Below is an interview with author Christopher Manske about his book, The Prepared Investor: How to Prevent the Next Crisis from Affecting Your Financial Independence. Find out how Manske researched historical financial moments of the past to come up with a game plan to avoid the hurdles and keep from repeating past mistakes when it comes to handling your personal finances.
About the Author and Book
Author Name: Christopher Manske
Author Links:
The Prepared Investor Facebook
Book Title: The Prepared Investor: How to Prevent the Next Crisis from Affecting Your Financial Independence
Genre: Non-fiction, Business & Finance
Book Summary
There is a story that is usually told about investing through crisis, a story that focuses on inaction and patience. In The Prepared Investor, Manske shows that the true story of investing through crisis is very different, and that if we want to understand how to protect and grow investments during calamity, we should spend more time actively preparing for it.
The story of investing through crisis is more complex – and a lot more interesting – than it initially appears. Manske explains what the lottery for the Vietnam draft and the Boston Marathon bombing have in common, why investors reacted to Hurricane Sandy but not to Hurricane Ivan, and the reason you shouldn’t buy diamonds – all in terms of preparing financially for major crisis.
It matters if investors have experience with a certain disaster, Manske argues, and it matters if a leader is humble or boisterous. The reaction of investors to certain types of disaster follows a peculiar and unexpected logic, and in making that pattern plain, Manske presents a fascinating and provocative blueprint for protecting and growing a portfolio in the face of major crisis.
Book excerpt
No one wakes up magically prepared for calamity. Preparation is an intentional act requiring education, resolve, and pattern recognition. When you are prepared, you experience less fear, engage in more grounded decision-making, and exit the crisis far better off than those who did nothing. Procedurally, preparing for the next major financial crisis is no different than anticipating any problem such as a broken water pipe in winter or a flat tire on a lonely road. When I taught my teenage daughter how to change a tire, it took some resolve to set the time aside and provide her that education. Her training wasn’t only focused on what to do after the tire is flat, it also focused on pattern recognition and cause-and-effect exercises. For example, if you mindlessly drive into pot holes, the probability of getting a flat is greater. Preparing for that future flat tire requires foundational work like education on how your equipment lifts the car and learning the importance of staying calm as the traffic roars by your parked vehicle.
When the next flat tire strikes, could my daughter just stand there on the side of the road? Could she just do nothing and wait? Sure, she could, but it’s not the optimal strategy. At some point, someone might come along who will offer her a ride. Maybe she stands there an hour, maybe all day. Doing nothing isn’t bad or wrong, it’s just not going to efficiently get her back on the road. Some of the teenagers my daughter knows have shared that, in their opinion, cell phones mean they don’t need to learn how to change a tire. They aren’t wrong. They just aren’t prepared.
Review excerpts
“Like Outliers debunked success, The Prepared Investor challenges the prevailing concepts of how a crisis affects an investment portfolio. A must-read for anyone who invests in the real world.” -Sarah McKinnon, Editor-in-Chief for Lemon Theory, The Digital Magazine
“Christopher Manske has written a must-read for anyone who has concerns about a future crisis affecting their portfolio. Read his book and learn from one of the best.” -Dr. Steven Kaufman, CEO of Zeus Lending, President of New York Mutual, Founder of the Fanatical Change Foundation, and graduate of the Harvard Business School
“North Korea? Iran? Dirty bomb? If those questions give you pause, it might be because you’re investing for a perfect future rather than a real one. Manske asks readers to face those fears and succeed because of it. Two thumbs up!” -Matt Umholtz, CEO of Paysphere Payroll
“At the end of the day, this is a book by Christopher Manske, a member of Mensa and a successful money manager who’s helped train thousands of financial advisors across the country. He saw something others didn’t and now he’s telling the world about it in The Prepared Investor. Read it!” -Jason Jimenez, CEO of Redstone Business Holdings and Owner of the Jason Jimenez Insurance Agency
“Manske is one of those people whose words are as powerful as his presence. I’ve seen him speak in a ballroom filled with business owners and sales professionals. He’s an excellent communicator with something very relevant to say. Read his book!” -David R. Brewer, Managing Partner at the Brewer Law Firm, President of Fidelity National Title, Founding Member of the Industry Master’s Forum, and Summa Cum Laude graduate of Princeton University
Talking Shop
What do you want readers to take away from your books?
Have the courage to stay positive! Just because something bad – some kind of terrible crisis – is looming, it does not mean we need to live our lives in fear. We can see the pattern of current events spiraling up into an inevitable conflict of some sort and must remember this: these dark worries, while legitimate, quickly dissipate with the bright knowledge that we’ve been through crisis before. We’ve withstood major calamity and we’ll do it again. Will it be easy? Will it be without tragedy? Of course not, but that doesn’t mean there will be utter loss and total annihilation.
Name a fact or detail about your story that readers will never know is there.
This book changes how people see things. For example, readers will never think of the Vietnam War, the coaching profession, or diamonds the same way again.
What’s the best review/compliment that you’ve received about your book?
“Being prepared for when plans go awry is an important part of goal accomplishment. You can’t be a thinking person today and be unaware of the potential for future crisis. I give Manske’s book two thumbs up!” – Mike Feinberg, President of the Texas School Venture Fund, Co-Founder of KIPP, and recipient of an honorary doctorate of Human Letters from Yale University
What famous books can you compare to your own?
Others have compared my book to Outliers because Malcolm Gladwell showed readers that there’s another way to look at success and my book shows people that that there’s another way to look at investing through crisis.
What is a fun or strange source of inspiration that ended up in your book?
When discussing how leaders can create crisis, I was very inspired by my research about Napoleon’s escape from Elba. That vignette serves as a potent reminder of the difference between influence and power.
“What If” Scenarios
If you could have one person that you admire, living or dead, read your book, who would it be?
I would be honored if Peggy Noonan, columnist with the Wall Street Journal, would read my book because I’ve admired her and her work for years.
If you could be in a writer’s group with up to four famous writers, who would they be?
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Jordan B. Peterson, Oprah Winfrey, and Warren Buffet
You’re given $10,000 to spend on marketing for your book. How do you spend it?
I’d travel to every writer’s conference I could and present to aspiring writers on the process of getting published.
Your book becomes a best seller. What do you do next?
Write down lessons learned so I can share them with other aspiring writers at writer’s conferences.
You have the means to hire a full time assistant to help you with your writing. What tasks do you give them to do?
My assistant helps me with social media and staying organized. A huge thank you to Natalie – you’re the best and I couldn’t do it without you!
Just for Fun
One bucket list item you’ve completed and one that’s still on your list.
I’ve run with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain and I’d still very much like to fly in a hot air balloon.
A movie or a piece of music that changed your life.
The Edge, starring Anthony Hopkins, because of the mantra, “What one man can do, another can do.”
Favorite place you’ve visited/place you want to visit.
My favorite place to visit is New York City and I really want to visit Quebec City.
Your favorite podcast.
Lex Fridman Podcast
A book that you recommend everyone reads.
The Boy on the Wooden Box
Celebrity you’d want to be friends with.
David Letterman
Favorite Halloween costume ever.
The Count from Sesame Street
Buy it!
Buy a copy of The Prepared Investor here, and help support local bookstores. This is an affiliate link, and I will earn a small commission on any purchases made from this link.
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