Rating: 
Summary: Nothing earth shattering, but useful
Review: A lot of people are screaming that there is nothing really new in here. Sometimes you just have to be reminded of the basics. This is not a 7 figures in 7 days type of book. If you looking for instant wealth, look elsewhere. If you want to retire and not be stuck eating government cheese, then read it, follow it and just do it. It reminded me of a couple things that I already knew, but just needed somebody to tell me again.
Rating: 
Summary: Long-term returns in the stock market
Review: Another commenter says that they are skeptical that they can get a 10% annual return rate over the long term from any source, contrary to what author David Bach suggests. Well, check out the stock market. Despite current popular perception (perhaps brought on because many people buy into the market late=high and then sell after a disaster=low), the stock market performs quite well over the long term. If we look at the DOW index, it was under 4000 in early 1995 and today (2005-01-12) it is at 10618. Even though it is still recovering from the dot-com meltdown and is down 200 points from just a couple of weeks ago, the return over the past 10 years is still a total of 165% or 10.25% compounded annually. I believe Bach says somewhere in the book that the 10% he mentions is the average return of the stock market over the past 50 years.
I rate the book 4 out of 5 since it's quite a good book for beginners at personal finance, but it contains the same information as many other books and the presentation is rather redundant.
Rating:
Summary: A Primer to Financial Freedom
Review: Automatic Millionaire is simply a 2 hour read that provides a solid plan towards achieving your financial goals. The book starts out with a story of an "average" couple that was able to amass over $2M in assets and retire young. What follows in the rest of the chapters is the how to, which I think we can all appreciate. The book uses a common sense approach to building wealth and does a great job of explaining concepts like: Compound Interest, Retirement Plans, IRA's, and Mutual Funds. If you are an experience investor and already have applied these concepts, it would be in your best interest to avoid this book. But, for those of you, who want to get started, then by all means, use this book as your guide. Then as you get more advanced in your investment portfolio look to more technical books in your specific area of interest.
Rating: 
Summary: helped me automate my investments
Review: because of this book i now have money automatically taken out of my checking account into my ING account as well as my personal mutual fund account (for mutual funds read lazy guide to investing! great book). As well, i am taking advantage of my 401k...all automatically without having to remember or not remember to do it. great read!
Rating:
Summary: Basic Common Sense
Review: I found this book to be an excellent, no nonsense approach to organizing and planning for financial security. I have since read Smart Women Finish Rich, and have given many copies of both books as gifts to members of my management team, friends and young family members starting out on their own. It is well written in terms that are easy to comprehend and apply as well as some valuable resources to utilize in order to build a solid plan for future financial independance. My only objection is to the reference to the 'latte factor'. I am sure that other more glaring sacrafices can be made an example of for financial security just please not the coffee!:)
Amy Carlson
Retail Operations - NJ
Starbucks Coffee Company
Rating:
Summary: Income is not wealth, income only pays for your lifestyle
Review: I used to think that income represented wealth. The fact is your income is not your wealth, only potential wealth. You can live off your income, but you can't get wealthy off your income. You only get wealthy by investing and the proper use of money strategies. Dave Bach offers powerful money strategies that really work. The first and most important one is to pay yourself first. You must save at the very least, 10% of what you earn before you pay any bills. Isn't it amazing that Americans have such great difficulty saving 10% while the Asians save over 30%! I know some Doctors who earn a 6 figure income, but are always broke and have nothing to show for it. $150,000 income is nothing when you are spending $175,000. Bach also offers strategies to cut your mortgage payoff time in half. Pay off credit card debt in 2-3 years, not 5-10 years and more. I'm with a company that does business in 10 different countries. Our company did over $40 million in sales in it's first year and has created several millionaires in 17 months. Some of the millionaires in this company highly recommend Bach's advice and live by it. That's why they are millionaires. EARNING MONEY IS THE EASY PART. KEEPING IT IS THE DIFFICULT PART. NEEDLESS TO SAY, I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO EVERYONE AROUND THE WORLD! I can't rave enough about Dave Bach's book. I also have his tape set from Nightingale-Conant which goes even deeper into the strategies than this book does.
Rating: 
Summary: How disappointing
Review: Let me sum up this book for anyone that really wants to know what it is all about. Basically the one-step plan to live and finish rich is to save money. Basically this book is a knock off of the richest man in babylon, where the concept is pay yourself first, and try to make it at least the first 10% of your gross income. This is a very powerful concept which everyone should follow, but just read the classic on the topic it is a much better book. The automatic millionaire then recommends that this forced savings should go into your RRSP because it grows tax free, and the government gives you a tax break. Which is true but this is far from a new concept. The other shockingly bold advice givin in this book is to pay off your mortgage as fast as possible. Increase the frequency of your payments(bi-weekly), and have a flexible mortgage so that you can put all of your excess money, especially around when you get your tax refunds because of your RRSP contribution, towards the principle on your mortgage. Ohh by the way he also recommends owing real estate, as opposed to renting. I know I know, boldly new advice. He also talks about his patented "latte factor", which basically boils down to monitoring your spending habits. All the little expenses add up and over time saving this money can make you a millionaire. So brown bag it and only buy what you can afford. The major flaw I see with his "advise" is that all of his numbers are based on high rates of return. Today it is hard to achieve 10% rates of return with the "financial advice" being give out. Most people go to "financial institutions" and those wonderful places try to SELL you whatever is best for them. Whatever has the highest commision and management fees usually is what is "recommended". On a sidenote does anyone ever wonder why "financial institutions" never recommend index funds like the s&p 500 which beats 95% or better of all mutual funds. I wonder if it could have something to do with a lack of commisions and management fees??? Just a guess I would say that this book is good if you are completely financially illiterate. I borrowed this book from the library and I felt like I got ripped off at that price. I could only imagine how I would have felt if I purchased this book.
Rating:
Summary: Cruise Control for your finances - speed is up to you
Review: Many negative reviewers here miss the boat. Argueing that it's common sense misses the point that in order for knowledge to be profound, it must be immediately actionable (e.g. Light bulb goes off immediately) and EASY to implement. Bach's spin is that he takes proven methods and makes them trivial to do (I automated all his recommendations in 1 day including biweekly mortgage, 401k, emergency fund, and charity). Of course, no-one can predict exactly when one becomes a millionaire, Mr. Bach provides a well-written, financial cruise-control that may assist you in your financial travels. Well done Mr. Bach!
Rating:
Summary: An easy read and effective, too.
Review: My grandmother, who lived through the depression and experienced WWII, gave me this book. My grandmother grew up dirt poor(she had one pair of shoes for school). She dropped out of the eighth grade and yet she is one of the most well read people I know. This book is so easy to read and just as easy to understand. I've started putting into action the principles put forward in this book and I will have $7,000 saved by the end of the year. I will most likely double that every year, if I keep utilizing the strategies in this book. I highly recommend this book. Granted most of the advice in this book should be common knowledge. You could learn such things in a Personal Financial Management class; but it's the book's simple language that makes it a quick and easy read. Buy this book, then read it, then practice what it preaches, and you'll be on your way to not having to sit around waiting for the government to take care of you(which is a very scary thought because I don't trust the government to know or care what's best for me). If more people would stop counting on Medicare and social security, we would all have more money from our paychecks to save and invest for ourselves, instead of giving our tax dollars to losers who don't want to work or take initiative and save/invest for their own futures.
Rating:
Summary: Here's what I've got to say on this matter....
Review: Self-help books can be very helpful and I liked this one. It gives you practical advice as to where you should put your money to make it work the hardest for you. No miracles, just good advice. However, people with no discipline or those looking to be an instant millionaire might not like it. Also recommend "The Multifidus Back Pain Solution" if you have back pain.
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