks to reduce two million words down to 200,000 words and then distil them even further. The result is 25 Years of Whitt and Wisdom.

It is a very fine production in hardcover with a dust jacket and with very high quality paper. Hence the retail price of $49.95. When my good friend John Marshall, retired financial advisor, read the book he exclaimed  “Everybody over 50 should read this – it’s a great history as well as reinforcing the basic principles”. This is a wonderful book for someone to browse through over Christmas.

 

Golden Rules of Wealth

Golden Rules of Wealth was written to go with the CD-ROM I released in 1994 and sets out what I regard as the basic principles of becoming wealthy and keeping it. It was first published over 20 years ago but is as relevant now as it was then. Remember, the basics  never change.

eBooks available also.

 

The Christmas Package

I have compiled the ultimate personal library of financial information. Treat yourself or someone you love with six of my most celebrated books, including the popular titles, ‘Golden Rules of Wealth’, and ‘the Beginner’s Guide to Wealth’.

Get that gift that can change their life forever with this Christmas Book Package!

For just $119.70 with free shipping, it includes the following books:

  •  25 years of Whitt and Wisdom
  • Making money made simple
  • Beginners guide to wealth
  • Golden rules of wealth
  • Money tips
  • Superannuation Made Simple

 

Golden Christmas Ebook Bundle

In 1956, this machine, the size of 2 refrigerators, held 5 megabytes of data at a cost of $10,000 a megabyte.

Today, the most basic smartphone lets you hold 1600 times more information in the palm of your hand. With all this mind boggling tech in at our disposal, surely it could be put to better use than endless selfies?

Why not carry timeless wisdom and financial savvy with you on your Kindle, Phone or iPad?

I’ve bundled all the ebooks available at noelwhittakerebooks.com.au into a Golden Christmas Bundle.

With a couple of taps or clicks you can have the information and motivation to build and protect your wealth right at your fingertips.

For just $19.99 The Golden Christmas Ebook Bundle includes:

  • Superannuation Made Simple, fully updated for 2017-18
  • Making Money Made Simple, 22nd edition.
  • The Beginner$ Guide to Wealth (an ideal gift for a grandchild or young adult)
  • Golden Rules of Wealth – 40 powerful principles in 40 easy to read chapters.

Purchased separately the books are $35.96, with this bundle, you have them all for $19.99.

There is also an option to give the Golden Christmas Ebook Bundle as a gift, perfect for someone you care about who could use a kick start to their finances in 2018. No wrapping, no posting, no worries.

So if you want summer reading that will prepare you for any rainy day, grab the Golden Christmas Bundle from my store. It’s available for Kindle, for i-books (i-phone/i-pad), and as a PDF. You can also buy a gift card for the Golden Christmas Bundle.

 

Real Estate Escapes

With the interest in the housing market still in overdrive throughout Australia, particularly the prospect of an apartment boom, real estate has become a legal and contractual minefield for both purchasers and vendors. This is why I recommend the book Real Estate Escapes by Brisbane solicitor Tim O’Dwyer.

Tim is nationally recognised as a real estate watchdog, consumer advocate, and legal commentator. He has gained a reputation as a ‘contract killer’ through his many and varied ‘rescues’ of real estate consumers, and also as ‘the prince of real estate darkness’ following several wins for clients facing unconscionable commission claims by their agents.

As well as essential references for anyone buying or selling property, Real Estate Escapesis full of interesting and informative contractual and legal anecdotes. Most of the real estate escapes recounted in the book describe situations where one of the parties to an unsettled property agreement has had a change of mind. Some escape attempts are successful. Others fail miserably — and often expensively. Each cautionary tale in the book is true, although names have been changed.

 

Happy Money

All the money in the world is no good to you if you don’t know how to spend it to give yourself happiness. This is why Happy Money: The new science of smarter spending by Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton is such a fantastic read. In it two professors combine cutting-edge research in behavioural science to explain how money can buy you happiness if you follow the five core principles of smart spending.

They point out that experiences such as a long-anticipated holiday can give you much more pleasure than buying a new car, and why one of the best ‘investments’ you can make is hiring people to do those jobs around the house that you dread. I particularly liked that one.

 

10 Foundations of Business Success

There is a surge in the number of people starting their own businesses as they try to escape from the tyranny of bosses, insecure employment, and any number of other situations that chafe. But unfortunately, most start-ups fail in the first two years. This is why 10 Foundations of Business Success by ex-banker Guy Hamilton is such a joy. We now live in a time when words like innovation, disruption, strategic transformation and digital economy have become common in the business world, but the reality is that the basics have remained unchanged. And this is a book that focuses on the basics any successful business needs to understand and employ. It is written in a simple and easy to understand style and could repay its purchase price many times over.

10 Foundations of Business Success is available direct from the author – just email kintakirri2@gmail.com.