What's Your Future Worth?: Using Present Value to Make Better Decisions by Peter NeuwirthMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
Throughout my career I used net present value for various projects when analyzing project economics and while creating sales cases as a technical seller of software. I also have used present value calculations in reviewing my personal finances. I am familiar with the concept through use. I naturally think that way. I’d say this is a good book for those who are not familiar with the concept of present value and the time-value of money. The author introduces the concept, but mostly steers clear of the difficult math aspects. Much of the use here is describing some aspects of two alternatives and talking through which seems on a casual analysis to have the best value for a person. From my experience, this way to look at alternatives isn’t obvious to many people, so I do applaud the attempt this book makes in opening up this logical world to others. But for those familiar with the usage of such tools and ways of thinking, the book is not as interesting. Mainly, as the author described some examples of using present value analysis, I kept finding aspects the author ignored to simplify the story but that really gnawed on me as I read. If you already approach life with the tools of financial evaluation in mind and have that kind of latent obsessiveness that I sometimes exhibit, you could avoid this book. But if this is a new concept, this book is an interesting introduction, with the bonus of learning what an actuary does. There are plenty of anecdotes and personal reflections along the way, so it reads easy. But I didn’t find all the examples to best illustrate the points the author was trying to make.
View all my reviews
No comments:
Post a Comment