As a tax professional and tax educator, I recognized many years ago that tax & financial illiteracy is a major problem amongst taxpayers. For example, consider: 1. how many wage-earners do not even understand all the deductions posted on their pay statements -- or that net pay is not the same as taxable income; or 2. how many people do not understand that the basic tax equation is "tax liability = tax base x tax rate" -- and that tax rate alone is not enough information to calculate one's tax liability; or 3. how many people think capital gains taxes paid are a "bad thing" -- when in fact, they are frequently a "subsidy" provided to wealthier taxpayers at the expense of wage-earners; or 4. how many people are eligible for some form of deferred compensation [401(k)plan, 403(b) plan etc] but they either do not participate or do not participate fully; etc, etc, etc.

In an effort to promote "Basic Tax Literacy," I highly recommend the EY-PFP Guide as a highly accessible & understandable guide for teens and above. This book makes a wonderful gift for all life events -- coming of age ceremonies, graduations, marriage, birth of child, divorce, mid-life crisis, pre-retirement, retirement. It could even serve as a textbook for certain courses and seminars.

This 3rd edition is a useful tool for people who are either starting to understand personal financial planning or those who have years of practical experience but want the latest information available. Complex concepts are explained clearly and concisely. There are no major gaps in the information provided. The book is well organized. Part II which uses a life-event approach to financial planning will be most helpful for people beginning to understand personal financial planning or facing a major life-event.

I enjoyed reading the book and found it filled with exactly the information I was seeking to improve my own personal financial planning. The format was very understandable and will allow me to continue using the book as a reference.

This book starts off with the basics but then goes into the details of each subject. It goes well beyond the other books which usually say to do or not do something but does not go into the details of why. I hightly recommended this book.

This book is a classic. A real monument of culture, produced by this philological mind of the twentieth century. Its pages have consistently revealed the powerful medieval literature, totally breaking the idea of a dead age to literature. His commentary on St. Augustine`s Confessions (chap.IV, rethoric), as well as the excerpt of St. Augustine`s work that he brings to us, are pearls of the literary critic. We can hardly find nowadays an erudit of this kind.
Yes, his work has a lot of problems, maybe even some errors and some avoidable historicism. Yes, his work is an old one. Yes, his bergsonian introduction is boring. Yes, some of his interpretations are doubtful.
But you can`t really pass through the Middle Ages without reading this classic.

Robert Musil is not read much anymore; if he is known at all, it is usually through his monumental work, "The Man Without Qualities" - a piece comparable to both Joyce's "Ulysses" and Mann's "The Magic Mountain" in its complexity and elusiveness. Among the modernists, Musil is noted for his attempt to bring a sort of "mysticism" to the problems and philosophies of society; he was interested in the cacaphony of ideas which littered the modern world, drowning out the order of the past. This new collection of his short stories, previously published separately as "Unions" (1911) and "Three Women" (1924), provides an introduction to Musil for the uninitiated. As one reads these five stories (the "women"), one cannot help but notice the low hum of disorder welling beneath the surface - whether in "Grigia" with it's Poe-like ending, the retro-fairy tale of "The Lady From Portugal" or the seductive hopelessness inherent in "Tonka." These stories are set in a time and place not our own, but the reader is presented with the universal themes of love, death, and power - indeed, the very nature of our being. These works are challenging, they require effort, but ultimately they are rewarding and necessary. Musil once wrote of the "union of soul and economics" - the combination through literature of the ethereal and the real, the past and the present, the timeless and the mortal. This impressive collection is an entrance to Musil's world, to his ideas, and to a better understanding of our own condition.

Excellent, This book is the best on this matter, It has the micropropagation protocols for every single kind of orchid and a good explanation step by step with charts, tables, pictures.... exceptional.

This book is a brilliant summation of the work of one of America's premier humorists, Robert Benchley. Along with succinct and well-balanced biographical information, this (beautifully bound!) book presents an account of the wide variety of Benchley's publications, enabling the reader to pursue both familiar and obscure gems from his oeuvre. No other volume comes close to what Ernst has achieved here - a modern bibliographic classic! This book is worth every penny...

This guide provides excellent pre-retirement planning suggestions. Has traps, obstacles and helpers outlined for quick review and advice. Has a number of "tools" in the form of worksheets to assist in planning for both before and after retirement events. Presents a number of post-retirement ideas with several suggestions of how to manage and/or increase your income in retirement. Authors are somewhat short on information for the mid 50's retiree concerning how to access 401k and IRA funds without penalty between 55 and 59 1/2. No info on what forms are needed and where they are available, or what needs to be filed and where. Has one slight reference in the appendix on how to accomplish withdrawals without penalty. Having read a number of retirement planning books available on the bookshelf, I found this volume excels in providing useful information not found in similar guide books.

Although this book deals with many aspects of retirement and retirement planning, what distinguishes it from the dozens of similar books I have read is a truly outstanding calculator for determining how much money will be available then and how much needs to be saved or invested to eliminate any shortfall. It includes pensions, social security, and savings and investments. It factors in life expectancy, income sources that will automatically increase with inflation and those that won't, savings and investment growth rates, withdrawl rates that must increase with inflation(which--unbelievably--some calculators don't consider). It allows for early retirement (that is, it doesn't factor in social security until it's available). Similarly, it allows for staggered commencement of retirement income sources (for example, a pension that starts at age 65 while you may start social security at age 62). I've not found another calculator that does ALL of these things! I couldn't recommend it more highly.

This guide really lays out, step by step, how to think and act to plan your retirement. I found this a surprisingly quick read, comprehensive, easy to understand and specific -- from spending, lifestyle, insurance, investing issues. The book makes a great gift for friends or parents because too many of us are not paying attention to the easy "Action Items" that each chapter ends with. Highly recommended!

Yes, it's been said, this game is like the X-Files, only it's not. This is much, much cooler. Character generation is easy enough, and there's a lot to work with. The rules, too, are fast and easy (with the possible exception of combat, which can crawl a bit). There is enough information here to keep a creative GM busy for an eternity, and if you add some of the sourcebooks (all exCellent, mind you), things just get better. Even if you're not a gamer, get this just to read about a very, very chilling world not unlike our own at all...

Imagine the X-Files crossed with big guns and you're just about there. This is a superb RPG with a very detailed and beleivable background. Characted generation is a little complex but you end up with exactly the character you were looking for. This main rule book has a wealth of information about weapons, technologies, alien races, supernatural, psychics and with regular source book releases there is plenty for a GM to work with. Combat is swift and deadly just as in real lifa and your characters will have to do some good thinking if they want to come out of adventures unscathed. This elimenates all the dungeon hack and shoot em up scenarios which plague most RPG's. You will love this game, I know I do.

I'll admit I was suspicious when my wife suggested this game: I mean, I like the X-files, but this had been done to death hadn't it? Coupled with cliched artwork... I sat back and almost challenged it: "Make me like this" And I loved it. The background is great, the world believable, but above all, it's all so very very easy. No huge rule lists, no super list of weapons, just pick and play. Character generation was a snap, and we were off into the world of AEGIS: Saving the world from threats it didn't need to know existed.

My only gripe was that the cell generation system seemed ridiculously complex... but that said, everyone else assured me it was prefectly sensible when you get yo know it. And I will do.

Kenneth Clark gives an unpropogating look at Da Vinci. All too often Leonardo's name has been attached to support a variety of causes of this or that nature. Being, seemingly, irreligious and unphilosophic while being the quintessential Renassaince Man. His name is often used as a mascot to justify the ideals of this or that group of whatever. He was clearly an animal rights lover, possibly a closet Franciscan, in all probability a homosexual (although not much of an activist). Leonardo was into his thoughts and had little patience for something that was already complete in his mind. He left scores of unfinished works, and minons of angry patrons - contrary to Bornstin's book that Leonardo was in constant search of patrons - Clark says he had many unhappy patrons. Leonardo was an animal lover who hated violence (although he designed armaments of various sorts). His depth of religious devotion could be argued, but he was not irreverant, as some have claimed. Leonardo was rather Franciscan and had a fondness for animals and individuality. He was free and valued his own individualism. Other than Da Vinci's notebooks nothing much authentic comes down to us. Every other work of Leonardo has been severally retouched or destroyed, what there is left of Leonardo's work is highly speculative - what bit is in his hand ect. Clark gives a healthy, vibrant, nonproselytizing look at a genius - something anyone might find interesting.

Kenneth Clark's book is probably the best available introduction to Leonardo da Vinci. It is both a good biography and an insightful analysis of Leonardo's art and artistic career. The text is appropriate for both laymen and students of art history. Clark's writing is concise and extremely engaging (to the point where I would recommend reading this book for fun), but it is also intelligent and very informative, with a clear thesis that ties the vast body of matieral covered together into an easily comprehensible package. This book is slightly out of date now, but Martin Kemp's introduction and revision help to ammend for that. I particularly recommend this most recent edition as it is well-illustrated.

This is the best book available in English on Leonardo da Vinci. True, the book was first published several decades ago, but the art historian Martin Kemp has added footnotes that bring the text up to date. Kenneth Clark made a tremendous contribution to the study of Leonardo da Vinci with this book - Science and Technology Museum notwithstanding!!!!

this book is a refreshing insight into the traditional holocaust horror stories,backed up by forensic testing,documents that have been professionaly authenticated,and other sources of proper evidence,not week testimonies.a clear defenition of denial would be someone who is being told a fact,yet doubts it even when they are presented with evidence.what historical revisionists do is revise historical accounts,match them with newly discovered evidence,and present these findings for discussion or debate.that is not denial.people who protect the traditional holocaust stories usualy retort with slander,and will in most cases avoid the issue.that sounds more like denial to me.so you see,we have a contradiction in terms.dissecting the holocaust is a must read for those not sattisfied with the traditional humdrum historical accounts,and harbor a need for historical truth.

I always took it for granted that the holocaust was a fact. Given the many uses the holocaust has been deployed in justifying it's vital we know the truth not least for the benefit of the good name of the German people and the rights of the Palestinian people. Should also be read by the Jewish people so that they can have a more rational relationship with the rest of the planet. This book is very long and perhaps too detailed but well worth it if you can put up with the price.

This is a textbook that deserves to be widely read. The fact that most of the World's educated people still believe in the "6 million gas chamber" story is testimony to Zionist media control...

But not everybody is buying their story now......

THE TRUTH WILL OUT!