Reviews (1)

How Do I Write a Review about an Insurance Book?
Well, I guess I can try to review this book from the only perspective I read it from: that of a student.I had to read it for my CFP class on Insurance, and, as an introduction to most forms of insurance, it explains the forms in a very methodical and systematic way; it was very easy to follow and tough to get completely lost.Read more

Subjects:  1. Accounting - General    2. Business & Economics    3. Business / Economics / Finance    4. Business/Economics    5. Economics - General    6. Insurance    7. Insurance - Risk Assessment & Management    8. Risk (Insurance)    9. Risk And Insurance Administration    10. Business & Economics / Insurance / Risk Management    11. Risk assessment & analysis for business   

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Insurance    5. Insurance - General    6. Risk (Insurance)    7. Risk management    8. Business & Economics / Insurance / General   

Reviews (12)

Errors Galore
After purchasing the instructor's manual to check my answers, I found errors in every chapter!!From spelling to incorrect percentage amounts.I found myself editing the entire time to find their errors which contradict their text.When I got answers that were not an option in the multiple choice exercises, I would reference the book and the textbook would say I was correct, and the workbook did not.Not worth the money or the time.Extremely exhausting.

find something better to learn from
I took a night course which used this textbook. The instructor who is a certified coder and is an instructor at other institutions found MANY misleading instructions. You can be told to do something one way in the book but in real life at a billing job, you would have to do it another way. Also, we found many contradicting statements. They say one thing but do something totally different in their examples. It's really not worth the money.

inked
the book i received was in acceptable condition but all the practice pages were completed in ink and i was not notified of this condition of the book. other than that i am satisfied with my purchase. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Health Care Delivery    2. Health insurance claims    3. Insurance - Health    4. Insurance, Health    5. Medical    6. Medical / Nursing    7. Medical History & Records    8. United States    9. Insurance    10. Medical / Practice Management & Reimbursement    11. Medicine & nursing   

Subjects:  1. Banks & Banking    2. Business & Economics    3. Business / Economics / Finance    4. Business/Economics    5. Financial institutions    6. Insurance - Risk Assessment & Management    7. Management    8. Management - General    9. Risk management    10. Business & Economics / Insurance / General    11. Insurance    12. Risk assessment & analysis for business   

Reviews (3)

Everything you need to know
As newlyweds with a new home, new car, and plans to start a family, we realized that we had to re-examine our insurance needs.After browsing through a bunch of other books on insurance, we found that this really covered everything we needed to know in clear, simple language.We learned some things that really surprised us in every category of insurance and this book really helped us make the right choices for our situation.We anticipate saving quite a bit of money after following the advice in this book, rather than just blindly selecting the insurance policies that we either already had, or that friends/family recommended.
Very Useful Book
I hate Insurance.I hate the whole idea of an industry that is built upon fear.But my mortgage lender requires me to insure my house, the Department of Motor Vehicles makes me insure my car, my wife insists that I have a life insurance policy, and it would seem irresponsible not to provide my kids with health insurance as long as I can afford it.If you add it all up, we all spend a lot of money on insurance -- and the question really isn't if you should be buying insurance, but if you are buying the right insurance at the best price. Smart Buy
The book is a great description of the subject, and it clearly defines insurance customers' options. Very current and spans several types of insurance. After spending years caring for a chronic disease, I thought I knew everything about health insurance, but this actually taught me a few things that can cut my bills. Great glossary and list of internet resources will help keep the reader up-to-date on numbers and trends. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Insurance    5. Insurance - General    6. United States    7. Business & Economics / Personal Finance / General    8. Personal finance   

Editorial Review

With the stock market breaking records almost daily, leaving longtime market analysts shaking their heads and revising their forecasts, a study of the concept of risk seems quite timely. Peter Bernstein has written a comprehensive history of man's efforts to understand risk and probability, beginning with early gamblers in ancient Greece, continuing through the 17th-century French mathematicians Pascal and Fermat and up to modern chaos theory. Along the way he demonstrates that understanding risk underlies everything from game theory to bridge-building to winemaking. ... Read more

Reviews (132)

Ingenious ways to measure probability
"Against the Gods; The remarkable story of risk," is a world-class history of ingenious ways to measure probability.Author Peter L. Bernstein approaches the subject of risk/uncertainty with patience and unfolds a stirring tale of how civilization dicovered ways to improve the understanding of probability.
Enjoyable
It has interesting parts. Good for those looking for a recreational reading rather than a good manual for beginners. On this count, I recommend Barboianu's "Understanding and Calculating the Odds".

A good non-mathematical introduction to economic risk
For people who are interested in the economic side of risk (mainly stock), rather than the probabilities and risks of every day things.
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Subjects:  1. Accounting - General    2. Business & Economics    3. Business / Economics / Finance    4. Business/Economics    5. Decision making    6. Decision-Making (Psychological Aspects)    7. Finance    8. Insurance - Risk Assessment & Management    9. Probabilities    10. Probability & Statistics - General    11. Risk management    12. Budgeting & financial management    13. Business & Economics / Management    14. Management decision making    15. Probability & statistics    16. Psychology   

Reviews (10)

CSR is the key
I wish the author would of talked a little more about the "system" of an agency and not just "hire a CSR" as the key.He was very postivie in his words but not as informative to commission splits and hiring new "sales people" for the agency.

EXCELLENT
Very easy to follow - excellent information!Is used as a training book for some agencies.

Simplicity
AWESOME BOOK. It is the best insurance related book I ever read with simple approach on how to become the one and best choice for insurance. With a open mind and good attitude, this book can become your insurance and financial services bible. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business    2. Business & Economics    3. Business & Economics / Insurance / General    4. Insurance    5. Insurance - General    6. Self-Help / Success    7. Self-help    8. Success    9. Success in business    10. Handbooks, manuals, etc    11. Insurance agents    12. Selling   

Subjects:  1. Health Insurance    2. Insurance - General    3. Insurance - Life    4. Insurance, Life    5. Life Insurance    6. Medical    7. Medical examinations    8. Practice Management & Reimbursement    9. Prognosis    10. Reference    11. Research    12. Insurance    13. Medicolegal issues    14. Reference / Research    15. Reference works   

Reviews (2)

Comprehensive and concise
This is an excellent reference book for anybody in the life insurance business, whether you are a novice or an old hand.Comprehensive, easy to understand, and concisely written.

an excellent reference book
This book is an excellent reference book. Just by looking at its Edition Number -- 13, you will know how important this book is in the industry. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Economics - General    5. Health Insurance    6. Insurance - Health    7. Insurance - Life    8. Insurance, Health    9. Insurance, Life    10. Life Insurance    11. Practice Management & Reimbursement    12. United States    13. Business & Economics / Insurance / General    14. Hospital administration & management    15. Insurance   

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Insurance    5. Insurance - Business    6. Insurance - General    7. Management - General    8. Reserves    9. Risk And Insurance Administration    10. Actuarial studies    11. Business & Economics / General   

Reviews (23)

Base Formula was successful
I am 50 years old and until my accident I have never had a wreck.I bought this book on Amazon.com about a year ago and followed it religiously to settle my claim.It worked.Thought I'd share this with others.
I'm so grateful to have this book
I just finished reading this book which my mother got me for Christmas.I had an accident a few weeks ago and was beside myself with worry over it.I didn't get hurt badly but my neck and back hurt a lot the next morning.My car wasn't so fortunate, though.
Recommend book highly
My wife and I purchased this book some time ago as we prepared to settle our claim.
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Subjects:  1. Insurance - General    2. Law    3. Legal Reference / Law Profession    4. Personal Injury    5. Practical Guides    6. Insurance    7. Law for the lay person   

Reviews (21)

Research oriented traders, read this one!!
Wow!For the research oriented person, this book is great!Not
Best Book on Building Trading Strategies
This is by far the most complete and advanced work I've read on the subject.However, read Robert Pardo's "Design, Testing, and Optimization of Trading Systems" first if you are new to backtesting.

A must read for strategy traders
This is a good book.Everyone who is thinking about trading and/or is trading already should get a copy of the book.There isn't any "holy grail" strategy in this book, by the way.Rather, this book is about teaching how all these different indicators have performed under strict test conditions and unveils some of the mysteries about different strategies that people have talked about over the years.IMO, the author's work can be the basis of a great system.The first step has already been taken by the author, and you just have to elaborate it to add your flair and style.Happy trading! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Commodity futures    5. Futures And Options Trading    6. Insurance - General    7. Investments & Securities - General    8. Personal Finance - Investing    9. Business & Economics / Investments & Securities    10. Investment & securities   

Reviews (2)

largest book written on extremes
This book presents extreme value theory and its applications with the finance industry as its primary target.There have been many excellent texts written on extreme value theory but none this extensive.As the authors admit even as extensive as it is the theory of multivariate extremes is neglected.They chose to only cover in detail the theory that is mature enough for application. Highly recommended
This book covers the theory and applications of extremal value theory (anarea of applied probability). The mathematics is kept at an acceptablelevel, i.e. advanced undergraduates in math/physics/engineering, but thebreadth and the sophistication of the statements are such that the resultsare never trivial. Chapters 2-3-4 introduce the reader to the property ofsums, maxima and order statistics of random variables. Many results areonly stated but not proved. Yet, this does not detract to the readabilityof the book. Chpater 5 treats point processes and requires a deepermathematical background. Among the chapters, this was the mostdisappointing to me. The monographs of Resnick and of Kallenberg, as wellas many good introductions to point processes in queueing theory, are in myopinion both a more intuitive and rigorous introduction to random measures.This is not a major flaw of the book, given its view toward applications;and besides this, the bibliographical notes will point the reader to therelevant literature. Chapter 6, on statistical analysis of extremal events,is enjoyable and extremely useful for practitioners in finance andinsurance. Chapter 7 touches upon time series and its relation to heavytails. Finally, chapter 8 is a put-pourri of topics: ARCH processes, stableprocesses, self-similarity. Overall, I found this book useful as areference, but sometimes lacking in focus: some topics seem juxtaposed withno clear logical continuity. Another potential shortcoming of the book isthat it is neither completely rigorous nor completely readable (i.e., anundergraduate-level book). At the same time, these can be considered asqualities: with regards to the former, there is plenty of material toconsult and draw inspiration from; and at the same time each reader willfind the "right" level of mathematics in the book. In my opinionthe final balance is largely positive, and I would recommend this bookwithout hesitation. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business Mathematics    3. Business/Economics    4. General    5. Insurance    6. Insurance - General    7. Management - General    8. Mathematics    9. Business & Economics / Finance    10. Economic statistics    11. Finance    12. Mathematical modelling    13. extreme value theory    14. insurance risk    15. mathematical finance    16. tail estimation    17. time series analysis   

Reviews (3)

You've got to read this book!
I received this book as a gift. There are quite a few books on this subject on the market and this one is the best. I too could not put it down and finished it in 3 days. It's a huge book, a great resource that is well researched and written.. I have a few friends who've purchased this book and really loved it too. I can highly recommend this book
Life Saver
In regard to "Exam Cram, Life and Health" I would recommend this book to my adult children if they want to pass the California exam.In addition to being a great test preparation book, I was able to get my computer to read the book to me, by using Adobe and Microsoft text-to-speech programming, which is free to the general public.This book was much better than the text provided by the school.It even includes information needed to open my own business.
Cram Exam
This book is great for anyone who wishes to pass the Life And Health insurance exams. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business/Economics    3. Examinations, questions, etc    4. General    5. Health Insurance    6. Insurance - General    7. Insurance - Life    8. Insurance, Health    9. Insurance, Life    10. Law and legislation    11. Life Insurance    12. Professional - General    13. Study Guides    14. United States    15. Insurance    16. Study Aids / Tests   

Reviews (22)

The very best there is for Exam FM
A number of aspiring actuaries who attempt to pass the second exam (Exam FM: Financial Math) attempt to side step the reading of this over priced textbook and substitute it with study aides and other cram books. I would recommend that they refrain from doing so as this text is lucid, the exercises are quite comprehensive, and above all, the occasional examples are rather identical to the problems one can anticipate on the test. I took Exam FM recently and this is the only text i refered to, and i felt that my preparation was rather complete thanks to a reading of the syllabus material. The book flows like water, though chapter 4 (section 4.4) and chapter 5 might be a bit tedious to read because of the complication in the material presented, thankfully that second rarely contributes substantially to the test. in fact, after chapter 3, chapter 4 (sections 4.1-4.3), it is best to jump to chapter 5, 6, 7, and then 9. Once this study is complete, the material presented in section 4.4 and chapter 5 and sections 8.7, 8.8, 8.10 must be examined to maintain fluidity of the material.
There are better options.
In order to save the reader some time I have condensed the information contained in the twenty previous reviews to the bare essentials.For those of you who are taking the SOA/CAS Exam F/2, there are some things you should be aware of before you dedicate yourself to studying from this book.
Good book, BUT...
Yes, I gave the book a five star rating but only b/c it's one of the very few actual textbooks out there devoted to this subject alone.
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Subjects:  1. Applied    2. Business & Economics    3. Business / Economics / Finance    4. Business/Economics    5. Insurance - General    6. Interest    7. Monetary Theory    8. Problems, exercises, etc    9. Business & Economics / Insurance / General    10. Finance    11. Financial services industry   

Reviews (25)

Not so hot for those with chronic illness
I found the book mostly informative and was excited to get the chapter for those with chronic illness, until I read the first paragraph... in which the author basically says have a job with some big corporation is his best advice for health insurance with a chronic illness. I am a Type 1 diabetic, young and healthy other than that. As a nonprofit director and consultant I thought I would get some helpful advice... However, the constant jabs at those with chronic illness and unhealthy lifestyles being the cause of such high healthcare were a little unbearable. The author used the words drug addicted, unhealthy, and chronic illnesses such as diabetes in conjunction with each other constantly. As someone who is is diabetic by no "fault" of my own... Diagnosed at age 4, not because I was overweight or ate the wrong foods, I found this lumping together insensitive and offensive. This book is a great resource if you are healthy, well-educated, and have a lot of time to do your own research... It's good to get educated about how best to use the system as is, but does little to look at or address the inequities and injustice of our current healthcare system in the U.S. It's a mess that deserves our creative attention! In the meantime, I'll keep paying over $580 a month for my health insurance plan without much hope of relief for something more affordable...

The must have health insurance guide
This book fills in all the wholes in the health insurance market that allows you to make informative decission on the direction for your health insurance needs for the family and being self employed.

Very Practical Advice
The author tries to resolve many common problems revolving around the high costs of health insurance.His ideas are practical and, in fact, they will work for the majority of people who are trying to lower health insurance costs.Unfortunately, there will always be those who are uninsurable in the individual and family market and who cannot afford risk pool coverage, and this is not a problem that can be solved immediately.However, the author is urging people to obtain individual coverage at a young age when they can qualify, and while it is still affordable.If most people did this, and if people did not depend soley on employer sponsored plans in their younger years, the author asserts that it would not be as difficult to have and keep good coverage in the older years.That is the concept behind this book.
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Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Health care reform    4. Insurance - Health    5. Insurance, Health    6. Personal Finance    7. Personal Finance - General    8. Self-insurance    9. United States    10. Business & Economics / Personal Finance / General    11. Insurance   

Subjects:  1. Blue Cross and Blue Shield Ass    2. Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association    3. Business / Economics / Finance    4. Corporate & Business History - General    5. Health Insurance    6. History    7. History Of Specific Companies    8. Insurance - Health    9. Insurance companies    10. Insurance, Health    11. Medical    12. Public Health    13. United States    14. Emergency services    15. Public health & preventive medicine    16. Social history    17. Social welfare & social services    18. USA   

Reviews (13)

Disappointing
I thought this book would give objective advice on how much insurance someone should buy. It told me a few things I didn't know but I wouldn't have paid the price for the book for two or three pages of useful advice.

Invaluable Insurance Tutorial
We bought this book well after we bought a home and cars, but just after buying umbrella insurance. We wish we had had it all along. Jack Hungelmann did a wonderful, thorough job in the daunting task of educating naive "dummies" like us who never did learn how the insurance pieces fit together and who never fully grasped the importance of protecting one's assets and future. Mr. Hungelmann obviously cares about his reading audience and wants us to learn how to protect ourselves. We grew up a little after finishing the book and attempting to correct some major gaps we had in our current coverages; these would have remained unrealized but potential financial disasters for us without Mr. Hungelmann's clarity.

Lacks Depth in Homeowners Insurance Discussion
I was looking for a book that discussed IN DETAIL homeowners insurance, and I didn't find it in thisone.
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Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Handbooks, manuals, etc    5. Insurance    6. Insurance - General    7. Management - General    8. Personal Finance - General    9. Risk And Insurance Administration    10. United States    11. Business & Economics / Personal Finance / General    12. Personal finance   

Subjects:  1. Insurance - General    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Securities    4. Risk And Insurance Administration    5. Strategic Planning    6. Budgeting & financial management    7. Business & Economics / Finance    8. Asset-backed financing    9. Risk management    10. Corporate Finance    11. Business & Economics    12. Business/Economics   

Reviews (3)

Helpful Resource
Most agents whether just beginning or experienced will find something helpful in this book. Baxter provides a fairly comprehensive look at the whole process selling commercial insurance. He gives plenty of sample letters and has quite an extensive appendix.
Great for a rookie.
I am just getting started in my commercial P&C career.I do not even have my license yet, but feel a whole lot more comfortable talking to veterans of the industry.This is definitely not the end-all be-all of insurance books, but it is simple enough to get started with.
A practical approach to selling, delivered with humor.
Mr. Dunbar seems to speak from real life experiences where he had to overcome all the obstacles that doom many insurance sales. His categories of customer personality types, their typical complaints or objections, andtheapproach to winning them over is priceless. His stories are laced withwonderful humor that turns what could be deadly dull material intofascinating reading.Experience is the best teacher, but Mr. Dunbar hasdone the next bestthing----given a sales person some wonderful tools toavoid a bad experience. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business / Economics / Finance    2. Business insurance    3. Casualty insurance    4. Insurance - General    5. Property insurance    6. Reference    7. Selling    8. United States