Take Charge of Your Financial Future: Straight Talk on Managing Your Money from the Financial Analyst Who Defied Donald Trump

He read the Wall Street Journal on his grandmother's lap--and he got fired as a stock analyst for accurately predicting that Donald Trump's casinos couldn't succeed. Now president of his own Philadelphia money management firm, Roffman distills 35 years of experience into this reasoned approach to financial planning for individuals. Although he recommends personal savings (``rainy days will come--not . . . might '') and favors stocks for long term investment, Roffman meticulously explains other investment vehicles. With a chapter discussing the many ways stockbrokers can exploit customers, the book is not a guide to universal wealth and happiness but an order of battle for us-against-them--credit-card sharps, bankers, mutual fund managers, realtors and the uncooperative gyrations of interest rates and market values. Written with business journalist Schwager, this is an often humorous, always clear-headed memoir and one of the most valuable money books in memory. (Dec.)