Tyson, Eric 1962(?)-

PERSONAL:

Born c. 1962; married; wife's name Judy; children: three sons. Education: Yale University, B.S., 1984; Stanford University, M.B.A., 1989.

ADDRESSES:

Home—NY.

CAREER:

Financial writer, consultant. Bains & Co., management consultant, 1984-1990; former columnist and journalist for the San Francisco Examiner. Frequent speaker for businesses and universities.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Benjamin Franklin Award for best business book of the year, for Personal Finance for Dummies.

WRITINGS:

(With Ray Brown) Mortgages for Dummies, 2nd edition, Wiley Publishing (Indianapolis, IN), 2004.

Investing for Dummies, 4th edition, Wiley Publishing (Indianapolis, IN), 2005.

(With Margaret A. Munro and David J. Silverman) Taxes 2007 for Dummies, Wiley Publishing (Indianapolis, IN), 2006.

Personal Finance for Dummies, 5th edition, Wiley Publishing (Indianapolis, IN), 2006.

Personal Finance for Dummies for Canadians, 4th edition, Wiley Publishing (Indianapolis, IN), 2006.

(With Ray Brown) Home Buying for Dummies, 3rd edition, Wiley Publishing (Indianapolis, IN), 2006.

Mind over Money: Your Path to Wealth and Happiness, CDS/Perseus Books (New York, NY), 2006.

(With Robert S. Griswold) Real Estate Investing for Dummies, Wiley Publishing (Indianapolis, IN), 2007.

Mutual Funds for Dummies, 5th edition, Wiley Publishing (Indianapolis, IN), 2007.

(With Ray Brown) House Selling for Dummies, 3rd edition, Wiley Publishing (Indianapolis, IN), 2007.

(With Margaret A. Munro and David J. Silverman) Taxes 2008 for Dummies, Wiley Publishing (Indianapolis, IN), 2007.

Let's Get Real about Money, FT Press (New York, NY), 2007.

(With Jim Schell) Small Business for Dummies, 3rd edition, Wiley Publishing (Indianapolis, IN), 2008.

Also author of earlier editions of several of the "Dummy" books, including Taxes for Dummies, Personal Finance for Dummies for Canadians, and Time and Money Management for Dummies. Author of the syndicated column, "Investor's Guide," 1996—.

SIDELIGHTS:

Eric Tyson is a successful business consultant and writer of a number of best-selling books on various aspects of finance, from investing to taxes to buying or selling a home. He earned his bachelor of science degree in economics from Yale University in 1984, then went on to graduate from Stanford University's School of Business with his M.B.A. in 1989. Tyson worked with Bains & Company for most of the late 1980s, where he served as a management consultant. When he left the company in 1990, he branched out on his own as a financial counselor, founding the first company in the nation to offer such services through hourly billing. His goal was to make sure that even Americans with a small amount of money to invest could get reasonable, reliable advice regarding what to do with their nest eggs. Since then he has worked primarily as a freelance writer, consultant, and public speaker. In 1996, he began to write the syndicated newspaper column, "Investor's Guide," and he served as a journalist for the San Francisco Examiner. Tyson's work been quoted or cited in a wide range of periodicals, including Newsweek, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, Kiplinger's Personal Finance, Money, Worth, Parenting, and USA Today, as well as on television and radio programs including NBC's Today Show, ABC, CNBC, PBS's Nightly Business Report, CNN, National Public Radio's Sound Money, and Bloomberg Business Radio. He is a regular speaker at schools and for business organizations, and the course he taught on personal financial management at the University of California at Berkeley was the most highly attended course of its kind in the nation.

Tyson is best known for his contributions to the "Dummies" series of how-to books, including Mortgages for Dummies, Investing for Dummies, Taxes 2007 for Dummies, Personal Finance for Dummies, Home Buying for Dummies, Real Estate Investing for Dummies, Mutual Funds for Dummies, House Selling for Dummies, and Small Business for Dummies. In addition, he has written books such as Mind over Money: Your Path to Wealth and Happiness and Let's Get Real about Money. A number of his efforts have been best-sellers, and at this time Tyson is the only author who can boast having had four titles on the Business Week list of best-selling business books.

Mutual Funds for Dummies provides readers with a straightforward, clearly worded approach to investing in mutual funds. Tyson discusses just what a mutual fund is, then goes on to explain the premise of investing in these particular vehicles. He also includes a wealth of information on how to determine what level of risk is appropriate for an individual's goals and time frame, and how different types of mutual funds might be considered more or less volatile based on their asset allocations and the purpose that determines the fund manager's investment activities. Steven T. Goldberg, in a review for Kiplinger's Personal Finance, noted that the book gives little advice regarding making the decision to sell a fund, but he concluded that, "despite the book's chatty, informal style, author Eric Tyson clearly has a mastery of his subject. He knows mutual funds, and he knows how to explain them in simple English."

In Small Business for Dummies, Tyson and coauthor Jim Schell strive to provide readers with the unvarnished truth regarding what it takes to start one's own business, specifically as a consultant. They work from the start to debunk the myths regarding how easy it is to become self-employed and the premise that anyone can do it with just a few simple supplies, such as some business cards, letterhead, and a telephone. The reality is that running one's own business can be a difficult and risky proposition, and too many people approach the task with too little or poor information regarding what they need to do ahead of time in order to succeed. The book asks difficult questions that are designed to help the reader determine if they are really prepared to go it alone, or if they would be better off remaining in a job with a reliable paycheck. For anyone who decides to move forward, the book offers sound advice regarding start-up costs and living expenses, and suggestions for how to get started as a freelancer on a part-time basis while still working a regular job. They note that it is far easier to build a list of clients when there is no concern about where the next paycheck is coming from. The book also includes advice regarding pricing, how to be competitive, and information that might apply to other types of business, including inventory control. G.A. Marken, in a review for the Public Relations Quarterly, remarked that "if you're thinking of opening your own agency and even if you aren't but want to have a better understanding of the business side of the business, Small Business for Dummies makes for some interesting reading."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Arizona Business Gazette, August 28, 2003, "Know When to Hold 'em, When to Fold 'em," p. 4.

Consumer Reports, September, 2003, "Best-selling Finance Gurus: Whose Book Is Best?," p. 24.

Kiplinger's Personal Finance, June, 1995, Steven T. Goldberg, review of Mutual Funds for Dummies, p. 38.

Library Journal, February 1, 2001, review of Home Buying for Dummies, p. 59; February 1, 2001, review of Mortgages for Dummies, p. 60.

Medical Economics, September 16, 2005, "How One Pro Picks Winners: It's Not Just about Media Hype and Past Performance, This Expert Says. We Asked Him to Share His Insights," p. 42.

Newsweek, April 11, 1994, review of Personal Finance for Dummies, p. 56.

Public Relations Quarterly, fall, 2003, G.A. Marken, review of Small Business for Dummies.

Quill & Quire, January, 1998, review of Personal Finance for Dummies for Canadians, p. 24.

Reference & Research Book News, November, 2005, review of Mutual Funds for Dummies; February, 2006, review of Real Estate Investing for Dummies.

Tribune Books, June 5, 1994, review of Personal Finance for Dummies, p. 10.

Washington Business Journal, September 29, 2000, review of Small Business for Dummies, p. 40.

ONLINE

About.com,http://taxes.about.com/ (March 5, 2006), William Perez, "William's Tax Planning Blog."

Stanford Graduate School of Business Web site,http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/ (February 5, 2008), Edward Welles, "Eric Tyson for Dummies."

TPT Web site,http://www.tpt.org/ (February 5, 2008), author profile.