The holiday season is a great time for books: giving them, receiving them or catching up on those you’ve accumulated during the year and may now have time to read.

While 2002 wasn’t a banner year for books on financial planning, four that I read this year stand out and may be worth reading or considering as gifts….

The second book I recommend is “Wall Street Secrets for Tax-Efficient Investing,” by Robert N. Gordon and Jan M. Rosen (Bloomberg Press, 2002).

Many investment professionals talk about tax-efficient investing, but seems to me that very few actually practice it in earnest.  Perhaps that’s because investing in a truly tax-efficient manner is time-consuming and complex.

Chock Full of Wisdom

Mr. Gordon lays out the rules and techniques of tax-efficient investing clearly and concisely in the book.  For example, I found the discussion on the use of equity swaps, a potentially difficult subject, easy to understand.  He covers all the bases – from how and when to harvest losses, to easing the tax bite on fixed- income investments, to avoiding tax traps for closely held businesses….

……………………………….

Other books reviewed in this article:

“Keeping Clients for Life: How to Build a Successful Financial Practice” by Karen Altfest.
“The Managed Account Handbook" by Stephen D. Gresham.
“Capital Ideas: The Improbable Origins of Modern Wall Street” by Peter L. Bernstein.
“Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk” by Peter L. Bernstein.

For the full review, go to www.investmentnews.com (payment required).

This article and other articles herein are provided for information purposes only.  They are not intended to be an offer to engage in any securities transactions or to provide specific financial, legal or tax advice. Articles may have been rendered partly inaccurate by events that have occurred since publication.  Investors should consult their advisers before acting on any topics discussed herein.