Latko, David W.

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Latko, David W.

PERSONAL:

Born in Hammond, IN. Education: Indiana University, B.S., master's degrees in public administration and judicial administration. Hobbies and other interests: Collecting automobiles.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Frankfort, IL. Office—Latko Wealth Management, 45 E. Colorado Ave., Frankfort, IL 60423. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Investment advisor and financial planner. Latko Wealth Management, Ltd., Frankfort, IL, founder and president, 1980—. Cohost of radio program Money & More.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Book of the Year, self-help, from American Book Readers Association for Financial Strategies for Today's Widow: Coping with the Economic Challenges of Losing a Spouse.

WRITINGS:

NONFICTION

Financial Strategies for Today's Widow: Coping with the Economic Challenges of Losing a Spouse, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2003.

Everybody Wants Your Money: The Straight-talking Guide to Protecting (and Growing) the Wealth You Worked So Hard to Earn, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

Financial advisor David W. Latko rose from a lower-middle-class background to become a millionaire. He entered college at sixteen, earned a bachelor's degree at twenty, then completed two master's degrees. He worked in the court system and for several financial services companies before starting his own firm, Latko Wealth Management, in 1980. Since then, the company has grown to more than one hundred million dollars in managed assets. Latko has branched into radio as cohost of Money & More, broadcast in Chicago and other large cities around the United States. His books are Financial Strategies for Today's Widow: Coping with the Economic Challenges of Losing a Spouse and Everybody Wants Your Money: The Straight-talking Guide to Protecting (and Growing) the Wealth You Worked So Hard to Earn.

The former book contains numerous true-life studies of widows and their money issues. The author counsels his subjects on major transactions, such as the purchase of a car or house; on how to establish credit, which may have been in their husband's name during their marriage; and on the need to create an overall financial plan.

Latko offers "sound advice" with clarity and humor, reported Bellinda Wise in a review for Library Journal. She thought the book would be helpful not only to widows but to women in general. Financial Strategies for Today's Widow was named Book of the Year in the self-help category by the American Book Readers Association.

Everybody Wants Your Money is a guide for all potential investors. Latko advises readers on how to select trustworthy financial service providers and includes a quiz to help rate any firm under consideration. He issues warnings about fraudulent schemes and excessive fees. "In today's world," he writes, "there's no shortage of charlatans and con artists laying in wait for the innocent or the unwary. To paraphrase Blanche DuBois, late of the still-soggy wasteland that was once New Orleans, we've all come to depend on the kindness of strangers." He also discusses avoiding identity theft, making wills, and dealing with the financial implications of divorce. Some critics deemed Latko's suggestions straightforward, practical, and valuable. Noting that Latko seeks to help consumers beat investment firms "at their own game," Booklist reviewer David Siegfried commented: "This honest advice could save your financial future." A California Bookwatch contributor described Everybody Wants Your Money as "a winning guide" and added that Latko's insights are beneficial to "even small-scale investors."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, March 15, 2006, David Siegfried, review of Everybody Wants Your Money: The Straight-talking Guide to Protecting (and Growing) the Wealth You Worked So Hard to Earn, p. 11.

California Bookwatch, June 1, 2006, review of Everybody Wants Your Money.

Library Journal, June 1, 2003, Bellinda Wise, review of Financial Strategies for Today's Widow: Coping with the Economic Challenges of Losing a Spouse, p. 136.