Synopses & Reviews
The typical affluent American comes from a working-class background, worked his or her way through college, and has been working for twenty-nine years an average of fifty-six hours per week. The primary source of their wealth isnt a glamorous profession or a lavish inheritance.
Many of us have misguided perceptions when it comes to the values, lifestyles, and financial affairs of the wealthy. But in reality, the concerns and aspirations of the rich are no different than those of the average American. U.S. Trusts recently retired Chairman and CEO Jeff Maurer proves this point in the revealing and informative Rich in America: Secrets to Creating and Preserving Wealth.
U.S. Trust has been serving the affluent since 1853 and numbers among its clients many of the nations wealthiest families. Drawing on the companys heritage and his more than thirty years of personal experience advising the affluent, Maurer will show you who the wealthy really are in a way that no one else has done before. Rich in America takes you behind the elegant and impenetrable facade of affluent America to reveal the backgrounds, concerns, belief systems, and savings and investment behavior of this elite group. Based on ten years of surveying the top 1% wealthiest Americans, this book provides a comprehensive and surprising portrait of the affluent today and will serve as an invaluable guide to improving your financial life.
Maurer provides something that sophisticated wealth managers have never offered to the publicthe confidential advice they provide to their clients. He details how these people stay wealthy by maintaining a balanced financial philosophy in good times and bad, and examines the importance of sound investment management, financial planning, tax strategies, estate planning, and trusts in the world of the wealthy.
Rich in America offers an illuminating picture of what it means to be wealthy and provides advice on how to get thereand how to stay there. Despite what F. Scott Fitzgerald said in The Rich Boy, the rich are not "different from you and me." Rich in America proves this point by revealing the principles and practices of the wealthy and sharing the secrets of those who have been the most successful in amassing and retaining wealth.
Review
"nuggets of wisdom for any reader" (USA Today, August 25, 2003)
Synopsis
Advance Praise for Rich In America
"I highly recommend Rich in America to investors of all economic levels. While certainly no company understands the wealthy better than U.S. Trust, Jeff Maurer has done a wonderful job of turning the wisdom he gathered during his distinguished career at this venerable institution into advice that will benefit anyone interested in making smarter financial decisions."
Charles Schwab
Chairman, The Charles Schwab Corporation
"Jeff Maurer is uniquely qualified to advise the affluent and those who would be. Rich in America is packed with insight and wisdom gleaned from his long and tremendously successful career at the very pinnacle of wealth management."
Timothy C. Forbes
Chief Operating Officer, Forbes Inc.
"For thirty-three years, Jeff Maurer helped build U.S. Trust Corporation into one of the nations most prominent and respected wealth managers. In this book, Jeff combines his own experience with the knowledge gleaned from a decade of U.S. Trust research into who the affluent are, how they earned their money, and how they keep it. The U.S. Trust approach to building and maintaining wealth makes relevant reading for anyone eager to provide for their own and their familys financial well-being."
Alan J. Weber
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, U.S. Trust Corporation
"Jeff Maurer has distilled more than three decades of investment advice to affluent clients into a concise, informative, and extraordinarily readable work. Readers who are trying to preserve accumulated assets, as well as those who are setting out to build substantial wealth, will profit from this wide-ranging book."
James Poterba
Mitsui Professor of Economics, MIT
Synopsis
Advance Praise for Rich In America
"I highly recommend Rich in America to investors of all economic levels. While certainly no company understands the wealthy better than U.S. Trust, Jeff Maurer has done a wonderful job of turning the wisdom he gathered during his distinguished career at this venerable institution into advice that will benefit anyone interested in making smarter financial decisions."
-Charles Schwab
Chairman, The Charles Schwab Corporation
"Jeff Maurer is uniquely qualified to advise the affluent and those who would be. Rich in America is packed with insight and wisdom gleaned from his long and tremendously successful career at the very pinnacle of wealth management."
-Timothy C. Forbes
Chief Operating Officer, Forbes Inc.
"For thirty-three years, Jeff Maurer helped build U.S. Trust Corporation into one of the nation's most prominent and respected wealth managers. In this book, Jeff combines his own experience with the knowledge gleaned from a decade of U.S. Trust research into who the affluent are, how they earned their money, and how they keep it. The U.S. Trust approach to building and maintaining wealth makes relevant reading for anyone eager to provide for their own and their family's financial well-being."
-Alan J. Weber
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, U.S. Trust Corporation
"Jeff Maurer has distilled more than three decades of investment advice to affluent clients into a concise, informative, and extraordinarily readable work. Readers who are trying to preserve accumulated assets, as well as those who are setting out to build substantial wealth, will profit from this wide-ranging book."
-James Poterba
Mitsui Professor of Economics, MIT
About the Author
JEFFREY S. MAURER capped a thirty-three-year career at U.S. Trust by becoming Chief Executive Officer of the firm in 2001 and Chairman of the Board in 2002. He was named President in 1990 and Chief Operating Officer of the company in 1994. Prominent in industry activities, Mr. Maurer is past chairman of the American Bankers Association’s Trust and Investment Management Division. He is also a member of the Financial Services Roundtable and the American and New York State bar associations. Mr. Maurer is a member of the board of directors of Forbes.com and the Greater New York Insurance Companies. Actively involved in a number of community organizations, he serves on the boards of Alfred University, Children’s Health Fund, Hebrew Home for the Aged, North Shore—LIJ Health System, and the Roundabout Theatre.
Founded in 1853, U.S. TRUST CORPORATION is one of America’s oldest investment management, trust, and private banking companies. From a fledgling institution with three employees housed in a modest office on Wall Street, U.S. Trust has grown to more than 2,100 employees in thirty-four offices serving affluent clients and their families nationwide.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgents.
Preface.
Introduction.
Chapter 1. Financial Planning.
Chapter 2. Investments.
Chapter 3.Taxes.
Chapter 4. Insurance.
Chapter 5. Retirement.
Chapter 6. Estate Planning.
Chapter 7. How to Choose a Financial Advisor.
Conclusion.
Appendix: Examples of Financial Planning Schedules.
Index.