Product Description

When I was a boy, my father often pulled me aside to convey lessons intended to build what we generally refer to as “character”. Often his advice was very simple — work hard, think for yourself, do right by others — but I believe those lessons provided the foundation for everything that has followed in my life. Now that I’m a dad myself, I wanted to put them down in one place, with examples of my own experiences, as a guide to life, adventure, and investing, both for my young daughters and for anyone seeking success in his or her chosen field. I hope that parents will be inspired to give this book to their children, and vice versa, as many of the lessons that I have learned apply not just to young people but to all adults—for example, question everything, never follow the crowd, and beware of boys!

What a lovely, lovely book! Though I′ve read all you′ve written, this one really touched me.  It is, of course, a love letter to your daughters, which is not only a wonderful, meaningful thing to do, but it was filled with exactly the kind of advice all fathers should give. Your new book will stay on my shelf for a long, long time, and I′ll be giving it to my own kids to read.

––Nicholas Sparks, author of The Notebook, Dear John, and The Last Song

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10930 in Books
• Published on: 2009-05-08
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 106 pages

Review
"The wisdom packed into this little book is [in] 85 pages is wonderful." (Blog.III.co.uk, July 21st 2009)

From the Inside Flap
He’s the swashbuckling world traveler and legendary investor who made his fortune before he was forty. Now the bestselling author of A Bull in China, Hot Commodities, and Adventure Capitalist shares a heartfelt, indispensable guide for his daughters (and all young investors) to find success and happiness. In A Gift to My Children, Jim Rogers offers advice with his trademark candor and confidence, but this time he adds paternal compassion, protectiveness, and love. Rogers reveals how to learn from his triumphs and mistakes in order to achieve a prosperous, well–lived life. For example:

• Trust your own judgment: Rogers sensed China’s true potential way back in the 1980s, at a time when most analysts were highly skeptical of its prospects for growth.
• Focus on what you like: Rogers was five when he started collecting empty bottles at baseball games instead of playing.
• Be persistent: Coming to Yale from rural Alabama, and in over his head, Rogers never stopped studying and wound up with a scholarship to Oxford.
• See the world: In 1990, Rogers traveled through six continents by motorcycle, gaining a global perspective and learning how to evaluate prospects in rapidly developing countries such as Brazil, Russia, India, and China.

From the Back Cover
When I was a boy, my father often pulled me aside to convey lessons intended to build what we generally refer to as “character”. Often his advice was very simple — work hard, think for yourself, do right by others — but I believe those lessons provided the foundation for everything that has followed in my life. Now that I’m a dad myself, I wanted to put them down in one place, with examples of my own experiences, as a guide to life, adventure, and investing, both for my young daughters and for anyone seeking success in his or her chosen field. I hope that parents will be inspired to give this book to their children, and vice versa, as many of the lessons that I have learned apply not just to young people but to all adults—for example, question everything, never follow the crowd, and beware of boys!

–A Gift to My Children

Customer Reviews

Things must be getting tough for Mr Rogers...
... for him to be so desperate as to publish this. His first book (investment biker) - OK, interesting & insightful. Second book (adventure capitalist) - more of the same, so less interesting & insightful. Third book (on why you should buy commodities not stocks) - don't know as he already covered it in first two book & many times on TV & online. This thing? Why bother? Is very abbreviated version of early works plus some general stuff from father to daughters.

Either his portfolio is doing badly & he needs every penny he can get (this book is £12 RRP!) or he has delusions of being a serious author (like his erstwhile colleague Mr Soros)

Old Fashioned Small-Town Values Translated onto a Global Scale with an Emphasis on Investing

"Therefore, O king, may my advice be pleasing to you: break away now from your sins by doing righteousness and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, in case there may be a prolonging of your prosperity." -- Daniel 4:27

Let there be no mistake: Jim Rogers is a great investor and he's new to fatherhood. This book combines both perspectives in what is designed to be advice to his two young daughters based on his own mistakes and successes.

You won't find much in here beyond a material focus. Mr. Rogers has a lot of good values, but he doesn't tie them into a spiritual context for his daughters.

The book is brief and you will read it quite quickly.

If you want investment advice, you'll learn a lot more from his frequent comments during various television appearances on investing shows. If you want to be a better father to your children, you'll learn a lot more by listening to those with more experience.

If you want to get a better sense of Jim Rogers' values, this is the right book for you.

But if you want to read about God's values, you won't find that perspective here.

Sugary get-rich guide
This short bestseller by Jim Rogers, one of the world's most renowned investors, is in the form of a letter offering personal guidance and investment advice to his two young daughters. Rogers co-founded the Quantum Fund with his partner, George Soros, and established a reputation as an authority on economics, investing and markets. In his 60s, he married for the second time and became a father. In this book - written in first person from "your father" with a slight, sweet undertone of talking down to the children's level - he tells his daughters many anecdotes about his experiences to illustrate old-fashioned nuggets of fatherly guidance. He recommends saving money, cultivating good habits, working hard, studying and thinking about the future. getAbstract suggests this book to anyone - including those two fortunate little girls - who would welcome a few paternal life-lessons, some good inside-business stories and a side dish of investment advice.