Learn about our backgrounds and reasons for writing this book. If you would like to contact us, you can do so with this form.
Dr. Lyle Sussman is the former Chairman and Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship, University of Louisville, and Professor Emeritus. He previously taught at the University of Michigan and the University of Pittsburgh. Aside from 65 scholarly articles, he is a bestselling business author with more than 1,000,000 copies of his books in print in 15 languages. Excerpts of his books have appeared in Harvard Business Review Updates, Savvy, Bottom Line Reports, Working Woman, Inc., Success, Executive Book Summaries, Investor’s Daily, CNN, American Banker, US Air In Flight Audio, and hundreds of management blogs. He has spoken to more than 100,000 people and consulted around the world for both the private and public sector, with significant impact in the banking industry. He received his PhD from Purdue University, and his BS and MS degrees from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He was selected for Who’s Who in Business Higher Education (Academic Keys).
Dr. Dubofsky has published over 40 articles in journals including Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis and Journal of Money, Credit and Banking. He is the author of Derivatives: Valuation and Risk Management (co-authored with Tom Miller), and Options and Financial Futures: Valuation and Uses. Prior to retiring in 2020, Dr. Dubofsky held faculty and administrative positions at TCU Neeley School of Business, the University of Louisville, Texas A&M University, Virginia Commonwealth University and Seattle University. Previously, he was a visiting academic scholar for the Office of Economic Analysis at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and worked for Nalco Chemical Company and Standard Oil of Indiana. He earned his PhD in Finance from the University of Washington, MBA from the University of Houston, and BE in Chemical Engineering from City College of New York. He is a CFA® charterholder.
Why we wanted to write this book
Lyle
Over my 45-year career as college professor, author, speaker and consultant, I crossed paths with many millionaires and multi-millionaires. I even crossed paths and had a personal conversation with a billionaire. Some acquired their wealth though inheritance, some through investing, some through business creation, and others through a combination of all four.
What they all had in common was the security knowing they could solve a problem if money was the solution to that problem. Yet they all had problems that could not be solved by money alone or they had problems exacerbated by money. Wealth did not make them immune from their personal demons – their insecurities, their egos, their self-destructive behaviors, or from the emotional or physical sufferings of their loved ones.
Your Total Wealth is my message to all those wondering why money doesn’t solve all their other problems and to offer both solace and solutions. Finally, Your Total Wealth was personally cathartic. I’ve written other books, but none that engaged me as this did …perhaps because I too was seeking balance.
David
I taught finance at the university level for 40 years, also interacting with many individuals other than students about financial matters. My conclusion: the level of financial literacy is quite low in our country. When Lyle approached me to collaborate on writing this book, I saw it as an opportunity to explain the basics of financial jargon, presenting just enough to make the reader “dangerous”. If I succeeded with my “yins”, readers will understand a bit more of what their financial advisors tell them, understand a bit more about what they read and hear, make better financial decisions, avoid being exploited, and make them want to learn more.
Entire books have been written on some of the financial terms that we describe in less than 400 words. There is so much more to learn, beyond this book. Beyond the “yins”, the “yangs” offer sage advice on how to live a more fulfilling and happy life, appreciating of everything we have on the table before us.