Title: MONEY Master the Game: 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom
Author: Tony Robbins
Hardcover: 688 pages

MONEY Master The Game – Summary

Before I start I must say that Tony Robbins has been a fantastic influence in my life. I have listened to nearly every speech, piece of content or podcast on the Internet from Tony. Tony has an interesting way to influencing or changing your minds state to do things you never thought you could.

This book is a little different than what most people would think from a book by Tony Robbins. Typically the first thing that comes to mind when people think of Tony is his best selling book, Awaken the Giant Within or his intense motivational seminars where he has had people walk on hot coals! This book provides the motivation that many individuals need to start actively taking control of their financial future, or at minimum start creating a roadmap of their financial future.

Among many other tips for financial independence, Tony lays out seven steps to obtain financial freedom. In this book he interviews a large number of top money managers and some of the wealthiest individuals in the world to determine how they invest, what they invest in, and their best kept money secrets.

7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom

Welcome to the Jungle

This section focuses on the psychological barriers that keep us from obtaining financial freedom. Here you will begin to understand compound interest and the enormous impact it can have on your net worth over time. You will also start to develop a shift in your mindset from being a consumer to that of an owner.

Become the Insider

Discover fees that separate you from your money. Tony goes over more than ten fees that you may be getting charged in your retirement account that is killing your returns. A fee as small as 1% can eat up to 60% of your returns over time. Tony provides examples of just how much fees will eat at your returns over several decades. The numbers he shares are very staggering and eye opening.

Make the Game Winnable

In this section Tony provides detail as to what it will actually take to reach your goal of retirement or financial freedom. Tony will help reverse engineer the amount of money needed for financial freedom. Often times people believe that to achieve financial independence they will need $10 million saved up. For many people this simply isn’t the case. It can be much lower than people think.

Make the Most Important Investment Decision of your Life

Here you will learn more about diversification and how you can diversify in your own portfolio. Diversification or asset allocation is extremely important but many individuals don’t understand it or they are intimidated by it so they avoid the discussion. Dividing your assets into buckets can help limit risks and over time help make you a great deal of money.

Upside Without The Downside

Making money without having the risk of losing money, sounds like a good idea right? Tony provides detail that may potentially eliminate or reduce losses while seeking to increase gains. In this section, you will learn about annuities. There are several annuity products available today and they are not all good, in my opinion. Tony even mentions that not all annuities are created equal so be sure to pick the product that is right for you.

Invest Like the .001%

Pick the brain of the top investors in the world who have proved themselves for decades. Tony interviews some of the most brilliant investor minds allow you to get a sneak peek into how they invest. Several of the interviews provide strategies used by the .001% that provided positive returns even in down markets.

Just Do It, Enjoy It, and Share It

This section is a little more philosophical in nature. Here, Tony helps you come up with a plan to help live a better, a more fulfilled life. What excites you? What is the legacy that you would like to leave behind? These are questions that Tony wants you to ask yourself. For me, one thing that excites me is investing in experiences over things.

My Takeaways

– Determine the fees that you are currently paying in your 401k.
– Diversification.
– Save early and safe often. Compounding interest over long periods of time will yield large returns.

The Bad (not really)

MONEY Master the Game is a great book and provides well thought out points but I almost think they are almost too well thought out. The book is a beast at nearly 700 pages! Honestly I think that the same principles could have been conveyed in a much more concise manner. A second thing that somewhat caught my eye was the number of times he referenced the website, americasbest401k.com. While I agree with Tony that many Americans are unknowingly paying egregious fees in their 401k, the book almost seemed, at times, a sales pitch for this website.

About the Author

Tony Robbins is a bestselling author, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. For more than thirty-seven years, millions of people have enjoyed the warmth, humor and the transformational power of Mr. Robbins’s business and personal development events. Robbins is the founder of or partner of more than a dozen companies in diverse industries. He feeds more than 4 million peoples annually in 56 countries. Tony is also featured in Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss.