Beat the Banks! – Take Back Control of Your Money and Secure Your Family’s Financial Future – by Jasmine Birtles – Vermilion – ISBN 978-0-09-192947-3 -Reviewed by Valerie Dwyer - Serial Entrepreneur, Coach, Mentor, Inspirational Speaker, founder of My Wonderful Life Coach™, Everything is Possible™, and other enterprises. http://www.mywonderfullifecoach.co.uk

POWERFUL STUFF THIS – YOUR BEST INVESTMENT OF THE YEAR! Beat the Banks is the handbook to help you ‘beat the system’ - legally! One of the few books I’ve read within just a couple of days, couldn’t stop. It’s like the thriller where you can’t wait to see the end.

   The anticipation of doing the best, certainly much better with, your hard-earned cashand there’s no disappointment but a huge reward for seeing it through as quickly as you can – whether it is confirmation that all you’re doing with your money is right, optimum return, or opening up new and unexplored vistas for you that you can trust and dip your toe gently in!  With current campaigns going the rounds on the needs to improve financial education, Beat the Banks no-nonsense walkthrough the basics and rules is highly recommended reading. Satisfying all levels of knowledge and risk profiles, money made easy! OK, yes, you’ll need a smattering of discipline and a good pinch of research but Jasmine shows us what to do within a limited amount of time, regularity being more important than obsessing about your money. Large Oaks from Little Acorns Grow but you need to plant the seeds! Beat the Banks certainly sows many, you choose which to nurture. Opportunities start with just £1.00 but that you’ll need to build upon. Her point is that rather than money management per se being the task, we can organise so that we spend more time getting on with our lives and life plans. On which, a lesson that we do need to know what we want and set our sights on getting it.  As a Coach helping people develop their Vision for the Future, I’m entirely in agreement! Stuck on ideas for this one? Go see www.my50.com 

  Jasmine has ‘been there, done it, bought the tea-shirt’, so you know this is something that you can believe in. An acknowledged expert in ‘money – saving and investing – writer for media, founder of www.moneymagpie.com She demystifies those often ‘grey’ areas in investments, banking, pensions, assets, and, I’m pleased, encourages everyone to get out and make wills – it truly is the ONLY WAY to be sure our wishes are carried out and discourage the taxman from grabbing 40% (or whatever the rate at time of writing) of our hard-earned and conserved legacy. If you’ve ever seen the family in-fighting that can occur with intestacy (without a will) you really wouldn’t wish it on yours. Just remember – writing a will doesn’t kill you (well usually!)

 Jasmine pulls no punches. She ‘outs’ ‘wolves in sheep’s’ clothing’ - salesmen disguised as ‘advisers’, though there are gems out there and trusted recommendation is one of the best routes to them. We are firmly reminded that this is all business and BUSINESS EXISTS TO MAKE MONEY – from us! Jasmine advises us to be ‘contrarians’ – how right, because by the time an investment is rising, recommended, we may already have missed the boat.

  Compound Interest got you flummoxed? Not any more!  Useful chart makes it clear. Know how much you’re REALLY WORTH? You may be surprised once you’ve completed your simple ‘Net Worth Calculator’. Emphatically delivers on suggesting priority actions and finding us all the very best of what is out there, most of which she has tried and tested and so you know that you can TRUST what she says, all out to SAVE YOU MONEY, TIME and HEARTACHE at the same time! Being familiar, over a number of years, with most of the topics/areas Jasmine covers, I can speak with some confidence about what she suggests we try and applaud the way she makes it so easy for first-timers.

  Ripping away all the smokescreens, this is information that you need whether you’re starting small and early on your journey to making the most of your money, or a seasoned investor. All can learn a thing or three from Beat the Banks!

  Beat the Banks is worthy of a longer review! Better still, go out and buy the book because this is a money management tool and reference work you need close at hand to dip into again! Don’t share it round the family, tell them and let them buy their own – you need your copy! Neat paperback, 327 informative pages including products to avoid, thoughts about the future of finance, recommended websites, useful contacts and your own detailed guides on Getting Started, Creating a Lucrative Investment Portfolio, FREEBIES include downloadable budget planner and a mortgage grid. Importantly Jasmine prioritises to take you step by step through what’s most important to do first. Think you can’t clear your debts/pay off the mortgage sooner. Learn from Jasmine. You’ll only know if you give it a go now!  The timing is exactly right!  Essential Reading for your own or academic or public library,  Highly recommended.