Surviving the Storm: Investment Strategies That Help You Maximize Profit and Control Risk During the Coming Economic Winter
By James O. Lunney with Larry Chambers
(McGraw-Hill, 2008)

A key point (something that astute brokers already practice) of Surviving the Storm: Investment Strategies That Help You Maximize Profit and Control Risk During the Coming Economic Winter is to study demographics and birthrates to size up booms or busts and invest accordingly.

For a refresher course on this aspect or if you live a variation of the shoemaker's children without shoes, pick up this book by James O. Lunney, a 25-year veteran of the securities business and the "creator" of the so-called the Wealth Planning Strategy, a program for the high-net-worth individual. Otherwise, skip this book, which aims to corral the business of those individuals, as evidenced by the subjects covered and the frequent mention of Lunney's practice, based in Littleton, Colorado.

Lunney and his collaborator, Larry Chambers, a former broker and an author or co-author of several financial books (among them, The First Time Investor, Protect Your 401(k), Marketing Credibility), do a thorough and organized job of laying out this standard material. They sprinkle it with fun-to-read "Wealth Insights," case studies, graphs and charts. In addition to birthrate, spending patterns and seasons (spring, summer, fall, winter) of the economy are the three most important wealth factors, the co-authors contend. "Today, it appears that we've just been through a normal seasonal shakeout," write Lunney and Chambers about the current period. "And now we're seeing brilliant and colorful summer growth as we move toward the winter season."

Among winter's early warning signs—naturally, a period of slowdown or no growth—are when personal consumption expenditures drop for at least three consecutive months, big institutions begin to move their money around, spending on durable goods flattens or goes down for two or more quarters and the leading economic indicators drop for three to four months.

The book devotes chapters to explaining how to decipher who investors need on their wealth management team, what these various professionals do and what the client should expect of them. It also illustrates how to maneuver a "winter season," view and invest in real estate and protect assets. When all is said and done, investors can choose to mimic the book's game plan. Or they may simply pick up the phone instead and instruct their financial advisors to do the heavy lifting.

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