MONEY Master the Game by Tony Robbins Summary, Analysis and Rating

7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom

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Tony Robbins’ Perspective

Tony Robbins has been honored by Accenture as one of the “Top 50 Business Intellectuals in the World.” Plus, he was named by Harvard Business Press as one of the “Top 200 Business Gurus.” Finally, American Express recently described him as one of the “Top Six Business Leaders in the World” to coach its entrepreneurial clients. Fortune’s recent cover article named him the “CEO Whisperer.” He has been named in the top 50 of Worth Magazine’s 100 most powerful people in global finance for three consecutive years. He’s the nation’s #1 life and business strategist.

Introduction

MONEY: Master the Game is based on extensive research and one-on-one interviews with more than 50 financial experts. The result is a 7-step blueprint for securing financial freedom. Tony Robbins guides readers, of every income level, through the steps to become financially free by creating a lifetime income plan. This income plan is supported by a sneak peek into the portfolio of one of the most successful investors in history, Ray Dalio.

StoryShot #1 – Set up Automatic Withdrawals

Tony begins by explaining that money is somewhat of a taboo subject. Despite this, money is an essential part of our holistic well-being. It’s challenging earning enough money through your job to have financial freedom. So, you need to save and invest. Develop the mindset of an investor rather than being a consumer. The only way to overcome ingrained human psychology and actually save is to create a plan and automate your investing. Based on this point, Tony Robbins recommends setting up automatic withdrawals for investments and forgetting about them.

StoryShot #2 – The Nine Financial Myths

Myth #1: The Market Can Be Beaten

The reality is that only a few gifted people can beat the market’s returns consistently. Most likely, neither you nor your financial advisor is one of them. Less than 4% of actively managed mutual funds beat the market. This means your chances of doing so are far, far worse than the odds on a coin toss. You’re much better off buying a passively managed index fund, which simply matches the overall market.

Myth #2: People Are Telling the Truth About Fees 

The average cost of owning a mutual fund is 3.17% a year when you include all the hidden fees — expense ratio, transaction costs, cash drag, unseen taxes, etc. That may not sound like much, but for each 1% increase in fees, 20% of the final value of the typical retirement portfolio is eaten away. The end result is that most of your savings end up in someone else’s pocket. Again, investing in index funds with fees of around 1% will make an enormous difference in your financial storehouse.

Myth #3: People Are Telling the Truth About Returns

A core truth about investing is that it is much more important to avoid losses than achieve gains. Robbins explains this point by providing an example. If you have $100 in your portfolio and lose 50% the first year, you will have $50. If you then gain 50% in the second year, you end up with only $75. Your average (time-weighted) return was 0% (up 50%, then down 50%). That said, your real (dollar-weighted) return was negative 25%. Another issue with mutual funds is they take advantage of this difference to overestimate their effectiveness. Specifically, they use their time-weighted return rather than their actual returns.

Myth #4: Your Broker Is On Your Side

Most brokers are perfectly reasonable and honest people. But most of them also probably don’t understand the three myths we’ve just covered. The broker model is also a severe conflict of fiduciary duties. Your broker has a responsibility to increase your money and a responsibility to increase his company’s money. The issue is these two duties are mutually exclusive. A much better decision is to go with a registered investment advisor (RIA). These advisors get an annual fee from you rather than commissions from the mutual funds. Go to the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors or Stronghold Financial website to find an RIA.

Myth #5: Your 401(k) Will Set You Up For Retirement 

The 401(k) is a failed social experiment that has only been around for 30 years. The unique bull market conditions of the 80s and 90s blinded society. Society started to believe that the 401(k) system was effectively setting people up for retirement. That said, with the recent financial crisis, it became more apparent that the system is a failure. The factors listed in Myths 1–3 severely limit your retirement portfolio growth, and taxes on withdrawals further limit your growth potential. The 401(k) also doesn’t do anything to protect you against changes in retirement age.

Hopefully, you’ve already avoided the traditional 401(k) or IRA in favor of a Roth. A Roth can solve tax problems. You can use an IRA instead of a 401(k) to avoid the factors in Myths 1–3. IRAs have much lower contribution limits. IRAs also don’t let you take advantage of matching contributions from your employer. Tony recommends you go to the online fee checker here, which will show how much you’re paying in fees in your company’s 401(k). After completing this check, approach your employer with the results. Because of a new law passed in 2012, employers are legally required to offer reasonable fees. Hopefully, this combination of information will be enough to convince your employer to consider offering low-cost index funds in your plan.

Myth #6: Target Date Funds Are a Good Way to Allocate Your Investments

Since ordinary investors struggle to diversify, many choose a “target date” fund where their mix of investments changes based on their age. These fundes get higher returns when you’re young and can afford more risk. The fund then preserves your capital when you’re getting closer to retirement. This transition is generally characterized by moving away from stocks and towards bonds. While target date funds are a helpful idea, in theory, the “experts” who put these plans together operate under two gravely mistaken assumptions. Firstly, they assume bonds are safer than stocks. Secondly, they assume that bonds and stocks move in opposite directions. Tony Robbins covers later in the book why both of these assumptions are generally incorrect.

Myth #7: Annuities Are Bad 

Conventional wisdom will tell you that annuities as an investment class are overpriced and a bad investment. While this is true (mainly due to high fees), it would be unwise to paint this entire investment class with the same brush. At least one type of annuity (the tax-free fixed indexed annuity) is an invaluable investment tool. 

Myth #8: You Have to Take Big Risks to Get Big Returns

One of the most important rules of investing is to risk a little for the potential to make a lot. Some simple ways for an individual to do this are structured notes, market-linked CDs, and fixed indexed annuities. All these approaches protect your invested principle but also give you access to upside potential if the market moves the right way.

Myth #9: Success Is Determined by Something Beyond Our Control 

Tony Robbins believes we have control over our own financial success. This belief is underpinned by his interest in financial psychology. A change in mindset is necessary to succeed. 

StoryShot #3 – You Seek What Money Offers You

Tony Robbins points out that no one actually wants money. Instead, we all want what money can provide. The precise benefits sought are different depending on your individual interests. All these benefits fall under the six basic human needs. The six basic human needs are certainty/comfort, uncertainty/variety, significance, love/connection, growth, and contribution. Money is an essential part of our lives, but you will be better equipped to succeed if you understand why you want money. By knowing what you’re really after, you’ll have better clarity about how to get where you want to go.

StoryShot #4 – Calculate Your Dream Amount of Money

Once you know where you want to go, you can calculate a precise number. This number will probably turn out to be less than you expect. Even with a seemingly unreasonable goal, you can often get what you want for a fraction of the money you thought you’d need. Define what you want from the money rather than the money itself, and you’ll realize your own goals are more achievable than you thought.

To do even better at defining what you want from money, Tony suggests establishing and calculating a series of five goals. By having different financial success levels to aim for, your goals will become significantly more achievable and motivating.

StoryShot #5 – The Five Goals for Financial Success

Goal #1: Ability to Take Risks

Suppose the monthly returns on your investment portfolio will pay for your monthly housing, food, utilities, transportation, and insurance. In that case, you’ve covered 65% of the average American’s monthly costs. If you hit this mark, you can choose a job you love instead of the high-paying one you hate. You could take the “risks” that you previously didn’t have enough in the bank to feel safe taking them.

Goal #2: Being Half-Way to Never Working Again

Suppose you can also save enough to cover half of your monthly clothing, entertainment, and “small luxury” costs (whatever makes you happy). In that case, you’ve reached the halfway point to truly never having to work again.

Goal #3: Never Having to Work Again

Add the rest of your necessary living expenses and you have what you need to never work again.

Goal #4: Being Able to Treat Yourself

Add the monthly payments for two or three significant luxuries (boat, vacation home, exotic car, etc.) to your number.

Goal #5: Make a Difference With What You Don’t Need

Now dream big — what do you need (things/experiences) to have everything you want? This is where you find your limit. If you’re honest with yourself, you will understand that many things do not offer good happiness value. 

Remember, the goal is to achieve what you actually want from money, not the money itself. Suppose you sit down and calculate the number. In that case, you’ll probably realize that it’s a lot less than what you thought — probably around $500,000 — $5 million of annual income. That might never be within reach. But once you know the upper limit of what you want, you’ll realize how happy you can be by getting close.

Now you know what would actually make you happy, you can revisit some life choices you made on autopilot. These choices are ones you made, expecting only to realize that they aren’t making you happy enough to justify their cost. The act of going through this exercise may help you acquire several benefits. Specifically, save more, earn more, reduce fees and taxes, get better returns, or change your lifestyle in other ways.

Rating

We rate Money Master the Game 4.3/5. How would you rate Tony Robbins’ book based on this summary?

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