Book Promo: Crisis Deluxe

Romance Complicates
High-Stakes Business Deal

Billions at stake, one impossible choice

With global financial markets on the verge of collapse, Alexander “Dusty” Street, a mergers specialist, hops a plane to Hong Kong to shore up a failing acquisition worth billions. He’ll miss Christmas with a wife and kids he rarely sees; a sacrifice he makes to provide his children with more than he ever had. But when Jacqueline, a woman he once loved 20 years ago, unexpectedly appears in Hong Kong, Dusty finds himself struggling to navigate much more than a complex business deal.  

Crisis Deluxe, from author and former investment banker Chris Coffman, blends the tension-filled excitement of a financial thriller with the unpredictability of a sometimes gentle, sometimes turbulent, romance.

As Dusty’s merger deal with TransPac begins to spiral out of control, his world wavers right along with it. The pressure on Dusty to close the deal comes from all sides, including from Jacqueline, whose alluring and available presence complicates both the acquisition and his distant, troubled marriage.  

Dusty has reason to reconsider his life choices, both professionally and personally. He’s fed up with the exhausting, globe-trotting life he’s chosen, torn between wife and family in New York and the suddenly revived romance with Jacqueline.

As the walls close in and plummeting world financial markets hang in the balance, Dusty grapples with the knowledge a defeat would crush his career, destroying everything he’s worked for. To find a way out against all odds, he must calculate the true cost of career, love and family — and only comes to a fuller understanding of himself as the fate of TransPac unfolds. 

A fascinating exploration into the arcane, murky and ruthless world of precarious financial transactions at a time of market meltdown, Crisis Deluxe contrasts the ugliness of corporate greed, bullying and backstabbing with a tender love story, spanning decades, which is delicately interwoven into the very heart of events in the TransPac merger. A tautly written, intelligent thriller, Crisis Deluxe keeps readers guessing until the very end.  

Author Chris Coffman worked for decades in Europe, the UK, the United States, Latin America, Asia and Australia as an expatriate American investment banker and investor before founding a highly-awarded wine company in Australia, where he lived for 25 years.

A Phi Beta Kappa, Magna cum Laude graduate of the University of Southern California, Coffman also attended Columbia University before beginning his career at Manufacturers Hanover Trust, now J.P. Morgan in New York.

He and Eric Knight produce the podcast The Recovering Investment Banker at https://the-recovering-investment-banker.simplecast.com/episodes/what-is-a-market-1y0M4RTe.

For more information, please visit www.crisisdeluxe.com, or connect with the author on Facebook (Chris Coffman) or on Twitter (@ChristoCoffman).

Crisis Deluxe

Publisher: Odysseus Press
ISBN-10: ‎1736739123
ISBN-13: ‎978-1736739129

Available from Amazon.com

EDITORIAL REVIEW

“Chris Coffman’s Crisis Deluxe is terrific.   In a relaxed and sure-footed style, with Hong Kong as the backdrop, he leads in and out of the labyrinthine world of high finance where everything— money, love, memories, relationships—is sizzling and the stakes are make or break. The consummate summer read!”  Aris Janigian, LA Times best-selling author of Bloodvine, Waiting for Lipchitz at the Chateau Marmont, Waiting for Sophia at Shutters on the Beach, and other works.

Retirement Risks

5 Financial Risks to Consider in Retirement
After a Lifetime of Climbing, Retirees Need to be
Cautious on their Descent, Expert Warns

Most people don’t know that 80 percent of mountain-climbing accidents don’t occur on the way to the summit – they happen on the way down, says financial expert and extreme sports enthusiast David Rosell.

Although arriving at the top of the mountain is considered by many mountaineers to be one of life’s greatest accomplishments, I can tell you firsthand that summiting is not the ultimate goal for climbers,” says Rosell, CEO of Rosell Wealth Management and author of “Failure is NOT an Option,” (www.DavidRosell.com).

“They know that most climbing accidents and deaths occur on the descent. With this in mind, they will tell you that their objective is to reach the summit and get back down alive to see their family and friends. They understand that the second half of their journey presents the greatest risk and requires the most planning.”

“Likewise, we need to think of retirement as the descent from the financial mountain, which can be treacherous.”

Retirees and pre-retirees need to evolve from the traditional view of retirement, especially with so much legitimate concern about an unprecedented retirement crisis on our immediate horizon, he says. According to a 2013 report by the National Institute on Retirement Security, 45 percent of working-age American households have no retirement savings.

That’s on top of the 3.5 million baby boomers who have been retiring each year, and will continue to do so for more than a decade.

To help his clients thrive while experiencing descending their own financial mountains, Rosell briefly touches upon five major financial risks many experience during retirement.

• Inflation: During the second half of your financial journey, it’s critical that you’re able to maintain your purchasing power. Inflation simply means that every year your money buys a little – or a lot – less than it did the year before. Currently, inflation is 3.5 percent, which doesn’t sound like much. However, even if the rate holds steady and doesn’t increase, prices will have doubled in 20 years.

• Longevity: According to U.S. Census Bureau figures, the over-80 population is increasing five times faster than the overall population. By 2030, the demographics of 32 states will resemble those of Florida today. With more golden years to play, you’ll want the funding to make them fun! “Today,” Rosell says, “going gray means time to play.”

• Health/long-term care: Sadly, the escalating costs associated with long-term care during retirement can make the possibility of outliving one’s retirement income a reality for many. Statistics reveal that as we age, there’s an increased probability of our eventually needing assistance with basic daily activities. The truth is that most of us will need long-term care in our later years.

• Market risk: Economic recessions have occurred throughout the history of modern economics and always will, averaging one almost every nine years. If the market loses 50 percent one year and then increases 50 percent the following year, where are you? Many people get this wrong; after the fall and subsequent rise of 50 percent, you will have lost 25 percent. “This happened twice in the last decade,” Rosell says.

• The sequence of returns: Gains or losses, or the order in which you receive your returns, can have a major impact on your retirement portfolio. It can mean the difference between having enough income in retirement and running out of money too soon. Be careful when an analysis states that you should achieve your goals by obtaining a specific rate of return. In most cases, this statement has not accounted for the sequence of returns.

“These are by no means the only tricky slopes that may have an affect on your retirement,” Rosell says. “Just as you have worked a lifetime to have money for your golden years, now is the time to manage your wealth wisely.”

About David Rosell

David Rosell, author of “Failure is NOT an Option,” (www.DavidRosell.com), is a sought-after speaker who has addressed international audiences including the Million Dollar Round Table. He is a recipient of the Retirement Distribution Certificate from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, and has been featured on NPR.  His company, Rosell Wealth Management, was a select finalist in 2008 for the management of the $500,000,000 Oregon 529 College Fund. He is the past chairman of the Bend, Ore., Chamber of Commerce, the City Club of Central Oregon and his Toastmasters chapter. With a current tally of more than 65 countries on four different continents, Rosell has a quest for extreme travel and adventure.

Retirement Danger Signs

6 Signs Your Retirement
Plan is in Trouble
Estate Planner Shares Tips for Avoiding a 2008-style
Disaster during the ‘Distribution’ Years

After the 2008 economic meltdown, when the stock market fell 37 percent, veteran financial advisor Curt Whipple says he met with clients from outside financial institutions who’d lost 50 to 60 percent of their portfolio in a single year.

“Almost no one foresaw what happened that year, and I doubt very much that many will foresee a collapse if it happens again,” says Whipple, a Certified Wealth Strategist, Certified Estate Planner and CEO of C. Curtis Financial Group.

“Regardless, there are eight indicators that you can focus on that will help you identify whether or not you’re taking too much risk in your portfolio and if your retirement plan is in danger.”

Whipple, who recently published “Retiree Lifeline! How to Get Government Out of Your Pocket,” (www.ccurtisfinancial.com), a retirement planning guide, reviews the six danger signs from 2008 to watch out for in 2014.

• You either looked at your accounts every day OR you wouldn’t look at them at all. In 2008, people couldn’t believe what was happening to their portfolios. They looked at their account every day – an exercise in masochism – as their advisors told them either, “just hang in there,” or reminded them that the market is a long-term investment that cyclically rises and falls. That advice led them to stop looking at their accounts, which was as bad as looking at them every day, as their advisor told them to just hold on.

• You lost more than 15 to 20 percent of your investments’ value in 2008. That indicates you had too many risky investments. It’s important to know what level of risk you’re comfortable with – generally speaking, the younger you are, the riskier you can be. However, risk is also a personal decision. Make sure you and your advisor are on the same page regarding risk tolerance. That will require your advisor taking the time to explain your investments and how they’re diversified.

• Your broker or financial advisor fails to call you regularly. You should get a call every quarter from your advisor to review and discuss your account. The only time this should not be the case is if you specifically request to be contacted less frequently.

• Your portfolio is tied mostly to Wall Street or stocks, bonds and mutual funds. If each investment you have is one or all of the above, then your investments are not truly diversified. In addition to those investments, you should consider alternative investments like Real Estate Trusts (REITS), and your accounts should feature some kind of guarantee.

• You depend on your bond portfolio to protect you in hard times. We are living in a new financial era; bonds now have an inverse relationship to interest rates, which are so low now that they will invariably increase in the future. As interest rates rise, bonds will decline in value. That’s why using bonds as your only alternative to a falling market is a dangerous idea.

• You excessively worry about money. Your fear may be based in reality if you have a number of risky investments; if you really don’t understand what you are invested in; or if you don’t have a clear plan to achieve your financial objectives.

About Curt Whipple, CWS, CEP

Curt Whipple is the author of “Retiree Lifeline! How to Get Government Out of Your Pocket,” (www.ccurtisfinancial.com). A Certified Wealth Strategist (CWS) and Certified Estate Planner (CEP), he is Chief Managing Partner at the C. Curtis Financial Group, which he formed in 1986. Since then, Curtis Financial Group has counseled and advised individuals and corporations on their financial goals and decisions. Whipple is a nationally recognized speaker.