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Book Summary – Unshakeable: Your Financial Freedom Playbook

Unshakeable - Book summary

In this book, Tony Robbins shares tips from financial gurus like Warren Buffett, Alan Greenspan and David Swensen, on the rules of the financial game, the key players and their agenda, and how the average person can ride the financial storm to build your financial freedom. In this free Unshakeable summary, we’ll outline some of the key highlights from the book, including the rules of the financial game, the key players and their agenda, and how you can ride the financial storm to arrive safely at your desired destination.

In this article, we’ll give an overview of the key ideas.

Unshakeable Book Summary_synopsis

Over 7 years, Tony Robbins interviewed 50 top financial minds, self-made billionaires and legendary investors like Warren Buffett, Alan Greenspan, David Swensen, Ray Dalio, Jack Bogle, Mary Callahan Erdoes, etc. This culminated in an earlier book Money: Master the Game. In Unshakeable, published in 2017, Tony Robbins focuses on the current market fears and realities, and what the average person can do to build your financial freedom.

What if you knew that no matter what happens to the economy, you’ll be financially secure, and have more than enough for yourself, your loved ones and your contributions? That deep sense of peace and freedom is what being “unshakeable” means. It gives you control and puts you in the driver seat. Let’s take a quick look at some of these points.

Know the Financial Rules

Most of us have irrational fears of the financial markets, due to ignorance or mis-information. To win the game, you must know the rules. Tony Robbins shares many facts and figures about the financial markets, which are fundamental to our understanding of the financial markets. In our complete version of the Unshakeable summary, we distill the key financial concepts, 7 “freedom facts”, and important knowledge about the financial products and the key players. Here’s a big-picture overview of some of the ideas:

Unshakeable Book Summary_financial rules

KNOW THE FACTS

  • Fund types. There are 3 main types of funds in the markets: Hedge funds (for high net-worth clients), mutual funds (the most common funds in the market) and index funds (which simply buy and hold all the stocks in an index). A key recommendation in the book is to go for index funds rather than “actively-managed funds”, which include hedge funds and mutual funds.
  • The key to financial freedom is to leverage the power of compounding. To illustrate this, consider these 2 scenarios: Unshakeable Book Summary_compounding exampleSimply by starting earlier, you can harness the power of compounding to build a larger nest egg with a fraction of the capital. In short, you can retire comfortably even with a small income. In our Unshakeable summary, we touch on how you can start to leverage on the power of compounding and build your retirement funds.
  • The book also covers 7 “Freedom Facts” which can free you from much of the irrational fear and anxiety about financial markets. In a nutshell, corrections (market falling ≥10% from the peak) happen about once a year, and a bear market (market falling ≥20% from the peak) occurs every 3-5 years. Yet, every bear market in US history has been followed by a bull market, and the stock market always improves in the long run so long as the economy continues to grow and expand. In addition, no one (not even Buffett or Greenspan) can steadily predict if the market will rise or fall. The key message is this: rather than follow media hype and inaccurate expert predictions, know that short-term market fluctuations are unpredictable but a routine part of the market; instead, focus on capturing long-term market returns.

KNOW YOUR COSTS

In the book, Tony Robbins explains why you may be losing huge amounts of your investment to funds that overcharge and underperform. In a nutshell, most actively-managed funds charge about 2% p.a.—when you apply the power of compounding, these can add up to erode a whopping 2/3 of your financial gains! To make it worse, the real cost is often higher than 2%, due to the impact of taxes and other hidden costs/inefficiencies. Tony Robbins also covers the the 401(k) plans in the USA in some detail, to show that the true cost of a mutual fund could be 3.17% a year (for a non-taxable account) and 4.17% (for a taxable account), or even higher.

Such high costs are supposedly justified because the funds are managed by “professionals” who should deliver better than market returns. Yet, a study shows that only 4% of the funds actually do that, i.e. 96% of the funds are draining your fees and hard-earned money without adding value. Another key recommendation in the book is to analyze your 401(k) plan and switch (or encourage your employer to switch) to better options (e.g. index funds) if need be. In our full 14-page summary, we elaborate more on these costs/charges, why these actively-managed funds are so costly but ineffective, how index funds can yield much better returns, and how all these impact the 401(k) plans in the USA.

KNOW WHO TO TRUST

Robbins also explains the differences between the 3 key types of Financial advisors (FAs): Brokers (which make up 90% of all FAs in America), Registered Investment Advisors or RIAs (which make up only 10% of the FAs), and Dually Registered Advisors (who are registered RIAs but also brokers).  In a nutshell, FAs can offer great value in your investments, taxes, insurance etc., but most FAs in the market are not obliged to act in your best interest; instead, they are incentivized by financial firms to sell expensive products with good commissions.

The best option is an RIA who’s a true fiduciary—someone who’ll put your interest first, and has the necessary skills/experience. Do check out our complete version of the Unshakeable summary on the criteria and questions to use for identifying the right FA(s) for you.

Your Unshakeable Playbook

The 2nd part of the book covers the strategies you can use to build your wealth for financial freedom. Essentially, Tony Robbins shares (a) the “Core Four” strategy that the greatest investors use to guide their investment decisions, and (b) how you can prepare for the next bear market to weather the storm or even leverage the opportunities.

Unshakeable Book Summary_unshakeable playbook
Essentially, you shouldn’t enter an investment only if it meets all the Core Four criteria, which are covered in more detail in our full summary. Surviving a bear market is 90% preparation and 10% staying calm during the storm. Essentially, you should prepare for the bear market using the “Core and Explore” principles: have a diversified, customized asset allocation mix that matches your goals, build up a financial cushion, use index funds for the core of your portfolio, and explore other stocks and alternatives at the margins, and rebalance your portfolio regularly.

Mastering the Psychology of Wealth

Neuroscientists found that the parts of our brain that process financial losses are the same ones that deal with mortal threats. When we’re hit with a financial crisis, we our fight-freeze-flee instinct kicks in, and we make poor financial decisions. The book explains 6 common psychological mistakes and how to counter them: confirmation bias & endowment effect, recency bias, overconfidence, greed & impatience, home bias, negativity bias & loss aversion. During market turmoil, we’re flooded by fear of potential losses. You can get a detailed overview from our complete version of the Unshakeable summary.

While the principles in the book can help you to build a large nest egg to retire comfortably, money is just the means to an end. Fundamentally, all of us desire an amazing life; we want to be rich because of the emotions associated with money, e.g. freedom, respect, security. Money is a powerful enabler, but a truly rich and fulfilling life comes from mastering both our internal world (with the Art of Fulfilment) and our external world (with the Science of Achievement). Tony Robbins ends the book by reminding us that can choose to transform your life instantly, just by mastering your focus and state of mind, and he shares a few simple techniques to do so.

Getting the Most from Unshakeable

In this article, we’ve briefly outlined some of the key insights and strategies you can use to achieve desired change. For more examples, details, and actionable tips to apply these strategies, do get our complete book summary bundle which includes an infographic, 14-page text summary, and a 27-minute audio summary.Unshakeable summary - book summary bundle

The book is written in a conversational style, like having a chat with Robbins. Robbins recommends that you use additional resources such as:

  • Free podcasts and videos at www.unshakeable.com (including a free mobile app to work how much you need to save and invest to reach your financial goals);
  • Analyze your 401(k) plans and fees at Abk’s website; and
  • Get a non-obligatory assessment from one of Creative Planning’s wealth managers at www.getasecondopinion.com. [Note: Robbins has shared a disclaimer that he has a vested interest with the company, since he’s a board member and Chief of Investor Psychology with Creative Planning.]

You can purchase the book here, or  check out the list of Tony Robbins’ books here. You can also get Money: Master the Game here or visit www.tonyrobbins.com for more details.

About the Author of Unshakeable

Unshakeable: Your Financial Freedom Playbook is written by Tony Robbin–an American businessman, best-selling author, and philanthropist. He’s an authority on the psychology of leadership, negotiations and organizational turnaround, and has served as an advisor to leaders around the world for more than 38 years. He has also created the #1 personal and professional development program of all time, and more than 4 million people have attended his live seminars. He has been honored by Accenture as one of the “Top 50 Business Intellectuals in the World”; by Harvard Business Press as one of the “Top 200 Business Gurus”, and he was recently named in the top 50 of Worth Magazine’s 100 most powerful people in global finance.

Unshakeable Quotes

“The decisions you will be equipped to make after reading this short book can bring you a whole new level of inner peace, fulfilment, comfort, and financial freedom that most humans only dream of achieving.”

“One of the greatest lessons I’ve learned from all these money masters is that you don’t have to predict the future to win this game.”

“When it comes to your finances, ignorance is not bliss.”

“The key is to recognize these consistently successful patterns and to model them… These patterns provide the playbook for your success.”

“Psychology either makes you or breaks you, so it’s imperative to have a robust system that enables you to stay on target.”

Click here to download Unshakeable book summary and infographic

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