Tony Robbins, Money Master the Game. A big book on personal finance from a big hyperactive guy.

The first time I saw him was at TED. I thought he was a kind of Schwarzenegger, but talking way faster.

And that voice. Scared me like hell.

Then Tim Ferriss interviewed him for his podcast. What are these rules he promised in Tim Ferriss’ interview. Well, mmm. But I decided to read this book after the interview.

The introduction is lengthy. Very lengthy. And so many “I”’s … I thought this was full of himself. (Still do, after having read the book.)

Oh, then I read he does this on purpose, this repetition and long-windedness: it’s his method. Irritating, was my first impression, but I read on, it might work.

It does make the book readable and lively.

But it goes on. So much repetition… but also lots of valuable information for the layman looking invest for his pension.

Undressing complicated investment products. Use a cheap index fund instead. Or a simple and cheap annuity, which is investing in an index fund.

Then it gets somewhat technical and very US oriented talking about the 401(k) pension rules.

I am skipping pages.

The book not only covers investment improvements, and advice on tax. More importantly, good savings advice. Where to cut costs.

And the big big secret that Tony drags you with through a number of chapters: invest in a diversified set of portfolio, comprising domestic and international stocks, real estate and treasuries.

Some interesting numbers for the layman, actually basic math. If your investment grows 10% annually, the money will have doubled in 7.2 years. If 5%, it is still 14.4 years. Simple things like that give you another view on saving.

Of course, we want stuff now. Therefore the idea to save salary increases instead of just adding them to your salary is a good one. Hope my wife agrees.

The abundance of words continues to make the book hard to read. Information density is so low. It keeps going on and repeating the message. But I  admit: it makes me shift my view on a money machine, as Tony calls it. And the calculations grounding the machine.

Then I am done with it. I skimmed through the last chapters. Interesting, but the abundance is nauseating, and the material is too US-oriented.

We should have something like this for every country or for Europe, but we don’t have a Tony. If we get one, I hope he is a bit more concise.